• bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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    1 day ago

    For Linux, you find out if there is a package. If not you go to a website and see if there is an app image or zip file. You then need to know where to place the downloaded file, how to get it running (making it executable), knowing how to chmod and chown (it is better to have to do it like in Linux, but it is an extra step), and how to add it to your desktop (there is no right+click and add to desktop/create shortcut option in Arch based distros like there is on Windows). If there is a service component you may need to go into command line and systemctl to enable it.

    I don’t think I’ve ever followed that workflow to be honest. Except for when doing something niche and way above and beyond something a casual user would do.

    Open the software center, search what you want. Click install. Done. I use the terminal to the same effect but that’s by preference. Installing packages as you described is not at all recommended… They won’t update with the system.

    The “add to desktop” thing really depends on your Desktop Environment too. GNOME not really, KDE and most others yeah.

    • hraegsvelmir@ani.social
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      19 minutes ago

      I don’t think I’ve ever followed that workflow to be honest. Except for when doing something niche and way above and beyond something a casual user would do.

      I don’t think I’ve ever actually done that after maybe 2010. Package managers are awesome, and package availability is better than ever. Linux has improved massively in this regard since then, but its reputation still seems to be stuck in the “Well, if you’re serious about using Linux, you’re wasting your time with Ubuntu. You should install Gentoo and build everything yourself!” era.

      Even on the odd occasion that I’m unable to find something in the repos, I’d sooner just find the project’s git repo, clone it and build it. Most of the time now, they have some sort of automated helper script that will build and install the package for you, and when they don’t, you’ve gone way off the beaten path and left behind any semblance of pretending to be an average user. But, hey, at least make isn’t a terribly difficult command to use.