apps choice for Ubuntu and installation choices [Was: cross-platform virus]

[Alexander Jacob Tsykin]

On Friday 21 April 2006 23:24, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2006 at 09:41:21PM +1000, Alexander Jacob Tsykin wrote:
> > A home user most definitely does not need the Gimp. It is overkill, it
> > has far too many features, is hard to learn, and difficult to use.
>
> Are you suggesting an alternative?
>
kolourpaint for kde would be a good start. I don't use Gnome, but I'm sure 
there is something similar.
> > Gnucash would be useful to almost any body who owns their own business
>
> I personally use gnucash a great deal; however, I consider it far from an
> appropriate choice for the casual user.  The business-related features are
> especially incomplete at present.
>
better than nothing, because something is needed.
> > No multimedia apps need to be included in a business install because
> > chances are the user will need word processing, email, and web browsing
> > only.
>
> The web is, increasingly, a multimedia environment, as is email.
>
but considering that multimedia most definitely does not work "out of the 
box," there's no need to have useless applications installed by default.
> > A tool to convert measurements is useful for almost anybody.
> > A desktop choice for kids would be good. It could include mainly games,
> > some educational and some not.
>
> http://www.edubuntu.org/
>
doesn't really mesh with what I said. One which will not focus on education, 
but on entertainment generally, although educational games have their place.
> > Bittorrent most definitely does not need to be included by default. Only
> >  users with a fairly good understanding of computers have even heard of
> > it.
>
> They don't need to have heard of it; it provides a handler for .torrent
> files.  This allows hyperlinks to .torrent files in Firefox (including
> those popular for downloading Ubuntu CD images) to work.
>
not many people download torrents. Those that do, usually have enough know-how 
to install their own favourite torrent program.
> >  Gnash should be included in the base install, so that people aren't
> > forced to sue Macromedia's proprietary plugin, and it works for 64-bit
> > too. At the moment it is not even installable.
>
> We would be thrilled to have an open solution for flash, but none of the
> available options, including Gnash, is suitable at present.  Have you tried
> it?
>
I have used Gnash, it's not perfect, far from it, but a lot better than 
nothing.
> > The various printer drivers should not be installed by default. A user is
> >  very unlikely to use more than 2, and yet he has all of them. It is
> >  unnecessary.
>
> It is impossible to know in advance what kind of printer the user might
> have, or might purchase later (the printer won't arrive with a driver disc
> for Ubuntu).  Disk space is a trivial price to pay to have a wide range of
> hardware Just Work.
>
they don't work out of the box, you still have to configure them. It's not so 
much bother to install the packages first.

I am not attacking the Ubuntu developers here, if you look at the context, 
then my suggestion was to have multiple install options on the install disk. 
Like office, games, multimedia, whatever the developers think is needed and 
feasible. I merely presentend some features which a lot of people wouldn't 
use, which might belong in one category, but which maybe (I stress the maybe) 
don't belong in the general install.

Best of wishes,

Sasha