Ubuntu Software Center Review
Jono Bacon and Stuart ‘Aq’ Langridge take a look the Ubuntu Software Center and look at the good and bad points and what it poses for the future.
Of course, we are the very start of the conversation! What do you think? Do you like the Ubuntu Software Center? Does it do what you need it to do? Do you use something else which you think is better? Share your thoughts in the shot comments below…
16 Comments to “Ubuntu Software Center Review”
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The biggest problem that I had with Synaptic was the way that programs were categorised didn’t necessarily make sense to me. For example, QCAD (2D CAD software) is under “graphics”. While technically it does “draw” things, someone looking for CAD software would more likely be looking for a category like “engineering” (not that there is such a category). They would think of “graphics” as stuff for artists, not for engineers.
Something that would be nice would be the ability to install packages or filters that did nothing except create custom categories. For example, if you installed an “electrical engineering” category filter, it would create a new category (or department) which listed programs relevant to that field together with ratings and notes.
The category filters would be a community effort, not something that Ubuntu would generate. People (or groups of people) would create these filters and upload them to a repository where everyone else could access them. What Ubuntu would need to do then is to weed out the duplicates so that the top 100 spots aren’t all occupied by more or less identical “multimedia workstation” filters.
What this would do that existing categories or departments don’t is that it would let members of the community provide broad recommendations for groups of related packages based on their own experience in their field of endeavour. That would avoid the problems inherent in “one size fits all” categorisation.
Well I cant see why synaptic is still included anymore it is just really bad. The problems I see with the software center is sometimes the search feels really rigid and particular. Id like a looser search that you can miss-spell words and leave out bits of words..etc.
The only thing im excited about is having proper commercial software in the software center which it is coming but there arent any details on what the distribution costs are or terms..etc. I just think its the next step we have to take. Selling software and distribution of software is a big thing and we can and should do it better than everyone else.
I do like the software centre and have started using it more. I think it’s a good step forward. The stuff about long lists of things reminded me of the System->Preferences menu, why is it so long? Even when I know what I’m looking for I find it hard to see it in such a long list. Perhaps there could also be an Ubuntu Administration and Preferences Centre, one could even (god forbid) call it the Ubuntu Control Panel.
mg, Ubuntu Software Center has a “Science & Engineering” department, and almost all Ubuntu’s CAD programs are located there. I think Qcad is not only because of a problem with the Qcad package — it would be goood if someone could fix it! The recommendation lists you mention are something we have in mind for version 5 or thereabouts, though in version 3 we’ll start laying the technical groundwork by letting people publish their software inventory privately on their Ubuntu One account.
Shane Fagan, the main features in Synaptic still missing from the USC/Update-Manager combo are handling removable media (e.g. a DVD), showing and fixing broken packages, installing packages by task, reinstallation, complete removal (a là apt-get purge), locking/forcing a version, and showing detailed properties for a package. If you’d like to work on any of those, let me know. (But your Software Sources and Update Manager work is probably more important.;-)
software-center is a great new tool that makes adding apps really easy for people who are new to linux. i’m a big fan of the upcoming ‘history’ section, and would love to see a new feature that warns users if they’re installing an app that isn’t native to their default desktop (i.e. quanta, which pulls in kde base), as this can lead to a much larger install and more frequent updates (a concern for those on capped bandwidth or slower internet speeds), overall i come down strongly in favor of software-center, but there’s lots of room for new features and improvements.
I like software center for making big lists of applications into sensible lists of applications, but I wish it could better distinguish between libraries, codecs, command line applications, add-ons, and gui applications in a way that “non-technical users” can get what they want.
It’s really easy for a “non-technical user” to get a command line application or an add-on to an already installed application when they’re expecting a GUI application. For example in the case of 7zip, 7zip has a GUI in Windows, but in Linux it has a command line interface, it hooks into file roller. A “non-technical user” wouldn’t know that they need use a program like file roller or they need to use the terminal to extract their 7zip file when they’re used to using Windows.
Well I now use the Software Center instead of Synaptic which means its definitely better than Synaptic.
One really neat thing which I found out by an accident is you can actually close the Software Center while its installing an application and work on something. It still continues to install the app without needing it open/visible.
I really like the software center and I think that with the direction it is heading will just keep getting better. But one annoying thing with it is that each time it an app is installed or removed in the background, it disrupt your browsing by reloading the page you are on.
The catagorisation and rating system seem great ideas. I’d like to see the most popular ‘float’ to the top of the lists. What I’d really like to see is to be able to add links to reviews of software, especially comparative reviews. There should be an easy way for copyright holders to add a link to their reviews. For example, if I want a vector graphics editing program, ideally I’d like a short comparison of the apps. A link to a magazine article on that would be great. The links could be ordered by usefullness and should be dated, so way outdated review links could be removed – or greyed out. People could rate the reviews on how helpful/useful they find them. This would also allow everyone to see who provides the best reviews and would drive traffic to their site.
For example, Linux Format magazine does some great reviews which are currently available to subscribers only. LXF may want to allow users of the software centre to read these reviews, through which people would see the good quality of the writing and they would be bound to get more subscribers, especially when they’re reviews keep getting high ratings. A win, win! Jono – perhaps you would want to suggest this to canonical and LXF (I think you’ve heard of them
Interestingly, the latest leaks about Windows 8 suggest that a Windows ‘App store’ will be the main new feature, which could actually be great news for Ubuntu. Imagine how much easier consumers will find switching to Ubuntu if they have already used a centralised software fetching app.
nathan, I’ve specified how the size of a download should be shown, if anyone would like to implement it. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter#software-item-screen
pkpatel88, perhaps we could take advantage of File Roller’s current identity crisis http://launchpad.net/bugs/463284 to give it a name (and description) that makes it clearer that it can handle 7zip archives as well as many other types. Then it’s a matter of making sure it shows up in the right place in search results.
I still use Synaptic for software management, I don’t use the system update software, I manually update with Synaptic.
I like the Software Center, I use it occasionally but I’m not the biggest fan. I would like to see another interface when browsing for apps because the list is too long sometimes and it looks very bland and unpolished.
I’m very exited for the new features planned for the future, I hope it replaces Synaptic, System Update and Gdebi.
[...] Shot of Jaq discuss software center [...]
Mel, we’re not planning on merging Update Manager into Ubuntu Software Center — their use cases are too different. But we have a Google Summer of Code student working on incorporating Gdebi (among other things), and we’d love help with porting Synaptic’s remaining features.
Great work on Ubuntu software center, what I find interesting is that there is no real reason (technically) that this couldn’t have been done say – 8-10 years back from what I can tell.
a few developers should be able to do something like this easily within 6 months, Guess it needs buy in from a larger project too.
I always expected Windows Add/Remove programs to do something like this (even before being a linux user), and thought it pretty lame you could only add simple windows apps like solitaire.
So in some ways surprising its taken this long, nevertheless – great work.
Regarding synaptic, totally agree that the deluge of packages it throws at you is not ideal for the average user, however I think it would have helped a lot if there was a distinction between stuff you actually use and dependencies.
For libraries, drivers, game data packs, documentation bundles etc. could be filtered out so you end up with a list of things you would actually run, the rest will be installed automatic if needed.
PS, the blender icon is the software center looks about 16×16 pixels, We provide a nice SVG…. must look into nagging someone about this
Campbell, you’re right that this could have been done a decade ago. I proposed the idea in August 2005, but it took until 2009 to get the project started.
What was missing, and is still missing in a lot of open-source development, was vision — the ability to say “here’s something that needs doing, and here’s the design we’re going to follow”. We’ve been lucky with USC that we’ve been able to combine that with a bunch of awesome contributors who liked the idea and wanted to help out. Jono B also has experience of this, with Jokosher.