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.deb versus .tar.bz2
February 15, 2010 by steve
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Hi,
I think that if more applications are double clickable for installation like Windows, mainstream users and nonprofits will make the switch to free software and open source solutions like Ubuntu.
Does anyone have the answer to the question, why is .deb not always available when a new release of Thunderbird or Firefox comes out?
Personally, I can work with .tar.bz2 but some people and nonprofits that are not technically versed will have issues with installing these types of files. The question I have is when will open source become more user friendly so you don't have to drop into a shell and deal with all the technical configuration?
Stevie
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Comments
Hi Steve
May 5, 2010 by webmaster, 1 year 40 weeks ago
Comment id: 45
We weren't sure how to respond to this message.
We agree that .deb would be easier in certain environments and since we're not coders, we understand that the learning curve associated with installing a .tar.bz2 is a headache for nonprofits and NGOs with less technical resources.
At the moment, we don't think that open source will all of a sudden become more user-friendly to the mainstream overnight, but we want to provide some context and support in case a nonprofit or NGO wants to test their technical skills. So, what we suggest is looking at and following Debian's instructions just to provide some insight.
http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/147
Per the instructions, It will require a program "checkinstall" and .deb will be built.
As a newbie to open source, it is apparent how complex it would be to create a .deb file so our suggestion would be to find .bin files such as the one provided by Google Earth. In these cases, a .bin usually comes with more instructions to install the software on your linux machine.
We guess this just adds another question to your question. Why not .bin standardized?
It is more of a broad question for the open source community really. Can we standardize a open coding community? We think you can answer this question yourself.
In our opinion, restricting a community of designers will limit the possibilities of the art.
Thanks for the philosophical question!
The iGetcha Team :)