[web2py] Idea: Appliance remote management

[blackthorne]

ok, this one may be interesting...

Currently, we can install web2py apps in one of 3 ways. uploading it,
providing its url or putting the files in the applications folder
manually. Nothing wrong with this but seems to me that with little
effort we could take this beyond.
Think about an integrated (web) interface that allowed you to search
or browser appliances and show its details when requested. This could
happen inside the web2py framework and you could even install it by
pressing a button (actually it just needs to use the already existing
"download/provide url" option inside).
I think this could improve user/developer experience but that's not
all...
Applications could have versions, and a changelog that could make part
of the details of the application and an "update" option, so that
users could keep all their apps on the edge.

Who's with me?

Thank you, best regards

[mdipierro]

This is a good idea.

[blackthorne]

One more thing, web2py could have a list of repositories url, with the
default the one we can find on the official website but also the
possibility to add other non-official ones as well as mirrors.
Technically web2py could interact with each repository by a simple
specification in XML-RPC or something, to list, search, download
(which could also work for update) and peek.
Finally, on a second stage there could even be a submit app option so
you could submit apps for moderation and further release, seamlessly.

Thanks

[Thadeus Burgess]

This is similar to how PluginCentral will be designed, if we ever get
that spec finalised =)

--
Thadeus

[Jonathan Lundell]

On May 13, 2010, at 9:26 AM, Thadeus Burgess wrote:

> This is similar to how PluginCentral will be designed, if we ever get
> that spec finalised =)

It'd be reasonable to do both at the same site.

[blackthorne]

stage 3, do the "same" to plugins and slices.

On May 13, 5:33 pm, Jonathan Lundell <jlund...@pobox.com> wrote:
> On May 13, 2010, at 9:26 AM, Thadeus Burgess wrote:
>
> > This is similar to how PluginCentral will be designed, if we ever get
> > that spec finalised =)
>
> It'd be reasonable to do both at the same site.
>
>
>
>
>
> > --
> > Thadeus
>

[Jason Brower]

I say we move forward with this one as it doesn't need so much work as
with the plugins. At least at first thought. It's just additional
metadata in the application. I think some simple xml/html would do the
trick. Just what data if for someone else to think about. :D
But I think it's awesome.
Best Regards,
Jason Brower

[Mengu]

i support the idea.

[Thadeus Burgess]

Massimo, we can take the ideas for plugin metadata and use it for
applications as well?

Change the name from plugincentral to web2pycentral. We can start an
open source version of the web2pycentral and decide who can work on
it.

--
Thadeus

[mdipierro]

I agree.

On May 13, 9:02 pm, Thadeus Burgess <thade...@thadeusb.com> wrote:
> Massimo, we can take the ideas for plugin metadata and use it for
> applications as well?
>
> Change the name from plugincentral to web2pycentral. We can start an
> open source version of the web2pycentral and decide who can work on
> it.
>
> --
> Thadeus
>

[Jason Brower]

Do we need any hosting? I can provide that if needed. I am using dreamhost and have a virtual server there.
BR,
Jason

[blackthorne]

Maybe, before going further with this there should be a place in
web2py framework to edit the app details such as the version,
dependencies, app name, which could be included in the app_conf.yml
file [?]. This would make things a lot easier when you want to
retrieve the details of an app or when you want to subscribe it, so
this file will hold everything needed.

Notice, it will always follow "convention over configuration". If
there is no conf file, version "1.0" could be assumed, the folder name
becomes the "app name".

Massimo, is there any already existant file to keep this data? is this
a good idea?

[mdipierro]

There is LICENSE and ABOUT. We can add another file where to keep
metadata and make edtable via admin as with ABOUT.

[blackthorne]

that's exactly what I am suggesting.
speaking about that, I think I will make a web yaml editor which
should be perfect for configurating things with a browser...

[mdipierro]

> I think I will make a web yaml editor which should be perfect for configurating things with a browser...

I can see many applications for it, for example a way to edit tables.
It would be nice if it were possible to constrain the structure of the
accessible yaml (for example the field types when describing a table).
I would use jsTree.

[blackthorne]

yes.

So I see on this thread 2 or 3 different ideas and a small roadmap:
- this web conf (YAML) editor as a first step to create/edit app
metadata based on a specification (yet to build). This is a general
application which can be applied to any yaml file in different
scenarios.
- On a second step, the Appliance Remote Manager (it should be called
something like web2py app supermarket)
- applying this to plugins/slices [?].

So, anyone open to share efforts to make this thing happen?

[Praneeth]

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+1 for the idea :)

- --
Praneeth

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[finrodf...@gmx.com]

i like the idea - hope to see it live!

[mdipierro]

I am happy to merge option 2) with http://web2py.com/appliances

[blackthorne]

cool thing.

I've done the yaml configurator as an app, I will share it soon but it
would be nice to see it integrated with web2py as if it was a filetype
handler, just like there is for .py files and htmledit for html
files, ...

I've also made a draft for an app spec, here it is:
w2py app spec
- name
- version
- description
- deps
- author
- license
- price
- readme
- contact
- url

I am aware we could make more from the "readme" field that such as pre/
post installation notes, this is a draft...

Massimo, do you want to make this centralized or distributed as in
suggested in this thread ( http://groups.google.com/group/web2py/msg/702388f49e84e15a?
)?

Thank you,
Best regards

On May 16, 7:52 pm, mdipierro <mdipie...@cs.depaul.edu> wrote:
> I am happy to merge option 2) withhttp://web2py.com/appliances

[mdipierro]

On May 16, 4:38 pm, blackthorne <francisco....@gmail.com> wrote:
> cool thing.
>
> I've done the yaml configurator as an app, I will share it soon but it
> would be nice to see it integrated with web2py as if it was a filetype
> handler, just like there is for .py files and htmledit for html
> files, ...

That should not be a problem.

> I've also made a draft for an app spec, here it is:
> w2py app spec
> - name
> - version
> - description
> - deps
> - author
> - license
> - price
> - readme
> - contact
> - url
>
> I am aware we could make more from the "readme" field that such as pre/
> post installation notes, this is a draft...
>
> Massimo, do you want to make this centralized or distributed as in
> suggested in this thread (http://groups.google.com/group/web2py/msg/702388f49e84e15a?
> )?

I would make a centralized repository with two types of apps
(reviewed, not reviewed) but I would also allow web2py users to point
to other repositories if they popup. I can host it but I do not mind
if somebody else does (we should probably have mirrors to avoid data
loss).

Some apps may be hosted outside (hg, bzr, git). It would nice to have
a mechanism for automatic updates and build of the apps.

[blackthorne]

> Some apps may be hosted outside (hg, bzr, git). It would nice to have
> a mechanism for automatic updates and build of the apps.

update is remove + download + install
(unless you want to keep user data which would make things more
complicated)

automatic updates also seem to require something else, not existing
yet. The possibility of defining a method by each app which is
automatically executed when web2py is invoked or periodically.
Another way, would be to parse for all apps and retrieve the name, url
and version parameters from each yaml conf file and search for new
versions.

[mdipierro]

I did not mean at the web2py level. I was thinking for this:

allow your repository to sync with web2py app hosted on launchpad/
bitbucket/github/googlecode. nightly the repository would check if a
new revision is present and check it out and always host the most
updated version. This is before the app gets downloaded by a user and
installed and before there is any data in it.