Installer Ubuntu/Gentoo

[vl-end-user]

There is a feature in Kubuntu that allows the user to add/remove software.
For example; you can add a media player to  Kubuntu and it will be downloaded and installed automatically.
It looks like the add/remove program is part of the package manager called 'Adept Installer'.
However, the add/remove program can be found separately from the Adept Installer in the main KDE panel menu.

Don't get me wrong, SOHO should not be as 'Micky Mouse' as Ubuntu or Windows. You can not even get Root in Ubuntu, you have to do 'sudo' for every Root command.
If it is possible to develop something like Gentoo portage for Vector, it might be just as good for end users as the Adept Installer from Ubuntu. Though, I have seen several package errors after the 'emerge something' command in Gentoo Linux Portage.
 

[The Headacher]

Have you tried our package manager gslapt / slapt-get already? If not, you really should.

Or did you mean somethin else entirely?

If it is possible to develop something like Gentoo portage for Vector, it might be just as good for end users as the Adept Installer from Ubuntu

I love portage, but VL is not suited for something like that. It takes a lot of people a lot of time to develop something like that. Also, it would mean there'd have to be serious changes in VL's design that will probably break compatibility with Slackware.

[vl-end-user]

I have tried gslapt. I have not tried slapt-get.
It looks like you can only install small packages with slapt-get and are not able to install a lot of software such as media players.
But that's allright because Kubuntu is slower in some situations then Vector. I only tried Kubuntu's livecd, because I red reviews that said Kubuntu was slow, on some occasions.

[lagagnon]

I have tried gslapt. I have not tried slapt-get.

gslapt is just a GUI wrapper around slapt-get. slapt-get is command line based so I would suggest you learn to use gslapt instead.

Might I also suggest that you read the VL Docs? On your desktop there is an icon to them, navigate to VL Manuals, and then the the VL Packaging System manual and it will explain all about gslapt and slapt-get and donwloading packages.

It looks like you can only install small packages with slapt-get and are not able to install a lot of software such as media players.

That is not true. Neither gslapt nor slapt-get care what the size of the package is. Which media players do you want by the way?

[vl-end-user]

I do not think there is an important media player that is already in the latest SOHO, that is, mplayer.
On my current SOHO5.1.1, there is a mplayer plug-in that does not seem to work when I want to watch on-line video.
It would be nice to be able to automatically download a missing plug-in or codec and watch a video right after, like in Windows. 

I think the Thunderbird email program is nice and you don't even have to install it, to get it to work. More software should be like that, if there are no disadvantages to the method. Of course, for the larger programs, it is probably not yet possible to just copy a directory and start the program in a finished state.
I do not have extensive experience with email programs so my choice for Thunderbird might be, not that objective.

[The Headacher]

I currently don't have a soho 5.1.1 installed anymore, but I'm pretty sure it came with mplayer by default. Also, there is a mplayer package for soho 5.1.1.
Have you tried 'updating the package info' in gslapt and then search for mlayer?

What sort of media are you having trouble with? I found the mplayer plugin in SOHO 5.1.1 to work very well when I used it.

[lagagnon]

I do not think there is an important media player that is already in the latest SOHO, that is, mplayer.

mplayer is included with SOHO 5.1.1 but it is missing a menu entry. You can launch it with ¨gmplayer" or create a menu item using K Menu, Settings, Menu Editor.

On my current SOHO5.1.1, there is a mplayer plug-in that does not seem to work when I want to watch on-line video. It would be nice to be able to automatically download a missing plug-in or codec and watch a video right after, like in Windows. 

mplayerplugin works fine for me. If you find it does not work with a specific media, please find out what media and tell us what codec you need. I think we have most codecs available from gslapt and our repository. We cannot help you unless you are more specific.

I think the Thunderbird email program is nice and you don't even have to install it, to get it to work. More software should be like that

I don´t understand what you mean. If a software package is pre-installed with the distro no, you don´t have to do anything (obviously). If you mean the binary install method you still have to download the program,  navigate to the directory where you downloaded it, then run the installer. With gslapt all you have to do is click the program you want and click execute. So please explain what you mean.

[vl-end-user]

I download Thunderbird, extract the tarball. No ./configure->make-> make install has to be done, which so often results in errors and dependicy issues.

The next steps are for convenience.
I go to the extracted Thunderbird directory. I copy and paste the Thunderbird start script to my panel. I replace the shell script icon by a Thunderbird icon and I am ready to start Thunderbird.

Thunderbird works fine. I could not find other information how to install Thunderbird.

It would be nice if some programs would work as fast as Thunderbird. It is plug and play for software.