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(Rant) Linux really needs to do a better job with package management... (lemmy.zip)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.world
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A sample journey when trying to install software:

  • Try your distros repos, it’s either not there or an older version
  • Oh wait, you need to add their repo to your list and try again
  • Actually, they don’t have a repo, but you can install this deb/rpm from their site
  • Nevermind, it actually needs to be installed with pip to get the latest version
  • Or wait, it was actually a rust package and needs cargo
  • Well, this package is available as a snap
  • Screw it, I’ll just build it from source…. Except the dependencies I need take me through the entire journey again

It’s crazy with a large package like mesa. It uses meson, which requires it be installed via pip, and also needs rust which is best installed via a snap, but then there are dependencies it needs that require multiple paths…

On Windows: find the msi or exe and be done with it.

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[–] 19 points 6 months ago

That's not a Linux problem, that's a software problem.

When a version of a distro is cut, they will select the most stable versions of software they bundle. That could well be a year old.

But if the software vendor only wants to package a snap your out of luck getting an rpm/deb, that's not something a distro will change.

I to find it amazing that when some bit of software wants to make a release they could pick any number of options. The distro package manager is there to make sure all the depends are installed, why pick and option that changes thet

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