Linux Myth: Installing “Third Party” Software is “Hard”

Not if the “third party” software is designed to install on Linux easily.

For this rebuttal we will forget the fact that almost all software in a Linux distribution is “third party”. I believe what those who claim to detest Linux really mean by “third party” are non-free applications from closed source developers and some few FOSS projects not included with major Linux distributions. Surely they do not mean installing on Mandriva some helper application designed on and for Ubuntu. Or certainly they do not mean installing applications that would typically be done by a company’s technical support personnel, like maybe LedgerSMB for business accounting. That would be silly.

Assuredly the Loathers of Linux do not intend to suggest software designed for the Microsoft platforms here. I for one am a firm believer that if you, the user, must have a software application designed for Microsoft platforms that is not also available natively on Linux then stick with Microsoft for that application. Do not try to shoe-horn “Windows” applications onto Linux using WINE unless you really do have a desire to learn, time and patience. Also, be willing to admit it just will not work in some cases. If one truly wants to use Linux and wants an application designed on and for Microsoft platforms then use both operating systems, maybe with a virtual machine for running a Microsoft operating system on your Linux system. Then contact those proprietary software developers letting them know you are looking for a Linux version of their application.

Edit Thu Aug 14 18:21:26 UTC 2008: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has an article about using Crossover Office to run Windows applications. Crossover Office is not free but for those who want Linux and want to run some Windows applications it is less expensive than the average, off the shelf Microsoft license. This will offer a better experience for the non-technical user if he wants to attempt to run Windows applications under WINE instead of using a virtual machine or multi-booting. Windows apps on Linux the CrossOver way.

The problem with “third party” software is not Linux, it is the offerings from some software developers that do not take into account the fact there are non-technical users that want to install their stuff on Linux. The vast majority of non-geeks will freeze up and balk at the idea of downloading a *.tar.gz, uncompressing it, making sure all the development libraries are in place, then running ./configure + make + make install. After that having to perhaps figure out how to place the resulting application in a menu can be overwhelming to a new user. Happily, the vast majority of Linux software on major Linux distributions is just a point and click away for installation.

I am aware that one is unlikely to get the source for proprietary software to build in this manner. However, there are FOSS projects that are not included in major Linux distributions and do not offer an easy way to install their software for the non-technical user. Is this a problem with Linux? No. Is this a problem with these particular projects? Yes. This is where developers that Do It Right should be an example to emulate for the Linux developer community. Many of these Do It Right developers are working within the various Linux distributions, like Mandriva and Ubuntu, to make installing software painless. But “third party” proprietary developers are less likely to be working this way. Even in those cases, some “get it”.

One “third party” proprietary developer that Does It Right is Adobe. I do not believe anyone can claim that Adobe is primarily a FOSS developer, thus Adobe is most definitely “third party”. This video shows how one can easily install the “third party” application Adobe Reader on Mandriva Linux. Again, I am using the fluxbox window manager which does not auto-magically update its’ menus like KDE and Gnome can. Again, I use a command to update the menus which is non-typical for most KDE and Gnome users. Since I have the “kdebase-common” packages installed on Mandriva an entry is already included for adding Adobe’s Reader to the menus if one runs a command to update the menus. Watch the video and see how “hard” this is:

OGG Video – Myth, Third Party Software is Hard to Install
1280×1024 resolution, 22,495,989 bytes, 00:04:28 in length.
Download this and use a video player capable of OGG Theora format to view this.

Flash Video – Myth, Third Party Software is Hard to Install
800×600 resolution, 9,992,556 bytes, 00:04:28 in length.
Download this and use a video player capable of Flash format to view this.

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