On Sun, Sep 21, 2025 at 12:54 PM Tim via users < [email protected]> wrote:
> Antony Paya via users wrote: > >> When selecting packages to install in the Software manager, the > >> first option that comes is Flatpak, not RPM, even when the latter > >> source is available. > > > Patrick O'Callaghan: > > No idea. I don't use the GUI software manager(s), preferring to install > > and update using dnf. > > > > I seriously doubt it's for safety or security. Flatbox is somewhat > > portable across distros, but also has disadvantages as the apps run in > > sandboxes and have only limited access to the desktop. This can have > > consequences for something that expects greater integration. I don't > > know if TBird is one such app as I don't use it, but it does affect > > Evolution which has similar use cases. > I get the impression it's "let someone else do all the work." Let's > try and have some kind of universal package for all distros, and we > won't have to compile any software ever again. > Linux distros are all suffering from a shortage developers -- many organizations are offering attractive pay for linux devs to work on AI projects. Before retiring I worked with large scientific software systems. There were often problems creating Linux packages caused by differences in distro support for numerical libraries and different choices for configuration options building libraries. so you end up with binary packages for one or two distros and have to build from source for other distros. The increase in storage for cross-distro packages or locally compiled programs plus libraries was trivial compared to the volume of data being processed, so cross-distro package systems (conda-forge, flatpaks, etc) mean many more users can get the software even after the old-timer who knows how to use a compiler has retired. The problem is that it becomes the lowest common denominator as far as > features and compatibility is concerned, because there's so many > different distros. e.g. Rarely can I print from something that wasn't > installed via RPM. If it does, it's only via a printer it's discovered > for itself (mDNS, probably), which has annoying and unconfigurable > printer features (e.g. it's double-sided printing mode engages when you > don't want it, and can't be engaged when you do want it, on a HP office > LaserJet, not some obscure Chinese made printer). None of the other > printing-system-shared printers listed in the print box respond in any > way to printing, the job just goes into a black hole. > At lot of work is needed on cross-distro packaging systems: "pioneering work is crude"! > > Then there's apps that just don't fit into the same GUI style as the > rest of the system. The menu bar is gone, I have to navigate through > this damn fool family-tree style of everything in one menu to get to > any feature, instead of directly going to the appropriate menu. Window > close/resizing gadgets aren't there. There's no right-click on the > title bar to get a keep window in front option. Window frames aren't > there, so resizing a window is a hunting game to find the border. > > I'm reminded of my early days in using the Amiga computer. There was > software that programmers wrote in a system-legal manner, that worked > well, and played well in a multi-tasking computer environment. > > And then there was software written by people who did what they felt > like, that didn't. Disk boot sectors got mucked up by them. > Multitasking got stuffed up by them. The idea of even using the > computer for more than task, singularly, went out of the window, as > they'd bugger up the system for other things, just to suit themselves. > They'd install old system libraries replacing new ones. They'd insist > you had to un-install other things so that their mess would work. They > acted like they were still in the floppy disc era, where you'd cold > boot a computer from their disc, and that disc would have their > perversion of the OS on it as well as their own program. > > Which reminds me of NVidia graphics driver installations (fouling up > system files and directories) in the early days. Only my very ancient > laptop (2007 era) has NVidia chipsets on it. I've avoided them since > then. > > -- > > uname -rsvp > Linux 3.10.0-1160.119.1.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Tue Jun 4 14:43:51 UTC 2024 > x86_64 > (yes, this is the output from uname for this PC when I posted) > > Boilerplate: All unexpected mail to my mailbox is automatically deleted. > I will only get to see the messages that are posted to the mailing list. > > > -- > _______________________________________________ > users mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > Fedora Code of Conduct: > https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/ > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines > List Archives: > https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected] > Do not reply to spam, report it: > https://pagure.io/fedora-infrastructure/new_issue > -- George N. White III
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