[oclug] Value

[miden]

It just occurred to me that this process might be more palatable to some
if it was thought of not so much as 'making things easier for the
ordinary user' and more like an abstraction layer (like HAL). In this
view it would be a User Abstraction Layer (UAL) or Distribution
Abstraction Layer (DAL).

:-)
-m

On Thu, 2006-11-23 at 06:48 -0500, miden wrote:
> On Thu, 2006-11-23 at 00:22 -0500, Jacques B. wrote:
> -clipped valid points to get to this one-
> > As for coming close to Synaptic/Apt-get or Yumex/yum to install stuff,
> > in Windows you download an application, double click on it, it's
> > installed.  Can't get much easier than that either can we?  Having to
> > run an installer application is counter-intuitive to what Windows
> > users are accustomed to.  And my original point was that it's easier
> > to make an application auto-install on all Windows systems (within the
> > same family of course - i.e. 32 bit) than it is to easily make an
> > application auto-install on all the main Linux distros.  Can you
> > download a single file of a Linux application that will easily install
> > on any of the major distros by double clicking on it? - you can get it
> > through their auto-installer most likely, but counter-intuitive for a
> > Windows user so contributes to the investment of time required by a
> > user who switches to Linux. 
> 
> This is a major consideration - of little significance to the
> experienced user but of major consequence to an ordinary user. Explain
> this to an ordinary user -'Aren't they all Linux?' 'Well, yes. But
> different. You're free to choose...' and the eyes glaze over as they ask
> you if that comes with free tickets to the next Trekkie convention
> ha-ha.
> 
> Linux really, really needs some common usability standards - like a
> universal one-or-two click installer, for example, which could install
> or download and install applications based on the installed system
> without user intervention. Apt-get, Yum, any-other-cryptic-name... or
> click-install and you're done. What do you think the choice will be
> (whether you approve or not)?
> 
> -m
> 
>