The download link on Linux automatically downloads a Debian package, whether the user wants it or not

[dmbaturin]

If you click the Download link on the main page, it opens https://www.fosshub.com/JabRef.html and automatically starts downloading the Debian package.

That is a very misguided idea:

• The user may be using a distro that doesn't use .deb packages. I'm on Fedora so what I'm looking for is the RPM.
• The user may not even be downloading JabRef for the system they are currently on.
• The user may want to just copy a direct link to send it to someone or use with wget/curl.
• The user may be on a metered connection and can end up with a hole in their pocket — everyone should be free to decide when and if they download anything, especially when the package is 200 megabyte large.

I believe that page should just send the user to the fosshub page and not try to force any format on the user at all. If you want to make it easier for inexperienced users to choose the correct package, it should be a list of OSes and links.

P.S. Should it really be on fosshub that has ads when you already have everything in GitHub releases?

[Siedlerchr]

Fixed by 3c0b75b

[tobiasdiez]

I think the "Download" button should directly start the download, this is quite a common behavior (it doesn't really matter that it goes through fosshub, which is indeed a bit uncommon).

But I agree that the current direct link to deb is misleading. What do you think about the solution of vscode?

[Siedlerchr]

And for mac it downlaods a pgk that is in most cases also not wanted

[koppor]

I think the "Download" button should directly start the download,

Only if it is 99% sure what to download. Downloading something unwanted is NOT desired and is IMHO also not a common behavior.

Example: https://code.visualstudio.com/download does NOT start a download for me on Windows. It offers a selection for Linux users: deb or rpm.

I agree that this downloadpage is nice.

We could even only reroute our Windows-Users to Fosshub and keep the Linux and Mac Users on our own page.

[Siedlerchr]

For mac we also need to distinguish between dmg, pkg and the x64 and aarch64 variant. Currently it downloads the non-arm variant which in theory works but is much slower than the aarch64 variant and in the end users complain about the performance.

[Siedlerchr]

We had another Mac user where the wrong version for the wrong architecture was automatically downloaded, leaving to a crash of JabRef!
It is not acceptable that some random Version gets downloaded and users see crashes.

[koppor]

The UI of "GitButler" homepage is IMHO more lightweight and more clear to me:

Top bar

Download area

[plvzfq-rit]

Hullo, as suggested, I've been looking into this issue. I think that VS Code's download interface would be the easiest to implement. To detail:

1. The download button(s) in the home page would be sensitive to the OS of the system, so that download buttons respective to the host OS would only appear (e.g., a download button for Windows installers would only appear for Windows users, .deb and .rpm buttons for Linux), as previously suggested in this thread.
2. We could probably then create a separate downloads page which then go more into specifics like so:
   
   Alternatively, we could also have it in the home page (like in VLC), but I think that might be a bit too messy. Photo for reference:
   

On the matter of automatic downloads, I do think that they should only occur when the package is more or less 99% apt for the host OS. As such, we could probably keep the automatic installation for Windows, since the installers should work with Windows computers in general anyway. As for Linux, we could only probably do it if we automatically install JabRef as a .tar.gz since they're more general (as in JetBrains' IDEs, I think). They are less user-friendly and more troublesome to set up though for new users, if my canvassing was true. I'm not too sure though on the MacOS front, since I've only ever worked with Windows and Linux machines;;;

All in all, I think we should work on the buttons since the logic for detecting OS' and automatic downloading is already there, requiring only some more or less minor rework.

@JabRef/developers , do let me know your thoughts on the matter++

[tobiasdiez]

Sounds good to me! I would suggest we start with first implementing the os-specific download section (eg separate deb/rpm buttons), and then the more detailed download page (point 2) in a second PR.

[plvzfq-rit]

Alrighty+ I'll try to get on it as soon as I could++