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The Future of Packaging Software in Linux
michuk writes "There are currently at least five popular ways of installing software in GNU/Linux. None of them are widely accepted throughout the popular distributions. This situation is not a problem for experienced users — they can make decisions for themselves. However, for a newcomer in the GNU/Linux world, installing new software is always pretty confusing. The article tries to sum up some of the recent efforts to fix this problem and examine the possible future of packaging software in GNU/Linux."
The reason Linux distributions have not been trembling to adopt the OS X style of package management, if you can call it that, is that it would be a poor fit for the Linux software ecosystem.
The vast majority of software used on Linux systems is licensed under the GPL; what is not is almost always under another license permitting free redistribution. This gives Linux distributors great freedom in selecting and assembling a compatible collection of versions, tested and working with the same versions of dependent libraries. In a larger distribution (such as Gentoo, Debian, or Fedora), most of the software you will ever need is already a part of the OS -- you just need to use the built-in package management tools to summon it from the distributor's repository.
OS X-style package management is best suited for a software ecosystem in which users draw software from a large number of heterogenous third-party sources, while the core OS and iLife suite are maintained and updated by Apple. A third-party distributor who wishes to distribute something that must link against a particular version of a library can include it in the application bundle, knowing that the exact version needed will be available. This can lead to many copies of the same libraries being installed, facilitating compatibility with applications that require different versions, but consuming (small amounts of) disk space unnecessarily and increasing the attack surface when multiple copies of an exploitable library are installed on the system. A system such as APT does not need to provide a facility for private copies of libraries, since it does all of the dependency computation, and all software in the repository is built and linked against the libraries in the repository.
Certainly, once you have resigned yourself to visiting a third-party distributor's web page, manually downloading a binary package, and then manually installing the binary package, drag-and-drop installation is very convenient. But the Linux software ecosystem does not require this concession from the user -- the Linux distributor is free to provide a repository and tools for finding, installing, and updating software, without the need for manual installation.
Unless the software you want isn't in the Synaptic repository. Then it's hell on earth for the average user. The only response they get from support and developers is, "Why would you want to use software that isn't in the repository?"
Actually, that's not true. There are plenty of other fun responses:
"You should compile it from source."
"The vendor should spend his time getting his software added to our respository!"
"Use RPMFind. I'm a developer and I've never had a problem installing binary packages on the distro I work on." (Conveniently ignoring that when something breaks, the "developer" fixes it himself.)
Not that there's much point in harping on this again. I'll just get the same, "U R STUPID", "You need to try distro XYZ", and "Everything is in my distro's repository!" answers I've gotten before.
Blinders on, and full speed ahead cap'n!
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"...never make a significant dent in the Microsoft+Apple consumer desktop market."
Linux will never make a significant dent in the Microsoft+Apple market by doing the same things the same way as Microsoft and Apple.
Look at markets where Linux has succeeded, such as servers and embedded systems. Linux succeeds *because* it doesn't follow the Microsoft license model, the Microsoft development model, the Microsoft business model, and so on. You can't win if you play by Microsoft rules.
Linux can be, and is, an OS for users. It isn't an OS for third party closed source binary distribution. Don't read that as non-commercial; commercial software was distributed in source form before Microsoft and will be again. Distribution in binary form makes sense for games and art, but not for general purpose computing. The value of doing things in software rather than in hardware is that software is malleable. But you need the source to realize the full value; binary distribution removes value.
So yes, Linux will not make a significant dent in the Microsoft+Apple consumer desktop market, if that means the closed binary sales market. If Microsoft played in the NFL, they'd be the Super Bowl winning Colts. But the Colts will never win the World Cup, which is worth more. Don't complain about Linux not hiring a bigger front line when the game Linux is playing is soccer, and doing rather well at it.