5
« on: 2011.09.07, 04:32:32 »
melf, your basic understanding of our idea is correct.
But I don't know what makes you think that we don't understand your concerns. The fact that we don't want to go the old way doesn't mean that we don't understand it (personally, I've been using OS/2 since 1993 and I had exactly the same concerns regarding RPM and FHS as you some time ago, even after getting some good Linux experience). What I want to say is that we are not able to provide quality software for the old OS/2 environment without changing it in some ways -- can it be more clear? Almost all system components in OS/2 are outdated, bogus and have limited functionality. This includes the base and the GUI libraries, the command line tools, CMD.EXE, the file system layout, config.sys and lots of other things. At some point this made the task of writing/porting the new software to OS/2 unmanageable. So, for us, the changes we are proposing are inevitable. You got it wrong. We didn't ask you about what file structure we should use on the boot drive and which installer framework we should port. What we are asking you about is this:
1. What are your most important concerns regarding RPM? We will listen and provide a solution, when possible, if it does not already exist.
2. How can we make this transition easier for you? We wish it to be as easy as possible for the end users.
3. What do you want to know about the upcoming changes? We are ready to help you and we want to give you understanding of things.
These are the current concerns we see, and our answers to them:
1. No GUI. -- Point taken, this is being worked on. Please, |yum install| until then.
2. No way to select the installation directory (imagine if the drive with UNIXROOT has no free space). -- Please believe us, you will not want to do that after getting used to RPM. Given the size and the price of modern hard disks, it is not a problem to just get a bigger one to fit all you need. We may also come with a solution to at least select the target drive later (when the GUI is done).
3. No way to select the installation directory (I want things to be sorted *my* way). -- Each end-user application provided by us will have a WPS object. You can move these WPS objects on the Desktop to sort things the way you like. See also 5. and 6.
4. I hate FHS. -- If you look at that carefully, it's just *two* new directories (/bin, /usr) in the root. /etc, /tmp, /var and /home don't count because they already exist in eCS (/etc and /tmp even exist in the original OS/2 under slightly different names). Two new directories is not that much, is it?
5. I hate application files spread across different directories. -- We know this is unusual for you. We agree that keeping all files in a single directory simplifies housekeeping, but this is not always possible on OS/2 due to some native limitations that we can't fix. And given that RPM always knows what files comprise the application no matter where they are, it does not actually make housekeeping (installing/uninstalling) more difficult in its case. If you are concerned about moving applications around for sorting purposes, see answers 2. and 3.
6. I not only want sorting, I also want to be able to quickly move the application to another machine. -- Let RPM do it. Given its knowledge about application files, it will be faster than you (and no removable medium is necessary).
7. I want to use the application on a machine where I have no Internet connection. -- Take its .rpm file. It is really easy to install the application from it w/o the Internet connection.
8. I want to backup my applications. -- All applications we provide are backed up on our servers. No need to backup them locally.
9. I don't want automatic software updates. -- RPM doesn't do that. It only behaves if you ask it to.
10. I want full manual control. -- We also provide ZIPs for all applications.
11. No transparency of things. -- Everything is transparent, it is a matter of learning a couple of RPM commands. Will not be necessary when the RPM GUI comes up.
12. You are ****. -- We love you too!
As you see, all your current concerns have or will have solutions. Yes, it requires you to slightly change your habits and to learn something new. But we sincerely believe this is for your own best and we will try to minimize the learning curve. Eventually, this will make your OS/2 life easier. And it will surely prolong the life of OS/2 itself.
CDRWSel, you are ignored.