Re: Graphical installer - invitation to get involved
I took a look at
https://debian.polito.it/downloads/d-i_gtk_snapshots_nonlatin/hebrew.png
The Hebrew looks fine - it's in RTL order. Thanks.
With whom can I talk about having Hebrew aligned to the right (and I
guess other RTL languages) ?
p.s.
Please CC me to replies. I'm not subscribed.
Frans Pop wrote:
> As you may have noticed in Joey Hess' release announcement for D-I
> Etch-beta1 [1], Debian at last has a graphical installer (currently in
> alpha release) based on gtk+-directfb.
> The graphical installer is currently available for Intel x86, AMD64 and
> PowerPC architectures; others are expected to follow.
>
> A huge amount of work has been done over the past 3 months or so to get it
> to its present state [A] and we are very happy with its current
> stability and usability.
> The graphical installer also allows support for languages with complex
> scripts such as Indic and Arabic scripts.
>
> We expect to be able to offer the graphical installer as a mature
> alternative with Etch, but there are some issues that will need to be
> resolved to make that possible.
>
> The main areas where we would very much welcome additional expertise and
> involvement are:
> - font selection, packaging and configuration; support for complex scripts
> - helping realize the upgrade from gtk+ 2.0.9 to 2.8.3
> - development of cdebconf plugins
> - graphical design and improving usability (including accessibility)
>
> If you are interested, please join us on the debian-boot mailing list or
> #debian-boot on Freenode.
>
> We've set up some wiki pages that can help get you started:
> - General information and links to images [2]
> - Overview of current issues and ToDo list [3]
> - Instructions for building graphical installer images [4]
>
>
> Some extra information on the first three areas mentioned above.
>
> Font selection, packaging and configuration; support for complex scripts
> ========================================================================
> We currently have put together a basic set of fonts. These cover most
> languages, but for some (especially Arabic and Indic scripts) there are
> issues to be solved.
>
> In general we need font packagers, people with experience in font
> management and configuration and translators working together to:
> - find the optimal set of fonts and configuration to use
> - identify and solve the issues with complex scripts
> - package the lot for the installer (into udebs)
> - make sure the optimal font is actually used at runtime
> - minimize the space required for fonts in images (space is expensive
> in an installer!)
> - check that languages are represented correctly
>
> Further information on the challenges regarding fonts can be found on [3].
>
> Upgrade from gtk+ 2.0.9 to 2.8.3
> ===============================
> We have already experimented with 2.8.3 and that version is known to fix
> some relatively minor issues we're seeing currently.
>
> Of course switching to 2.8.3 means gtk+ 2.8.3 first needs to be packaged
> for Debian, along with library udebs for the installer. Some additional
> library udebs will be needed (libcairo, libslim).
>
> We have hopes that code for the directfb backend will be merged into gtk+
> and cairo upstream source which would make packaging a lot easier.
>
> There is also room for people wanting to get involved in directfb
> upstream development.
>
> Development of cdebconf plugins
> ===============================
> The useability of some components in the installer could really be
> improved by making use of the possibilities offered by a graphical
> environment [B]. A while back cdebconf was extended to allow external
> plugins that could provide such specific interface development.
>
> This is real frontline work with loads of challenges.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Frans Pop
>
> [1] http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/11/msg00008.html
> [2] http://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstallerGUI
> [3] http://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstallerGUIToDo
> [4] http://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstallerGUIBuild
>
> [A] A quick thank you to the people most involved:
> - Attilio Fiandrotti - for all his work on the cdebconf-gtk frontend
> - Davide Viti - for pioneering how to put it all together and porting
> the build system for AMD64
> - Alastair McKinstry - for providing the gtk+2.0-directfb packages
> - Frans Pop - for integrating it all into the d-i build system
> - Eddy Petrisor, Sven Luther - for porting the build system to PowerPC
> - Mike Emmel - for his excellent upstream support for directfb
> - everybody else in the d-i team for providing the basis
>
> [B] There is already work being done to make it possible to run parted
> in the installer.
--
Lior Kaplan
kaplanlior@gmail.com
http://www.Guides.co.il
Debian GNU/Linux unstable (SID)
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