[TriLUG] Automatix, Ubuntu, & Linux in General
Scott Chilcote
scottchilcote at earthlink.net
Tue Aug 7 09:50:11 EDT 2007
Hi Folks,
Last week this article came out about how bad Automatix is, according to
the Ubuntu Technical Board, for Ubuntu:
http://mjg59.livejournal.com/77440.html
I was quite disappointed by this finding. Not because Automatix seems
like a bad idea - I feel just the opposite about that. I'm upset
because it was written poorly and does not use sound package management
to leave the system in a consistently upgradeable state.
Reading the comments in the subsequent slashdot article, I was surprised
to see dozens of people asking "Would someone please tell me why he or
she needs Automatix?" How can they not understand?
These same people asserted in various ways that there are other
installers that can be used to download and install the same software.
They assumed that newbies were attracted to Automatix because they don't
know any better. I have difficulty believing that anyone could be that
obtuse.
For those who haven't seen or used Automatix, what it does is aggregate
the most frequently sought after programs, codecs, utilities, and other
files of interest that people want soon after installing Ubuntu. It
wraps them in a very simple mini-installer. It was developed in part
because users were overwhelming various Ubuntu forums asking for these
packages.
When I first heard about Automatix and took a look at it, it was like
finding a small box of chocolates. It was a little chunk of Christmas
morning. And I've been using Linux since the kernel 0.99,
box-of-floppies days. I found at least five toys that I had never
gotten around to trying, and a few more items I'd never heard of - like
an IDE for C++. And that's how I make my living.
As much as I like Ubuntu, there are a few things that seem deranged -
like the fact that they include vim, but it's a crippled version that
doesn't support syntax highlighting. How many people are going to
actively seek out an improved version of "vi" on their machine, but not
want the improvements it was made to provide? Automatix goes a long way
towards filling in such gaps.
I think that Automatix serves a very significant need, that is for the
most part overlooked in the Linux community. Now that it has become
something close to "easy" to take a CD with Ubuntu and install it on a
PC, it's time to start looking at what happens right after someone
finishes that installation. I'm not just talking about new users,
either, although they are the biggest risk. Because if they don't know
what to do next, and what to look for - a lot of them are going to
become confused and/or lose interest.
In this sense, Automatix is like a welcome wagon. It's a basket full of
"here's what a lot of people in your situation ask for" on the front
doorstep. It's a list of names of programs and other packages, and an
explanation of what they do. And it has a button that says "install".
In fact, I'd go one further. It's not fair to imply that Ubuntu is
missing a lot of what people want without pointing out that it provides
much more than it lacks. But unless you diligently go through all of
the menus and directories and try out the programs it provides, you're
not going to be aware of what's already there. Ubuntu and the other
distros could really, really use a built-in quick start guide!
There's a suggestion of this when you open up Firefox and see the
introductory screen, but the information that's there is not of the type
that says "How do I send an email message?", "Where's google?" or "I
needed an instant messenger like ten minutes ago!" It doesn't do much
besides send you into the Ubuntu Forums.
I'm leaving out the issues of legality regarding the codecs in Automatix
intentionally, because it's a different subject. I was just struck by
the fact that Automatix was being slammed for all of the wrong reasons.
-=> How to find what you need <=- is one of the biggest things missing
from Linux distributions in general these days. It's not getting any
easier as the collective mass of software continues to grow. *Anything*
that helps point users in the right direction is valuable. What we need
is for it to be done better, and to have it sitting there as soon as the
system is installed.
This is one area where we kick Microsoft's butt. The crapware that
comes preinstalled on a Windows system is all there to get you to spend
money buying what didn't come with the OS. Install a Linux
distribution, and 98% of what you need is available for nothing. That's
a selling point Redmond can't touch. The essential component that's
missing is identifying what the user wants, and putting it in his or her
hands... With a minimum of hassle.
--
Scott C.
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