Re: strawman (Was Re: build systems)

[Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>]

<quote who="Adam Schreiber">

> * Do enough maintainers/developers still run windows systems and have
> Windows developement experience?

Doesn't matter -- there are a few people who do Windows work already. With
increased support, their work will be easier. We can benefit from a lot of
experience from the GIMP and Pidgin projects. Build it and they will come!

> * Would this require a new pool of developers to be aquired before such a
> release?

No, we can ramp up, starting with only a few apps that have developers and
have been tested.

> * Would this introduce new bugs that would be difficult to track down and
> kill without access to a Windows development environment?

Potentially, but those who care about Windows can fix those bugs. First, we
create a place for that work to happen -- if there's nothing to do and
nowhere to do it, no developers will contribute to it at all.

> * Would there be an active group, similar perhaps to gnome-love
> (windows-love?) that would patrol windows related bugs?

That would be rad.

> * There would probably have to be an easy and somewhat trusted method of
> installing binary packages for Windows. (Winbuntu?)

Windows already has a packaging system that is horribly underused. There are
already hackers in the GNOME community working on some of this stuff, so we
shouldn't ignore it in the defintion or experimentation with any new build
systems.

- Jeff

-- 
GNOME.conf.au 2008: Melbourne, Australia http://live.gnome.org/Melbourne2008
 
  "Ever since GNOME development began, I have urged people to aim to make
    it as good as the Macintosh. To try to be like Windows is to try for
                      second-best." - Richard Stallman