[TriLUG] Automatix, Ubuntu, & Linux in General

Scott Chilcote scottchilcote at earthlink.net
Tue Aug 7 09:50:11 EDT 2007


Hi Folks,

Last week this article came out about how bad Automatix is, according to 
the Ubuntu Technical Board, for Ubuntu: 
http://mjg59.livejournal.com/77440.html

I was quite disappointed by this finding.  Not because Automatix seems 
like a bad idea - I feel just the opposite about that.  I'm upset 
because it was written poorly and does not use sound package management 
to leave the system in a consistently upgradeable state.

Reading the comments in the subsequent slashdot article, I was surprised 
to see dozens of people asking "Would someone please tell me why he or 
she needs Automatix?"  How can they not understand?

These same people asserted in various ways that there are other 
installers that can be used to download and install the same software. 
They assumed that newbies were attracted to Automatix because they don't 
know any better.  I have difficulty believing that anyone could be that 
obtuse.

For those who haven't seen or used Automatix, what it does is aggregate 
the most frequently sought after programs, codecs, utilities, and other 
files of interest that people want soon after installing Ubuntu.  It 
wraps them in a very simple mini-installer.  It was developed in part 
because users were overwhelming various Ubuntu forums asking for these 
packages.

When I first heard about Automatix and took a look at it, it was like 
finding a small box of chocolates.  It was a little chunk of Christmas 
morning.  And I've been using Linux since the kernel 0.99, 
box-of-floppies days.  I found at least five toys that I had never 
gotten around to trying, and a few more items I'd never heard of - like 
an IDE for C++. And that's how I make my living.

As much as I like Ubuntu, there are a few things that seem deranged - 
like the fact that they include vim, but it's a crippled version that 
doesn't support syntax highlighting.  How many people are going to 
actively seek out an improved version of "vi" on their machine, but not 
want the improvements it was made to provide?  Automatix goes a long way 
towards filling in such gaps.

I think that Automatix serves a very significant need, that is for the 
most part overlooked in the Linux community.  Now that it has become 
something close to "easy" to take a CD with Ubuntu and install it on a 
PC, it's time to start looking at what happens right after someone 
finishes that installation.  I'm not just talking about new users, 
either, although they are the biggest risk.  Because if they don't know 
what to do next, and what to look for - a lot of them are going to 
become confused and/or lose interest.

In this sense, Automatix is like a welcome wagon.  It's a basket full of 
"here's what a lot of people in your situation ask for" on the front 
doorstep.  It's a list of names of programs and other packages, and an 
explanation of what they do.  And it has a button that says "install".

In fact, I'd go one further.  It's not fair to imply that Ubuntu is 
missing a lot of what people want without pointing out that it provides 
much more than it lacks.  But unless you diligently go through all of 
the menus and directories and try out the programs it provides, you're 
not going to be aware of what's already there.  Ubuntu and the other 
distros could really, really use a built-in quick start guide!

There's a suggestion of this when you open up Firefox and see the 
introductory screen, but the information that's there is not of the type 
that says "How do I send an email message?", "Where's google?" or "I 
needed an instant messenger like ten minutes ago!"  It doesn't do much 
besides send you into the Ubuntu Forums.

I'm leaving out the issues of legality regarding the codecs in Automatix 
intentionally, because it's a different subject.  I was just struck by 
the fact that Automatix was being slammed for all of the wrong reasons.

  -=> How to find what you need <=- is one of the biggest things missing 
from Linux distributions in general these days.  It's not getting any 
easier as the collective mass of software continues to grow.  *Anything* 
that helps point users in the right direction is valuable.  What we need 
is for it to be done better, and to have it sitting there as soon as the 
system is installed.

This is one area where we kick Microsoft's butt.  The crapware that 
comes preinstalled on a Windows system is all there to get you to spend 
money buying what didn't come with the OS.  Install a Linux 
distribution, and 98% of what you need is available for nothing.  That's 
a selling point Redmond can't touch.  The essential component that's 
missing is identifying what the user wants, and putting it in his or her 
hands...  With a minimum of hassle.

--
Scott C.



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