No information about dependencies being pulled in
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
software-center (Ubuntu) |
Triaged
|
Wishlist
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
software-store 0.3.6.1, Ubuntu 9.10
As I understand that this is meant to be a simple front end suitable for new users, I'm not sure of the best way to handle this. But... There needs to be some way of informing the user of how the actions they are about to take will effect their system. Perhaps an advanced drop down list? Information about dependencies being pulled can be important.
Case:
I was testing Software Store. I decided to install what seemed like a small game (Bomber). Installation seemed to take a long time. After it was complete, I notice that my netbook's drive is nearly full. Well, turns out that Bomber is a KDE4 app and pulls in a large part of the stack on my GNOME only system.
libclucene0ldbl libqt4-opengl libxine1-x kdebase-
kdebase-runtime libqt4-sql-mysql libqt4-dbus libxine1-
libxcb-xv0 libkdegames5 libqt4-qt3support libknotificatio
kde-icons-oxygen libxine1-bin liblzma0 libsoprano4 kdebase-
libqt4-webkit kdelibs5-data libqtcore4 libxcb-shape0 libqt4-sql libqt4-svg
cuyo-data libstreamanalyzer0 libqt4-xml libplasma3 libqt4-network
phonon-
khelpcenter4 libstreams0 libqt4-script libaudio2 libxcb-shm0 soprano-daemon
kdebase-
A new user would have no idea how there drive was filled up. And while they might not know the difference between GNOME and KDE, seeing that long list of dependencies would made them think twice if they know space is at a premium.
<https:/
Changed in software-store (Ubuntu): | |
importance: | Undecided → Wishlist |
Changed in software-store (Ubuntu): | |
assignee: | nobody → Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) |
Changed in software-center (Ubuntu): | |
status: | New → Confirmed |
Changed in software-center (Ubuntu): | |
status: | Confirmed → In Progress |
Here's an attempt at a mock up for a drop down list. Of course, it would be much more informative to actually tell the user what additional packages would be installed, but in its current form I'm not sure how software-store would do that. Doing the dependency calculation on each package view seems like it would be an expensive operation. You could do something like when you mark a package in synaptic, but it seems as if part of the design is to not throw pop-ups at the user. I'm sure you're already thinking about these things.