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

[kdea]

I'm copying here the message I have sent to opendesktop.org ...


Hi,

I rencently published a new version of my "Take a break" plasmoid at
http://kde-apps.org/ . The plasmoid contains a small reusable library that
could be useful for other developers, but I didn't know where to upload the
library to. So I asked it to the Plasma-devel mailing list:

    Proposal: kde-libs.org, a repository of contributed libraries
    https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/plasma-devel/2016-May/thread.html#52482

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.

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.
- Having libraries (for developers) in the same web as apps (for users)
  is not good, because developers will only want to browse/find libraries,
  and users will only want to browse/find apps.

So I have proposed two solutions, with different effort required:
- Low effort: Add more sections (for each type of library) to
  http://qt-apps.org (and to http://kde-apps.org/ I would say).
- Medium effort: Create a new web (cloned/similar to
  http://qt-apps.org/ ), but only for libraries. For example, 
  http://qt-kde-libs.org/ .

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
        Other
      (subsections are shown when you click on a section)
    - Rename current "Qt Components" and "Qt Widgets" sections to "Other Qt
      Components" and "Other Qt Widgets". And convert both sections into 
      subsections of the new "Libraries" section. The result would be:
        Libraries
            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
            Other Qt Widgets
            Other Qt Components
            Other
- http://kde-apps.org/ :
    - Create a new section "Plasma Libraries".
    - Create the following subsections under the "Plasma Libraries" section:
        Plasma 5 C++ libs
        Plasma 5 QML libs
        Plasma 5 C++/QML libs
        Plasma 4 C++ libs
        Plasma 4 QML libs
        Plasma 4 C++/QML libs
        Other

For the second solution (create a new web only for libraries, for example
http://qt-kde-libs.org/ ), I would propose the following:
- The sections and subsections would be grouped a bit different:
        Qt 5
            Qt 5 C++ libs
            Qt 5 QML libs
            Qt 5 C++/QML libs
        Qt 4
            Qt 4 C++ libs
            Qt 4 QML libs
            Qt 4 C++/QML libs
        Plasma 5
            Plasma 5 C++ libs
            Plasma 5 QML libs
            Plasma 5 C++/QML libs
        Plasma 4
            Plasma 4 C++ libs
            Plasma 4 QML libs
            Plasma 4 C++/QML libs
        Other
            Other Qt Widgets
            Other Qt Components
            Other Qt libs
            Other Plasma libs
- If no money is available for the new domain ( http://qt-kde-libs.org/ ), 
  it could be a subdomain of an already existent domain. For example
  http://qt-kde-libs.opendesktop.org/ .
- When a developer uploads a new app (or a new version of an app) to 
  http://qt-apps.org/ or to http://kde-apps.org/ , the page will 
  suggest to visit the new web ( http://qt-kde-libs.org/ ) to upload the 
  libraries contained in the app.
  

What do you think on this proposal? Would it be useful for the developer
community? (and so for the user community, since they would get more and 
better software created from contributed reusable libraries)

Thank you
kdea


(I'm copying the message to the Plasma-devel mailing list. I will also copy
the responses, if you don't mind. Alternatively, you can respond directly 
there, if you prefer)