[ge-talk] Installer - App Categories

[Waldemar Kornewald]

Nathan Whitehorn wrote:
>> Apps that don't specify a category are not shown in the Deskbar.
> 
> Reasonable, I guess. Half the point of bundles, though, is to avoid 
> cluttering /boot/apps. I would much prefer having the Deskbar simply 
> show the contents of that directory. The file system is a good thing. 
> It's obvious how to change the contents. What I would suggest, in fact, 
> is to have ~/config/be simply contain symlinks to /boot/apps, 
> /boot/preferences, and /boot/games. Then if people want to categorize 
> their deskbar, or modify it in any way they can. We could also put saved 
> queries in there. The Deskbar itself *should not know anything* about 
> packages, or software placement, nor should apps try or need explicitly 
> to put themselves there -- an overreliance on people opening apps with 
> the start menu created the C:\Program Files mess on Windows.

It's not just the /boot/apps clutter. Bundles are totally location 
independent. How do you want to include /home/apps without using 
queries? What if some user deletes his queries in ~/config/be and uses 
symlinks for his own categories? New applications won't automatically 
appear, anymore. This cannot be the recommended solution to 
categorization. You cannot even expect most users to recreate the 
queries if they deleted them. We need a reliable solution that cannot be 
broken or replaced with something that is unreliable (at least not as a 
"recommended solution").

But if we go with queries: The index_server should store system-local 
attributes (never copied). Every installed bundle is marked with such an 
attribute. On upgrade we can request the index_server to delete the old 
bundle's attribute (even if the bundle is located on an *unmounted* 
volume) and add one for the new bundle. Queries are used by default, so 
everything works as expected.

What should happen to file systems that don't support attributes or 
queries? Should the index_server emulate these capabilities for such 
file systems (and store its data on the FS to not waste resources)? You 
would be unable to extend read-only file systems, though. That means you 
cannot permanently install a bundle from CD without copying it. Maybe 
this is not too bad because you normally don't use bundles from CD.

How do we auto-translate queries like "Applications" into other 
languages? There must be "localizable" attributes/file names.

>> To make all installed software still accessible from an intuitive 
>> place (for uninstall and inspection of installed software) the 
>> "Applications" menu in Deskbar gets an entry "Show All Applications" 
>> (placed at the top and separated from the other entries). This entry 
>> opens the "Software Manager" which should look like an application 
>> launcher, but also allow for inspecting all installed bundles and 
>> packages.
> 
> Why not just open a query that lists all your applications, as opposed 
> to faking it with some app? A Software Manager like thing should be used 
> only for removing installed packages, and should be a preference. With 
> bundles, we already can uninstall them by dragging them from the query 
> to the trash. The only other thing a fake launcher could do would be to 
> get in the way.

I was thinking of apps not listed in "Applications" (e.g.: BePDF). Did 
you never get asked how to uninstall some application that does not 
appear in the Windows "Start Menu"? It's unintuitive to search in 
Control_Panel->Software. You don't search in "Preferences" if you want 
to delete an app. As a newbie you first look in "Applications" and then 
wonder how to delete it (since it's missing). This is why I would like 
to have a "Show All Applications" item. "Applications" is the first 
place that comes to your mind.

Bye,
Waldemar