Re: Kickstarter was not successful... but it did help things...

[Markus Hitter]

Am 21.12.2013 20:01, schrieb Ivan Vučica:
> On Sat Dec 21 2013 at 6:36:31 PM, Markus Hitter <mah@jump-ing.de> 
> wrote:
>> Actually I'm tempted to fix this situation by providing current 
>> packages via a PPA and eventually forwarding these to Debian, but
>> I also can't get rid of the impression here is no interest in the 
>> results. Manually built packages are undoubtly a honorable effort, 
>> but why the heck are they built for no less than four older Ubuntu 
>> releases, but not the current one? Why is there no interest in 
>> showing up with them in Ubuntus software center?
> 
> There is interest; thing is, how much work does Canonical expect us 
> to do?

Depending on the level you want to achieve:

PPA: upload sources including a list of dependencies. Basically what you
need when building packages manually.

Their official package sources: all of a PPA + compatibility with Debian
guidelines (which don't expect frameworks).

Replacing their standard emailer: all of above + flawless integration
with Unity + better experience for non-technical users + fitting into
the 700 MB distro CD.

The latter doesn't look impossible. Evolution (the former one) and
Thunderbird (the current one) are a complex beasts while GNUmail comes
with big icons (remember, Ubuntu is going mobile) and is designed for
ease of use.

Regarding PPAs:
https://help.launchpad.net/Packaging/PPA
https://help.launchpad.net/Packaging/PPA/BuildingASourcePackage
https://help.launchpad.net/Packaging/PPA/Uploading


> I've tried to push for DbusMenu integration; that requires a proper 
> understanding of DBUS that I don't have right now (and would take me 
> some time to acquire), proper understanding od DbusMenu itself, 
> proper understanding of how NSMenu works (and how to patch it to 
> generate the menus in format that can be shipped over DBUS), as well
>  as updates to DbusKit as there was a (correct) agreement that we
> want to speak directly over DBUS instead of making use of
> libdbusmenu.

I have no such experience either, my last line of Obj-C was written 5
years ago, but I also don't fear learning.


> - if we were to do it, someone would have to maintain releases for 
> Debian, for Ubuntu, for Gentoo, for OpenSUSE, for FreeBSD, for OS X, 
> for Windows... see how the list grows?

Do one, do it good and the others will follow. Ubuntu is some 50% of the
Linux market.


> By login session I mean setting up the entire integrated desktop 
> environment that users have come to expect. GNOME, KDE, Xfce launch
> a dozen processes. A GNUstep session, based on what we have now,
> would already include at least three processes: WindowMaker,
> GWorkspace, and the third one whose name escapes me (the one used to
> update list of applications and file associations).

Essentially you ask these other 19 apps people use (in my example) to
align with GNUstep instead of *one* GNUstep app to align with the
existing environment. Doesn't sound good to me, especially if you want
to allow users to simply try.



Am 21.12.2013 20:35, schrieb Riccardo Mottola:
> App-"store" for a FOSS project is a bit ridiculous :)

Would you be surprised to see price tags in Ubuntus appstore? Well,
they're there, since, IIRC, 13.04. When searching for an email app most
of them with the tag "Free", but not all of them.


Markus

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Dipl. Ing. (FH) Markus Hitter
http://www.reprap-diy.com/
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