On the state of Windows on the desktop

Re:On the state of Windows on the desktop by Xylakant on Tuesday January 15, 2013 @02:42AM (#5059184)

> Isn't conveniencing the end user kind of the goal of all software?

I'm not debating that nor am I dismissing that package repositories provide tremendous value to the user. However, the parent asserts that package repositories act as a gatekeeper, thus making it harder for users to install software that is not in the package repositories. That's not true, since linux/BSD/MacOS package repositories just enhance an open system. In that context, they're mere convenience, not a requirement.

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Re:On the state of Windows on the desktop by meaty on Tuesday January 15, 2013 @03:27AM (#5059285)

Until you have to get sstp-client, networkmanager-sstp versions that work on your particular API versions...

External dependency hell. Not in the repository, not invited.

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Re:On the state of Windows on the desktop by Xylakant on Tuesday January 15, 2013 @03:33AM (#5059302)

I fail to understand your point. For any software, you can create a deb, rpm, ebuild that correctly models the dependencies and install it on the system. No package repo required. You can provide a package repo for any Linux system and install it from there, as for example the varnish people do. Both options provide full dependency resolution without a gatekeeper.

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