Preloaders

[Danno Ferrin]

On Wed, Jun 5, 2013 at 9:47 PM, Daniel Zwolenski <zonski at gmail.com> wrote:

> To sum up my previous major suggestions for a better world:
>
> - web deploy code should be separate module from native, and jar separate
> again. Each native module (win, Linux, Mac) should be separate and I should
> be able to invoke any and all of them how and when I want, not just one
> generateDeployment method as the only entry point.
>
>
I think JNLP and web generation should be a bundler on the same level as
win/mac/lin.  No special treatment, it is just hte same as the rest



> - java code of packager should be one library for all platforms so we have
> one jar for all, not a separate one for each OS. Native bits are referenced
> from this one jar as needed.
>

I actually disagree with this.   Perhaps the default bundlers come in one
jar for hte JDK, but I would like the ability to add bundlers external to
the tool that evolve at different speeds than the core JDK.  Tha was the
point of my service loader patch.  Making the bundlers separate for the JDK
is a good exercise in proving severability.



> - native should not have dumb stuff from web as a requirement if not used.
> Signing, special jfx meta-inf in jars, checking registry for jdk, etc, etc.
> Native is actually very simple and really should be able to work with a
> stock standard jar and not need a special jfx built one. Web should be
> quarrantined so that native isn't sullied by it.
>

Sullied is a bit of a harsh word.  Deployment modes are different   For
example, a Mac App, iOS app, and Android APK all still need to be signed,
their deployment models for signing are different.


> - no magic config in the core libraries (higher wrappers can try and add
> it on top). Eg It shouldn't look for wix and use it just because it's
> installed. I should be able to specify I want wix or inno and tools should
> fail if they are not there.
>

I still think there is a role for the "all" packaging type that would do
all the ones it has access to and work.  However I wouldn't want to see it
fail unless specifically called out.  i.e. the WIX bundler would fail if
'wix' was in the packaging types, but not if 'all' was the packaging type
that called it. This is really a per-bundler decision.


>
> That's just looking at improvements to what's already there. As far as my
> picks for new features, these would be my top:
>
> - app store support (desktop at this stage)
>
> - auto updating support for native bundles
>
> - cross platform builds on the one machine (ie build for Mac from a
> windows machine, etc). Also build a 32bit distro on a 64bit jdk, etc.
>

Or build RasPi debs on a linux vm.


> - compact jre's for smaller distro sizes.
>

^^^^ THIS ^^^^

--Danno