On Mon, 12 Sep 2005, Pierre-Jean Coudert wrote:
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 15:59:40 +0200 From: Pierre-Jean Coudert <coudert@...8...> To: inkscape-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: Re: [Inkscape-devel] Windows Packaging: WinLibre
Peter Moulder wrote:
[Bcc'd to Pierre-Jean Coudert of WinLibre; replies will go to inkscape-devel alone: I don't want to send too much unsolicited mail his way. Pierre-Jean, tu peux voir les r�ponses � http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_id=36054 si tu veux, et tu peux me r�pondre si tu veux que je fasse suivre � inkscape-devel.]
Every now and again, we come across packaging problems on Windows, and we say "It would be good to be able to hand these problems off to distributors, as we do for a number of un*x distributions", or "Someone should create a windows package consisting of inkscape, gimp, and perhaps other gtk software, so that they can share libraries."
There is a workaround, you can install Inkscape, delete the Gtk version we ship and it should fall back to the shared common system version of Gtk.
It should be possible to include an option in the installer to use an existing copy of GTK but the trick will be to make sure users are not left without any GTK at all or with a version that is not recent enough.
Do not forget although a load minority complain our simpler more straighforward setup is what the quiet majority of users actually want. http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/diary.html?start=262#computer-arts
and there is a complaint in theOpenCD wiki about the GIMP not being "slick" like GAIM which like Inkscape includes a copy of GTK
See point marked (3) http://maitri.ubuntu.com/theopencd/wiki/index.php/List_of_Candidates_v2.1
I've just today discovered WinLibre, which does this: http://www.winlibre.com/en/index.php
Dont forget theOpenCD.org http://theopencd.org/
(I'm willing to bet there are more people using Gtk based software on Windows than there are using Gnome/Gtk on Linux but it would be a tough one to prove (and counting Mozilla is probably cheating even if it does techinically use Gtk). Wonder how inkscape download statistics are distributed by platform?
However, I don't yet know to what extent WinLibre engages in packaging activities: i.e. do they just grab the Windows binary that we provide,
They do exactly that but if the inkscape installer were improved it would be possible for them to run a fully scripted unattended install and wrap it in a their own standardised installer. The integration both projects make a big deal about is having a nice integrated interface for the CD like a magazine coverdisk would do.
We would be very happy to work more closely with you guys. It could help to move the projects in a more user friendly direction.
The stuff I suggested above would probably help.
There is section in the Wiki about the Win32 installer http://wiki.inkscape.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Win32_Installer
I expect Adib would appreciate any help he can get. NSIS is easy enough when you know (but knowing how is the hard part) and the examples are cover most of what you would want to do.
If you want to encourage theOpenCD to include Inkscape it would be a good idea to make sure inkscape meets all their requirements http://maitri.ubuntu.com/theopencd/index.php?option=com_static&staticfil... (frankly I think inkscape is still a little too rough around the edges for the mass market and they already include OpenOffice Draw) They dont have time to review every bit of software and wait for others to review the software first.
Their site seems quite broken at the moment in places (the whole forum seems to be missing) so you would want to skip directly to their Wiki http://maitri.ubuntu.com/theopencd/wiki/index.php/Inkscape
Already got a million and one other things to do and although this seems complicated at first it could be broken down into many small tasks and is something most users would be able to help out with.
- Alan