Re: Website autodetect OS

[Mike Miller]

On Wed, Dec 07, 2016 at 17:13:14 +0000, Parsiad Azimzadeh wrote:
> However (for me at least) the default active tab is always GNU/Linux. It
> should be easy to add some JS to set the default active tab to the user's
> OS. See, e.g.,
> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7044944/jquery-javascript-to-detect-os-without-a-plugin.
> Figured this might help more users download Octave.

Yeah, the default is hardcoded to be GNU/Linux for now.

Can you file a bug report so this isn't forgotten and someone can
provide patches to add this feature?

> Also on the topic of greater user adoption, it might not be a bad idea to
> include package manager instructions for major distributions (e.g., Ubuntu
> & OS X) in the appropriate tabs.

IMHO that's a bit out of scope for our site, but maybe. I personally
don't think it's a good idea for Octave as a project to favor certain
distributions over others.

For Ubuntu, I would argue that the installation instructions are
graphical: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuSoftwareCenter

For macOS, the preferred installation instructions are to download and
install the app bundle which is mentioned immediately at the top of the
wiki page.

I'm ok with mentioning a few distributions and package managers that
provide Octave as a courtesy, but detailed instructions would bog down
the site with too many details. That is what the wiki is for.

-- 
mike