What do folks in Manjaro-land think of the stated “Software Mode” in Pamac. It seems redundant on face value, ie. you’re a software manager why do we need a software mode turned on by default.
I can say I was confused by it. I couldn’t work out why certain packages were not appearing recently (eg. gvfs-dnssd) and I was getting a blank page. Maybe I should have toyed with options more but it seems like its not a Software Mode but just more a Basic Mode or Simple Mode.
What do the Manjaro community think of it having the option be reversed so it is unticked by default and instead says Show All Packages?
It just seems more logical to me.
If enough Manjarans support the idea I’ll message maintainer Guillaume Benoit.
Maybe the term “Software Mode” is not commonly used, but it does what is says: “Just show me Software” by the meaning: “Show me Software which has a GUI and can be run with a single click as a window.”
Low experienced users are just overwhelmed by so many packages. Therefore I think it is a good step for more usability for normies.
High experienced users can untick that option easily any time with a single click. It don’t bother me and sometimes I use that mode also, because you get a better overview.
Btw… talking about a single click is a bit ridiculous.
If you want a feature, ask for it on the Gitlab, don’t wait for others.
Personally I don’t care, I don’t use that mode. I think it is better to be as is by default, but I also agree it could have better terminology or maybe an information popup when you enable/disable it (I also suggested the popup idea for the AUR setting when people blamed Manjaro to not warn enough the users about the implication of using the AUR, when in reality the WIKI article is clear about that, and there is already a warning message under the option when you go to enable it, I thought a popup that people need to read (maybe with a link to the WIKI article and/or this thread) and click Accept was a good idea.
Having the Software Mode by default makes it clearer for people, when they search for an application they do not get dozens or hundred of packages/libraries/whatever, they only have the actual programs listed. If you need to install something like a library manually then I guess you’re already someone that would probably use the terminal for that anyway, or you wouldn’t have the mode enabled in Pamac (you once in your system lifetime unticked the option, not the end of the world).
But about the terminology, I think it could be improved yeah, maybe with something like Only show applications so that if you can’t find something and you see that option, you probably will understand right away that it is the culprit, even on first time usage of Pamac.
Software takes many forms and so its just ambiguous.
Maybe Show supplementary packages?
EDIT 2: Even if it just says Advanced Mode that would be good.
EDIT 3: Sorry for all the edit, accidentally hit the post button.
I prefer to use the command line too but advanced mode is nice to get an overview of what is going on. Love the files summary! Etc EDIT 4: even if those things come from pkgfile or this-or-that command line tool. Its just all in one place, and is easy to use, with the exception of this confusion, tbh.
EDIT 4: I’ll pass it on, now that someone agrees on the terminology.
Software Mode is supposed to work as in Gnome the Software Center, or as in KDE Plasma the Discover, or like in Elementary the AppCenter, or like in Windows the Windows Store, or like in MacOS/iOS the App Store …
Is still called Pamac … so the Software Mode of Pamac will act like application store.
Maybe Only Show Apps (as “software” is ambiguous tbh)? Its a workable solution and a good suggestion but the option itself unlocks more than that, it actually shows a detailed view of things. You see the package name for the app that you’d use at the command line to install it, tabs to toggle between the dependencies, the files it uses etc.
It is a more Detailed View.
I will of course offer this entire discussion, to Guillaume as is a valuable one.
Darn it, I’m not going to be able to email it seems.
Is Guillaume Benoit in the Manjaro forums, I noticed that while searching for his email he’s included in the Manjaro team so that’s great. There seem to be a few Guillaume’s registered in the forum but none are obviously the developer, at a glance. I’ll open an account at the gitlab if I absolutely need to.
This is just basic UI design, simple as default advanced features under settings, not the other way around,It is normal that you and some don’t know how to use Pamac, any software needs to be learned to be used efficiently.
Thanks. Yes, I was never saying to change the default just to swith the toggle around. So you call it an Advanced Mode too, as per my first reply on this thread.
That’s going to be helpful for @guinux in making his final choice on how he wants to proceed
It seems he has three sane options
Advanced Mode (default off)
Only Show Apps (default on)
Detailed View (default off)
Thanks @omano for the more succinct french translation!!
One way to learn any software, is through tooltips. You learn as you are actively engaged in using the software, versus reading the man page or other documentation (which is helpful in a different way).
Also, I did a site search at (site:wiki.manjaro.org “software mode”) and didn’t get any hits. The only places it appears is in this forum and gitlab – asking what is “Software Mode”
I also landed here because I had no idea what this setting was supposed to be about.
I would prefer “Only Show Applications/Software” but if length is really an issue “only show apps” should work even in french, although I kind of despise the word “app”
I also never opened that menu before. I really do think a filter should be more visible, i.e. in the same bar where the sorting is. There is enough space for a “Applications only” filter, and also another filter where you’d be able to deselect repositories would be nice. You can sort by repository, but not by relevance at the same time. Maybe I want the most relevant results from official repositories only (pretty common use case), I’d have to go into the settings, untick AUR, and later activate it again. That’s inconvenient.
I… I must also admit that I have never even reacted to that button, realized NOW that it even exists.
I guess it’s actually a good feature for ppl who only use the gui tbh. But if I, someone who loves to tinker never even seen it, maybe it should be changed somehow. I might even argue it should be enabled by default (then 90% would be confused and then you have to remove it again xD) to teach the community about it’s existence.
I also could not understand what that means. Maybe “Software Store simple mode” will be more appropriate. But please do not turn it on by default. I hated it on Ubuntu so i did all through synaptic or console.
