Leading Linux distribution developers met recently to discuss how
they could make it easier for users to find, download, and install
applications, perhaps using the App Store-like approach that has
become so successful in the Android and Apple worlds.
Developers from Debian, Fedora, Red Hat, Mageia, Mandriva,
openSUSE, and Ubuntu met Jan. 19-21 at the SUSE office in
Nürnberg, Germany, and conferred about a universal application
installer API and infrastructure -- which they referred to as an
Application Store. This cross-distribution meeting on an
application installer addressed several key aims, such as agreeing
on a common user interface to install applications; concurring on
the metadata to use, how to generate it, and where to host it;
consenting on a protocol to provide non-static metadata; and
deciding what metadata to share between distributions and what
metadata should stay distribution-specific, according to the
meeting agenda.
"In reality, if it turns out we can't all agree on one item,
it's still fine: it doesn't mean we can't collaborate on the other
items. And some distros might still work together," the wiki said.
"It's worth mentioning here that what matters to us is the end-user
experience. It matters more than the technical implementation."
The confab -- dubbed "Cross-Distro Craziness" -- was videotaped,
and can be viewed on YouTube.
"Even if this doesn't turn out to work, the fact that we got all
these distros to come together and work on something as one is a
big ++ for everything Linux," wrote a video-viewer.
Developers determined the Ubuntu Software Center has the most
appropriate user interface, and plans to port it to PackageKit, a
system designed to simplify the installation and updating of
software on a computer, according to OStatic. In addition, the
group decided to use Xapian's open source search engine library,
and Open Collaboration Services for integration of Web communities
and Web-based services, as well as user ratings and reviews, in
desktop and mobile applications, OStatic said.
Under current plans, a server will store metadata such as
package data, icon location, and repository type and location, the
article said. A compose server will take package data from the
desktop file. All participating distribution developers must
provide each package, and the output server will generate this
information to a common XML file, OStatic said. The user interface
for AppStream will be the front-end for PackageKit; this will
instruct the distribution's package management system to install
the application requested by the user, according to OStatic .
The concept of distribution developers working together to
simplify Linux installation is not new. In 2009, for example, game
porter Ryan Gordon created FatElf, "a file format that embeds
multiple ELF binaries for different architectures into one
file."