Linux Repository?

Installing on a given Linux distro couldn't be easier, a quick couple of clicks using a package manager and you've got whatever you want - if it's in your distro's repositories. That I see as a problem. It should not be the distro developer's responsibility to make a program work on its distro, it should be the program developer's responsibility to make his program work on a distro. If the Firefox devs, for example, were inundated with 5000 emails about it not working on Ubuntu, they'd either quickly fix the problem or quickly lose 5000 users, thus freeing the Ubuntu devs to focus on their OS, not other people's software. Granted, there is other people’s software in the Ubuntu OS, but…

So, what is needed is a central Linux Software Repository, used by all distros, where software developers could upload their software, and users could rate it, download it and/or request/buy it on cd. The repository would know what distros the software works with and users would know this too from their distro’s GUI (package manager). Users could request any software for their distro if it wasn’t already available – though it would be up to the software devs to do this – or some other kind, knowledgeable soul(s) to do it for the devs, perhaps even the distro devs. Users could flag uploaded programs as malicious and such software devs would be banned from uploading again. The Linux Repository would also be a store, with commercial software for any users that would like such software. The software would be back in the hands of its developers and all would be right with the universe again.

There is only one entity that I know of that might be able to achieve this though, and it's not Ubuntu, but Ubuntu could fork over some resources to The Linux Foundation for this, and encourage other distro’s to do the same. What do you think?

Disclaimer: I’m certainly not a Linux expert, but I don’t see any reason why this couldn’t work other than a lack of support for it to work. I mean, this repository would have to be quite “intelligent” and would be a considerable amount of work just to pull it together, not to mention changing package managers to work with this repository and getting it to accept commercial transactions and requests for cd’s of software and such – it’s a massive undertaking, no doubt. But, is it possible and is it worth it?

Been proposed before. The problem is that devs wouldn't agree on what the package manager should do, how it would be designed, etc. For example, some people like Debian's package manager dpkg/apt, which is what Ubuntu uses. Other people, like me, like Arch's package manager pacman/abs. I also like the UnionFS package manager, which is more minimal than either of the previous, but offers a larger flexibility on where you can store your programs. So trying to restrict all distros to one package manager is like trying to restrict all distros to one distro, and hoping it doesn't go down in flames.

alms66 said: It should not be the distro developer's responsibility to make a program work on its distro, it should be the program developer's responsibility to make his program work on a distro.

Why? If I create a distro, I make the choice to deviate from existing systems. I certainly wouldn't expect developers to give me special consideration just because I wanted to be different.

alms66 said:

If the Firefox devs, for example, were inundated with 5000 emails about it not working on Ubuntu, they'd either quickly fix the problem or quickly lose 5000 users, thus freeing the Ubuntu devs to focus on their OS, not other people's software. Granted, there is other people’s software in the Ubuntu OS, but…

Actually, Ubuntu is almost entirely made up of components without any relationship to Canonical. GNOME, OpenOffice, Firefox... the list goes on.

What else are the Ubuntu devs supposed to focus on? A distro is just a package made up of many different components designed to fit together and accomplish a goal.

cardinals_fan said: why? If i create a distro, i make the choice to deviate from existing systems. I certainly wouldn't expect developers to give me special consideration just because i wanted to be different.

Actually, ubuntu is almost entirely made up of components without any relationship to canonical. Gnome, openoffice, firefox... The list goes on.

What else are the ubuntu devs supposed to focus on? A distro is just a package made up of many different components designed to fit together and accomplish a goal.

+1