Spotfire Ideas Portal
Please provide .deb files for Spotfire Server and Node Manager. There is already an RPM for RHEL based system, so I'm really not sure why Debian was overlooked.
This is why it is essential to provide .deb files
Dependency Management:
dpkg automatically handles dependencies, ensuring that required libraries or other software are installed.
Tarballs usually don't handle dependencies and require manual management.
Integration with Package Management System:
dpkg integrates with the APT system, making it easy to install, upgrade, or remove software using commands like apt-get or apt.
Tarballs are independent, requiring manual installation and removal, which can lead to issues if not managed correctly.
File Structure and Installation Process:
dpkg installs software in standard locations and adheres to the Linux filesystem hierarchy, making the system cleaner and more predictable.
Tarballs may place files in arbitrary locations, requiring users to manually manage paths, configurations, and cleanups.
Automated Upgrades:
dpkg supports versioning and easy upgrading via the package manager.
Tarballs require manual upgrades, which can be cumbersome and error-prone.
Security:
dpkg packages are often signed, ensuring authenticity and integrity.
Tarballs are typically not signed, and verifying their source and integrity is harder.
Removal:
dpkg enables clean removal of software, removing all related files and configurations.
Tarballs require manual cleanup, which can leave behind files or configuration remnants.
Hi,
First of all, our observation is that most of our customers install Spotfire on Linux using containers, not VMs, making .DEB or .RPM packages less relevant.
Besides that, note that the assumptions listed above (probably by some AI) are true for many applications, but not really applicable for Spotfire.
Spotfire components install on its own directory, and does not need to create complex file structure difficult to maintain. Spotfire components install is just one tar command away. Spotfire dependencies like JDK are not suitable for automatic install (customers might want to use different JDK distribution). For other dependencies we provide a distro dependent script install (points 1,3,5).
Spotfire is a complex platform with many components, and it is not something that you would want to manage using automatic apt updates (point 4).
Spotfire packages are only fetched from Cloud Software Group, not from public software distributed repositories, making signing of packages less relevant (point 5).
Therefore, providing .DEB is not in our priority list right now.
Thanks