You are missing the point. The author is satirizing the fact that there are so many tools and patterns that do basically the same thing. The author doesn’t want to bother figuring out what installation method this particular tool recommends. So they have this script so that he can run geterinstalled inkscape and let the computer figure out which one works.
If you were going to write geterinstalled pip foo you may as well just run pip install foo.
Also note the title-text, which addresses this exact issue:
The failures usually don’t hurt anything, and if it installs several versions, it increases the chance that one of them is right. […]
The idea is that only one will succeed. Look, it is a comic not a production-ready solution.
Ignoring you’re right there are plenty of instances where a common name would carry over multiple install options.
What I’d rather is to allow two parameters. The tool should be included as well as the package so ‘install apt openjdk’ or ’ install npm yarn’
Of course the problem then becomes a lot of these install apps have their own set of parameters.
Now I’m curious if anyone has written a universal installer.
You are missing the point. The author is satirizing the fact that there are so many tools and patterns that do basically the same thing. The author doesn’t want to bother figuring out what installation method this particular tool recommends. So they have this script so that he can run
geterinstalled inkscapeand let the computer figure out which one works.If you were going to write
geterinstalled pip fooyou may as well just runpip install foo.Also note the title-text, which addresses this exact issue:
https://xkcd.com/1654/
Not missing the point. I know it’s satire. As a thought experiment it got me interested though nothing more.