About rpmdrake. Advanced features are discussed here. Good. They grow. Basic features or nifty features disappear with time. Sad. What do I mean ?
A newbie installs a shiny Mandrake 9.1. (S)He discovers the control panel. Good. Now (s)he needs a particular software. Having heard that it's very easy, launches rpmdrake, type a keyword and ... no response or low-relevance response. Why ? Because the software is actually already installed. And rpmdrake doesn't show already installed software... So, with current tools, a newbie may not find the software needed, only because it is already installed. It happens. Isn't that sad ? It would be better that rpmdrake also show already-installed software, maybe greyed out or with a mention "this software is already installed on your machine". Additional arguments: Ok, major software is visible in the menu... if you know in which menu to look. Some software doesn't appear in the menu. Newbies are lost. Newbies don't have a clear idea about the amount of pre-installed software. Advanced users know the rule but don't know by heart what is installed. They like to have a comprehensive answer (available + already here). The problem is that people launch rpmdrake, thinking "I need a software that does X". rpmdrake answers "here is software that does X *and* isn't on your machine". Frustration. Thank you for your attention. Comments welcome. -- Stéphane Gourichon - Labo. d'Informatique de Paris 6 - AnimatLab http://animatlab.lip6.fr/ - philo du dimanche http://amphi-gouri.org/ « La meilleure façon de prédire l'avenir, c'est de le créer » Peter Drucker
