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Helix Code's Red Carpet Simplifies Package Updates
Ur@eus writes "There are some nice screenshoots of Red Carpet available from the Helix site. Red Carpet is Helix Code's upcomming package manager and it looks really great. Look here for the screenshots." This is a quite amazing looking little application... even looks to support Debian, so I'm happy as a clam. Very pretty and well designed. It'll be cool to test it out for real.
Red Carpet supports multiple packaging formats unlike the previous version of the helix installer/updater. It works with both RPM and Debian packagescurrently and we plan on adding support for Solaris packages in the future as well (indeed the screenshots show the Debian version running).
You can customize your panels in pretty much any way you want. Try hitting the right mouse button in the applets and in the panel to explore the options in the panel.
Miguel.
This is exactly the intention.
As you notice there is a bar on the right that lists the channels you are subscribed to, and you can get a list of those you are not subscribed to.
We will be providing other channels besides the regular Helix GNOME channel. For instance, you can see a channel for the distribution installed in your system and a channel for testing the Helix Evolution groupware client.
Other channels will be available with other types of software as well.
Miguel.
Helix GNOME is just a packaged version of the latest GNOME. We took special care into making things pretty and Tuomas, Joakim and Anna have been working very hard to provide nice, pleasant user interfaces.
But all the contributions of Helix are contributed back to the main GNOME sources.
We just happen to ship the latest GNOME in a real-time fashion: you can always update to the new improvements as developers produce the code.
With Red Carpet (something that you do not see on the screenshots) we will roll three levels of updates: emergency updates, latest packages, and long-term tested packages. The intention is to catter to both people who always want the latest applications and fixes, and those who want a tested and reliable system.
Miguel.
Is it just me or is Helix code deserving of some serious respect for taking care of alot of the nasty details of the Linux desktop, and doing it while looking better than any group of applications I've ever seen on any *nix.
I recommend all their stuff to anyone who's new to Unix and it always leads to a much better first impression for Linux in general.
If they can finish their Outlook replacement apps then they will have brought Linux perhaps 40% closer to being a windows desktop replacement for many companies.
Good work guys and keep it up.
Helix will not be updated behind your back. That is a security concern we have always had. Although we could have done an automatic updater, we are aware of privacy concerns people have and the different levels of security that people want.
The new version will have an option to do automatic updates if you choose to, but it is not the default.
We would love to hear your opinion on security matters and we would be glad to tell you how things are done internally, but lets do that without attacking each other and by making informed comments instead of worst-case-scenario-assumptions.
Miguel.
I'm sure most people will agree with me, when I say that Helix-gnome has taken Gnome from being a collection of highly usable but unorganized applications, and shrink wrapped them together.
From the installer to the login screen, everything is well designed, looks very pretty, is well organized and just makes sense.
It it weren't for Helix-Gnome I would stick with KDE.
It seems to me that Helix-Gnome should perhaps become the default install of Gnome. I feel that Gnome is very much misconceived when compared to the likes of KDE et al. Helix-Gnome would help bring together all the applications. And let's be honest, first impressions are the most valuable. Your average linux newbie loads up gnome and thinks, well this is pretty neat. Then when he/she noticis all the inconsistencies and lack of organization they run screaming to KDE. Not so with Helix.
In fact I did a recent comparison in a group of 15 people, asking them to give their initial impressions on 1) kde (2.0 beta) 2) Gnome, 3) Helix-Gnome and 4)Windows 2000.
The questions revolved around usability, eye candy and easy of use. The results put KDE on top, Helix-gnome next, Window2000 and then Gnome. However the Windows2000 is somewhat misleading for most users had experience in windows. But the default install of Windows2000 lost major points on the eye candy factor, it really isn't very pretty by default.
The main comments were that people liked KDE's single click to open up icons. These were mostly adults who had used, but were not proficient with computers. I think especially for people who have not grown up using computers, the distinction between when to double click and when to single-click, or right-click, is very unclear. KDE did well in this area.
Helix-gnome received lots of compliments on organization and overall look and feel.
S.t.e.v.e.