[gobolinux-users] Application virtualization and GoboLinux

[Paul Dann]

Samuel A. Falvo II wrote:
> I guess I just don't see the problem that software like Klik solves.
> If I install a program, it is for ME to use, not someone else.  So,
> why would I use klik to share my installation?
>
> Maybe I'm just not understanding.
>   
  The problem, as I see it, is that systems such as Windows have
entrenched in us the idea of the installation procedure.  Look back at
RISC OS --- copy a directory and you're done.  MacOS X --- copy a
directory and you're done.  On both of these systems you can organise
your applications as you see fit --- there is infinite flexibility.  You
don't have to have all your applications in one directory.  You can have
subdirectories, you can have some in shared volumes, user directories,
etc...

  GoboLinux is almost there --- programs are more self-contained than
Windows (which is a huge step up from the standard Linux hierarchy). 
Now we need to do our best to get rid of SymlinkProgram, which is
brilliant at what it does, but in a way is quite conceptually similar to
Windows Installer --- it does something "magical" that the user doesn't
understand.  Any textbook on human-computer interaction will tell you
that magic is something to be avoided at all costs.

Paul