GustavoFeb 5

I thought Linux app distribution was weird until I met Mac OS:

The standard way to distribute apps from websites (i.e. not the official store, not homebrew) is to package the app in a disk image (DMG, as it can hold the needed file permissions) then users download it, mount it like a CD from the 90s, then drag it to the applications folder (which, I guess, is how app installing worked since the 90s, but there isn't any hint in the UI explaining that to a first time user). If you open the app from the virtual drive (aka, without installing) it will work in a sandboxed state (seems useful IMHO).

That's weird. Mac OS users say it's simple. It isn't simple. That's fucked up. That's not intuitive at all. Apple surely doesn't care because they have their store.

#ux #linux #macos #technology

Show threadkontrollierterWahnwitz

@qgustavor

Basically macOS has two app installation methods:

First is copying an App bundle into the

/Applications

folder. An App bundle is a directory using the .app extension. Inside it's structure you will find it's binay, assets and default configurations.

The other installation method is using a .pkg file that works similar to Microsoft's MSI packages. Just double click them and follow the instructions given by the installation wizard.

Feb 6 at 8:56amWeb
Show threadkontrollierterWahnwitzFeb 6

@qgustavor The app bundle installation method is kind of historically grown.

If you wanted to install software from a floppy to your HDD, you simply dragged and dropped your application from your floppy to the Applications folder.

Downloadable disc images mimic that behavior.

Yes, it's not very intuitive nowerdays, but it follows kind of an inner logic.

Show threadGustavoFeb 6

@kontrollierterWahnwitz That's what I commented on in other posts. I find it weird that people get so used to this behaviour that they find it "simple", while it's just a relic of the removable media era that some developers don't move on and have flaws.

In the end I ended up with the virtual media that I had to unmount, two versions of AnyDesk (my co-worker added a "AnyDesk 2" to that folder for whatever reason), XAMPP didn't work at all (I had to use brew), at least one installer didn't include a link to the applications folder. Well, my MacOS journey isn't going well: Xcode isn't working…