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Roadmap - Questionaire Responses for AA CAMP 2004 |
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1. Main problems and annoyances you encounter when using ActionApps
AA needs a packaging/upgrade system.
The installation, configuration and upgrade (database) can be a nightmare.
2. Features suggested for future development versions of ActionApps
AA needs a packaging/upgrade system.
With packaging i mean that it needs to be released not only in a tarball but at least in rpm binaries and rpm source and deb binaries with deb source, of course.You can ask for help on this with the major GNU/Linux distributors, there are many contributors that can do this task for free.
Why? You will see that many problems with installation and configuration will disappear.
Maybe the side effect of the suggestion above is that with a software packaged and a few changes on the current installation you can support upgrades from version X to Y, being Y, X += .1 (exactly the next version).The code can be ok to this type of upgrade today, but what about database upgrades?
I suggest you to install a Debian GNU/Linux system and check how packages like cacti and moodle are maintained.They don't do the same AA tasks, but both are php code with a RDBMS on the backend.Install and keep them updated is really easy.
I can help with packaging for the Debian project but i don't feel comfortable with some AA current problems, and they are:
- SSI;
- register_globals;
- If i'm not missing anything each 'installation' only support a unique database and a site.Multiples databases sounds ok, but the administration itself (the php code) can be only one for each server.
3. Comments About Usablility
Setup a wiki and let the users share their knowledge on how to install AA on each GNU/Linux distribution and maybe on *BSD systems considering or not the AA packaging.You can't package AA for everything so let the users do what's missing.
4. General future development suggestions
- Put a public svn or arch repository (cvs is obsolete); :)
- Use smarty (smarty.php.net);
- Think about multiple AA installations and how they can 'call' each other through SOAP or XML-RPC.
- Prepare a live cd or something like that where users can boot and without installing anything on the hard disk they can use AA and write on the database with everything running on the RAM.You can start trying customize morphix to this task, but there are many others projects doing the same thing...
Submited by:
Gustavo Franco (stratus)
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APC
ActionApps is a free software content management system initiated by
the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) APC - Internet and ICTs for social justice and development |