It has been the mainstay of the Linux Ubuntu operating system, but the Canonical has suddenly disconnected the Synaptic Package Manager.
The operating system has been going through a purge of various software parts lately. Gone is the Gnome GUI, in favour of the much hated Unity front end.
Now it seems that Canonical thinks its "Ubuntu Software Center" is ready for the main time and time has come to kill off Synaptic.
When the Software Centre first appeared, there were many Linux geeks who thought that the writing was on the wall for Synaptic. It was designed for the non-techie to actually install software easier.
In Ubuntu 10.10 the Software Center took over the function of Gdebi in Ubuntu 10.10 which was banished from the Ubuntu ISO. But the Software Center's removal is a bit of surprise. There was just a note that in the next daily build of Ubuntu 11.10, Synaptic will no longer be installed.
But this is likely to upset those who already feel that Ubuntu is dumbing itself down to the stone-age. While the Ubuntu Software Center looks nice and will attract new users it can't do as much as Synaptic. For example it can't fix broken packages, upgrade or downgrade a single or multiple packages or force the installation of a specific version.
Synaptic will continue to be available in the repository, though, and can be installed with the $ sudo apt-get install synaptic command. However, these things are getting much harder to do in Ubuntu. It is leading some to think that the operating system is getting so dumbed down, that it is not worth bothering with .
Generally people who want Linux on the desktop are either those who have had it installed on their PC on the assumption that they will not touch anything, or those who like to tinker. Replacing Synaptic will stop a lot of the tinkering.
I first started using Ubuntu just over 4 years ago (also tried other distros) when I first started using it there was no software centre and a lot of the hardware I had didn't work, I spent hours trawling through forums finding solutions, this is not what a new user wants, especially coming from a different os (like Windows or OS X) generally speaking people just want things to work, they don't want to spend hours compiling drivers just to get a printer or something else to work.
To the casual user Ubuntu is pretty easy to get on with, most of the stuff does work, perhaps not in quite the same way as it would on Windows etc but it does work, this is what general pc users want.
For people (like me) who like to mess about with things and actually know what a command line is then it's easy just to run "sudo apt-get install synaptic" or "sudo apt-get install gdebi-core" takes a few seconds to download and install, easy.
I'd like to point out that I have some relatively new hardware that refuses to work on Windows 7 despite having up to date drivers etc but it works perfectly on Ubuntu.
And lastly if a Ubuntu user has a mind to tinker with the system removing synaptic isn't going to stop anything...
I say, grab the pitchforks and skewer the bastards. Fry 'em in their own oil.
I use Ubuntu, I don't have time nor desire to play with it, I just want it to work. So all you whiny tinkering types can just "BLOW ME"!
Mark, keep up the good work on Ubuntu. The arsetard monkeys can go use another distro.
"However, these things are getting much harder to do in Ubuntu." How is software installation getting harder at all? The terminal is the very core of *nix systems. I don't think it's going anywhere. And the Software Center, while still a little slow to start up, puts all the power of apt-get/aptitude right there in front of a new user. Trolololololo?
This change will bring less confusion to new users and power-users won't have any trouble installing it anyway...
Ubuntu isn't what it used to be that's for sure and they are babying down too much. The appeal of linux is customization and control and ubuntu wants to take that away.
I have very hard time also taking the new 'GNOME SHELL' interface seriously. looks like a tablet made for kids.
At least I will say one thing about it though it's better then that metro garbage UI that MS made.
why remove the possibility of people learning a great piece of software that opposes the paytoplay system perfectly.
If Sindows had a list of all the software and a one click download button i might use it