iLiad Idea: iLiad application Downloader

[Adam B.]

So I was looking at the iPhone stuff and they actually have something that's really cool. It's an application that will automatically download and install 3rd party apps. I think that something like this on the Iliad would be great. This would make things very easy for users to automatically download and install programs and viewers.

This is what I think it would need to do/have.

• Make the initial installation easy. Perhaps a self extracting shell script, or a windows installer. This way the user can put it anywhere and run it on their iLiad. They shouldn't have to unzip it.
• You should have the option to configure where you want your programs to be stored. This should be able to be changed whenever is necessary. This should be able to be accomplished with symbolic links with /usr/local/ pointing to the configured location.
• Configuration and package lists should be done with XML files. This way updates to the available packages can be made without recompiling the program.
• The program should use the default connection manager so the user does not need to create new profiles for internet connectivity.

I see the program as using the same interface as the contentlister and/or the settings application. Perhaps we can convince iRex to release part of their source so that we can use it as a basis for this model.

Any other ideas/thoughts/suggestions? I don't think that I have the coding ability to create this, so if someone wants to step up, it would be great.

Then again, maybe it's time for me to dig further into GTK and give it a try.

[Hadrien]

Sounds like a great idea to me. With so many iLiad applications already available, a simple app for the management of every piece of software would be perfect. Be careful with the main server hosting all those files though, you don't want someone to hack it and install something bad on every iLiad on the planet.

[tribble]

That would be awesome. And programms should be tested and only used with corresponding checksums.

[vranghel]

The idea is great and I volunteer to host the file(s) on 2 different hosts just so Hadrien can rest assured that both wont get hacked

[nekokami]

Something like Synaptic, maybe?

Edit: Oh, wait, maybe that's what you meant by trying again with GTK.

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by nekokami

Something like Synaptic, maybe?

Edit: Oh, wait, maybe that's what you meant by trying again with GTK.

Synaptic is a good example yeah. Something that works the same way, with an easy installer for it.

[Adam B.]

I wasn't thinking of something as complex as Synaptic. I had in my mind something more like Ubuntu's "Add/Remove Programs" program, but with an Iliad interface. It has a list of common applications organized in categories with a one click install.

With that, the user can find the program they want and select it. The installer will automatically get the ipkg (this would be best for installation) install it, and change the install link to a "remove".

[nekokami]

I thought Ubuntu used Synaptic for this purpose? Oh, I see the Add/Remove Programs command now. Yeah, that would be great!

[rincewind]

Synaptic and the add/remove program application are frontends to apt (aptitude), which was the Debian package system, now adopted by many distributions. As the iLiad also uses debs (if I remember correctly), one should be able to simply compile apt and make a distribution source for it. This contains application information extracted from the deb packages, and also has dependency checks etc. Creating a small GTK frontend/browser for it would be fairly basic.

Perhaps the package managers of the "Familiar GTK" handheld distribution (familiar.handhelds.org) or the Nokia surf tablets would do?

R