From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <000c01cacf39$729037a0$57b0a6e0$@com> References: <20100325114948.GA7249@polynum.com> <11721B64-8041-4D96-94E3-49472F941C38@fastmail.fm> <32d987d51003281236m7a890b0dkaf4de23191fa3d47@mail.gmail.com> <8AB033EC-13D4-4BD3-A70F-B9CE7D724238@fastmail.fm> <2653D5E1-ADDE-4351-8DE1-896D490DED68@fastmail.fm> <000b01cacf1f$3d25e570$b771b050$@com> <1E47E1C7-F15B-4295-9B7F-F1CFA96508AB@fastmail.fm> <000c01cacf39$729037a0$57b0a6e0$@com> Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:41:44 +0100 Message-ID: From: Connor Lane Smith To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Subject: Re: [9fans] Man pages for add-ons Topicbox-Message-UUID: f7964e90-ead5-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025 Hey, On 29 March 2010 13:14, Patrick Kelly wrote: > In my opinion, package managers are only a solution for systems that are > already a mess. I've said it before, I downright hate Windows, but it gets > by just fine without a package manager; Just install and uninstall > 'scripts'. Those scripts wouldn't even need to be necessary on Plan 9, or > any system that doesn't maliciously abuse a central configuration system. Installing a program on Windows tends to involve finding a webpage, downloading an (unsigned) binary, and executing it. It doesn't get by just fine: there's no difference between installing trustworthy software, and trojans etc. That's one of Windows' many security flaws. A package manager should, imo, just hget a url, confirm its origin with factotum, untar, and mk install. That's simple enough I think. It's more about the repository than the manager, really. I don't think Plan 9 needs a package manager in its current state (with contrib, etc), but I think systems with more software benefit from them. cls