OSX Packages very confusing

[kneath]

From the git mailing list:

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 3:40 PM, tom smitts [email protected] wrote:

Do the git maintainers really think any mac users have  a clue which git install package to download?  You put some arcane chipset designation in the package  name!  Why make mac installers at all?  Mac users know their operating system number, e.g. 10.6.7, and that's all.  I doubt Windows users know any better. And I doubt you can find anywhere on a mac that says  i386 or whatever the heck the other dumb designation is.

I definitely feel his pain, the link we use for the OSX binaries is confusing beyond belief. We should maybe cultivate a custom list of binaries?

[peff]

I don't know what Mac people are used to, but maybe it makes sense to distribute a "net installer" that looks at uname to get the OS version and architecture, and that just pulls down and installs the appropriate binary package.

[kneath]

That'd be rad. We could do the same with Javascript as well I believe.

[SRabbelier]

Another problem is that it lists all the packages for all the versions ever made, which is very overwhelming. It would be better to link to the "Featured" label, which seems to show only the most recent ones:

http://code.google.com/p/git-osx-installer/downloads/list?q=label:Featured

[mjg]

The easiest solution is use a better summary (and the featured selection as per SR). Just look at the neat GitOnWin list:

http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/downloads/list?can=3

The google code page for GitOnMac might also change sooner than git-scm.com...