[kde-community] KDE presence on Software Stores

[Inge Wallin]

Hi Aleix,

This is a very interesting initiative.  I have a few questions below that I 
think wasn't answered in the original post.

On Saturday, February 14, 2015 01:06:57 Aleix Pol wrote:
> Dear KDE Community,
> KDE software distribution on different platforms is a longstanding
> issue, especially on the not-so-free platforms. It's a complex issue
> that the KDE eV would like to see addressed. This is why we are
> announcing a new initiative to help our software reach some of those
> platforms.
> 
> First of all, we want to assure KDE is committed to Free Software. We
> must ensure our software can be distributed on the distribution
> methods the most loyal to Free Software philosophy (for example, see
> [1]).
> 
> On the other hand we can't stop there. We make software for people and
> and we need to be where people are. Thats why we decided to take a
> step further and make sure we there are official KDE accounts present
> on the different platforms' official software distribution channels,
> starting with the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store.

How will the KDE applications get past the Apple App Store's ban on GPL? Or is 
that ban lifted now? I have no clue about the status for Google Play Store, 
but if there is a similar issue, consider the same question asked for that as 
well.  

Note that this is not a problem of us not wanting to be on their platform but 
them not wanting us.

> This is an important step for KDE because it will open the possibility
> to provide software for platforms we haven't really reached yet. It's
> not about the platforms themselves, in fact it's about being able to
> reach the users, who are there and should be able to take advantage of
> the KDE software.
> 
> This is also a call for action, it's a new initiative and we need your
> collaboration most of all. If you are a developer, consider adapting a
> KDE application, if you are a designer, help us re-think the
> applications for touch-based environments, if you are a systems
> administrator, help us set up the infrastructures that we will need.

I am a little unclear here.  Is this an effort to make it possible to build KDE 
software for these platforms or an effort to actually provide builds?

Regarding the first, I really would like to see a documented best practices 
page on community for how to set up a CMakeLists.txt file for how to create 
builds for several different platforms.  I have seen a few (marble being the 
most advanced) but they differ a lot. It would be nice if we could have one 
recommended way that it's done.

> Initially I will be coordinating this effort so please feel free to
> ask me if you have any question or comment and if you're willing to
> help, please answer here or in private.
> 
> Best regards,
> Aleix, with the KDE eV board
> 
> [1] https://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/liberate.en.html
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