Re: Introducing NewStuffManager

[Sebastian Pölsterl <marduk k-d-w org>]

Shaun McCance wrote:
>
> I have some comments and questions after reading that
> page.  Mind you, I haven't downloaded NewStuffManager
> or dug into it.  I'm going off of what you've described
> on the web page.
>
> The repository XML files contain human-readable strings,
> like the name element.  From the RNG scheme, it doesn't
> appear these can be localized using the standard xml:lang
> attribute.
>
I must admit didn't think of i18n or l10n at all.

But I don't think it's a good idea to internationalize the repository's
XML file.
Especially the name element. Can you really translate the name of a plugin?
Furthermore, it would be lot of work to translate all the stuff for a big
repository and contents can change often. So you would need to translate
the file over and over again.
Lastly. RPM or deb files aren't internationalized either.

> The repository XML file doesn't seem to contain any way
> of specifying versions of the application for which the
> plugin can be used.  Imagine, for instance, the plugin
> bar for the application foo.  Version 2 of foo adds some
> new hooks for plugins, which version 2 of bar uses.  But
> we keep version 1 of bar in the repository for people
> still using version 1 of foo.
>
That's true that can cause some issues. But you could also provide two
repository files one for version 1 and one for version 2.

> I see no reason to XMLify existing syntaxes, particularly
> those that are easy to parse.  I'm referring to the version
> element.  Why not just allow
>   <version>3.1.1.0/version>
> instead of the more bulky
>   <version major="3" minor="1" build="1" revision="0" />
> People sometimes do this with dates, and I think it's just
> too overbearing.  The syntax for version numbers is already
> well understood.
>
I'm open to that.

> The spec file is data.  You should use a data language like
> XML or key (INI-style) files.  Unless there's some really
> good reason why people need the full expressive power of
> an actual programming language, using one for data files
> is inviting trouble.
>
I thought that myself. I'm most likely going to use an INI style spec file
in the future.

> Is NewStuffManager the best name we can come up with?
>
It's just the working title. I'm looking forward to any suggestions.

> And one of my layout pet peeves: In the screenshots, you
> have headers (e.g. "Available Extensions").  Below the
> header is a big list box with buttons and maybe a note.
> The contents underneath are indented.  I know the HIG
> recommends indenting groups, but I think it looks silly
> when there's only a single group containing primarily
> a large control like a list box.  I suppose I should
> bring this up more generally on the usability list.
>
That's something that's not NewStuffManager specific. Besides, I didn't
make the GUI.

-- 
Greetings,
Sebastian Pölsterl