Package screenshots concerns

[Dmitrijs Ledkovs]

On 19 May 2010 23:20, Dylan McCall <dylanmccall at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello!
>
>
> Software Centre makes package screenshots (via screenshots.debian.org)
> extremely prominent, which is wonderful. Before I dive in, I think this
> really improves how packages are presented and I would never want to go
> back. Having said that, I think the screenshots stuff is currently
> problematic.
>
>
> First of all, some of these just don't look right. At the moment every
> screenshot seems to have a different desktop environment, theme,
> application font, or something. The Ubuntu Manual people use a nice
> little app, called Quickshot, to solve this kind of thing.
> ( http://ubuntu-manual.org/quickshot ). Is anyone working on that? There
> is the unfortunate issue that Debian doesn't really aim for a special
> cohesive look, whereas Ubuntu does…
>
>

Guidelines for debian screenshots ask to take screenshots without
desktop / window decorations to minimise the amount of visible user
customisation. And it is not visible to get a consistent look for all
screenshots for all apps in debian nor ubuntu because we people do
have custom themes on and we do have multiple default themes per
distribution & per flavour (think Kubuntu Karmic & Ubuntu Lucid).

And to be fair screenshots are of limited use =) you see it only once
or twice for a given app, and then you install it and it's end of
story. It is purely 3 second marketing of what the app looks like
approximately.

Ubuntu Manual on the other actually describes the application and
walks through dialogs and etc. So it is important for the real
application to match the screenshot you are guiding people through.


> More importantly, many of these screenshots are outdated! The screenshot
> for Miro is from version 1. Its current major version is 3, which has
> some very big changes that are visible in the UI. Screenshot uploaders
> can (but aren't required to) specify version numbers. Unfortunately, as
> far as I can tell, there is no way to retrieve a screenshot based on
> package name + version. As a result,
> http://screenshots.debian.net/screenshot/anjuta , and by extension
> Software Centre, shows the shot for Anjuta version 2.4.2-1+lenny1, even
> though there is a screenshot for 2.28.1.0-1 available.
>

Make new screenshot and upload it =)

>
> Another thing worries me a little: screenshots.debian.net does not
> accept screenshots for non-free packages. Software Centre, on the other
> hand, probably shouldn't be that picky. The new specification
> foundations-m-software-center-screenshots-for-third-parties[1] suggests
> package meta-data that points at a screenshot, not far from the existing
> Homepage field, as an “alternative solution.” I think it would be worth
> discussing that as THE solution, where the Debian Screenshots service
> kicks in as a fallback from that in all cases. (It's still excellent for
> any package that is specific to Debian or lacks a stable web presence).
> [1]
> https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/foundations-m-software-center-screenshots-for-third-parties
>

No clue about this, no opinion.

>
> I'm concerned that, if the problems aren't addressed, we'll end up with
> a lot of screenshots being catalogued insufficiently. Later on, that
> could lead to either wasted effort or cruft. I also get the impression
> that this service detaches the presentation of an application from its
> respective maintainer, and from its original developer. If I make a
> game, for example, and I'm really proud of it, and it's in the
> repositories, I would want my own screenshot attached to it and I would
> be Really Irritated if some random person uploaded anything else.
>

True. Some changes probably do make sense. When screenshots started
there was 30000 binary package and 0 screenshots ;-) so it was the
only realistic solution to start providing screenshots.

And for Debian it really maters to have stable screenshot for 2+ years
unlike ubuntu which is released more frequently.

>
>
> Thanks,
> Dylan
>
>
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