Linux-like packaging system heads to Windows
Some people like the way the Synaptic package manager works in Linux with its ability to download and install updates for everything installed on the system, including the OS and its ability to download and install other applications with a single click.
That is provided you can actually get Linux installed in the first place. If you can, great, if not then Windows may be about to have a very similar (albeit by a third party) feature. WinLibre already has some applications listed and available on the package manager which will download and install anything that is available on their system.
WinLibre will have the ability to use both MSI installers and traditional exe packages, all with seamless integration. It will also be able to update any program installed when a new version becomes available, provided it was installed using WinLibre.
This could be just what Open Source Software really needs to make a fight of it on the Windows platform, not that it’s doing bad but it could be doing better.
I don’t exactly understand what the differences between the proposed features of WinLibre are and what the current feature set is, to me, it looks pretty much the same. Yes, it will even have a command line tool (which it is better off without, if you ask me).
WinLibre is currently available for Windows 98, 2000 and XP, no word on a version for Vista yet. WinLibre may not even be able to run on Vista due to its (somewhat) new and reworked code base.
There is even a version for Mac (MacLibre) which includes several very useful items like ClamXav (antivirus), NeoOffice, Abiward and well, everything any new Mac user needs to get off their feet. MacLibre supports one click update for any application it was used to install, for example, Firefox 1.5 will be updated to 2.0.x.x and so on.
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January 1st, 2008
“That is provided you can actually get Linux installed in the first place.”
Bitter, bitter. This feature in Linux is nothing short of outstanding. OSX doesn’t have it, If a Windows version somehow is kludged together it will be another security hole and break other software. 16,000 software packages on average are available in Linux and all will update themselves automatically, 99% without a reboot (did I hear something about MS hotfixes?). Want to find a program that serves a specific purpose? Search the package data base, click install. The software checks to see if it needs any other programs to run and installs it if needed. From then on Linux will check to see if that package has an update, and do it automatically. WinLibre is a faint shadow of this and will probably suffer some form of a “incompatibility” with open source. A third party will not be able to handle something this massive for Windows. Microsoft can’t do it, they can’t keep their own stuff from breaking.
http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/06/02/one-year-with-linux