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

[Saber Razmjooei]

Tim,

Thanks for your feedback.

I totally understand PSC members' position in regards to funding Mac OS due
to extra hurdles.

Andreas,
For the initial cost (5k-8k euro), if it cannot be funded by QGIS now, we
can seek alternative methods: run a crowd-funding campaign or apply for
QGIS funds when it is up next. The key point for the PSC is to decide if
they would be willing to cover the re-occurring costs for licence and
dedicated server and to maintain the Mac OS packaging and testing directly
under QGIS.org.

Regards
Saber


On Mon, 3 Dec 2018 at 14:09, Andreas Neumann <andreas at qgis.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Regarding the 600 US $ per year for dedicated server and 99 US$ per year
> for developer certificate cost: this shouldn't be a problem. I increased
> the infrastructure budget by 500 € to accommodate for that. It is now at
> 2000 €, in 2018 we used 830 € so far, maybe 1000 € per year's end. So this
> should easily fit into the 2k € for next year.
>
> Andreas
>
> On Mon, 3 Dec 2018 at 13:37, 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.
>>
>> 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
>
>
>
> --
>
> --
> Andreas Neumann
> QGIS.ORG board member (treasurer)
>


-- 
Saber Razmjooei
www.lutraconsulting.co.uk
+44 (0)7568 129733
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