The Software Manager NEEDS a complete overhaul - a missed op

[Gaugamela]

Hello, I am a newbie to Linux having only tried out Ubuntu 11.04 and Mint 12.
I just wanted to congratulate you guys for the great work and for providing users with a great alternative to Gnome 3 - MATE.

I would just like to make a small suggestion to the Mint team regarding the Software Manager.
IMO, for Mint to be able to completely surpass Ubuntu it needs to provide a comparable Software Center that can atract and highlight paid software alongside with the free and opensource alternatives that are the current main stable of Linux.

You guys should create for each software category a top "paid apps" and "free apps" tab and create a header on top of the Software Center.
It could even become an aditional way of getting funds if you follow the traditional revenue model split followed by other application stores of 30% of the revenue for Mint and 70% for the developers of the software. As it is, the Software Manager is a wasted opportunity.

Heck, you guys could even try to dangle a carrot for OEMs to install Mint in laptops by promising them 10% of the revenue generated by the sale of paid software. And try to atract Android developers by giving them a bigger cut of the revenue...

[bimsebasse]

The new revamped USC is just plain and simple at least two steps ahead of Mint's Software Manager and unless Software Manager is revamped similarly, it's time to throw in the towel and adopt USC.

[Gaugamela]

I don't think they should adopt the Ubuntu software center (even though I installed it on my Mint OS) because it could be another potential source of income to support the developers of Mint and maybe even grow their team a bit more...
I would like to see a nice Software Manager from Mint.

[Divergence]

I couldn't agree more.

I am coming from Ubuntu, and the Mint Software Manager is my biggest gripe/worry. It's not just me, I recently had a friend ask me what distro he should check out for his first try at linux. Ubuntu is a no-go because of unity, but I am worried about sending him towards Mint because of the software manager! If I (a linux user of 7 years) am having trouble, I know he will be lost and might give up out of frustration, never to try linux again. Things for new users are bad enough with most of the Desktop Environment options being thrown back to Beta status.

Problems with mint Software Manager:

-it's slow

-it's not obvious how to refresh the list of available packages. I can see no way in the GUI to do a refresh. If it's there, I'd appreciate hearing where it's at, and it really needs to be moved to a more obvious location. Example: I'm running Mint 12 live from the CD and trying to install Cinnamon. According to forum posts, you should just be able to search in the Software Manager and download it from there. It's not showing up, and I can't figure out how to refresh the package list!

-when you install a package, the window does not update to say "installed" when complete. You are left to guess. You have to exit back to the first screen and search again just to see if it says "installed" and has the green check mark.

- The way the user is informed of the status of a download/install isn't very clear. There is a bar at the bottom which is linked to another window that shows actual status. How about that bar just pops up under the title of the app you are installing and it tells you everything from there?


I have high hopes for mint, but something needs to be done to bring this up to the quality of Ubuntu Software Center.

[Lumikki]

I don't know. Sure some improvement could be nice to Mint's Software Manager.

How ever, I don't see reason to make software manager as commercial. That would just make things more complicated, because payment system requirements. Most of us use free softwares anyway.

What I hope for Software manager.

1. After installation, show status installed. (I consider this as bug)
2. Ability know what softwares are compatible with you desktops. Example, I don't consider KDE software for Gnome desktop as fist choise. Even if it can be installed.