[maemo-developers] [maemo-developers] Announce: Applications for download available

[From: Gustavo Sverzut Barbieri]

On 10/20/05, Rodrigo Parra Novo <rodarvus at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 10/20/05, Gustavo Sverzut Barbieri <barbieri at gmail.com> wrote:
> > We could have a package called "KernelConceptsRepository", that, when
> > installed, it will just append your repository to apt/sources.list.
>
>    For security reasons, Application Installer runs under user
> 'install', so unfortunately (or fortunately :) ) it can't update
> /etc/apt/sources.list. Also, as 'install' is an ordinary user, no
> files installed with Application Installer can be suid root.

Couldn't maemo have a "system service" (app) to do request a new
mirror to be installed?
   Maybe the final version could have a few trusted sites and some PGP
keys to protect users.
   Or we could have some central place to put free maemo applications,
this would come in maemo platform and we can have a review board to
make sure the package offers no danger to people's software/device.



> > After that we can have some GUI to browse packages from
> > repositories... but we should come with a clean solution to mask out
> > system packages! With that user would see a pretty "AbiWord - Text
> > processor" "Gnumeric - Spread sheet" ... icons in his device.
> >     This would be something like Linspire "Click-n-Run".
> >
> > But then we have the security problem to edit /etc/apt/sources.list ... ideas?
>
>    Give time some time, I believe it will only be a matter of time
> before someone (from the Maemo community) releases an AI++ (which
> installs software on the root directory).

I don't think it's necessary.
We could use the concept of "self contained" packages really easy,
like Rox does and some KDE people wants to with http://klik.atekon.de/

Problem is always dependencies... however if we have a base of
applications user may want to install, we can check common
dependencies and after evaluating their size x benefit, decide if we
provide it by default. Maemo being a single device/kernel by _now_
helps a lot.

But I still want the former approach, using apt-get and a GUI to
manage user packages (not system/libraries)

--
Gustavo Sverzut Barbieri
---------------------------------------
Computer Engineer 2001 - UNICAMP
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