

Ninite.com (YC W08) releases new product and stats - 10 million apps installed - swies
http://blog.ninite.com/post/651531831/as-may-comes-to-a-close-weve-got-a-few-big-ninite

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portman
This is just one person's anecdotal experience, but: when I first saw ninite,
I thought "yeah I'll definitely use that next time I reinstall". Then I
promptly forgot about it.

I've probably reinstalled 8-9 times since then.

I think part of the problem is the name, which is hard to remember - have you
experimented with more literal domain names?

~~~
matthew-wegner
They apparently picked the name by automatically searching for available short
domains: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1369208>

I said the same in the comments on that story--I don't think their name is
very good. I constantly forget it too, and waste a few minutes Googling for it
every time I need to use it (which is always a few months apart, and my
experience with Ninite is so short it never makes an impression on me).

------
Feynman
This may or may not be useful advice depending on the direction of the
software... but this technology could make for the basis of great enterprise
software. Everyone I've ever met who manages a Microsoft SMS / System Config
Manager in an enterprise always seems to hate it. There's definitely a need
for a simple way to manage and deploy software in an enterprise setting.

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minalecs
i understand the utility of their application, but I see this as worse than a
seasonal type application. I mean how often do we need to reinstall a lot of
software at one time. Also I saw spotify on the list.. might cause some
confusion for US users.

~~~
swies
Lately we're trying to promote Ninite more for single app downloads too. Even
for a single app Ninite saves you from:

\- navigating confusing download sites (sourceforge stands out as an example)

\- waiting/forgetting about a download before running an installer (all Ninite
installers are ~200k, they get everything else once running)

\- clicking "Next" through pointless multi-step installers

\- mistakenly installing a toolbar in your browser

As for Spotify, we got a lot of requests for it because we have many non-US
users. While Ninite installs apps in your PCs language we haven't
internationalized the website or its selections for different markets yet.

~~~
revorad
Who are your users? Doesn't your strange name make it hard for people to find
or recommend you? How about something more boring but direct like AppInstaller
or MisterApp (hello, patio11!)?

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sireat
This is the first time I've seen Ninite, and indeed it seems truly handy for
those on Windows.

(of course on Debian/Ubuntu one can use: dpkg --get-selections | grep -v
deinstall > prevpackages.may10 sudo dpkg --set-selections < prevpackages.may10
)

How do I remember the site name next time I am reinstalling Windows at my
mother in laws?..

Ninite - what mnemonic device shall I use to refresh my old grey cells?

------
Maro
It's Windows only? I'd be nice if you detected my Mac, and instead of offering
to download an exe it'd just say "Your platform is not supported".

