GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 711638
Support command line applications (and other packages)
Last modified: 2016-02-20 20:43:06 UTC
When users search for packages they know are available in the repository and GNOME Software returns nothing, it is unclear why and causes user confusion https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/devel/2013-November/191731.html It might be better to show command line apps and other distro packages if there is an explicit search for say Mutt or even opensh. Returning nothing is unhelpful for reasons outlined at https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/devel/2013-November/191739.html. Forcing users to use yum for packages that don't include a desktop files means that I have to use distro specific tools like yum and I don't get the benefits that GNOME Software. If I want to choose between say tmux and screen and want to do it based on reviews shown by GNOME software since it is filtering out those packages. Thank you for your consideration.
I've been thinking about this too. For instance, software like rtorrent/htop/screen/iotop/mc that need to be run from the terminal can't be installed by gnome-software at the moment. These aren't just packages, they certainly are applications. I haven't thought about it too much, but right off the top of my head we could maybe add a <type="terminal"> tag to the appdata specification if it doesn't have a way of doing this yet. The application will show up in gnome-software and have a "Runs in a terminal" icon/message next to it. I understand that gnome-shell/$DE can't launch such software since they lack desktop files, but the user can be intimated about this in gnome-software: when the mouse hovers over the terminal icon suggested above, we could display a message that says "This application needs to be run in a terminal" (I'm not sure if `gnome-terminal -x application-binary` runs in all cases, and if it creates new tabs in an existing terminal or creates new terminal windows etc.) Even a switch in preferences that says "Show terminal applications [ON|OFF]" would be fine I think. This would let a user decide what list of applications he wants. This doesn't change gnome-software's goal of providing an easy way of installing *applications*. I don't think services like sshd should make into gnome-software. An ssh client application (gui/terminal), sure, the server, no. The idea isn't to let users install *everything*. That would make it another yum front end; it's to let users install applications. For services and other software, one needs to use an advanced tool like yum/yumex.
I think this very much needs design attention. I'm really sure we don't want any kind of [x] toggle to control this, and I'm pretty sure that applications installed by gnome-software should always be runnable by the shell.
I see the following options: a) Work on making gpk-application more reliable and encourage distros to install it by default alongside gnome-software. Kubuntu has separate package and application installers: it's somewhat confusing that there's two different places to go to install software, but it works fine for them. b) Support installing packages in gnome-software. Ubuntu does this with Ubuntu Software Center. I personally think this is least-confusing, and I'm confident the designers can find a way to handle this elegantly. c) Status quo, send users to the commandline to install the software they need. Any other options? Can we at least agree that we want some GNOME-provided graphical method for installing all packages?
(In reply to comment #3) > b) Support installing packages in gnome-software. Ubuntu does this with Ubuntu > Software Center. I personally think this is least-confusing, and I'm confident > the designers can find a way to handle this elegantly. I don't think the way USC does this is in the least bit elegant. > c) Status quo, send users to the commandline to install the software they need. I think that's fine, no? Richard.
> I don't think the way USC does this is in the least bit elegant. I agree. (In reply to comment #4) > > c) Status quo, send users to the commandline to install the software they need. > > I think that's fine, no? I think that is by far the worst solution. Users should not have to use the command line for everyday tasks....
Allan, what say you?
I say that NEEDINFO should only be used against bug reporters, but you are free to use the assignee field. :)
Upon running Software for the first time, one sees the message "Software lets you install all the software you need, all from one place." Clearly that is not the case as long as Software does not permit searching for and installing any package in the enabled repositories. At the very least, please consider adding a dconf option to "include all packages" for advanced users. It is very inconvenient to have to drop to the shell each time I want to install something that doesn't show up in Software.
I would suggest to change the wording of the message to "...all the applications..." to avoid giving a wrong impression.
(In reply to Richard Hughes from comment #2) > and I'm pretty sure that > applications installed by gnome-software should always be runnable by the > shell. I agree. I think only some "terminal applications" can be installable from gnome-software. For example, some packages as dependencies (eg. gtk-murrine-engine) should not appear in gnome-software (perhaps as complements or recommended packages). Besides indicating that an application is to use in terminal/console, giving the user the opportunity to create a desktop launcher, from the same interface (button?). I also think good idea to enable advanced options in gnome-software, which allows users non skill at using terminal, install specific packages, like yum extender/synaptic. Cheers
*** Bug 755137 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
It is not strictly command line applications which GNOME Software hides. There are some graphical applications that can be launched from the shell once they are installed yet GNOME Software will not display them due to its restrictive filtering. Two such examples are cycle (a menstrual cycle tracking program) and jpilot (a desktop organizer application for the Palm Pilot). Fedora 22 ships both of these in its repository yet neither can be installed via GNOME Software. That means that a novice user who wishes to use either of these graphical applications must either install them from a command line or install another graphical package manager that does not hide them. Or worse, the novice user cannot even discover them in the first place.
(In reply to Jonathon Conte from comment #12) > > Two such examples are cycle (a menstrual cycle tracking program) and jpilot > (a desktop organizer application for the Palm Pilot). Hello. I am a user but I have a doubt. Could you check on the website of the projects, if developers support appdata? If not, they will not work in gnome-software. For these cases we have to encourage developers to include this file in order to be used properly in the software manager. See: http://people.freedesktop.org/~hughsient/appdata/ cheers
(In reply to Jonathon Conte from comment #12) > Two such examples are cycle and jpilot As I've said a few times before, these need to ship AppData file either upstream or downstream before they'll appear. I'm not going to make exceptions for these considering 1300 other projects have decided it's a good idea to ship AppData files.