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Automatix for Ubuntu is "actively dangerous"
Matthew Garrett investigates Automatix, a tool for Ubuntu users
to install software that is not officially supported. He reports on a short look
at problems with the tool. "Automatix exists to satisfy a genuine
need, and further work should be
carried out to determine whether these user requirements can be
satisfied within the distribution as a whole. However, in its current
form Automatix is actively dangerous to systems - ranging from damage
to small items of user configuration, through removing user-installed
packages without adequate prompting or warning and up to the (small
but existing) potential to leave a system in an unbootable state."
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Automatix for Ubuntu is "actively dangerous" Posted Aug 6, 2007 14:09 UTC (Mon) by alogghe (subscriber, #6661) [Link] its amazing how much work the automatix guys have done and never thought to learn how to dpkg...its pretty easy really.
Automatix for Ubuntu is "actively dangerous" Posted Aug 6, 2007 15:18 UTC (Mon) by elicriffield (guest, #33738) [Link] Easy Ubuntu is suppose to be automatix that doesn't suck (at least as near as i can tell)
http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/
Eli Criffield
Automatix for Ubuntu is "actively dangerous" Posted Aug 7, 2007 1:12 UTC (Tue) by a_hippie (guest, #34) [Link] Yikes! I mentioned this to a newbie friend not very long ago--I did tell him it isn't supported, but should get all he needs to play various multimedia content...
Is easyubuntu this bad too?
Automatix for Ubuntu is "actively dangerous" Posted Aug 7, 2007 8:08 UTC (Tue) by tajyrink (subscriber, #2750) [Link] Indeed. Many have known (some of) the problems for a long time, but it's been a losing fight against hundreds of people recommending to run Automatix on web forums, IRC etc.
For most people, Ubuntu 7.04 is now very easy to use without any Automatix usage. It may be customized to include the restricted stuff people most want by doing the following thing:
- open Applications->Add/Remove..., type "restricted" in the search field and click to install "Ubuntu restricted extras" -> installs non-free Java, Flash and MS truetype fonts
Done! As for video/audio codecs, in 7.04 when you open a video file with a restricted format like wmv or mpg, Ubuntu asks if you want to install a (open source) codec for it. Just click "Yes".
Granted there's some more stuff in Automatix, but they're of much more minor need than the ones above. I'd even question the inclusion of MS true type fonts in the restricted extras. 7.04 also saw some of Automatix changes incorporated in Ubuntu proper (https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/common-cust...). DVD playback needs libdvdcss2 still, but I guess quite few people (percentage-wise) play DVDs with their computer.
Automatix for Ubuntu is "actively dangerous" Posted Aug 7, 2007 11:17 UTC (Tue) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] DVD playback needs libdvdcss2 still, but I guess quite few people (percentage-wise) play DVDs with their computer. A lot of people are playing DVD with their computer, but since DVD playing does not work "out of the box" with Windows XP people expect to do something to make it work. WMVs are playable "out of the box" and so people expect the same with Linux...
Automatix for Ubuntu is "actively dangerous" Posted Aug 7, 2007 14:59 UTC (Tue) by mbottrell (guest, #43008) [Link] I don't see the need for Automatix..
Read the damn Wiki: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats
It's 5 minutes work... and why it doesn't work we all know why. (the legal reasons).
Seriously it's a one-off and isn't rocket science.
Automatix -- sure good idea, badly implemented.
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