CPack Packaging for Windows/Mac (and possibly Linux)

[Pau Garcia i Quiles]

Quoting Mike Arthur <mike at mikearthur.co.uk>:

I proposed the same thing a few months ago but it was rejected back  
then ( http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.kde.devel.buildsystem/3127  
). Maybe you'll be luckier than I was.

> Hey guys,
>
> I was talking to Alexander Neundorf and Till Adam at Akademy about packaging
> for Windows/Mac (and possibly Linux) systems using CPack.
>
> As we're using CMake and CTest for our build and test system it   
> makes sense to
> use CPack for as much of our packaging as possible. Currently the Windows
> packaging and install system is fairly terrible. I realise we are from a UNIX
> background and we want to minimise wastage of libraries etc. but we seriously
> need to rethink the way we are distributing packages to users if we want to
> target the same market that e.g. Mozilla do. If you compare the installation
> process for e.g. Konqueror vs Firefox then its fairly insane how hard it is
> for us (at least last time I checked).
>
> I propose that we set up CPack to create per-package and per-module   
> installers
> for Windows and Mac. I'm going to start updating CPack's wiki documentation
> massively in the next few weeks and also plan on trying to create a MSI
> backend for CPack and have experience at Mendeley (http://www.mendeley.com/)
> with creating automatically generated installers for Windows/Mac/Linux with
> e.g. branding/graphics and ensuring that the applications install and behave
> as closely as possible to an expected user of that platform. At the   
> moment I'm
> using a NSIS installer for Windows and a DMG with a PKG and .app bundle on
> Mac.
>
> I realise that my above critiquing of the current packaging system will
> probably attract some attention but I think its important that this is shaken
> up a bit. If necessary the two projects can live side-by-side, the current
> approach for people who really don't want to duplicate libraries and the
> individual-packaged application approach for people that just want to install
> an application offline and start using it straight away.
>
> Anyway, awaiting thoughts on this and have cross-posted to a few lists to
> ensure maximum input.
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Mike Arthur
> _______________________________________________
> Kde-windows mailing list
> Kde-windows at kde.org
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-windows
>



-- 
Pau Garcia i Quiles
http://www.elpauer.org
(Due to my workload, I may need 10 days to answer)