@all: This is most probably a logical follow-up to
this discussion.
@BeccaPrice: I abstained from jumping in on this topic until now, simply because I'm too involved to contribute a non-biased opinion (for me, everything is simple and logical). Nevertheless, here is a short explanation:
Yes, CM requires multiple prerequisites:
- the actual device jailbreak (or, in fact, as eureka pointed out, simply a certificate file), which allows to install update files from independent developers. On every paperwhite, two such files already exist (for allowing updates signed by Amazon... such as the 5.3.x ones), and the jailbreak merely adds a third one.
- the developer certificates. This is pretty much the same as above, except that it only pertains to active content (Kindlets, or "Apps").
- the Kindlet jailbreak. This is a mechanism which allows Kindlets to break out of their sandbox and to access the entire Kindle system. It is required for CM, because otherwise, it wouldn't be able to read or manipulate the collections database, or any file on the system (as required for calibre import and export, for example).
It was a conscious decision to modularize these into multiple packages. For instance, if you only want to install NiLuJe's screensaver hack, you only need the jailbreak as such. If you want to install a Chess game from an independent developer, you only need the jailbreak and developer certificates, etc. And these three things together allow to open pretty much all of the doors that the Kindle tries to jam by default, so it's unlikely that you will need more than them. Any other hack can make use of them as well, if required - without having to reinvent the wheel.
So those multiple dependencies don't make things more complex, but actually simpler, more logical, and more independent. The only drawback is that you need all of them, which initially requires multiple installations (but they're all a piece of cake...)
Concerning CM, its interface, and its usage, I'll let you judge yourself by looking at the CM thread.
@NiLuJe/eureka: I'm sure that there was no offense intended either way. But I do agree with what NiLuJe said: at least, for the stuff that we program and release, we have the source code (for everybody to check), and we know why things are programmed the way they are. And if we don't know, we can ask the developer.