Lies Neither of these are “App Stores” in the way average people know them. You can neither buy or sell products in these so-called ‘stores’… …yet. The wording on those two screenshots above is both hilarious and sad. It’s very reminiscent of People’s Front of Judea or Slim Shady. Anyway, here follows a bit of a moan about all this (the app stores, not Monty Python or Eminem). Background I have previously lamented on the following subject as a stream of tweets.

To be clear, I’m not complaining that we don’t have these aforementioned applications on the Linux desktop. That’s not the point. The point is “we” still don’t have a robust way for developers to monetise their application development work.

Most desktop Linux users run Ubuntu. Followed by others you’ve likely heard of like Arch, Fedora, Manjaro, SUSE and friends. Most users of these desktop Linux distributions have no baked-in way to buy software.

Similarly developers have no built-in route to market their wares to Linux desktop users. Having a capability to easily charge users to access software is a compelling argument to develop and market applications.

For sure, I can (and do) throw money at a patreon, paypal, ko-fi or buy a developer some coffee, beer or something from their Amazon wishlist. But I can’t just click “Buy” and “Install” on an app in a store on my Linux laptop.

Maybe one day all the ducks will be in a row, and I’ll be able to buy applications published for Linux, directly on my desktop. Until then, I’ll just keep looking longingly at those macOS app developers, and hoping.

  • raubarno@lemmy.ml
    8·
    9 months ago

    Software was not meant to be someone’s ‘property’ that can be bought or sold. Everyone has a right to free download, modify and share, that’s the point of GNU and Linux.

  • dark_stang@beehaw.orgEnglish
    3·
    9 months ago

    Flatpak started working on payments earlier this year, so that is happening. But have we forgotten about Steam? It’s mainly used for games yes, but your can sell software on it too. I’ve even bought some software on it.

  • palordrolap@kbin.social
    1·
    9 months ago

    Linux Mint has Software Manager, that is pretty close to an app store.
    It’s installed by default. Some other distros might have something similar.

    (Versions since that article was written can have an “ad” picture at the top for a recommended package, which, somewhat bizarrely, does make it look even more friendly than the interface shown.)

    True, it’s not a Linux-wide common interface, but then the gap between two distros can be as wide as between commercial operating systems, and it would be foolish to expect their app stores to have a common interface.

  • Sentau@lemmy.one
    1·
    9 months ago

    Well there were/are attempts to make flatpak with flathub an universal app store on linux. If I remember correctly, there were some ideas mooted on adding paid apps in to flathub.

  • theshatterstone54@feddit.uk
    1·
    9 months ago

    Well, elementary OS had that implemented, and Flathub was trying to make that a thing, but I’m not sure what happened there

    • averyminya@beehaw.org
      0·
      9 months ago

      You know, that probably is the closest thing Linux has. The only thing is it’s not preinstalled and I wonder how many of the actual programs are Linux compatible.

      But otherwise, yeah it’s more an app store than the package manaer

      • ares35@kbin.social
        1·
        9 months ago

        many distros have something a kin to a software ‘store’. the strength of open source, where everyone is free to ‘do their own thing’, is also why a central ‘app store’ for linux won’t happen without a major shift in how things are done. there’s simply way too much fragmentation.

        something like snap or flathub would have to become the dominant distribution mechanism for linux applications in order for a ‘store’ to have the user base to make it possible. canonical is trying with snaps but ubuntu’s marketshare is far from enough to make it a reality, and all they’re doing for their efforts is pushing some users away.

        steam is an alternative. it is a proven and time-tested multi-platform distribution channel. there are some ‘non game’ titles on it, not many, but there are some. and it would be up to valve to market it differently, and perhaps change the pricing structures to make it more appealing to developers of non-entertainment titles. 30% off the top is just too fucking much for smaller developers to give up.

  • ulkesh@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    “store” - n. - a quantity or supply of something kept for use as needed

    A store doesn’t have to mean that something must be for sale. There are numerous Linux app stores that all function exactly as they are designed.

    • anothermember@beehaw.org
      1·
      9 months ago

      The term “store” grates on me a bit, until recently we just called them repositories/repos, I think that’s a better name.

  • moreeni@lemm.ee
    0·
    9 months ago

    People were developing proprietary paywalled software for Windows for years before Windows Store, or whatever it is called, was introduced.

    • HidingCat@kbin.social
      1·
      9 months ago

      And most of the revenue in software comes from outside the Windows Store anyway. As someone else said, there’s no stopping a dev from putting in monetisation options in their software directly. I don’t get the need for an app store, especially when Linux has had the superior repo and package management system.