Arvind Narayanan wrote:
Hold on there - what's the necessity of having to use this kind of thing just for writing a cross platform app? Perhaps you like the "integrated database" feature, but couldn't we just bundle MySql with the app? But I wonder whether we need to do all that. Couldn't a simple mozilla plugin which implements untarring and unzipping do the job, assuming that the files are stored on disk in the form of a few tens of articles per compressed tarball?
There is no necessity, I was merely throwing out ideas. I personally like the idea of one application that does all the work, but that may just be personal bias. Bundling MySQL is an option, but I don't think it's wise - we'd have to have binaries for each of the platforms on the CD, and make sure all the glue is also cross-platform, AND make sure we can do this without having to install anything on the user's computer.
As far as cross-platform development goes, however, XUL is something to consider - it'd let us have the Mozilla guys deal with the cross-platform backend magic. Not to mention, if there existed an inconspicuous "Install Mozilla to Hard Drive" link on the CD somewhere, the CD might become a reasonably effective, completely inobtrusive method for open-source evangelism (i.e. after people use Mozilla to browse the wikipedia CD and realize the blessings of tabbed browsing and the like, they just might be willing to make it their browser of choice).
Lots to think about here.
Cheers, Ivan.