advowson: This is your first mistake. Different Linux distributions cater to different types of users. Don't group all distributions together. You'll get conflicting answers that are all correct within their respective niches.
Most distributions are based on Debian with a few others based on niches based on things like arch. I stated this quite clearly in my original post. But anything based on Debain is going to inherit it’s weaknesses.
advowson: If you hate it that much, stay away. Don't waste your time forcing yourself to use a system you hate; don't waste the community's time trying to talk you into liking it.
I use it because I find it to be a far less frustrating system than anything else available to me. I don't push others to use it.
If the communities time was valuable this conversation wouldn't have derailed so suddenly. If these people were really enjoying their software so much, why are they struggling so hard to have a civil conversation. Because they have nothing better to do.
If Linux people kept to themselves I also wouldn't be posting threads like this, but they don’t.
advowson: This is where you go completely off the rails. First, as above, different distributions work differently. I'm not going to try to refute your individual vague complaints. If you restate them with specificity, I can try.
All distributions I’ve tried use package managers and indexes to install software. Since this is universal across all distributions I didn’t think it was necessary to be more specific. But for another example. If you download all the deb files needed to install a program for Linux Mint and try to install them in Ubuntu. They will not work. This is suckage and reminiscent of DRM practices that tie software to hardware.
advowson: No. If your package manager is at all competent, it can be instructed to download all the packages once, so you can install offline at a later point. People in countries with slow/unreliable Internet get very unhappy when that feature breaks.
They’re not competent (accept for Android’s APK system) That’s why there’s so many of them. I answered this in the above statement.
advowson: Moreover, you are again conflating the package manager of specific distributions with the general idea of "software installation on Linux." To be picky, Linux is just the kernel.
And you’re splitting hairs. I made it very clear in the original post that I’m talking about it’s desktop implantation and cited Mint and Ubuntu as primary examples.
advowson: This is at once both your most and least accurate point. It is most accurate in that, yes, some packages do break backward compatibility. It is least accurate in that no, Linux the kernel goes to amazing lengths not to break backward compatibility. Kernel breaks are permitted only when no other option is practical.
Again you’re talking about the kernel as if that’s meant to mean something. You don’t hear me talking about the NT kernel. Because by the end of the day if your games aren't working it doesn’t matter weather it’s due to the kernel or a package or lack of access to the repository. I want my games to work, not excuses.
advowson: If the source was released, then you can support it or find someone to support it for you.
Remastersys was open source and still deprecated.
advowson: How does this differ from Windows software?
I can still play games from 20 years ago on Win 10. Such as Abe's Oddysee nad Heart of Darkness. No patching or modding or anything. Just install the game enable direct play and slick the little icon and they work.
advowson: That sounds like something you should take up with Trine 2's maintainers. They should be using the standard system libraries, not requiring special versions. If they absolutely cannot use the standard libraries
There’s probebbly a reason they’ve packed it that way, but A it’s very common and B it’s more your problem then mine. As you said why should I use something I hate.
advowson: Then you retrieve them from the attic. Only truly rare things ever really die off the Internet.
I don’t know what that is some kind of archive for old deb files or something?
advowson: It does, because you completely misunderstand DRM. At no point have you posed a scenario where a Linux user needs to ask anyone for permission to run a program that is already functional. Every scenario you posed involves a program which is not yet functional that needs more pieces, yet somehow cannot get them.
I didn’t say it was DRM I said it was
like DRM. As in, it’s usage and implementation has the same consequence as DRM systems. Are you not reading my posts?
advowson: Linux distribution are actually better about this than any other system I've dealt with. It's a truly broken distribution that cannot handle installing from local media. You'll need to get into specifics about which distribution screwed this up.
They all do. Mint is the best one and it uses APT, which is still not as good as having something like a portable exe that you can use. I’ve gone ever this many times and I’m just repeating myself, read my other posts.
advowson: Where else do you expect to install from?
A local .exe .msi or an APK file for Android users. Why are you not getting this?
advowson: That doesn't make any sense. Android is notorious for being out of date and for shipping drivers that are not upstream. The latter makes it unnecessarily difficult to run current software on an Android device, assuming you can get past the obnoxious locked bootloader that the phone vendor installed.
If we judge based purely on popularity, then archaic versions of Windows are necessarily "better" than current because they are widely installed (and in some cases, will remain so due to operator preference). In the case of Windows 10 versus pre-Windows 10, the older ones probably are better, but that's only because Microsoft did such a horrible job with Windows 10. :)
Popularity absolutely has an affect not only on the availability of software but also the functionality of it. My phone is android just like everybody elses. That means I know how to use other android devices and other people know how to use mine. There’s more software support for it, and so on. Same for Windows. It’s like saying I know the best language in the world but only five people speak it. It’s a waist of time to learn it then wouldn’t you say.
