[Suggestion]C-n-f should offer to install the command

Bug #267214 reported by gnudoc
2
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
command-not-found
Confirmed
Wishlist
Zygmunt Krynicki

Bug Description

When an available but uninstalled command is entered, c-n-f reports:

The program 'x' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing:
sudo apt-get install x

However, there is a principle in good UI design that error messages (which this essentially is) come in varying degrees of usefulness:

*those that just say something went wrong ('x' not found)
*those that tell you what exactly went wrong ('x' is not currently installed)
*those that tell you how to fix it ('x' is not currently installed, install it by doing apt-get install x)
*those that offer to fix it for you ('x' is not currently installed, would you like me to install it for you?)

i know, i know, this is the command line and there's no need to spoonfeed people, all the user has to do is a copy/paste as things stand. but this program's primary reason for existence appears to me to be making that annoying "command not found" moment less annoying. and although i've never been annoyed on seeing cnf at work (even smiled occasionally at it), i think it would be even more awesome if it asked:

The program 'x' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing:
sudo apt-get install x
Would you like me to go ahead and do that? Y/n

Revision history for this message
Zygmunt Krynicki (zyga) wrote :

This functionality is coming in 0.4.x branch, stay tuned.

Changed in command-not-found:
assignee: nobody → Zygmunt Krynicki (zkrynicki)
importance: Undecided → Wishlist
status: New → Confirmed
Zygmunt Krynicki (zyga)
Changed in command-not-found:
milestone: none → alpha
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