[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > As a "solution" to the problem of wanting a program on my > computer, it sucks. On Windows I'll DL an install package, > "accept" a license agreement, click Next a few times (no, I can't > make a cup of coffee because the minute I step away the "Wizard" > will ask a question), ... With CNR the commitment is that I CAN > walk away. I do not know who should be responsible for putting > things in the warehouse.
The... maintainer perhaps? A.k.a. the distributor? > I do wish that the *n*x community would create some sensible > standards so the 'our distro doesn't put things where others do' > would stop being an issue. There are certainly mory than fifty GNU/Linux and Unix flavours of different versions which are all POSIX compatible, but not binary compatible. Of Windows, there are very few versions which are mostly binary compatible, and widely used. Do you think the Python maintainers should create fifty different Python packages every release? The common software "flow" is: developer => distributor => user. But due to some cool tools compiling isn't something one can't learn by doing, since the developers already did the most for you; more or less you just have to get your environment right (dependencies) and hit "start". I admit that's nothing for the "I just want it to work!!!11" kind of people, but those should stick to better supported flavours. > Looking in "/usr/bin" and its brethren makes "c:\Program Files" > seem organized. I'm afraid not, since mixing executables, libraries and data in an unsorted directory tree is just horrible. POSIX compatible systems usually sort everything in directories where it belongs (/usr/bin, /usr/lib, /usr/share/*, ...) and employ a packet manager to keep the system in a well-defined state. Self-compiled stuff can be "incorporated" or just installed to the /usr/local subhierarchy. The Windows way, contrarily, is: - All program files go anywhere on the hard disk in a custom directory tree. (Recently, they are often installed to something like "Program Files" or a translated equivalent, luckily.) - Most programs use a custom installer which alone has the task to track files installed to the system; the system itself usually has no knowledge about it (apart from how to call the uninstaller). Dependency handling is completely up to the applications themselves. - Often, libraries and/or drivers are installed somewhere in %WINDIR% and get lost ... no wonder Windows systems are commonly reinstalled quite often compared to POSIX compatible systems. Additionally, exotic or older program in Windows are often bundled in a (today) malfunctioning installer. Older programs for POSIX compatible OS are often available in source which often need only few adaptations to compile properly. > I've no interest in mastering the art of installing Linux. I'd appreciate if you weren't complaining about things you didn't know ... Regards, Björn -- BOFH excuse #297: Too many interrupts -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
