These apps look very nice, I am happy to see this movement. But this is HN so ... allow me to go a bit off topic and complain.
Why is is so freaking hard to install an app on Linux (Ubuntu)? There's nothing in the software center, and when I find an app I want I am just pointed to a .tar.gz or something. I want a file I can double-click and end up with a launchable icon representing that app in my dock later. I would also like to be able to update that app easily in the future. I have yet to have this experience with an app I wanted despite using Ubuntu for years.
This is why I have given up and just started using Windows with WSL. Then I can have all the command-line tools I like and also a sane app installation experience.
> Why is is so freaking hard to install an app on Linux (Ubuntu)? There's nothing in the software center
If I may also be opinionated… :)
IMO Ubuntu is not very good at curating their repo and presenting it in their Software centre.
GNOME Software is designed to only show graphical desktop apps that include enough metadata. Ubuntu modifies their version of Software to also show non-graphical apps, (including anything packaged as a Snap).
Fedora doesn't make this modification and as a result, Software has less stuff, but a greater wheat to chaff ratio.
Fedora's repos are almost as full of stuff as Ubuntu's, and that's still available through the command line for those who want it; but the more-prominent user experience is less frustrating.
Ubuntu is catering for IoT developers who want to use technical Snaps easily, which is fair enough, but not my use-case. Fedora is catering for a more general-purpose workstation OS, which is my use-case.
> I want a file I can double-click and end up with a launchable icon representing that app in my dock later. I would also like to be able to update that app easily in the future.
A .flatpakref file and GNOME Software does that. This works on pretty much every distro except Ubuntu :) because Ubuntu's modified version of Software doesn't include flatpak support.
In Fedora, I can open a .flatpakref file, which opens Software showing the app's details; I click Install; I have a launcher in the app grid. Software updates the app automatically in the background (unless I switch that off in its preferences).
I'm not saying that Ubuntu is bad here! I'm saying it's coffee; Fedora is tea; I prefer tea, and maybe you would too :)
Do you know how to use apt? [0] It sounds like you're trying to install software the windows way (download from a website and run).
Some software is distributed as source only, but it's super rare for anything remotely popular to not be packaged (although you might have to add a PPA).
outdated packages are the problem of the distro, not of the tool.
the whole reason I went from windows -> linux was because I could just type in what I want, rather than having to go looking around for dumb things on sites that no longer exist.
That installs a binary tool I can run at the command line. Which is great for a lot of things. It's not great for a web browser or a calculator.
I want an app. I want it to have an icon I can click on and a button to close it. I don't want logs in my terminal or zombie processes and I don't want to have to remember the name/path of a binary.
> > what's wrong with the ol' "sudo apt install foo"
> That installs a binary tool I can run at the command line. […] It's not great for a web browser or a calculator.
You're wrong about that. A package manager installs any type of software, the user interface of the software (command-line or GUI) is irrelevant. For example, chromium and kcalc: `apt install chromium kcalc`
> That installs a binary tool I can run at the command line
No, that install an application in general. You choose to run it from the command line. If you want to just turn your terminal into the application, `exec firefox`. Most window managers provide a way to run an application standalone via some shortcut. On i3 it is Win+D for example.
`apt` can install everything you can find in the graphical Software Center and more, and with the exact same results (like icons to click on).
If it's not available in `apt` repositories there's a pretty good chance you can install it with flatpak, which does roughly the same but is distro-independent. Graphical non-free software like Skype is easy to install with flatpak and "just works" in my experience.
What apps are you having to do this with? I've yet to have an app that I couldn't either get through apt or as an AppImage which definitely has that experience of double click and go when you have AppImageLauncher installed.
AppImage does seem promising although I tried it the other day for Electrum (bitcoin wallet) and it was a mess. I was not able to double-click to launch and once I closed the app I was never able to launch it again. Maybe I'll give it another try?
Why is is so freaking hard to install an app on Linux (Ubuntu)? There's nothing in the software center, and when I find an app I want I am just pointed to a .tar.gz or something. I want a file I can double-click and end up with a launchable icon representing that app in my dock later. I would also like to be able to update that app easily in the future. I have yet to have this experience with an app I wanted despite using Ubuntu for years.
This is why I have given up and just started using Windows with WSL. Then I can have all the command-line tools I like and also a sane app installation experience.