[PD-dev] deb packages discussion

[dmotd]

Steffen Juul wrote:
>
> On 21/09/2009, at 16.59, dmotd wrote:
>
>> or pehaps pd could go down the path of perl/cpan,
>> php/pear etc, where extra non-base libs are housed
>> in a dedicated on demand server where users can
>> automagically fetch / compile and install extras
>> outside of the confines of a package manager.
>
> how much work do you think that would be? - i'm just curious.
>
> could the installer be a "script" that would live where the modular  
> plugin-script for the gui live -- and in that way not conflict nor  
> demand anything from millers branch?

hi steffen,

i'm not particularly advocating this strategy, but 
thought i'd bring this up as another method of 
delivery.

certainly these engines are not trivial, there is 
probably more careful design considerations with 
on-demand delivery than has been made with the 
entire extended builder!

i haven't done any real research on existing 
technologies apart from being a casual user of the 
two listed above, so i am in no position to argue 
its merits or the time involved in putting such a 
thing together.

but such a repository could be a real boost to the 
pd community, as it could aid individuals to 
promote their objects and abstractions, provide a 
convenient method of searching, provide methods of 
dependency tracking for more involved abstactions, 
and provide an infrustructure for the distribution 
of whole pd 'programs'.

this approach is not without its pitfalls and 
methods for installation and removal would need to 
be watertight, not to mention the security risks 
of downloading and installing from a client 
application.

but at the same time, its something that could 
exist parallel to other methods of distribution, 
and may turn out to be quite popular?

so i guess i'd certainly support any investigation 
into an on-demand client/server.

cheers,
dmotd