Installing applications on Linux became more like Windows. It's not something new, something that went on for years. But I just realized right now, when I tried to go to the minicube website.

I go to the website, because I want to see which install methods they actively support and keep up to date.

Is it Snap? Flatpak? Do they have a private repository for deb? Maybe some rpm? An AppImage? Maybe they keep their nix version up-to-date.

I have gone with the integrated searches of all of those and have gotten Software that barely works, just to find out, it is horiffically outdated. And I just realized, going to the website and checking how they offer the newest software is now normal for me.

Soon, they will only offer AppImages and integrate updaters into their softwares. And we will have gone full Windows. Funnily in a time in which Windows Store and 3rd party tools like chocolatey finally become really viable.

Huh? Windows is just two formats for installation, msi and exe right? And what has not being uptodate has anything to do with it?

I expected that you've meant a gui install or smth, that's windows.

If you'll explain, I'll help you bash windows.

Didn't use it for ten years tho, maybe that's why I don't understand.

@retoor Nah, there's also NuGet and Chotolatey on windows which are kinda the same idea to Snap or Flatpack

there's also the normal Windows Store (I think it uses NuGet in the backend but not sure) Which makes it pretty similar to any GUI app manager on Linux, like Discover

The only analogy that I think windows is missing is AppImage. Those are similar to Apples DMG packages. I don't know of a windows pre-packaged app format. Maybe there is something? not sure

It's not something super related to Linux only, though it's most obvious on Linux because you'll end up using Snap or Flatpack way more for anything that's outdated on Apt/Rpm

@retoor

Not a rant about the formats, but the sources.

I just realized that one of my oldest arguments pro Linux is not really true anymore. Repositories.

In the past, you wanted vlc on Windows. So you go to vlc.com and download it. Except, that page was a fake. Then vlc.org. Also a fake. Oh, the right page is videolan.org.

Linux, I proclaimed 20 years ago, is better. It has a repository. I do not need to find ways to avoid being duped by fake website. Back when I was working for Apple Care, I adviced customers that asked me how to avoid fake website for the application to go to Wikipedia and follow the original website link.

And now I realized, with all the stores, which some are quite outdated or have unofficial builds... If some flatpak, nix, aur package, whatever... I need to go to the original website/github to figure out what they build it for. What they support.

And we went full circle. Wasn't true for a while. Noticed it now.

@Hazarth ah ok. For me the only difference from my experience is command line or gui install. I did not think about outdated apps in stores in comparison to official releases and didn't know that windows store is out of date like that. Wasn't Linux first with a store making windows becoming more like Linux instead when it comes to an outdated package manager?

I would say, in this regard, Linux sucked first. Poor penguin 😕

@retoor As far as I know yes, linux had package managers first and windows bought into it later.

Though NuGet was available really early with Visual Studio, I remember installing additional dependencies with NuGet back in 2015, but apparently NuGet was released as far as 2010. To my knowledge that was the first official package manager for windows.

I didn't mean to imply that Windows Store apps are out-of-date. I mean that linux APT or RPM package managers often have out of date packages, which is why something like Snap or Flatpack comes in handy, as they usually carry official stable releases of apps and libs as well as bleeding edge stuff :D

@TrayKnots ah ok, clear. A while ago I needed a windows app for daddii and every download source was spammy and I kinda trusted none of them. Also couldn't find original source of that app to do download indeed. It was a hell. I never see ads normally because I build a lot from source and many open source project pages are still spam free.

If Linux apps would become like that regarding Windows, it would be so, so sad. It will also be the end of virus free Linux I guess if it gets that commercial and bad.

@Hazarth I understand now what's going on, he just explained. I did a lot of assumptions.

@TrayKnots althought. you could make the argument that since you can install "snap" and "flatpak" via apt/rpm you can still get the source security, because the official distro repo is a trusted source, and then snap and flatpak become trusted sources via being installed by the official repo in the first place.

I can't talk to the reliability of the content on snap and flatpak though, but at least for stuff like VLC or similar, you're unlikely to get anything dangerous, as they are officially maintained

@Hazarth

True. But I now have to find the original website.

And that often enough has a custom archive for apt or dnf. Those can only be as save as the website from which I get the key hash.

And without that, you often get outdated versions. That includes snap and flatpak.

Just saying, website/github roundtrips are now required.

I recall a glorious past in which I just did an apt-cache search.

@TrayKnots Yeah that's why I stuck with stuff that supports aur (is it on aur ok, otherwise skip)

Ummm

dnf/emerge/pacman/apt/flatpak(/etc') search [Software Name]

sudo dnf/emerge/pacman/apt/flatpak(/etc') install [Package Name]

95% of the times...

winget is a game changer on windows.

@SoldierOfCode

95% has any of them any version or 95% do you find like this the latest version? Because, in my experience, outdated code is very often there.