Task:Maemo Community distribution

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A community-provided distribution of Maemo can offer the community more freedom, better options, greater customizability, and better stability than the Nokia-provided distribution. This task outlines the process for putting together a community distribution of Maemo.

Contents

Goals

Provide a community distribution less encumbered by Nokia's corporate policies that is more flexible in its packaging, bundles community software, and modifies Nokia software and packaging with community patches.

Tasks

To get to a workable distribution, we first need to consider a number of problems.

Sort out a repository

It would be preferable to simply distribute all packages in Extras, but this adds complexity and may simply be impossible to do cleanly, as these packages are likely to interfere with SSU and confuse users. Extras-devel is probably more appropriate, but that would force users wanting to use the community distribution to be exposure to unstable software. Not ideal. The simpler and cleaner option is to use a separate repository either on repository.maemo.org or a 3rd party repository somewhere else.

We have 3 options for handling packages:

  1. Everything is copied wholesale from tableteer to the community repository.
    • Pros: Straightforward, easy, controllable.
    • Cons: Legal gray area.
  2. All free components from tableteer are copied to the community repository, but non-free components are fetched from tableteer.
    • Pros: No legal issues, no additional effort for Nokia.
    • Cons: Increases complexity, reduces control, and exposes users to updates before the community can sanitize them.
  3. All free components from tableteer are copied to the community repository, and tableteer is reorganized into free and non-free sections.
    • Pros: Increased control, no legal issues, cleaner.
    • Cons: More effort for Nokia.

osso-software-version-community

We need to provide a community version of osso-software-version that has a modified dependencies list that provides the community distribution. A couple considerations should be kept in mind, dependencies on proprietary junk will be removed (skype, gizmo, etc.), dependencies will be setup to allow easy installation of updated system libraries and 3rd-party patches (rotation, 48MHz, etc.), and unnecessary packages that shouldn't be part of the OS-proper will be moved to separate packages that can be uninstalled through application manager (bundled PDFs, images, movies, etc.).

Add

Community enhancements that should be added to the default community distribution.

  • advanced-backlight: To replace sound and brightness by default.
  • bootmenu: For multiboot and USB recovery.
  • e2fsprogs: For handling ext2/3 filesystems.

Remove

Useless and proprietary stuff to bed removed.

  • gizmo-installer: Remove proprietary advertising.
  • rhapsody-installer: Remove proprietary advertising.
  • skype-installer: Remove proprietary advertising.

Modify

Existing packages that should be enhanced.

  • hildon-status-bar-display: Remove from statusbar by default in favor of Advanced Backlight.
  • osso-statusbar-presence: Non-mandatory .desktop file
  • osso-statusbar-sound: Remove from statusbar by default in favor of Advanced Backlight.
  • preinstalled-documentation-rx34/rx44: Move to its own package.
  • preinstalled-images: Move to its own package.
  • preinstalled-sounds: Move to its own package.
  • preinstalled-videos: Move to its own package.