Universal package managers have taken over Linux... Atleast, one of them has, and that ended up being Flatpak. In this video, we go over why Linux users love...
This completely. Speaking as a person who’s more tech skilled than 99% of non-programmers, i can tell you that installing apps is the main tech hurdle for Linux getting mainstream adoption.
There are non-tech hurdles too, but of the actual technology being easy to use then app installation is really the only aspect left that regular people can’t do without a huge dive of tech learning that’s beyond what most people can do.
Installing on mac: click the Mac download button and follow the prompts.
Installing on Windows: click the Windows download button and follow the prompts.
Installing on Linux: there’s no Linux download button, there’s a couple of buttons that say words you’ve never heard of before. They look kinda like buttons to download an app. You click one and try to open it, but it just shows an error, etc etc etc
As a longtime Mac user, that’s not quite as easy. Some apps are only available through the Mac App Store. For applications you download there are several variants:
installers: double click and go through an install wizard with next buttons
zip files: double click to unpack, then put the app wherever you want (typically /Applications or ~/Applications)
disk images: double click to mount. Then drag and drop the app to /Applications
through macports or homebrew via command line
there are a couple of Apple system tools, that are often installed via command line like Rosetta and Xcode command line tools
Of course you can have a zip file, that contains a disk image, that then contains an installer.
For applications downloaded from the internet, you also get at least a warning when opening it. If it’s not notarized, you have to go to system settings to be able to run it. For many applications, you also need to go to settings and fiddle with sandbox settings to make them work.
New users are often challenged by all these options. There are many who end up running an app from a disk image for example.
You might also need to select the correct architecture because some applications don’t provide universal binaries for some reason.
While installation is an issue for Linux, the bigger issue is the low availability of quality commercial software. The immense fracturing between distributions creates tons of issues as well.
This completely. Speaking as a person who’s more tech skilled than 99% of non-programmers, i can tell you that installing apps is the main tech hurdle for Linux getting mainstream adoption.
There are non-tech hurdles too, but of the actual technology being easy to use then app installation is really the only aspect left that regular people can’t do without a huge dive of tech learning that’s beyond what most people can do.
Installing on mac: click the Mac download button and follow the prompts.
Installing on Windows: click the Windows download button and follow the prompts.
Installing on Linux: there’s no Linux download button, there’s a couple of buttons that say words you’ve never heard of before. They look kinda like buttons to download an app. You click one and try to open it, but it just shows an error, etc etc etc
As a longtime Mac user, that’s not quite as easy. Some apps are only available through the Mac App Store. For applications you download there are several variants:
Of course you can have a zip file, that contains a disk image, that then contains an installer.
For applications downloaded from the internet, you also get at least a warning when opening it. If it’s not notarized, you have to go to system settings to be able to run it. For many applications, you also need to go to settings and fiddle with sandbox settings to make them work.
New users are often challenged by all these options. There are many who end up running an app from a disk image for example.
You might also need to select the correct architecture because some applications don’t provide universal binaries for some reason.
While installation is an issue for Linux, the bigger issue is the low availability of quality commercial software. The immense fracturing between distributions creates tons of issues as well.