[plug] Easy Installation: Linux Desktop Market

[Richard Meyer]

On Wed, 2005-10-26 at 01:48 +0000, simon wrote:
> Leon Brooks (leon at cyberknights.com.au) wrote:
> 
> > The Windows way is to bundle every single dependency into the installer
> > program, which bloats them and leads directly to a multitude of
> > semi-compatible copies of the same thing floating around the machine,
> > with results you may well imagine (or observe, if you're not so
> > fortunate).
> >
> 
> Just so you know, when I explained the concept of libraries to my noob father
> he almost immediately said soemthing like this, but more from a perspective of
> 'I guess windows apps dont share many libraries because one company doesnt
> want to support another'. Its quite an eye opener to realise this - for most
> intents and purposes DLLs are completely useless in windows environment,
> beyond the system DLLs. You might as well statically compile your app.
> 
> He also said to me last night 'Windows is like buying a car and being told to
> shutup and drive. Linux is like buying a car and having the salesman hand you
> a full workshop manual'. Being technically minded, he prefers the latter :)
> Quite amazing to watch him take a few simple concepts and come up with ideas
> about 'how it should work', which more often than not are similar to the way
> it actually works. Last night he asked me how linux knows the difference
> between a file its allowed to execute (or as he put it 'convert from the HD to
> machine code'), and a data file like a document or something. He proposed
> there must be some distinguishing factor beyond the executable bits. I showed
> him 'file', and explained ELF to him. I imagine he's at home trying 'file' on
> lots of different files right now :)
> 
This is really heartening - I like people like that, who actually use
their brains, and try things out. If only more people were like that ...

-- 
Richard Meyer <meyerri at westnet.com.au>