[Qgis-psc] QGIS for Mac OS packaging and infrastructure

Mon Dec 10 23:42:58 PST 2018

Dear PSC,

>From the meeting notes [1], it seems the motion for the PSC to absorb the
cost (Point 2 in my email) has been accepted.

Could you clarify:
1- The PSC is not funding the initial work (Point 1). If so, we'd like to
run a crowd-funding campaign. Any promotion from QGIS.org is highly
appreciated.
2- From 3.6 release, the packages generated from the above packaging
process will be used under the official download page. This is for our
resourcing and crowd-funding purposes, so that we can have everything in
place before 3.6 release.

Kind regards,
Saber

[1]
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TeVmd8W-vJ0NxKmrFybcAV4Sxci50WbNGyZhM5F4bZc/edit

On Mon, 3 Dec 2018 at 16:09, Matthias Kuhn <matthias at opengis.ch> wrote:

> Hi
>
> I once discussed some ideas with Larry to assess the library version
> problem with homebrew and packaging.
>
> The simpler idea was to create a system snapshot with a known set of
> libraries (or just zip them up?). I am not completely sure travis allows
> for launching virtual/container macos instances inside. This would even
> make sense for reproducibility on a dedicated server. Homebrew is terrible
> in restoring historic stages in case the build server breaks down.
>
> The other idea was to come up with an alternative repository for homebrew
> that has releases but this will require to build up a community to maintain
> this homebrew distribution, but I am quite sure we are not alone in this
> situation.
>
> Concerning the certificate, this can be encrypted and stored on travis. We
> use this functionality extensively for login credentials and certificates
> on a lot of our repositories.
>
> Kind regards
>
> Matthias
> On 12/3/18 2:52 PM, Peter Petrik wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> regarding the travis, one concern is that we did not want to have our
> apple's certificate publicly accessible Also, with dedicated server we have
> some stability in used libraries (versions). For example when homebrew is
> used, I think it is not possible to install specific library version (let
> say gdal x.y.z). On travis, you would end up in installation of the latest
> version in every build. On dedicated server, you install dependencies once,
> you build hundreds of nightly builds with one set of dependencies and then
> create package for LTR/PR with the same set....
>
> Kind regards,
> Peter
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 3, 2018 at 1:52 PM Tim Sutton <tim at kartoza.com> wrote:
>
>> His Saber
>>
>> On 03 Dec 2018, at 14:37, Saber Razmjooei <
>> saber.razmjooei at lutraconsulting.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>> Dear PSC,
>>
>> It the past couple of months we have put together a very basic
>> infrastructure to automatically generate Mac OS packages as a proof of
>> concept and also as a part of a contract with a client.
>>
>> The packaging now works as expected and we will support it for another
>> year. We are aware of the users’ complaints and feedback in regards to Mac
>> OS packages in the past, despite the hard efforts of the QGIS community.
>> Specifically, William who has been undertaking this difficult task. We are
>> also aware of other companies who offer QGIS Mac packages (download links
>> are available after registration).
>>
>> In addition to the lack of any documentation on the packaging process,
>> the packages are not signed by QGIS (or OSGeo), which is not very welcome
>> in large organisations. There have been several emails in the past about
>> this topic but has lead to nowhere.
>>
>> Another shortcoming of the current packaging is the lack of master
>> (nightly) builds for Mac users. This has been causing a lot of negative
>> reactions from the users after each release (as they are not able to test
>> the features before the release).
>>
>> We would like to hand-over our QGIS Mac OS packaging to QGIS.org. This
>> will come with a bit of caveats:
>> 1- The current scripts are not perfect but it is open source and publicly
>> available. We will need to polish it. There will be some additional work to
>> remove a blocker to support older Mac OSes. It is likely to be between
>> 5k-8k euro.
>>
>> 2- The server cost (~600 USD/year/server) and Apple Developers
>> certificate cost (99 USD/year) will be probably more significant compared
>> to other OSes. We can start with one server and have the second one if
>> needed. I am sure there are organisations and users who will be interested
>> in funding/sponsoring QGIS with more positive experience for their platform.
>>
>> 3- We are happy to help and support the Mac OS packaging for the next
>> couple of years for a smooth integration with the rest of QGIS packages.
>> This will include obtaining QGIS (or OSGeo) Apple developer certificate.
>> Our current packages are signed with Lutra certificate. But the process is
>> easy and documented in our packaging process.
>>
>> 4- QGIS 2.18 is not supported.
>>
>> 5- QGIS nightly is also available as a part of our packaging, which
>> allows users to better test QGIS master before the release.
>>
>>
>> It is really great what you have done - yay! WRT the certificates, I
>> think OSGEO already has a certificate, the hard thing II guess is to track
>> it down and get them to share it with you so you can sign with it.
>>
>> I wonder gif the packages can be built on travis which seems to offer a
>> macOS build environment too:
>>
>> https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/reference/osx/
>>
>> I’m expecting negative comments here saying we should not spend QGIS
>> money on licenses and servers for macOS but hopefully folks can step back a
>> bit and see that this is a minimal investment to make a really first class
>> experience for macOS users. I think we should also be able to obtain the
>> running costs for macOS through targeted donations - watching the donations
>> notifications, it seems that quite a few already earmarked funds towards
>> macOS….
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Tim
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Looking forward to hearing your feedback.
>>
>> Regards
>> Saber
>>
>>
>> --
>> Saber Razmjooei
>> www.lutraconsulting.co.uk
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Qgis-psc mailing list
>> Qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org
>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>
>>
>> —
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Tim Sutton*
>>
>> *Co-founder:* Kartoza
>> *Ex Project chair:* QGIS.org
>>
>> Visit http://kartoza.com to find out about open source:
>>
>> Desktop GIS programming services
>> Geospatial web development
>> GIS Training
>> Consulting Services
>>
>> *Skype*: timlinux
>> *IRC:* timlinux on #qgis at freenode.net
>>
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>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Qgis-psc mailing listQgis-psc at lists.osgeo.orghttps://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>
> --
> Matthias Kuhn
> matthias at opengis.ch
> +41 (0)76 435 67 63 <+41764356763>
> [image: OPENGIS.ch Logo] <http://www.opengis.ch>
> _______________________________________________
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-- 
Saber Razmjooei
www.lutraconsulting.co.uk
+44 (0)7568 129733
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