Proposal: kde-libs.org, a repository of contributed libraries

[kdea]

On Sun May 29 11:17:16 UTC 2016, Kevin Krammer wrote:

> > They suggested me to upload the library to the "Qt Components" section 
> > of http://qt-apps.org/ , so I did it, and the library is now available 
> > to other developers.
> 
> Wouldn't it make much more sense to register it with inqlude.org as a 
> central place for Qt libraries/components instead of spreading over many
> sites?

Well, it has been already discussed in the thread. Main points I see are:

* inqlude.org seems to be for big libraries, not for small contributed
  libraries.

* inqlude.org seems to be only an index, it doesn't store the software (it
  is not a repository), so developers can't upload the libraries to it, they
  need to upload the libraries to other place and then add the link to the
  index. It means more work for developers.

* All of https://www.opendesktop.org/ pages ( http://qt-apps.org/ ,
  http://kde-apps.org/ , http://kde-look.org/ , http://gtk-apps.org/ , etc )
  share the same structure and behabior, so they are familiar for the
  developers that already have uploaded an app to them. 

* Aditionally, developers can (re)use their account in all of the
  https://www.opendesktop.org/ pages, so no need of extra registrations.

> > Anyway, in the debate at Plasma-devel mailing list, I pointed out two
> > things:
> > - Having all types of libraries in one or two sections ("Qt Components"
> >   and "Qt Widgets") is not good, because it will be hard for developers
> >   to browse/find libraries.
> 
> Those should probably filter criteria instead of categories.
> A developer might be looking for a functional block, or look for 
> something for UI, etc.

Currently https://www.opendesktop.org/ pages have sections and subsections
to classify/browse the software (they are on the left column of the pages).
My proposal reuses the current behabior of those pages, to reduce the effort,
that's why I propose sections and subsections.

The optimal solution would be, as you say, to create a completely new page
from scratch, with a search/browse engine by criteria (like in 
http://stackoverflow.com/ ). But I have prioritized the reduction of effort 
required to create the new page, just by cloning another page in 
http://stackoverflow.com/ .

> > For the first solution (add more sections to http://qt-apps.org and
> > http://kde-apps.org/ ), I would propose the following:
> > - http://qt-apps.org/ :
> >     - Create a new section "Qt Libraries".  (sections are on the left column
> > of the page)
> >     - Create the following subsections under the "Qt Libraries" section:
> >         Qt 5 C++ libs
> >         Qt 5 QML libs
> >         Qt 5 C++/QML libs
> >         Qt 4 C++ libs
> >         Qt 4 QML libs
> >         Qt 4 C++/QML libs
> 
> Version should also be a filter criteria instead of a categorie, IMHO.
> Also why make the language the deciding criteria instead of what the 
> component is for? I.e. is it for UI or is to for networking, etc.

Well, it is a matter of taste, I prefer to click on "Plasma 5" section, then
click on "Plasma 5 QML libs", and then I'm sure that all of the libraries
shown will work with my plasmoid. Certainly, filtering also by version could
help, but currently https://www.opendesktop.org/ pages don't have
subsubsections, so the version of the library would have to go in
subsections, that would multiply the subsections shown, and probably it 
would overload the structure.

I made my proposal of sections and subsections based on the language, and
nobody said anything, but of course it is open to suggestions and
contributions. So you can make a detailed proposal of sections and
subsections, if you wish. (if so, please keep it complatible with current
https://www.opendesktop.org/ pages structure, to reduce the effort).

Thank you
kdea