ensignr wrote:

Then came the problem which made me stop using linux many years ago. Installation packages. I always seem to have a problem with them. IMHO they've been a problem for a long time and something that I would have hoped would be 'fixed' by now, and certainly need to be in order for linux to become a serious contender as a mainstream OS platform.

RPM Packages just dont seem install correctly; well certainly not all the time.

Upon Czaxx's 'radio' advise I tried installing AMSN, it all seemed to be going smoothly until a dependancy required it to install a package from the Fedora Core DVD. The DVD wasnt in the drive and I hit the OK button in the dialog requesting it before it had completely spun up. This produced an error saying there was an problem with the installation.

Subsequent attempts to reinstall the package gave me the message that AMSN was already installed, although it wouldnt load from the Applications menu. I eventually did the newbie thing and reinstalled the entire OS again, then AMSN, this time with the FC disc in the drive. This time it installed without a hitch.

Then to top it off, in order to log in to the messenger service securely I need to install yet another piece of software, TLS, which AMSN kindly downloaded, but I am blowed if I can get it to install.

I also had issues installing the Real Player, which I still can't get to run or reinstall.

Which brings me to another point. What sort of OS these days needs you to install additional software just to play a mpeg movie? Codecs perhaps, but not an entire programme. I would have thought Helix or Totem would be at least able to play them.

Sure it all looks pretty these days, but I can't see that many of the problems I had years ago have changed one iota. I am certainly glad I went for a dual boot machine, keeping XP on my PC instead of doing what I considered and wiping the drive to put linux on.

I certianly shouldnt be having thse sorts of issues. I did Computer Systems Engineering in which we used linux (shell only) pretty heavily. Sure it was a hell of a long time ago, but if I can't get things working as they should, how the heck can the 'average Joe'?

All that said I'd be more than happy for someone to point out that I am doing something majorly wrong or that I should try another distribution.

</rant>

The installation of packages and dependencies is best handled by package managers such as Synaptic (or urpmi on Mandriva systems). These package managers handle dependencies, etc. and make software installation fairly seamless. However, there will always be times on any OS where a software installation fails for whatever reason - the solution on Linux as on Windows is simple: uninstall the program and re-install it, re-intalling the operating system for a failed software install is really using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. All the package managers have uninstall facilities, or alternatively a rpm -e <name-of-package> will do the trick (on rpm distros).

We need more information here if you need help - what sort of file did it download? My guess would be that if amsn downloaded it then it would be a source package which needs to be compiled. Its easier just to use a package manager to install TLS.

The reason that it is a separate piece of software is becuase the amsn guys want to program an msn client - not security software, some other guys are already doing that, therefore its more efficient that they use this third party software. The unix philosophy is generally "one tool, one job" so its frequent that you'll find that to add some types of functions that are not neccessarily the core focus of the project, third-party software will be required. Package managers ease this - either by downloading them as dependencies or providing an easy mechanism by which the software can be installed.

Again we'll need more info to be able to help you out here - what were the issues that you had? Any error messages?
For memory the last time I installed rplayer it was just a basic rpm file. Many package repositories (accessable by a package manager such as Synaptic) have realplayer packaged for your distro.

Totem will play basic mpegs out-of-the-box (although I'd suggest mplayer for all your media playing goodness - apologies to xine fans out there :) ) but many distros are afraid to distribute codec packs because of legal issues (for memory Red Hat didn't even ship mp3 capabilities becuase of patent issues) - generally codec packs are available from package repositories that are hosted in jurisdictions with saner IP laws.

If you are annoyed by this situation then a letter to your local MP outlining why software patents are wrong is about the best you can do.

Yep, it is pretty but I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you on the problems front. Software installation using package managers is painless. There are tons of software repositories out there with practically everything you need. Synaptic, YUM, urpmi and the venerable apt-get make life extremely easy on the software installation front (for memory, Fedora comes with Synaptic as its package manager). If you were using rpm on the command-line to install packages you were using the wrong tool for the job - rpm is for installing/uninstalling and managing distro packages - its is very bad at doing anything else, thats why package managers are used to install third party stuff.

The problem you identified with the network card - well, basically there was not really an error, the wrong netwrok card was selected. You noted that you assumed that eth0 would be assigned to the correct card - 1st rule of computers: assume nothing. I've had plenty of grief with Windows selecting the wrong card, disabling cards for no apparent reason and just generally being a PIA about networking, so Linux is not alone :) I think these are just platform independent problems. That being said, many of the desktop distros do have network indicator applets - Mandriva has one installed by default which is kind of like the windows taskbar icons for networking.

The problem with 'firstboot' - well, it fixed itself on reboot. How many times is this the fix for a problem on any platform :) ? Thankfully 99% of the time on linux when an app stops working its a matter of restarting the service rather than the whole box, but sometimes a restart is the only way.

The problem with media players? well, Media players will always be a problem on Linux until sanity prevails in the IP field. This is not a linux problem, its a political/legal one. That being said, with the right codecs installed I've never had a file that mplayer can't play.

As far as your choice of distro - I'd go for a more desktop oriented one: Kubuntu (or ubuntu) or Mandriva - Fedora is more workstation oriented, but its by no means a bad choice.

Hope all that helps, remember ranting doesn't usually get you much help in any community but asking good questions does.