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this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
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What I do to install software on my Linux PC:
Open the app store. Search. Click install. Done.
Updates are done through the same app store that I used to install it.
What I do to install software on my Windows PC:
Open my web browser. Search for the software. Pick the right website (with most software this is easy, for some software it's not immediately clear, be careful not to download from a dodgy site). Navigate to the downloads page. Pick 64-bit Windows (not Mac!). Press download. Open file explorer. Navigate to Downloads. Find the installer exe. Double click. Go through the installer. Press next/tick/untick options. Press finish. Go back to the file explorer, delete the installer exe. Go to my desktop, delete the shortcut it has added (I hate it how every installer seems to do this!)
Updates are either done when I open the app and it does a check, which is frustrating, when I open an app I want it to open, I don't want to see a prompt to update, OR through a separate updater app that runs at startup, making my PC sluggish at boot.
There are shortcomings in Linux, and there are things Windows does pretty well. It's funny that you picked the thing Linux is literally the best at hands down, and Windows is the worst at, hands down. It'd be like if you complained about MacOS not being visually consistent lol
You should have picked something that Linux is genuinely bad at, like HDR support or something.
E: pictures say a thousand words. Here's the difference:
Installing an app on Windows: https://imgur.com/a/QoLzZlk
Installing an app on Linux: https://imgur.com/a/prsi9ZW
Again, truly, I'm not here to say Windows is unusable and Linux is perfect, but of all the examples to praise windows and shit on Linux for, you chose software installation? Are you actually insane?? lmao
I'm sorry, but the "fragmentation" of Linux distros and the number of ways to install a program on Linux are also issues.
On Linux (or at least Ubuntu), you have to manage sources to install some programs, and that is WAY too complex for an end user. Fine, you can always use the CLI or search online, but then you run into fragmentation issues. "Why is there no Ubuntu download? Do I click the RPM one?"
On Windows, yes, it's more clicks on average, but it's a very consistent experience across all programs. You either open up the Microsoft Store, or you Google the name of the program you want and hit "next" until it's done. No managing sources and no deciding which file extension you need. The only issue would be deciding between 32 bit and 64 bit.
No, you search the store, pick the app, press install. The end user doesn't care or know whether the package manager is installing a flatpak or an RPM.
It's not like people installing Windows programs need to know whether the installer is an .exe or an .MSI file, they just know that pressing the installer they downloaded brings up an installer. They don't need to know about the low-level packaging fundamentals.
It's not just more clicks on average, it's more confusion, more prone to installing non-genuine software, and still fragmented. Do I install 32 bit? 64? Arm32? Arm64?
As for there are too many ways to install a program, what nonsense is that? You're not made to open the terminal, just as you are not made to open powershell and use Winget. You can literally use this exact same argument against windows, yet you aren't.
Look at the pictures I linked to. One is far easier than the other, and Windows isn't the easy one.