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7 Reasons Not to Direct Link to a Developer's Download Files

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f0dder:
I've never downloaded software from one of those blog sites - if something has sounded interesting, I've always visited the author's site. Same goes for even the bigger download sites, I always try to grab the stuff from the author's site (which often has involved going from download.com -> mainsite -> back to download.com to download, unfortunately :P)

ewemoa:
I try to do something similar to what f0dder mentioned -- but for some sites where the primary languages used are not ones I interface with very well, it can be difficult to find a download link!

Usually I also try to do some "research" on the side before running new applications -- e.g. check DC forums  :Thmbsup:, see if there is a Wikipedia article, etc.  By the time I'm done w/ this, I try to visit the "official" site, which by that point is usually obvious.

It is true though that I find having to "parse" each site's layout to be taxing at times -- I can relate to the ease of already knowing where to look to find download links at a few sites (e.g. freewaregenius) -- brain is already trained to handle those layouts.  I'm reminded of the various collections of software provided by various OS distributions (e.g. the *BSDs) -- for things in those collections, the process of installing software is so nice and uniform (not to mention checking for updates!).

Darwin:
 :-[ OK, f0dder and ewemoa made my point far better than I did... This is getting old. Fast.

Signed:

Inarticulate in Courtenay  :(

f0dder:
I can relate to the ease of already knowing where to look to find download links at a few sites (e.g. freewaregenius) -- brain is already trained to handle those layouts.
-ewemoa (March 17, 2009, 04:36 PM)
--- End quote ---
Heh, I usually find that software that software's main sites have fairly easy-to-spot download links, whereas a site like http://www.free-downloads.net/programs/xplorer2 took me almost half a minute to grok (yeah, the location is pretty obvious, but it wasn't where I expected it, I guess :-[).

ewemoa:
I also have difficulty with sites like the example f0dder provided -- but this is usually if I'm not used to the layout already.  If I've visited a site often (e.g. like I have for a place like freewaregenius), I'm usually already "wired" to quickly find certain links (because of my previous visits) -- most places haven't pulled the "layout differs wildly on subsequent visits" trick yet ;)

(Darwin, is it so bad that other folks can relate to your point -- so much that we want to post separately about it?  I thought your point about updating was a good one, btw :Thmbsup:)

(On a side note, is it just me, or do you all find that sometimes the most recent comment you haven't read in a thread ends up being on a previous "page" -- and you don't think to look for it, or just don't bother?)

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