Removing the option to install applications listed inside our configured repositories takes away greatly from the system.<br><br>The UI is at fault, not the actions it performs and data it contains within it.<br><br>Gary<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 2:28 PM, Marius Vollmer <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:marius.vollmer@nokia.com">marius.vollmer@nokia.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Hi,<br>
<br>
with the recent category discussion coming to a close, I already have<br>
something to think about that might go beyond categories.<br>
<br>
But first, many thanks to everybody involved in the recent category<br>
cleanup! I will catch up carefully and will do my best to make the<br>
necessary changes to the Application Manager.<br>
<br>
<br>
Ok. I think a central component like the Application manager is OK for<br>
the routine maintenance task of keeping your software uptodate. You<br>
want to be notified about available updates and hit a big button to<br>
install them all. Maybe you want to review a bit what you are about to<br>
install.<br>
<br>
But the current AM is a pretty unfriendly place for browsing a long list<br>
of available applications. In the past, I kept saying that I don't want<br>
the AM to turn into a portal for applications, that should be left to<br>
the browser. We have <a href="http://downloads.maemo.org" target="_blank">downloads.maemo.org</a>, which is this portal. Are<br>
people using it? As a thought experiment, could we remove the "Browse<br>
installable applications" button from the AM and get by with just<br>
<a href="http://downloads.maemo.org" target="_blank">downloads.maemo.org</a>? Should we work on better integration?<br>
<a href="http://Downloads.maemo.org" target="_blank">Downloads.maemo.org</a> could use information from the device to give a view<br>
that is nicely tailored to each device.<br>
<br>
There is another angle: many applications are extensible with plugins<br>
and add-ons, etc. There is a lot of potential there to simplify<br>
juggling with these packages. For example, there is no point to even<br>
show the pidgin-l10n-klingon package if you don't have Pidgin installed.<br>
This add-on management is probably a bit hard to do for a portal site<br>
like <a href="http://downloads.maemo.org" target="_blank">downloads.maemo.org</a>. But the current AM is not much better.<br>
<br>
Applications might want to do their own add-on management, or want to<br>
defer to a central application that is good at it. For example, the<br>
theme selector could list available themes in addition to the installed<br>
ones. The media player might be able to figure out that a codec add-on<br>
is missing and offer to install it. This goes into the direction of<br>
PackageKit and "package management as a system service". Something to<br>
keep in mind. It'll take some non-trivial amount of work and<br>
commitment.<br>
<br>
But, maybe we can get something worthwhile with only a few changes to<br>
the current Application manager.<br>
<br>
- We can let applications open a specific category in the Application<br>
manager, with the idea that useful add-ons for that application are<br>
found in that category.<br>
<br>
This would put more pressure on the categories: the Boingo category<br>
might want to come back, for example.<br>
<br>
- Or we can let applications compute their own list of packages (using<br>
debtags, say), and ask the Application manager to install them. This<br>
would essentially create a temporary category under control of an<br>
appliction. Will users understand what is going on?<br>
<br>
Opinions?<br>
<br>
Kristiina and Tero (in CC) have a need for something like this. Am I on<br>
the right track here?<br>
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</blockquote></div><br>