[digiKam-users] The future of 6.0.0 bundles and C++11 support...

[Gilles Caulier-4]

Hi all and happy Easter...

Since 5.9.0 release, there is not yet an update of 6.0.0 pre-release bundles build periodically (on my computer).

There is no technical problem with it for the moment, but later, i'm sure there we comes...

That the state of bundles compilation :

-1/ AppImage 64 bits : virtualbox + Centos 6.9

-2/ AppImage 32 bits : virtualbox + Centos 6.9

-3/ Apple PKG installer : virtualbox + MacOS Yosemite

-4/ Windows installer 64 bits : Linux Mageia6 + MXE cross-compiler.
-5/ Windows installer 32 bits : Linux Mageia6 + MXE cross-compiler.

1/, 4/, 5/ are not a problem. The GCC compiler is enough recent.

For 2/, it typically not solvable as CentOs 6 32 bits is frozen to GCC 4.7.x.

For 3/, an update to a more recent MacOS / Xcode is required. I will certainly drop the virtualbox and use my MacBook pro instead. But i will lost a big door to the facility to compile the installer without to use an Apple device. If i want to install a more recent MacOS version as stand alone, i need to look again and again in dark web to found a good solution working with virtualbox.

Now the question about C++11 support : why it's problematic...

1/ more and more code based on C++11 come inside DK. it's not very important as the base code do not use to much recent C++ syntax, but step by step the code will be rewritten in this way. This is not a problem for the moment, as all compile fine everywhere, but this will change in the future i'm sure.

2/ KDE::KF5 framework : The last release of KF5 libraries will switch progressively to C++11 and lost compatibility with older compilers. Currently, all bundles are branched to an old KF5 release, and for 6.0.0, i would to update these libraries of course.

3/ Qt5 framework : with 5.10 and later 5.11, it's clear that older compilers support will be dropped. For ex, MacOS Yosemite is not supported since Qt 5.9.0 release. So Qt 5.8.0 is currently used to compile PKG installer...

4/ Exiv2 : the developers want to switch implementation to C++11 for next 0.27, as i can read in Github forum. So the time is counted here too...

So, we can conclude like this for 6.0.0 plan :

1/ drop 32 bits support with Linux AppImage.

2/ if we need to be homogeneous, we must drop 32 bits support with Windows installer.

3/ concentrate the work in 6.0.0 to update 64 bits AppImage, PKG, and Windows bundles with last code everywhere, including C++11 support.

4/ This want mean : no more 32 bundles with incoming 6.0.0 releases.

I hope to be clear here, and not to introduce complex technical points. I would to read users feedback for the lack of support of 32 bits bundles.

Thanks in advance.

Gilles Caulier

[Andrew Goodbody]

Hi Gilles,

FWIW my view is that if CentOS 6.9 does not support building 32-bit
version of digikam then maybe consider moving to a newer release.

Also I do not see the justification to drop 32-bit Windows just because
of problems building for Linux. Wanting homogeneity is not a good reason
IMO, or at least not sufficient.

I build my own 64-bit binaries so will not be affected if you do drop
32-bit support, it just seems a shame to drop support.

Andrew

On 31/03/18 10:25, Gilles Caulier wrote:

> Hi all and happy Easter...
>
> Since 5.9.0 release, there is not yet an update of 6.0.0 pre-release
> bundles build periodically (on my computer).
>
> There is no technical problem with it for the moment, but later, i'm
> sure there we comes...
>
> That the state of bundles compilation :
>
> -1/ AppImage 64 bits : virtualbox + Centos 6.9
> -2/ AppImage 32 bits : virtualbox + Centos 6.9
> -3/ Apple PKG installer : virtualbox + MacOS Yosemite
> -4/ Windows installer 64 bits : Linux Mageia6 + MXE cross-compiler.
> -5/ Windows installer 32 bits : Linux Mageia6 + MXE cross-compiler.
>
> 1/, 4/, 5/ are not a problem. The GCC compiler is enough recent.
>
> For 2/, it typically not solvable as CentOs 6 32 bits is frozen to GCC
> 4.7.x.
>
> For 3/, an update to a more recent MacOS / Xcode is required. I will
> certainly drop the virtualbox and use my MacBook pro instead. But i will
> lost a big door to the facility to compile the installer without to use
> an Apple device. If i want to install a more recent MacOS version as
> stand alone, i need to look again and again in dark web to found a good
> solution working with virtualbox.
>
> Now the question about C++11 support : why it's problematic...
>
> 1/ more and more code based on C++11 come inside DK. it's not very
> important as the base code do not use to much recent C++ syntax, but
> step by step the code will be rewritten in this way. This is not a
> problem for the moment, as all compile fine everywhere, but this will
> change in the future i'm sure.
>
> 2/ KDE::KF5 framework : The last release of KF5 libraries will switch
> progressively to C++11 and lost compatibility with older compilers.
> Currently, all bundles are branched to an old KF5 release, and for
> 6.0.0, i would to update these libraries of course.
>
> 3/ Qt5 framework : with 5.10 and later 5.11, it's clear that older
> compilers support will be dropped. For ex, MacOS Yosemite is not
> supported since Qt 5.9.0 release. So Qt 5.8.0 is currently used to
> compile PKG installer...
>
> 4/ Exiv2 : the developers want to switch implementation to C++11 for
> next 0.27, as i can read in Github forum. So the time is counted here too...
>
> So, we can conclude like this for 6.0.0 plan :
>
> 1/ drop 32 bits support with Linux AppImage.
> 2/ if we need to be homogeneous, we must drop 32 bits support with
> Windows installer.
> 3/ concentrate the work in 6.0.0 to update 64 bits AppImage, PKG, and
> Windows bundles with last code everywhere, including C++11 support.
> 4/ This want mean : no more 32 bundles with incoming 6.0.0 releases.
>
> I hope to be clear here, and not to introduce complex technical points.
> I would to read users feedback for the lack of support of 32 bits bundles.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Gilles Caulier

[Gilles Caulier-4]

Hi all,

Good news here. I finally found an extra centos 6 32 bits repository providing devtoolset-4 with a more recent G++ 5.x compiler.

All compile fine and the pre release digiKam 6.0.0 AppImage 32 bits will be online in one hour at usual place...

Best

Gilles Caulier

2018-03-31 11:25 GMT+02:00 Gilles Caulier <[hidden email]>:

Hi all and happy Easter...

Since 5.9.0 release, there is not yet an update of 6.0.0 pre-release bundles build periodically (on my computer).

There is no technical problem with it for the moment, but later, i'm sure there we comes...

That the state of bundles compilation :

-1/ AppImage 64 bits : virtualbox + Centos 6.9

-2/ AppImage 32 bits : virtualbox + Centos 6.9

-3/ Apple PKG installer : virtualbox + MacOS Yosemite

-4/ Windows installer 64 bits : Linux Mageia6 + MXE cross-compiler.
-5/ Windows installer 32 bits : Linux Mageia6 + MXE cross-compiler.

1/, 4/, 5/ are not a problem. The GCC compiler is enough recent.

For 2/, it typically not solvable as CentOs 6 32 bits is frozen to GCC 4.7.x.

For 3/, an update to a more recent MacOS / Xcode is required. I will certainly drop the virtualbox and use my MacBook pro instead. But i will lost a big door to the facility to compile the installer without to use an Apple device. If i want to install a more recent MacOS version as stand alone, i need to look again and again in dark web to found a good solution working with virtualbox.

Now the question about C++11 support : why it's problematic...

1/ more and more code based on C++11 come inside DK. it's not very important as the base code do not use to much recent C++ syntax, but step by step the code will be rewritten in this way. This is not a problem for the moment, as all compile fine everywhere, but this will change in the future i'm sure.

2/ KDE::KF5 framework : The last release of KF5 libraries will switch progressively to C++11 and lost compatibility with older compilers. Currently, all bundles are branched to an old KF5 release, and for 6.0.0, i would to update these libraries of course.

3/ Qt5 framework : with 5.10 and later 5.11, it's clear that older compilers support will be dropped. For ex, MacOS Yosemite is not supported since Qt 5.9.0 release. So Qt 5.8.0 is currently used to compile PKG installer...

4/ Exiv2 : the developers want to switch implementation to C++11 for next 0.27, as i can read in Github forum. So the time is counted here too...

So, we can conclude like this for 6.0.0 plan :

1/ drop 32 bits support with Linux AppImage.

2/ if we need to be homogeneous, we must drop 32 bits support with Windows installer.

3/ concentrate the work in 6.0.0 to update 64 bits AppImage, PKG, and Windows bundles with last code everywhere, including C++11 support.

4/ This want mean : no more 32 bundles with incoming 6.0.0 releases.

I hope to be clear here, and not to introduce complex technical points. I would to read users feedback for the lack of support of 32 bits bundles.

Thanks in advance.

Gilles Caulier