Re: Introducing NewStuffManager

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

Tom Tromey wrote:
>
> I've got a few questions about it.  I've tried to read through all the
> available info -- forgive me if I missed something.
>
> First, you may want to read through the JNLP spec[1] for ideas.  JNLP
> is more or less the equivalent java technology, though a bit more
> application-centric.
>
Afaik Java Web Start is used to run applications over the web instead of
downloading and installing them first. NewStuffManager tries not to
achieve such goal.

> What happens if a distro wants to ship a plugin?  I'm specifically
> thinking about upgrades and versioning, and making sure the manager
> does the right thing.  E.g., consider this scenario: the distro ships
> a plugin (version 1), then the user updates from the update site
> (version 2) into his home directory, and then the OS itself is
> upgraded, pulling in version 3.  (If this sounds far-fetched... I've
> done this multiple times with Eclipse plugins on Fedora.)
>
Okay, let's say you have version 1 of the plugin installed. Then you have
to call NewStuff.GetAvailableUpdates([("id_of_myplugin", "1.0.0.0")]) to
findout if an update is available. This call returns [("id_of_myplugin",
"2.0.0.0")]. So NewStuffManager downloads and installs version 2 of the
plugin. After that your distro updates to version 3. If you call
NewStuff.GetAvailableUpdates([("id_of_myplugin", "3.0.0.0")]) the return
value won't contain an entry for "id_of_myplugin" anymore. Therefore, no
update is available. Of course, the version of the installed plugin must
be stored in the plugin itsself or the application that uses it,

> Is there any way for a plugin to express its requirements?  Maybe it
> needs other plugins, or specific versions of things, or ... your idea
> here.  This sort of thing is a staple of other plugin management
> environments.  (Eclipse for sure, which goes the overkill route.  JNLP
> has a lighter touch, basically allowing re-use via URLs, though having
> a tag to indicate the required JRE version.)
>
Currently, there's no way to do this via NewStuffManager. Deskbar-Applet
plugins can contain a function that check the requirements, though. If
some of the requirements are missing the plugin isn't loaded by
deskbar-applet.

Mabye, it's a good idea to implement a way to allow a plugin to express
its requirements. I'm grateful for any suggestion.

> How does this relate to python eggs[2]?  And if it doesn't, why not?
> It seems to me that if there's an upstream project that handles a lot
> of this, then it would be beneficial to simply re-use it.
>
eggs are something like a setup wizard. You pack your files into an egg so
that the user can install the application easily. I don't know what you
mean. Do you want to support eggs as an download source, or what?


-- 
Greetings,
Sebastian Pölsterl