The new gnome-software application

[Allan Day]

Hi all,

I don't want to get too bogged down in technical details. However, I
do think that it is worth thinking about the user experience that we
are aiming for here.

First of all, it is important that the Software application can be
used without long lag times, delays or (worse) locks. This applies to
almost all aspects of the application:

 * searching or browsing categories
 * viewing details about an application
 * launching the application and getting a useful initial view
 * installing/removing applications
 * updating software

Richard: while the highly abstracted technical design that you have
come up with does solve some issues, I am a little concerned that it
sidesteps some of these requirements. My primary concern is that
Software should provide a snappy and dynamic experience. In general my
view is that we should work towards a stack that provides the
experience that we want. ;)

With my downstream hat on, I would say that one of the big issues with
the GNOME PackageKit front ends on Fedora is yum locks. The long
delays these cause is just terrible from a UX point of view. They can
also result in confusion ("Waiting in queue?! Queue for what?!") We
should take this opportunity to engage with the downstream components
that affect the Fedora software install experience in order to resolve
these issues. Does anyone know who we should be talking to?

Second, when it comes to decisions about technical architecture, we
need to think about the desired offline experience. Obviously it
should be possible to see your installed applications and remove them
when you are offline. Whether a user should be able to browse
available software when they are offline is a trickier question.  It
would certainly be nice not to have to resort to a "Go online to
browse software" message... It would also be nice to be able to mark
applications for installation once an internet connection is
available. That said, I think it is acceptable to offer a reduced
experience when offline, whether that means not showing the full range
of information about applications, not providing search functionality,
or limiting app installation to online only.

(I have added the relevant parts of these comments to the upstream
design page [1].)

Allan

[1] https://live.gnome.org/Design/Apps/Software
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