"It may be a brave opinion but I predict that Ubuntu Linux and Windows Vista are going to be the two operating systems that will take over the largest chunk of the desktop OS market during the next couple of years. This comparison is based on my experience with both systems during the last couple of weeks on two different computers."
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Member since:2006-05-11
Member since:2005-07-07
Member since:2006-09-01
I agree with you. Not having a central repository of MS blessed apps has never been a problem with Windows. A central place that checks for app updates would be nice though.
What you're proposing is exactly the way that Mac OS X handles applications. All the installed apps are in an Application folder, and the user never sees the rest of the filesystem.
[q]Adding a way to install low privilege applications (and files for that matter, like music and photos) that everyone on the system can access would go even further (my other pet peeve with Ubuntu so far).[q]
That is just a matter of permissions. It could be solved by having one group, users, that everyone belongs to, and have resources that need to be shared be under that's group umbrella. This could be accomplished by symlinking a folder called "shared photos", or something like that, in all of the user profiles. This problem really is just an account setup problem that can be solved easily.
Sooner or later OSs are going to have to ditch the current concept of a "filesystem with folders" and move to a system where folders are nothing but live queries that rely on metadata.
Member since:2007-02-17
Can't agree with you.
Download the .deb file and save it somewhere. Double-click on it in the file manager. (Equivalent to what you would do for Windows).
In Ubuntu ... gdebi runs & manages the package installation. It has been this way since dapper drake.
Gdebi is a GUI installer for locally stored .deb files (ie, not packages that are in on-line repositories). If the .deb file has any uninstalled dependencies, gdebi will get them & install them from repositories in the same way that apt does.
Member since:2005-10-10
Yeah that's a way out of it, until it comes time to upgrade and then you're royally screwed 
Anyone that added anything not blessed by the Ubuntu gods to Feisty got a real good reaming when trying to upgrade to Gutsy. Now I know why they picked that name, you need balls bigger than Ben Hur to attempt such a thing!
Member since:
2006-09-01
You are exactly right about that. In Ubuntu there is no well established alternative to using the Ubuntu repos to grab your software. There should be an easy to follow, even windows-esque way to download software from a random site, and have it install for just your user.
You can do that now. You can download a copy of Firefox, or Songbird or Wine or whatever, and install that into your Home folder. But it's not a well defined normal way to do things in Ubuntu - nor is it easy to find an explanation about how or why that can be done, and seems to be actively discouraged.
Placing a simple Applications folder in the Home directory and having the devs acknowledge that they just can't keep up with every piece of software that users might want to use, could go a long way to helping with this issue. Adding a way to install low privilege applications (and files for that matter, like music and photos) that everyone on the system can access would go even further (my other pet peeve with Ubuntu so far).