1254
Hey, I'm new to GitHub! (programming.dev)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 25 points 10 months ago

Absolutely. Github is a TERRIBLE way to publish software or computer files, in much the same way that oatmeal is a terrible bedroom lubricant.

[-] SkippingRelax@lemmy.world -4 points 10 months ago

What's the problem with github and what would you use to publish software or computer files instead?

[-] bitwolf@lemmy.one 11 points 10 months ago

GitHub Pages lol

[-] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 7 points 10 months ago

Same thing that's wrong with oatmeal: Nothing, that's just not what it's for.

Github and tools like it are designed for codebase versioning. It's a great tool for developers who have a need to collaborate with others and manage releases/branches. But, it's really not great for distributing executable apps to end users because it's not for that. You shouldn't tell end users to clone a git repo and type make install, because that's not normally how people manage software.

If possible, the app should be packaged and in a software repository/app store typical of the platform. Chocalatey on Windows (Microsoft has their own Windows Store, but fuck that), Brew on MacOS...if we're talking about an end-user application for Linux, I'd recommend Flatpak because it's become the de facto one to rule them all; if you really must host something on your own website right next to a windows .exe I will say go with appimage.

You can get hosting for distributing end user apps, Github has a service called Github Pages for this purpose, for example. But especially in the Linux world, too many creators of little things like to just point you at their git repo and only accept user feedback in the form of pull requests.

[-] Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Windows store, play store, snap store...many options for software publishing. GitHub should stay as a code repository

[-] frippa@lemmy.ml -2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Not OP but many Linux project I follow, since they don't have many resources, publish their releases through Torrent, a seeebox is fairly cheap (something like €10 a month) and could be easily crowdfunded even for a small project, and isn't a huge expense anyway. And the site could just be a static page, or better yet the magnet link could be aviable on Github for people that want the precompliled binaries instead of the source.

E: did i say something controversial?

this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2024
1254 points (98.4% liked)

Programmer Humor

19817 readers
1 users here now

Welcome to Programmer Humor!

This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!

For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.

Rules

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS