On Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:41:12 +0200, Ryan Leavengood <leavengood@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Writing a C++ UI isn't really that hard; the only advantage I give web UIs is that theyallow for more effects with less work.I agree, but it isn't just a fancy GUI and effects which I think HTML provides in this case. Rating and commenting would fit better within an HTML system. Otherwise I know what is going to happen: we are going to have Haikuware and bunch of various other sites each with their own rating and comments system, and then a simple C++ package installer which people don't like to use since it lacks so much compared to these web-sites.
I proposed 'HaikuBits' in the package management draft [1]. This website would be a *complete* directory of all Haiku software, free and commercial. It should *not* necessarily host packages of all this software, but it would store descriptions and all metadata required by the package manager*. In addition, users should be able to rate software and (expert users) flag incompatibilities between packages. I believe HaikuBits should be administered by the Haiku team.
I was thinking this would provide a perfect GUI for installing packages. As package management is mostly an online thing nowadays, you don't need a local webserver.
Of course, you will still need a native application for installing packages (downloaded or from offline media) and managing the installed packages. I don't think this would need the 'social' aspect of the HaikuBits website. It could still link to the respective HaikuBits web page of course.
I don't think it would take much effort to develop a basic HaikuBits website using Django for example. Anyone interested in teaming up?
* There would be a clear distinction between the package repositories and package metadata database. HaikuBits would provide the metadata database for the package manager. Actual packages would need to be fetched from a set of repositories or from websites.
I hope this makes some sense.... writing in a hurry. [1] http://dev.haiku-os.org/wiki/PackageManagerIdeas -- Brecht
