Hi all, I understand this is for security and dealing with a CVE, and security teams felt this is the best way. I respectfully disagree. Basically, I think this too difficult for novice users to understand how to work around. Downloading things, finding them in file browser, unzipping archives, and double clicking the executable are the basic steps everyone learns in order to download and use software. That's pretty much exclusively how things are done on Windows; Windows is where most new Linux users come from. (macOS sort of lets you do the same thing, even though they locked things down a bit for "untrusted apps" in a way that I find also unfriendly to end users. But back to Windows which is a lot more users than macOS, statistically...) Crucially, these things are doable almost entirely with the mouse. It's all visual and intuitive. Setting up launchers, or using the terminal may as well be learning how to compile and package their own .deb (too alien and too technical, and too intimidating.) Most people learn these steps (download, unzip, double click) as the basic minimum computer literacy in order to run apps. Learning about repos and software configuration apps is a skill most Windows users don't have. And many people are sure they can't figure out the terminal even before they try it. being able to download executables and run them from the file manager lets newcomers use Linux like they use Windows. These users need an easy way to do things safer, or they won't do it, IMO. They'll just get frustrated. Some will ust give up and use only preinstalled apps, others will assume "Linux is too hard," and give up on Linux. Remember, a lot of Linux newcomers rely on Ubuntu for being a safe and easy first step into Linux, so this potentially affects some of the most beginner Linux users out there. Okay, essay over. Sorry for the long post. In short, I think something that can be done quickly, intuitively and easily with the mouse is a must, or new Linux users will be frustrated or give up. Please consider the newbies on this. Thank you.

Edited May 15, 2018 by DeeDeeG

Hi all, I understand this is for security and dealing with a CVE, and security teams felt this is the best way. I respectfully disagree. Basically, I think this too difficult for novice users to understand how to work around. Downloading things, finding them in file browser, unzipping archives, and double clicking the executable are the basic steps everyone learns in order to download and use software. That's pretty much exclusively how things are done on Windows; Windows is where most new Linux users come from. (macOS sort of lets you do the same thing, even though they locked things down a bit for "untrusted apps" in a way that I find also unfriendly to end users. But back to Windows which is a lot more users than macOS, statistically...) Crucially, these things are doable almost entirely with the mouse. It's all visual and intuitive. Setting up launchers, or using the terminal may as well be learning how to compile and package their own .deb (too alien and too technical, and too intimidating.) Most people learn these steps (download, unzip, double click) as the basic minimum computer literacy in order to run apps. Learning about repos and software configuration apps is a skill most Windows users don't have. And many people are sure they can't figure out the terminal even before they try it. being able to download executables and run them from the file manager lets newcomers use Linux like they use Windows. These users need an easy way to do things safer, or they won't do it, IMO. They'll just get frustrated. Some will ust give up and use only preinstalled apps, others will assume "Linux is too hard," and give up on Linux. Remember, a lot of Linux newcomers rely on Ubuntu for being a safe and easy first step into Linux, so this potentially affects some of the most beginner Linux users out there. Okay, essay over. Sorry for the long post. In short, I think something that can be done quickly, intuitively and easily with the mouse is a must, or new Linux users will be frustrated or give up. Please consider the newbies on this. Thank you.