- This topic has 14 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated Mar 25-5:32 pm by Brian Masinick.
-
Posts
-
RJP
An easy way to install packages which are into package management. Write program name to the box and install.
- This topic was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by RJP.
Attachments:
Of course a program remover is easy to make just changing apt install line to apt remove line.
Program installer works fine with antiX 23 runit also. 🙂
Attachments:
PPC
Hi RJP – your’s is a nice idea.
I’ve thought doing a similar script from some time, now, but there are some reasons why I never did:
– antiX already includes what is already probably the most extensive GUI for managing packages in any OS: synaptic. True, that synaptic may look confusing at first, mainly for people just used to “App Stores”, and it requires more steps when installing something… But it provides also lots of info: exactly what the download size will be, how much space will be used etc…
– I always assumed, wrongly, that a yad GUI similar to yours would install all the stuff that “apt search xyz” shows. I never even tried to check it out, until now. For example: “apt search vlc” shows some unrelated apps, but “sudo apt search vlc” really just installs vlc – live and learn! Thanks making me learn that!
– Synaptic is also already very well localized
– A script similar to yours can, and will install program that has the same exact name, but it’s not what you probably want – I tried to install docker with “sudo apt install docker” and got something that had nothing to do with docker packaging! to void that, ideally, your script should perform an “apt search” for the app and let the user know what will be installed, then the user can confirm, to continue the the installation. That also lets users know if the desired package is not available in the repos and suggest alternatives, like using like trying to find a compressed binary, appimages, flatpaks, etc…
– I’ve been suggesting, to anticapitalista, that ideally Package Installer should provide a GUI to search, and install packages from the repos, not just from the curated list of apps (Skidoo created on such version). Also, that won’t exactly show the terminal, but show the terminal’s output in a tab (avoiding to scare users that fear the terminal, but also letting everyone know what exactly the system is doing)Edit: your idea about a “Program” remover makes sense- if they have a GUI, any user can install a .deb package by simply clicking on it… But have no intuitive GUI way to remove that same package (my GUI, that was not accepted, simplified this, offering also the choice to purge the “clicked .deb package” if it was already installed).
My suggestion would be showing a list of every installed package (removing the essential system ones), so users could click to uninstall them. Once again synaptic already does that, in a GUI way, I’m just suggesting a more “easy GUI way” to uninstall programs.P.
- This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by PPC.
I tried to install docker with “sudo apt install docker” and got something that had nothing to do with docker packaging! to void that
That is a apt problem, not problem in the script.
My experience is that most of people try to avoid Synaptic as much as possible, because in Synaptic has too many options.
Edit: your idea about a “Program” remover makes sense- if they have a GUI, any user can install a .deb package by simply clicking on it… But have no intuitive GUI way to remove that same package (my GUI, that was not accepted, simplified this, offering also the choice to purge the “clicked .deb package” if it was already installed).
Not a deb, but for testing . 🙂
Xunzi_23
people try to avoid Synaptic as much as possible, because in Synaptic has too many options.
I have to tag that as Irony. Synaptic is extremely useful plus I have never had a complaint
or even a remark of that nature.Need clear information on what versions of a package are available, depends, recommends, install
locations. Without a lot of commands in terminal nothing easier than search for package name in
synaptic. And yes search is not always perfect but then a dumb package installer is way worse.Regarding PPC Comment users want double click, hopefully an easy option to turn it off without
editing prefs file.
Makes my fingers ache ;-(. Nobody heard of Repeated Strain Injury. Not a joke.Regarding recycling bin, if any user I support wants it, setting will be like real waste and paper
bins, empty every second Monday. Even the lady of update horror should understand that.Massive user inflicted chrome cache plus a bin full of files plus trash and hundreds or thousands of
undeleted spam mails will bring fun times for sure.
Brian Masinick
I’m all for people experimenting with a variety of tools for their own convenience, and sharing them with the community, so others can experiment with them too, modify them, adapt them to other tools, and ideas. I’d say that well over half of my own scripts and tools are either direct adaptation or modified collections of scripts from people everywhere.
That said, as we’ve also seen, it takes care to use some of the tools appropriately. Blindly clicking on them without considering what they are actually doing can result in behavior other than what a casual look suggests. The example with docker is but one of the possible things that could happen. In the docker case that might be an inaccurate change with moderate consequences, though on a larger scale the consequences could be larger, unknown, and therefore potentially extreme, so the blind use of this kind of tool should be limited to personal experiments and definitely NOT included in any standard branded tool.
--
Brian MasinickBrian Masinick
Regarding synaptic, it is a mature, full featured graphical package management tool. While it’s a decent tool and there’s nothing inherently wrong with it when you are using stable distribution repositories, one Sid based distribution I am aware of (sidux, siduction family) has discouraged the use of anything other than apt-get for a long time because there are differences between apt-get, aptitude, and synaptic in the dependencies included in the package and metapackage lists that are created by their package change algorithms. In the stable release, there’s not much difference, but in the Sid implementation, at least in the past, the changes have been noticeable.
That’s another variable worth at least investigating and considering when we’re using tools; their behavior may vary between test versions and stable versions, especially, as an example, between our current Alpha release and the existing supported releases.
--
Brian MasinickSynaptic has too many options.
I have to tag that as Irony. Synaptic is extremely useful plus I have never had a complaint
or even a remark of that nature.Nope. I saw the empty eyes of my friend staring blankly at me, when I showed him Synaptic. I just told him: never mind, you have all you need already installed… And he did- a browser an office suit. He is still happy, about 2 years later. Very basic users are that way… And over 90% of desktop users are vary basic, they just want to do the basic tasks, and everything should be in one click or two…
I’m not that way, but I understand that mindset…Off topic (sorry for that), but following the same post:
users want double click, hopefully an easy option to turn it off without
editing prefs file.
Makes my fingers ache ;-(. Nobody heard of Repeated Strain Injury. Not a joke.Everyone I talked to preferences double click. It makes sense to me- one left click selects files/folders. then you can right click to performe a task, or hold left ctrl , or whatever, to select more files, in case you want to move, delete, copy them… If you just want to run/open a file, the second left click does that, on the selected file(s).
But that’s trivial to change in zzzfm- open zzzfm > “View” toolbar entry > “Preferences” > There’s a check box, if you want to open files with one click… Unchecking that puts zzzfm in “double click mode”.Regarding recycling bin
Almost every non geek user wants a trash can, recycling bin. I’ll try to work on a check, to let users know if the trash can is taking more than x% of user’s Home… That will quick in when users send something to the trash can, if anticapitalista wants, that check can also be performed every time the WM starts- and warn users and ask if they want to empty the trash can.
A Trash can is a regular feature of Windows, Mac, most Linux’s, most Android implementations, and it seems Ios too… Most people expect it to be there. Hardcore “I don’t like Trash” users, can be instructed to use “shift+ Delete” or select “Delete” in the contextual right click menu… Us more mortals can stick with the trash can and empty it once in a while…
Trash can saved my work countless times before, and a couple of times since I started using it in antiX…P.
- This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by PPC.
Brian Masinick
I am DEFINITELY NOT typical, and I remember the early days of X, in fact, I *may* have used it for the FIRST time prior to the introduction of X11, so it may have been The X Window System – and I found some history on this (I joined Digital in February 1985 –
“Scheifler, Gettys and Ron Newman set to work and X progressed rapidly. They released Version 6 in January 1985. DEC, then preparing to release its first Ultrix workstation, judged X the only windowing system likely to become available in time. DEC engineers ported X6 to DEC’s QVSS display on MicroVAX.In the second quarter of 1985, X acquired color support to function in the DEC VAXstation-II/GPX, forming what became version 9. …”
“… leading to version 10 in late 1985. By 1986, outside organizations had begun asking for X. X10R2 was released in January 1986, then X10R3 in February 1986. … X10R3 became the first version to achieve wide deployment, with both DEC and Hewlett-Packard releasing products based on it. … Smokey Wallace of DEC WSL and Jim Gettys proposed that DEC WSL build X11 and make it freely available under the same terms as X9 and X10. This process started in May 1986, with the protocol finalized in August. Alpha testing of the software started in February 1987, beta-testing in May; the release of X11 finally occurred on 15 September 1987.[23]”
“The X11 protocol design, led by Scheifler, was extensively discussed on open mailing lists on the nascent Internet that were bridged to USENET newsgroups. Gettys moved to California to help lead the X11 development work at WSL from DEC’s Systems Research Center, where Phil Karlton and Susan Angebrandt led the X11 sample server design and implementation. X therefore represents one of the first very large-scale distributed free and open source software projects. ”
Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System (additional references are provided in the Wiki page).
--
Brian MasinickBrian Masinick
With that “I am definitely NOT typical” history and prelude, I use alias definitions, short, single click, and shortcuts in order to do my navigating, and I vary them.
--
Brian MasinickBrian Masinick
@RJP: thank you for your creativity. I can see that SMART PEOPLE with three letter acronyms like PPC and RJP have a LOT of great ideas and enthusiasm.
Please join in if you are able to do so and help us test antiX 23; the Beta testing software is now available.
Thanks for your contributions!
--
Brian MasinickLittle fix to program installer. Info text if there has no program available.
Attachments:
Brian Masinick
Simple tool. I ran a simple test. I installed geany, which is already installed.
The tool went to install, found geany already installed, and reported correctly.I then installed Featherpad, which was not installed, and it installed it correctly.
Looks good to me. Thanks!--
Brian Masinick
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
