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.
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.
“I went to the farmer’s market but they didn’t sell me a complete meal, only all these fucking plants. They think everyone’s a cook, and expect to know cooking, but i’m not and I don’t. Make a fucking meal and give it to me! Stupid fucking smelly farmers” – that’s how that sounds
The point, which you missed, is that going to github, a source code hosting service, to look for downloading executables for your specific platform - is like going to a farmer’s market to try and get a ready made meal. You’re at the wrong place, and it’s not meant for you if that’s what you’re looking for.
Github is fairly user friendly, but it’s users are developers.
I’m a developer and I hardly ever compile shit for my personal computer from source. I’d rather use a package manager, sure, but on Windows that’s by far the exception to the rule and if you want regular users to use your app, it needs to be a downloadable EXE.
This. Building a random app from source and tracking down its many dependencies is a massive pain in the ass, doubly so on Windows where you have to jump through a ridiculous number of hoops just to install a C compiler.
But when consumers get in contact with Github - and they do get in contact at some point - it is to download executables, since a good number of consumer-facing software which isnt on an app store does simply release their executables on github. That twists people’s understanding of what the platform is.
I mean, there is at least one, it’s called the releases page. Maybe what you want to eat hasn’t been prepared there, though. That’s not because they don’t realise people can’t all cook, but because they haven’t done it yet.
Not really, no. There’s a releases section where the developer can upload an exe for example but it’s really not easy to tell that that’s where you need to go if you just want to use the program/script, etc and you’re not a tech savvy person.
To strain your metaphor, I think what most people are looking for is a sign that says “FOOD COURT THIS WAY ->”
If they just had a prominent link to “download latest stable version” in a consistent place, people wouldn’t be so confused (and devs wouldn’t have to do extra work to try and make it obvious).
The specific repo in question had (and still has) a USAGE section.
And again, I have to point out that it is a python script, not an executable - it’s not standard, common or expected that python scripts be provided as a standalone executable. What makes you think even if there was a download link the guy would have gone down to find it?
Metaphors aside, the guy who originally posted this literally went on a source code-hosting website that primarily aims at making source sharing easier, yelling that he didn’t want to see said source-code, only an executable for a product that literally does not compile to an executable, did not bother reading the instructions, but instead posted on a public forum, in full arrogance, insulting developers by calling them “SMELLY NERDS”.
I’m astounded that there’s still people defending this guy like that’s a totally normal thing to do.
If you only want to download an executable, GitHub is NOT the best place to look for that. Yes, many developers do provide compiled versions of their code, and yes, it is often very convenient that they do so - but it is neither the intended purpose of GitHub, nor is it required that developers provide one.
But a lot of developers do do exactly that. They not only distribute binaries on their github, it is the only place where they distribute binaries. Github should probably recognize that it is a common use case and accommodate it better.
I’m also sure that a lot of people, like myself, took no notice of what specific package this user was complaining about, and are simply agreeing with the general sentiment that github could make things easier for non-technical users (which would, in turn, make it easier for developers since they would not need to field questions from users about how they download the software).
It’s more like going to a restaurant expecting them to make a recipe but instead they tell you to select this random list of things and then they cook it (like US Mongolian bbq places).
If you know what you’re doing you get a good meal. If not? Ketchup on rice.
just go to the releases? yes it’s slightly hidden but that’s because github isn’t supposed to be a way to publish release files, it’s supposed to be a place to host and collaborate on source code.
but so long as the developer handles releases correctly it’s just like 2 clicks to download an executable file…
Yeah seriously, I don’t understand why Github can’t just have a dedicated download button. Instead you have to dig through the Readme to find it and it’s in a different place every time.
But before I hire you, can you please build a small house or a shed or a trampoline to show me that you have the skills of an architect. The exact details of what to build will be given to you when the test assignment starts.
Or the technical challenge being ridiculous like a lot of them are. If you have that many people failing it, that tells me some or all of these things are true:
Management, or whoever they hire for handling candidates, is not screening them well
The challenge is needlessly complex
The challenge requirements are not clear
The company expects absolute prod-ready perfection but told the candidates “don’t spend more than 2-3 hours on this,” despite it taking one of their own engineers 6-8 hours
The salary is way too low and they’re not getting candidates that fit their demands (e.g. wanting “senior” while offering “junior” salaries)
Seriously, some tech companies think they shit gold and give ridiculous challenges that reflect that delusion.
Source: been in tech since 2005 and in a terminal since I was 12.
My own take as someone internal to that process is that it was a combination of 1 and 5.
I have no idea how candidates were screened. I do know that even before the “technical challenge” we had a large number of candidates completely faceplant on lowball questions asking what single line snippets of code did.
I can also say that I absolutely did not expect prod-ready results from the challenge. But I did expect things like not vomiting raw uuids on the screen instead of user readable values when displaying results. Or not having commits from overseas dev contractors which did all the actual work in your git log.
But before I hire you, can you please build a small house or a shed or a trampoline to show me that you have the skills of an architect. The exact details of what to build will be given to you when the test assignment starts.
this is literally how we work now in construction. because everything is digital people think that this is an acceptable approach. all my costing files are purposefully extremely dynamic.
you want to add another floor? no problem.
you want to change some floors from 3 bedroom to 2 bedroom? no problem.
you want to remove a parking floor and have outside parking? no problem. you don’t want to have low hanging beams? no problem.
and so on and so on…
i know i should not be working like this, but sometimes i have to.
Lol. I pitched getting these last year and my boss laughed. “Have you worked with these people? They’re incompetent. They can’t tell you how a single thing works, let alone the whole system. It sounds nice to have, but we’ll have to do it ourselves”
You should sell the document and the consultation extra. Basically you first sell them consultation on what they want and then let them sign a contract that the document that this consultation produced are the requirements. Then you can bill changes to the requirements extra.
Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.
That’s actually too easy, because electrical systems have been standardized for a long time.
Should be something like “15 highpowered electrical stoves, but keep the total power consumption below 15 Watts.”
Or, homeautomation and integration with google/alexa, but using the old fridge.
“This button turns on the light in the hallway. Sometimes it brings the whole house down on you, but we haven’t found a way to reliably reproduce this. If that happens just crawl from under the rubble, rebuild the house, and try again. This time the light should turn on.“
From someone in computer networking classes: “I don’t use GitHub. This is too complicated” Like bruh. The instructions are right there in the readme.
There’s also the time where we were asked to read temperature from a sensor, and everyone went straight to chatgpt. Meanwhile, first search result, full repo with full noob instructions.
Computer networking was the most complicated class I took. How can GitHub be too complicated compared to the class? Or is it a non low level computer networking class?
This is literally the third year of the diploma. This is not even source control. This is literally installing the software provided with the instructions provided
But as I seen both, networking is easier than programming IMO. Networking is mostly knowing a lot of things to be able to reuse that knowledge Programming is actually creating things and solutions to problems, and is more complicated, at least for me. But I still prefer it as I actually feel mentally challenged (pun intended)
My personal issue with github is more the placement of the actual download links, sometimes its harder to find than the real download button on a dodgy pirate site without ad-block.
As a CS student, yes absolutely. These people then complain about paper exams and when the code gets complex enough for the AI to make mistakes. I’ve seen a few people drop out in programming 2, and my web 1 class was decimated because we were doing more than leetcode exercises. It’s a real problem that so many people are using it as a crutch.
I’m not a developer but I write a lot of code for network infrastructure automation… when I started learning I was already a network engineer so I figured it would be a cakewalk. I think it takes a certain type of person (patience, persistence, tenacity, etc) to excel in a computer science field. I’d reckon a lot of young people think the jobs are all pretty sweet and cushy
there is, it’s called “releases” and it’s like 2 clicks to download an executable, it’s not a github issue at all, and github isn’t meant to be where you get your executables anyways
I still do sometimes. Wish they release a build so I don’t have to download all the dependencies and learn how to use a new program to build the damn thing
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