there is nothing swupd can do that other package managers cannot do.
having to update the entire operating system at once is pointless
bundles are pointless. it only accomplishes bloat, confusion, and pain.
it is bad that 3rd party repos are installed in opt, it would be better to just mention conflicts.
if clear linux would use a previously existing package manager,
all the years of worth of existing package repositories might be available for use.
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I hate it when I got
Error: Curl - Download error - (92) Stream error in the HTTP/2 framing layer
It is honestly the worst part of this distro.
Hm… I disagree.
swupd was created because it has a different working philosophy compared to existing package managers. Clear Linux has a balanced focus on being performant, efficient, stable and secure.
swupd was created to help achieve that, and one of the big differences it has with other package managers is that the updates are small and updates just what it needs to be updated, rather than making a full install.
Another thing is that thanks to the stateless design, swupd can easily differentiate between user files and OS files, so when an issue occurs you can fix it with swupd repair rather than reinstalling the whole OS.
The devs actually were aware of the complains and explained why CL use swupd here.
You can check there for more reliable info.
Yeah, except like stated above the updates are pretty small and only changes what needs to be changed, it’s not like it’s reinstalling the whole OS every time an update is released.
They are not. It’s true that they can contain bloat, since there is stuff out-of-the-box that I don’t even use here (like, hp-uiscan), but having all the dependencies bundled alongside other stuff that might me used by the application ensures stability. If an app uses something that you consider that is useless, and you delete that thing, then the app may misbehave or crash altogether, it’s a small price to pay for stability and I think it’s worth it.
Besides, it removes the hassle of looking for dependecies myself, I just installed LibreOffice from swupd and the bundle works like a charm.
No, it isn’t.
That’s actually how the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard defines opt…
" On the other hand, /opt is a directory for installing unbundled packages (i.e. packages not part of the Operating System distribution, but provided by an independent source), each one in its own subdirectory. They are already built whole packages provided by an independent third party software distributor. "
Which means, that design choice for swupd is completely fine.
Doesn’t CL already use, say, RPM? Because I can install RPM packages no problem.
My Chrome is a RPM install, works fine.
My Zoom is a RPM install, works fine.
My Java is a RPM install… works fine.
I don’t really have problems with rpm installs, so at least one existing package manager works with CL.
Basically, when you keep in mind the objectives Clear Linux has, I think swupd does a great job. I’m using CL as a daily driver and already ditched Windows for good, and I’m not having problems. Sure, there is a bug here and there in GNOME, but some of them had been fixed and nothing is a deal breaker, performance is superb.
Since it’s my first Linux distro, I may not know how good or bad are other package managers such as, idk, pacman. But for me swupd is amazing and the OS works excellent. I can’t really complain too much about swupd since it’s the one of the things that makes Clear Linux… Clear Linux.
Now, there is a few stuff that I don’t like that much, things I would add to swupd would be like a whitelist where you can tell swupd to not touch system files, even for repairs, so NVIDIA drivers wouldn’t get damaged.
It also would be nice if they could transfer some resources into desktop development, so we would have more swupd bundles, but that’s personal wish more than anything.
There are a few more stuff that comes to my mind, but I can’t remember right now haha, but the biggest problem I have with CL is the NVIDIA drivers stuff. Although if the Intel Arc GPUs prove to be on par or better than NVIDIA cards in the future, then that will of course stop being a problem.
Anyway, remember that CL is a distro that is not aimed at the average user, but more focused for AI, cloud, etc. If you can’t stand the use of swupd, you should change your distro, since CL it’s meeting it’s goals with swupd.
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swupd certainly has its proponents and its detractors. We understand that it can be a drawback to some users, but other users find it very useful to be able to repair or roll back installs to known good versions. As always, we listen to constructive criticism and weigh the benefits and costs on whether changing the architecture makes sense.
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