Idea #9720: Complete info in "Add/remove program" with a link to developper's website

207

Written by svergeylen the 10 Jun 08 at 11:11. Category: Others.
Related to: Nothing/Others. Status: New

Description

When I use "Add/remove program", I often want to see more information than what is displayed a this time.

I will be great if more informations about the program we're looking can be displayed in the bottom frame.

These informations can stored in an online database, which contains the latest informations about the program.

For example, when we click on one program in "Add/remove program", we can see some extra info coming from the web :

- Brief Description of the program (already exists)
- Link to the developer's website
- Big button "Install this program (queue)"
- Rating (already exists)
- Latest available version of the program
- What's new in this version (multi-language)
- link "post a bug" relative to this program (launchpad or mail to developer's mailbox)
- post an idea relative to this program (brainstorm)
- Gallery of screenshots (to be discussed)

These informations could be grabbed from a wiki which represents the perfect non-technical documentation that all newbie could read first.

ps : this was already discussed in the comments of idea brainstorm n°9685 ( http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/9685/ )

pps : For those who knows the iphone, it's similar to the "more info" tab when you install a program. It's only grabbing texts and screenshots from the developer's page.

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Comments

frogitts wrote on the 10 Jun 08 at 15:59

The Link to the developer's website already exists, install this buttons already exists, and it's the latest available version that's guaranteed to be compatible with your version of Ubuntu.

The post a bug button, however, is a decent idea.

A "what's new" would be nice, as long as it doesn't fill a whole page with minor changes so that the add/remove window becomes a mess.

I don't really know how much I want brainstorm to get flooded with posts like "Make Amarok's visualizations better" or "add more difficulty levels to game X", so I don't think I agree with adding a link to brainstorm.

Screenshots aren't a bad idea, as long as they don't add too much time to the opening of the add/remove window and don't take up too much hard drive space if that route is chosen.

So +1, but it's already half-implemented, and the idea needs refining, in my opinion.

svergeylen wrote on the 10 Jun 08 at 16:20

I agree with frogitts. This idea is simple to implement and will offer a better view to the community program :-)

For the screenshots, if they are stored on the net, they will only be downloaded when a program is selected, and thus it will not interfere with the loading af "add/remove program"

Eldmannen wrote on the 10 Jun 08 at 17:38

A bit reminiscent of an idea of mine;
* http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/7120/

nvivo wrote on the 10 Jun 08 at 18:29

Rating is something that could be improved.

I don't know how rating works today, but that should be community-driven. A website would allow registered ubuntu users to vote on better apps, and gnome-app-manager/adept would update from the web as needed.

Rating could be somehow divided into "Distribution Rating" and "User Rating". I see lots of Gnome apps with a 5-star rating only because they are Gnome apps, not because they are good.

An option to allow the community to take care or suggest descriptions and etc would solve lots of problems.

tgape wrote on the 11 Jun 08 at 02:00

What's new already exists, in the form of changelog comments, although many times developers show they could learn a thing or twenty about effective communication when they write these (probably about 1/10 of the changelog comments I've read can only be understood by a programmer who is exceedingly familiar with the project (such as the lead developers); at least 2/3 of them can only be really understood by another programmer.)

Program descriptions can frequently be improved. I especially abhor the descriptions which read something along the lines of "foo is an improved bar. It has optimized blather, and more options." That works ok for those people who are familiar with 'foo' - but most of us are not. For many of us, the section the utility is in tells us more about the program than the description.

Aptitude should also receive some added info love - it likewise does not show ratings, it doesn't always get changelog files, etc.

droetker (Moderator) wrote on the 10 Jul 08 at 08:42

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