Proposing a New App Developer Upload Process

[Scott Kitterman]

On Monday, September 03, 2012 07:59:15 PM David Planella wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 
> As many of you will know, in the last few cycles we've been laying out
> the foundations to make Ubuntu a target of choice for app developers. I
> am not referring to building the platform here (an area in which we also
> keep seeking growth), but rather to enabling app authors to create and
> distribute original software, to grow a rich ecosystem of independent
> apps for our users.
> 
> The resounding success of our latest initiative, the Ubuntu App
> Showdown, has not only shown an explosion of high-quality applications
> (created in just 3 weeks!), but more importantly, the growing interest
> in developing applications for Ubuntu.
> 
> As we continue building upon these foundations, we also keep on refining
> our processes to identify and improve areas in which we can provide a
> better experience for app developers. While doing this, we've been
> gathering metrics from different sources –the current queue of apps
> pending review and the Showdown results being the main ones. They all
> provide clear evidence: the current approach to submit third-party apps
> in the Extras repository has already reached the limit in terms of human
> review capability and application throughput.
> 
> Despite our best intentions and the Ubuntu App Review Board's epic
> efforts, we're currently putting a strain on reviewers (who cannot keep
> up with the incoming stream of apps) and providing an unsatisfactory
> experience for app authors (who have to endure long delays to be able to
> upload their apps).
> 
> During the course of the last few weeks, after having identified the key
> issues and assessed the different options available, Jono Bacon, Michael
> Hall and myself have been working to put forward a proposal for a new,
> improved app developer upload process. We've been not alone in this
> project: we've had the input and help from many others, including the
> App Review Board and members of many other Ubuntu and Canonical teams
> (Security, Foundations, Desktop, Consumer Apps, just to name a few).
> 
> We are now at a point where we consider the spec to be ready for public
> review and comment, and we would like to ask for your own contribution
> to this process. Ultimately, the goal is to discuss and scope the new
> app developer upload process at UDS, but we would like to have a solid
> specification to be used in advance as the basis for any UDS sessions
> and blueprints. If you'd like to contribute, you can:
> 
> * Review the spec at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AppDevUploadProcess
> * Provide any feedback either on the Feedback section (preferred) or
>   continue the discussion on this thread.
> 
> As the people who create Ubuntu, your input is especially valuable, and
> we'd really appreciate it if you could spend some of your time to help
> app development in Ubuntu succeed.

I understand the goal of this and why it's the direction those interested in 
making it easier to provide non-Ubuntu apps want things to go.  It's not at 
all surprising that the volunteer reviewers were insufficient, since that's 
always been the case for new Ubuntu packages as well.

I do think the proposal misses a few points though.  The purpose of /opt was 
not only to limit the access that these apps to the rest of the file hierarchy, 
it was also to make sure that files provided by these apps could not be in the 
path of Ubuntu packages and to avoid namespace contamination, particularly in 
/usr/bin.  This proposal addresses neither of those points, so I think it's 
inusufficient as it stands.

See http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=614907 for an example of 
how much 'fun' /usr/bin namespace collisions can be.

Scott K