Users are very bad at reading or following instructions. It's likely that they will download the file, double click it, and expect it to be installed automatically.
If the extension is .zip, then the OS will silently unpack it, and the user won't know what to do next. But since at least something happened, they might actually think that the file installed itself, then wonder why it still doesn't work. If the extension is something special, then the OS won't know what to do with it, and present a dialog warning that the file can't be opened, and the user is more likely to search for information about how that file can be installed. The downside of it not being a .zip file is that when the user should unzip it, it's a bit more difficult to do it. +1 for .xip, it seems that nobody else is using it. https://fileinfo.com/extension/xip On 05/02/2017 10:43 AM, Vincent Massol wrote: > >> On 2 May 2017, at 16:36, Thomas Mortagne <thomas.morta...@xwiki.com> wrote: >> >> On Tue, May 2, 2017 at 4:28 PM, Vincent Massol <vinc...@massol.net> wrote: >> >>> Hi, >>> >>>> On 2 May 2017, at 16:05, Thomas Mortagne <thomas.morta...@xwiki.com> >>> wrote: >>>> >>>> Hi devs, >>>> >>>> I'm currently working on a new package format to package a bunch of >>>> extensions into a single file. >>>> >>>> The first use case is to make offline install easier. We can't count on >>> all >>>> in one XAR anymore (plus all in one XAR prduces very crappy extensions) >>> so >>>> I was thinking about providing a generic package containing all the >>>> extensions you need in it. It will simply be a zip containing extensions >>> in >>>> the same format than Extension Manager local repository so that you can >>>> unzip it it there (or later use some UI to "import" it). >>>> >>>> So now I need a name for this new package. Since extension descriptor >>> file >>>> extension is "xed" (for "XWiki Extension Descriptor") I was thinking >>> about >>>> naming it XEP (for "XWiki Extension Package"). Any better idea ? >>>> >>>> For now my plan is to provide the following: >>>> * a new Maven handler for <packaging>xep</packaging> >>>> * a new Maven mojo "xep" in the existing extension Maven plugin >>>> * start using it with the new platform flavor which is supposed to >>> replace >>>> XE so that people can have something to use for offline installs >>>> >>>> WDYT ? >>> >>> Sounds good. >>> >>> Regarding the naming, assuming we need a file extension other than ZIP, >>> "XWiki Extension Package” seems like a package for a single XWiki Extension. >>> >>> Some ideas. Why not something in the name that suggest it’s a repository. >>> >>> For example: XWiki Extension Repository Archive or XWiki Repository >>> Archive for short, which, using a 3LA, would translate into XRA. >>> >>> XAR = XWiki Archive = a single extension >>> XRA = XWiki Repository Archive = a repository of extensions = several >>> extensions >>> >>> We could also have XWiki Extension Repository, i.e. “XER”, which would >>> also be one letter change from XAR: >>> >>> XAR = XWiki Archive = a single extension >>> XER = XWiki Extension Repository = a repository of extensions = several >>> extensions >>> >> >> I'm fine with XER. >> >> >>> Now since the users will need to unzip this binary and they won’t import >>> it (as they do for XAR), it would be better for it to be ZIP as otherwise >>> it’ll harder to unzip (no double-clicking on it for ex). >>> >> >> As I said I think we'll have a UI for it at some point. I just don't think >> I will have time to work on that in the new platform flavor scope (or maybe >> just a quick tool in >> http://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/Extension+Tweak). > > I know you said that but IMO the primary usage is for users to unzip into a > given directory and the easiest is to provide a ZIP to them. Even if we have > an import UI, we can still offer the ZIP to that UI… > > So at this point, I don’t fully understand why we’d need something other than > zip. > > Sounds like we might be overcomplicated things. On the maven side, we could > use the maven assembly plugin to generate the zip. > > Am I missing something? > > Thanks > -Vincent > >> Thanks >>> -Vincent >>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Thomas Mortagne >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> Thomas Mortagne > -- Sergiu Dumitriu http://purl.org/net/sergiu
