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Re: Looking for help writing apps


From: Riccardo
Subject: Re: Looking for help writing apps
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 18:42:17 +0200

Hello,


On Monday, September 27, 2004, at 06:16 PM, Adam Fedor wrote:

There are quite a few nice GNUstep applications out there right now. What I think is missing most is probably the less glamourous but really helpful tools and applications that might help make GNUstep easier to setup and use. Hopefully, there are some people looking for something to do and would want to volunteer for some of these. Here's my list, Perhaps you have different ideas...
Yes. this is a nice idea. It would also bring us closer to a "gnustep experience" and bring us closer to the end user.

1. A non-graphic installer.
I'm trying to solve the chicken-and-egg problem of installing gnustep software without a nice GUI application. This installer would be very basic, checking for potential conflicts, prerequisites and potential problems. Then install and test the basic GNUstep system. Just enough to get the graphical installer/setup app started.
do you think it should assist in code compilation and installation or should it work for binary distributions? Do you think it should be only for an "autonomous install" like one currently does with make install or should it deal also with package based stuff, like Solaris, linux and BSD have ?

2. A graphic installer.
I had plans for this also, but I don't have time for it either. I was thinking about something along the lines of FinkCommander, but one that would handle a variety of different packaging formats (tar.gz, deb, rpm, etc).
Have you ever seen the IRIX graphic software manager ? I think it has an exceptional gui. It is quite powerful (but other tools like AIX smit or debian dselect are powerful too) but what really strikes is the intuitive GUI where all is at a mouse click and at a glance.

3. A Setup.app application for after GNUstep is installed.
I think this could be very similar, and perhaps based on the Preferences.app application, except that it would explicity step the user through setting the time zone, default languages, etc. Perhaps also setup an xsession file to startup GWorkspace and WindowManager (if installed). Then lead the user
to some helpful beginner information...

It seems that you describe here a "wizard" and I would inspire myself both at apple installation and at the excellent IRIX IndigoMagic setups of the System Manager. What I really like of the system manager over the apple's tool is that it has a comprehensive gui that gives you all the info and all the wizards accessible from one point. Of course the GUI paradigm is very different, so one should grasp the basic ideas and transport them in an OpenStep environment. In a wizard GUI design is at the end more important than the capabilities themselves.

-R





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