[Wine] Improve application database

[Frédéric Delanoy]

On 07/26/2009 06:40 PM, tparker wrote:
> Adri wrote:
>> tparker wrote:
>>> abb4 wrote:
>>>> I see a lot of programs tested in the database without any reference
>>>> how it
>>>> was installed.  One has to reinvent the wheel once again. 
>>> I don't know that this has anything to do with install directions
>>> specifically, but there are several people who stopped trying to
>>> contribute to the appdb quite a while ago. The form was set up in a
>>> non-intuitive way, especially for non-techie users. Very often people
>>> would slog through getting the info put in and submit it then have it
>>> never show up in the db or show up breifly and be removed with no
>>> reason given, just an email saying it was removed. With no feedback
>>> on why it was removed it got discouraging since the people assumed
>>> they had done something wrong but didn't know how to improve their
>>> submissions, so they stopped trying. I know that is why I stopped
>>> submitting for the programs I use well over a year ago and have
>>> spoken in person and on distribution forums with others that did the
>>> same.
>> According to the howto, everyone can become a maintainer.
>> Why not become a maintainer..then you have it all in your own hands.
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions and I had considered it, but being a
> maintainer is not for everyone. It comes with responsibilities and
> someone should not sign up to maintain a program if they know they can
> not do the job. I do not keep up-to-date with all the releases. I need
> my programs to be stable so I update my wine in fits and spurts to keep
> it so. I would not always be grabbing the newest version as it comes
> out. I have tried to keep a separate wine-git of the newest version and
> test programs in that to help out, but I am not a programmer and was not
> able to figure out how to keep it current. Also, the programs I use
> already have maintainers, in some cases several of them.
> 
> When I posted I wasn't meaning it as a criticism to people. You had said
> you would like to see more information on installation, and I was just
> wondering if some of the people who got scared off from using the db
> might have been ones who would have provided that information in their
> submissions.
> 
> Right now the db is the first place new people are sent, but it is
> fairly new user unfriendly. The first hit that shows up when searching
> for an app is often for an old/obsolete version. This works fine once
> you've been around a while and understand the site layout and can worm
> your way over to the page for the current version. If you just did your
> first wine install and are trying to see if City of Heroes or Eve works,
> it can add a lot of confusion. The submission form (last time I looked)
> was very hard to understand and I would bet a fair number of
> rejected/removed submission came from people not being able to figure
> out the form.
> 
By default, the ~/.wine is used when launching wine.
When you try a new version, you can either
- backup your ~/.wine and test
- use another wine dir by setting WINEPREFIX environment variable before launching wine
(see http://wiki.winehq.org/FAQ#head-f2f5f3bc795247f11962ea613a1f9e15657ad552)

As for compiling and staying up to date with git, it's not that hard: you need basically
- install git with your package manager then checkout latest version e.g. in ~/wine-git
     git clone git://source.winehq.org/git/wine.git ~/wine-git
     cd ~/wine-git
  (http://wiki.winehq.org/GitWine?action=show&redirect=Git#head-b892e8af0fa963bcd46d9cf494de181128bb8a64)

- install all required development libraries (details varies upon distribution) & compile Wine
  ex: sudo apt-get build-dep wine  for Debian and derived distribs (like Ubuntu)
  see Wine compilation: http://wiki.winehq.org/FAQ#head-7ed3c3163e2b932ee2030a48f9c5e553dc41817b
  [Note: the "make install" step is not necessary if you run wine from local dir]
 
- to update wine, just go to ~/wine-git (or whatever dir you choose), and go a "git pull"
  then "make depend"

Then you can test the latest wine using another wineprefix, sthg like
    cd ~/wine-git
    WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-latest ./wine program_path

Hope that helps,

Frédéric