[nikofeyn]

a recent example for me is that i want to install some stuff on an embedded linux that runs opkg and doesn’t have apt. now all of the instructions for the thing i want to build just point to apt installation commands. they do provide instructions to build from source, but now i am immediately in dependency hell. it isn’t clear at all how to get all the dependencies even installed, much less properly, as they also have their own dependency hell instructions.

and as a developer who primarily develops on windows, windows itself doesn’t have any “dependency” problem really. it’s all the people who basically write their software on and for linux and then haphazardly try to make it work on windows through a series of hacks while claiming support for windows.

when you come across maintainers who take both linux and windows seriously, you just run an installer and get on with your life.

[khedoros1]

opkg itself looks like a competent package manager. If the software selection of the repositories for the device you were working with is any good, then it might take some work to find equivalent packages, but opkg should still handle resolution of the dependencies.

Then again, the more esoteric the platform, or the less frequently a particular piece of software is wanted on that platform, the more friction you'll have to overcome.

Find a Windows for MIPS (or whatever that embedded Linux is running on) and tell me that getting equivalent software running is easier.