From kde-games-devel Tue Mar 13 12:18:30 2012 From: Josef Spillner Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:18:30 +0000 To: kde-games-devel Subject: Re: [Kde-games-devel] Using GHNS (Get Hot New Stuff) Message-Id: <201203130918.31130.spillner () kde ! org> X-MARC-Message: https://marc.info/?l=kde-games-devel&m=133164122529143 Hello Ian, :: Ian Wadham Dienstag 13 M=E4rz 2012 > There is a feature of KDE called "Get Hot New Stuff" (GHNS) and I have > sometimes thought about using it in KGoldrunner for such goodies as: > = > - Solutions to levels > - High-score records > - Releasing new levels in between releases of KDE (but untranslated) > - Posting levels to be contributed > - Graphics themes > - Sound themes > = > Unfortunately, every time I look at it (over several years) I seem to find > that it has recently been re-written and the documentation is incomplete. Let me give a quick summary. Resulting from the original GHNS static downlo= ad = feature in KDE about ten years ago, ghns.freedesktop.org was created to ext= end = this work beyond KDE, which never really worked well. Later, dynamic protoc= ol = extensions (e.g. for search) emerged - first with DXS (Desktop eXchange = Service, a SOAP protocol), later with Frank's OCS (Open Collaboration = Services, an XML/JSON REST protocol), and apparently now with Aaron's PASS = (Plasma Active Store Services, a JSON REST protocol about which not much is = known). There have been 3 client libraries for KDE thus far (and a few more for oth= er = toolkits such as SDL and GNOME): - KNewStuff, the original one from KDE2 times for rather dumb downloads - KNewStuff2, a rewrite for KDE4 with MVC separation, caching, upload etc. = which supports GHNS and DXS providers alike. - KNewStuff3, a rewrite which uses the Attica library so that it can access = GHNS providers and OCS providers alike. On the server side, there has been Hotstuff for hosting GHNS/DXS repositori= es = (which may have SVN/git repositories beneath them), Frank's sites (kde-*.or= g) = for hosting GHNS/OCS repositories, and Aaron's Synchrotron for providing GH= NS = feeds from git repositories. Given that all of this development happens scattered throughout the project = without any coordination, with several NIH syndromes striking here and ther= e, = expect more complete rewrites and incomplete documentation for the next yea= rs, = too :( > I just don't understand it enough and AFAIK other KDE Games people > have only used it for graphics and wallpapers. GHNS was used extensively for game items such as levels and themes before, = e.g. in the ggz-kde-games package, with KNewStuff2. Probably not in many ot= her = KDE games (including those in the kdegames package), though. > In particular, I do not see any advice about where to store the "stuff" a= nd > how secure, backed up and *constant* that place might be (web sites > appear, disappear or change URLs all the time). If you want to store the "stuff", I would recommend to store your "stuff" i= n a = repository and use newstuff.kde.org (which runs the Hotstuff services) to = produce appropriate feeds for the games. If you want to let your gamers cre= ate = "stuff" through editors etc., it'll be a bit more complicated (see below). > I think the GHNS URLs of an app have to be hard-coded somehow, so > what if they change between releases of KDE? They're specified in *.knsrc files (INI files) which can be updated with po= int = releases. In the past, there was hardly a need to do so. > Also how would one segregate stuff uploaded by third parties, e.g. claimed > high scores versus validated high scores, newly submitted levels versus > tested levels or levels intended for release in KDE (and translation into > KDE supported languages)? Hotstuff has the concept of moderated queues, but the web interface to let = e.g. a game developer perform the moderation has always been sort of = rudimentary. I've hesitated to continue its development some years ago due = to = the scattering mentioned above. It could be resumed if other options fail. Josef _______________________________________________ kde-games-devel mailing list kde-games-devel@kde.org https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-games-devel