[Sugar-devel] Request to add webkitgtk as a external dependency

[Tomeu Vizoso]

2009/7/14 Benjamin M. Schwartz <bmschwar at fas.harvard.edu>:
> Sayamindu Dasgupta wrote:
>> This mail is a request/proposal to add webkitgtk as an external
>> dependency for either Sugar or Read
>
> I object strongly either way.
>
> The last thing Sugar needs is a hard dependency on _both_ major browser
> engines.  Moreover, it's entirely unnecessary in this case.  ePub is a
> simple XML format.  You can convert it to HTML (or PDF or ...) using
> Calibre [1], or view it directly through gecko using an extension like
> OpenBerg Lector [2].  It might even be possible to view it using hulahop
> without any fancy extensions, just by adding an appropriate stylesheet.

This is a painful issue that all platforms find, see for example the
recent debate about Seed and Gjs in GNOME. It's a fundamental part of
how FOSS works that different groups of people will be working on
different software that is supposed to address the same needs.

Adding new dependencies to Sugar has a cost in terms of packaging
work, amount of code that to some degree we have to support, added
complexity, increased disk space that a Sugar installation requires,
etc.

A dependency that provides functionality already in the platform is
specially bad because is a dependency that could be more easily
avoided without loss of functionality.

That said, by having two competing projects inside our platform, we
get that competition to play in some sense for us. The community will
say which activities give them more value, and the people who are
pushing for a new dependency will try harder to cater for those needs
so their activity/ies are recommended instead of the competition.

If Sayamindu was asking to include webkit because he's working on a
Browse based on it, I would propose him to ship webkit inside the
bundle during 0.86 and to propose it again as a dependency for 0.88
based on real user feedback.

But given that he's proposing new functionality, I would say that we should ask:

- deployers and packagers about their opinion on the cost brought by
the new dependencies (would be good to know which, if any, new
dependencies would bring in webkitgtk),

- users about the value they see in the new functionality that
requires this feature.

And revisit this based on that feedback.

Regards,

Tomeu

> --Ben
>
> [1]
> http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/user_manual/faq.html#what-formats-does-app-support-conversion-to-from
> [2] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5275
>
>
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