[maemo-developers] [maemo-developers] joining efforts to make a complete community repository

[From: Antonio Orlando]

[suggestion for common repository]
> what are you thoughts about this ?

I've seen the Zero Install [1] injector has been somehow ported to maemo  
[2]; I think it should be recommended for maemo developers to create  
packages for it, because all of its advantages are important for a desktop  
system, but they are GREAT, imho mandatory, for a device where a user  
wants to avoid to death messing up things.

With the 770 we have easy internet connection and linux - wonderful: these  
are the ingredients for a complete community repository based on 0install  
packages. The user can feel somehow protected by "not-installing" stuff on  
the device, and anyone can distribute software. Moreover, whenever a  
reflash is needed, the backup & restore of the system with all the apps  
and configs would be way simpler than now, because every app (or most of  
them) would be self-contained into the cache directory, so to further  
simplify the process it could be written a backup/restore utility showing  
all the currently "0installed" apps, with checkboxes to:

* do not backup at all (will not be restored)

* do not backup program files in the cache, just config stuff (will  
require new download when used the first time)

* backup all (will be restored with program and config files in the cache  
too)

It will backup the created aliases, the links to packages, and eventually  
the cached files.
The restore app will restore everything without effort. It would be nice  
and good even for normal unexperienced users, with a well-done hildonized  
0install injector and automatic alias creation and launch selector  
interface.


[1] http://www.0install.org/
[2] http://web.telia.com/~u86012345/nokia770/


-- 
Antonio