[kde-edu]: kig & Python scripting

[Jason Harris]

On Friday 01 July 2005 06:05 am, Noel Bush wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm trying to find out whether I'm doing something wrong, or just have
> an incorrect version.  The Kig documentation says that it's possible to
> use Python scripting via the "Objects > Other > Python Script" menu
> option, but I don't find that option.  I have version 0.9.0.
>
I guess your version of kig doesn't have Python support...

> By the way, why is it that this app (and so many others) are glommed
> together into a single RPM package?  Doesn't that make it a lot harder
> to keep each package up to date (because you have to wait for all the
> others to justify releasing a big new package), and doesn't it tend to
> make each particular app get "swallowed up" by the package identity?
>
The KDE modules are for our convenience as developers.  Packaging of KDE is 
entirely up to the distributions; we do not provide RPMs, and nothing says 
that the distros have to keep the various modules as they exist in SVN.  
There are a few distros that offer individual app packages, such as gentoo.

The other point is on release timing:  it is not easy to do a release. You 
have to freeze the codebase for several weeks while bugs are found and fixed, 
and translations to over 40 languages are made.  It's simply not feasible for 
every KDE app to be on its own release schedule.  That said, there are some 
apps that do follow their own schedules.  You will find them in the 
"extragear" modules.  Also, the normal apps sometimes get "unofficial" 
releases.  Check kde-apps.org.

> I can't find a separate web page for Kig itself, just a sort of
> "directory" page in the larger "kde-edu" package.  Is this the only
> place to find info about the project?  

That is the main kig page.  It's part of KDE and kdeedu, so its webpage is 
integrated into kde.org.

> Is there a place I can find 
> newer/alternate versions of the project that can be installed as
> separate RPMs without forcing a conflict with the main kde-edu package?
>
Again, kde-apps.org, although the non-official releases there are often just a 
source code tarball (but not always; sometimes someone will step up and 
supply a binary version as well).

> Or if the only way for me to get the Python scripting support is to
> recompile separately, can I do that in a way that doesn't require me to
> force a conflict with kde-edu?
>
Compiling from source should not cause a conflict with your binary kdeedu 
installation (especially if you install to a different target directory, but 
even if you overwrite the kig from your RPM, it won't matter much).
See here for instructions on how to get the source code of just kig:
http://edu.kde.org/kstars/svn.php

(replace "kstars" with "kig" in the instructions, and you can skip the steps 
related to libkdeedu)

Also, note that this will give you the current development version of the 
code.  If you want the release version instead, replace "/home/kde/trunk/KDE" 
with "/home/kde/tags/KDE/3.4.1" in the "svn co" commands.

Jason

-- 
-------------------------------
KStars: KDE Desktop Planetarium
http://edu.kde.org/kstars