[Sparkle] Thinking about unifying Sparkle...

[Andrew James]

I posted a message to the list once but no one replied, however what  
i suggested is a growl like system where a application registers for  
updates, and the whole interface acts and works just like the Apple  
software update.

PS. I would love to see a system that would result in the removal of  
all these Sparkle.frameworks that use 5mbs of data each application


On 05/08/2007, at 12:04 PM, Martin Redington wrote:

> More comments on 1) and 2) below ...
>
> On 8/5/07, Andy Matuschak <andy at andymatuschak.org> wrote:
>>
>> 1. What kind of interface is appropriate for notifying the user of  
>> updates?
>> A lot of the time, they don't care at all that something's been  
>> updated—a
>> tiny bug fix, a small new feature, whatever. I don't want to be  
>> intrusive.
>> Here are the options as I see them:
>>
>>  a. Don't do anything to notify the user.
>>  b. Just basic notifications, like Growl, in the upper-right when an
>> update's installed. If you click a bubble, you see the release  
>> notes. This
>> is hardly elegant. Maybe something a little more... Delicious?
>>  c. When you start the app, it says "Hey, this is a new version!  
>> Wanna see
>> what's new?" and offers to show release notes. This is just as  
>> obtrusive as
>> the current system, really. So probably not.
>
> a or b as user options in the prefpane, or ... make it work like
> software update.
>
> version history and release notes should be accessible from the
> prefpane, if you have one.
>
> the user needs to be able to configure updating on a per app basis (or
> manually choose which updates to accept, a la SU)  so if they have an
> old version that they need, they don't have to worry about it being
> overwritten.
>
>> 2. How does the prefpane get installed? Sparkle is so effective and
>> ubiquitous now because users don't really have a choice: the app  
>> comes with
>> Sparkle, and by golly, it's going to keep things up to date! If I  
>> switched
>> to Growl's distribution method, I don't think nearly as many  
>> updates would
>> actually get executed. Ideas:
>>
>>  a. When an app that supports Sparkle is opened for the first  
>> time, it
>> introduces Sparkle and offers to install it. This is rather  
>> obtrusive and
>> inelegant, though it only occurs a maximum of once for the whole  
>> system.
>> Also, if a user says "no", he doesn't really have a way to install  
>> it later.
>> That's an issue.
>>  b. Option (a) but do it when the app quits for the first time.  
>> Then it's
>> not so much in the way of actually doing things but it still  
>> generates the
>> "argh no I said go away why are you doing things" anger response.
>>  c. Just install it. It's not like it's going to kill the user.  
>> The problem
>> with this is that they may wonder how it got there or why  
>> notifications of
>> app updates are appearing. Furthermore, they'll have no idea the  
>> prefpane
>> exists.
>>  d. Option (c) with some kind of explanatory dialog on first  
>> open / quit.
>
> a, with a Growl type distribution as well.
>
> for sure not c or d (can you say Smart Crash Reports). b sounds  
> poor too.
>
>> The other problem with this is that even though Sparkle is system- 
>> wide under
>> this mechanism, every app's still got to ship with and contain a  
>> copy of it
>> for it to install itself. Kinda lame.
>
> Just ship a stub in the app. Download the current binary at install
> time. Make the stub an actual app, so that it can run separately from
> the main app, so the user can get on with that, while sparkle d/ls and
> installs in the background.
>
>
>>
>> I could really use feedback on this, guys. Let's get creative!  
>> Especially on
>> problem #1. I'm probably going to end up rewriting pretty much  
>> everything in
>> the process of making it system-wide; I'll separate all the  
>> components so
>> it'll be easier to support plugins / prefpanes / whatever, too.  
>> I'll try to
>> do binary updates, and I'll merge in Sparkle+ stuff. It'll be  
>> great. If
>> Caltech ever gives me a chance to breathe.
>>
>> Wheezingly yours,
>> Andy Matuschak
>>
>> PS: Great coats, sparkle.andymatuschak.org couldn't be uglier. Ideas?
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>>
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