Thank Tux It's Friday? Or something. Here's a review of MX Linux 19.3 patito feo, tested in a triple-boot Windows and Linux configuration on a laptop with AMD processor and Vega graphics, covering live session, installation and post-install use, including partitioning, EFI setup, look and feel, ergonomics, customization, HD scaling, MX Tools, applications, software management, stability, hardware compatibility, performance, resource usage, battery life, some small issues, and more. Enjoy. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/mx-19-3.html Cheers, Mrk
No. There's MX Package Installer, accessible on the Whisker menu as soon as you open it, or under MX Tools; and it's one of the best application stores I've used. Again, in your conclusion (which is what many people will only read): I think you should partly rewrite your article Mrk.
Under that reasoning Synaptic is not an app store and yet you mention it and say (misleadingly) "you only have Synaptic". Mx Installer should be searchable from the menu, true, but then you should mention that and its existence.
I guess I didn't stay with Windows long enough to understand the concept of "app stores". So rather than a way to install any and all kinds of software available in the repos, you are looking for somewhere to buy apps? Thanks, but I prefer free and open source software when available, and if I do need some commercial software not available through an "app store" I'll go look for it just as I used to do on Windows. I'm especially not interested if an "app store" is something you have to register and log in to to use and download. I'm sure I must be missing something, or maybe I just don't enjoy shopping the way others do? Anyway as Joxx mentioned, you don't only have Synaptic, as you claimed.
First, there's no reason to get hung up on the concept of app store - but in what it's meant to do. Think software center if you like. Nerds do things cli - normies do things via gui. If you try to create a nerdy gui, you miss the point, because normies can't use that. And in essence, a single frontend that can provide you everything, sounds like a nice thing. Mrk
Given that I came from Windows I think I would be considered more "normie" than "nerdy". I appreciate the MX Package installer over Synaptic. I guess that's partly because I'm just "nerdy" enough to occasionally download things from the test repo, and not "nerdy" (if that means "smart") enough to disable the test repo when I'm done. The MX Package installer saves me from destroying my system, along with having everything in one place. I'm still confused that you mentioned Synaptic because it's not an "app store", but didn't mention MXPI because it's not an "app store", doesn't seem consistent.
It's not consistent, and MX Installer is not what I'd call nerdy. In fact it's part of what makes MX such a good Distro. Failing to mention it in a supposedly thorough review is a flaw.
Agreed. Maybe Mrk assumed it's simply just another name or front-end for Synaptic and didn't try it? I see his article has prompted discussion on the MX forum about whether it would help to rename it "MX Software Installer". Maybe other people are hung up on names too, like I am on "App Stores" which makes me think of a shopping center for appliances.
I'm still not understanding. How is MX Package Installer different from an app store, or a software center as you describe it later? What are you trying to search for, and from which menu? (MXPI is in the Whisker Menu, and you can search for software within MXPI). What do you think could be added to MXPI to make it better; more like your idea of an app store of software center?
How it's different - significantly. You need to look at it from the perspective of an ordinary user. At best, they can say software. At worst, it's an app. That's it. Now, I'd like to see Linux succeed in the desktop space, and that means 99% NOT-nerds. If MX (or for that matter), any distro wants to make any meaningful headway in this space, then it needs comprehensive product-like solutions. Having a half-nerdy half-friendly thing doesn't really work. It looks super-easy from nerd perspective, but it's impossible from the normies perspective. It's not what I am trying to search. I don't need any GUI. It's what a newbie would do if they wanted to install stuff. Think of it is as a product experience. You want to install software - something offers you a clear, simple way of searching existing catalogs of applications. Every application has appealing screenshots, distinctive descriptions, star rating, reviews. You can use them for free or pay for them. You can install and manage addons, plugins. You can integrate your existing software from other provides. You can backup and export your app list and port it over to a new computer. And so forth. Now, this is super-complicated and expensive. But it's the only way it will work for non-nerds. If anything, MX Tools or alike should be the center of the distro, but that means it takes over the Xfce bits too (it already partially does). MX does some things really well, but then you get big nerdy gaps in between. Preserving live session data = brilliant. Why not create something similar to backup existing data or settings and allow users to reuse MX in a new install? Package installer = okay. Why not have a guided wizard for users showing them MX Tools and its different bits and pieces, and connect and integrate different compontents? And so forth. Cheers! Mrk
