Update is a many-splintered thing
A recent post in the p2-dev@eclipse.org mailing list got me thinking about the use cases for different ways to install software. Considering that the Linux world has this solved (and then some!) let’s look at the different ways I can update my recently repurposed xubuntu 8.04 laptop. Bear in mind this is without installing OTHER tools, just the ones that come OOTB with an xubuntu installation. (Yes, there are other choices too. Fedora has its tools, gentoo has its solution, etc.)
1. apt-cache: a commandline tool for querying the repositories for available packages, versions, and details.
2. apt-get: a commandline tool for installing/removing packages.
3. Adept Manager: a GUI tool to query the repos for available packages & to install/remove them.
4. Synaptic Package Manager: a more refined GUI tool to query the repos for available packages & to install/remove them.
5. Add/Remove Applications…: an application to ease Windows users into package management, for coarse-grained installation and/or groups of packages
6. Update Manager: a task tray resident application that monitors the repositories for updates and alerts users about available updates, also to ease Windows users into the Linux experience
So, do we need all of these? Perhaps not all 6, but linux distros are still trying to sort out their target audience, so they often include more tools that you need.
Sure, you can manage updates with apt-get, Synaptic, or Adept, but the Update Manager is smaller and more end-user focused.
Sure, you can install everything in Add/Remove Applications… with the tools above it, but Add/Remove Applications… is friendlier.
Personally, I use apt-get/apt-cache (if I more or less know what I want to install), Synaptic (if I want to browse for something new or install something with many dependencies), and Update (if I just want patches/security updates), because different tools are suited to different needs.
You can remove a screw with a coin, or hammer in a nail with a shoe, but there are better-suited tools for those tasks.
Similarly, Eclipse 3.4’s Equinox p2 includes 4 tools for provisioning:
- an end-user Update UI, for easily updating your Eclipse folder,
- an Admin UI (or Agent), for creating shared or reusable install folders,
- an Installer, for doing shared product installs, and
- a Director, for headless (no GUI) installs/updates.
Do we need all 4? Try them and decide for yourself. Like with Debian/Ubuntu installers, there’s bound to be some overlap. But each serves a purpose by itself, and does so with as little installation overhead as possible.
Could things be merged? Perhaps, if p2 wanted to follow the hierarchical model of Synaptic building on apt-get, and Add/Remove Applications… & Update Manager building on Synaptic. There are certainly places to simplify the UI experience. What would you do?
Voice your opinion here, or in the mailing list. Better yet, write a patch and submit it!
Posted September 3rd, 2008 by in category: p2, process, update manager, usability, workflow
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2 Responses to “Update is a many-splintered thing”
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koalillo@fastmail.fm Says:
September 4th, 2008 at 03:20 pm
I’ve always wondered how difficult it would be to write a small tool to turn OSGi packages into .deb dpkg packages and a small tool to generate apt repositories for them.
Being able to apt-get install eclipse eclipse-jdt eclipse-pdt, using Debian’s apt tools, through my handy apt proxy would rock.
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