[bt-devel] Some thoughts...

[Males Tomlinson]

Brad,
Hi, I don't know what linux distribution you are using, but
the desired userfriendly front ends you are looking for are
already in use for quite some time. I use mandrake linux
9.2(the best and userfriendly by far in my opinion).

When downloading your software you get 2 types of
downloads: 
The one is a source code which you must first compile and
then install (as you described). 
The second is a binary package. In windows you get a
setup.exe in linux you get diffrent install packages for
diffrent linux distributions (they will state on the
download site what file to download for what linux dist).
The file extentions for install packages are .rpm and .deb.
Mandrake linux has a very user friendly installer called
"urpmi". Usually a mandrake rpm package has a ".mdk.rpm"
extention (mdk stands for mandrake). Basically all you do
is click on the downloaded package and the installer does
the rest. And just for the cherry on top, NO CLICKING NEXT,
NEXT, NEXT, NEXT, as in windows! It automatically creates
all the icons and menu entries. Oh yes it can be done :)!

And if you are fedup with bibletime and want to uninstall
it, all you do is go to "remove packages" and 3 clicks
later it's gone :)

The binaries are on the bibletime website.

Bottomline:
If you don't have mandrake linux, get it. If you have
another dist... delete it (now I have less friends :)

Anyway, linux has all that you asked for and more, you just
need to get the right dist and know what goes where.

Enjoy,
Males

On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 22:06:21 +1000
 Brad <bibletime@capstone.net.au> wrote:
> As a committed Christian, while I am supportive of what
> you are doing in trying to create some Bible software for
> Linux, I find that the install process is "typically
> Linux" ie there are 101 traps for the unwary, there are
> little quirks that need to be overcome, and documentation
> is cryptic at best for a newbie.
> 
> In most Windows installations, the user gets a single
> executable that they double-click on and it does
> everything necessary to get the software working.
> Sometimes there may be an additional package, but mostly
> it all gets wrapped up in one installer and "just works".
> So many times I have tried to install a Linux package and
> then had to manually edit configuration files, ensure
> that such and such a utility or library is installed,
> some other setting is set correctly etc etc etc. This is
> very often way beyond the skills of a standard user, and
> hence Windows is the platform of choice for many.
> 
> While I do understand some of the complexities of Linux,
> I do feel that many of these mundane tasks like editing
> config files etc could be automated and not require user
> input to get the system working. For example, would it be
> possible to bundle Sword with Bibletime, so everything
> gets installed together? And for the standard Linux
> install, why:
> 
> *./configure --prefix=<your KDE directory>*
> *make*
> *make install*
> 					
> 
> Would it be so difficult to run these in a script and
> wrap it in a GUI icon? One that would prompt you for a
> root password if required and then your desired install
> directory and let you browse for it? And a pretty
> progress bar? Surely this is pretty basic stuff compared
> to the complexity of Bibletime itself. And would it be so
> difficult for the installer to check to see if all the
> required libraries or any other requirements are present,
> and then prompt for locations for the missing ones? Or
> better still, have an intelligent installer that had
> everyting required to get it to run and just supplied the
> components that were missing?
> 
> As the majority of the world of computer users is
> familiar with a point-and-click GUI, it seems amazing to
> me that you still insist that users go back to an arcane
> CIF and TYPE COMMANDS IN. This is VERY FOREIGN for
> Windows or new Linux users.
> 
> I have been working professionally with computers since
> 1983 and with Linux since 1997, and I have not been able
> to easily get it to work. What chance a Windows-only user
> who wants to try Linux?
> 
> It is exciting that Novell and Sun have seriously entered
> the desktop Linux space, as we may at last see a push
> (read: competition) for a user-friendly experience. Even
> Red Hat have now agreed to try and develop a Linux
> desktop. It's amazing what a little competition can do!
> :-)
> 
> And I think that I can safely say that very soon
> installation procedures like the one above will have no
> place in a modern Linux distribution.
> 
> Is this food for thought, or do you feel that with Linux
> we will always try and force users to use the CIF and try
> and find the missing software components on the WWW by
> themselves?
> 
> Regards,
> Brad
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