apt-get shouldn't be the preferred method for XBMC Live users (the majority, I guess). Those users install and hope that everything just works.
With that said, there's been some talk on the forums (search is your friend) about this feature. It has been suggested that a nice pop-up window with 'XBMC Update Available', like those on the new add-ons engine, should be the way to go.
For that to happen, a few things are needed:
- a dev's will to implement it
- some kind of database/userdata/settings form of backup
- some kind of control to how backups are made (a restore point in bill's os comes to mind) and the number of roll-backs allowed
- some kind of control to what gets backed up or not
A dev willing to work on that is just that. If he misses the feature, chances are the code is going to appear. I doubt it's a trivial thing, do. And I doubt that any dev misses this feature.
The database/userdata/settings backup can be made by just zipping the heck out of userdata folder.
As for the rest, restore points are cool, when they work. After that, you have to consider the user may want to keep database but not the rest of the settings. Or he may want GUI settings but start a fresh movies database.
And make no mistake, if given the chance, users are going to ask for these features, if a simpler backup/install new system is implemented without them.
These are some of the possibilities and/or different situations for what can be done with such a install/backup system. I'm sure I missed some of them...
Users tend to find new uses for features they never missed before having them.
btw, being a svn user, I don't care about such a feature. But I can agree that for most users convenience, it makes sense.
And since not all of us can apt-get trough things...
hudo
