I would like you to raise the question about how to make it easier for end users to take the leap and try out announced software as many new apps may be useful.
Endless searches through the net to find a gem is a thing of the past.
It should not be tied to one distribution channel, nor just one vendor or vendor-group, site or region though be available in different languages/translations.
Technical:
One common server that will hold one .xml-file with information about applications we, the users, can download and install from different sites. Manual maintenance of the .xml-file should be minimal for the one that host the .xml-file, it should be updated automatically with something like a rexx script or similar.
Developers may provide information in one place about their applications or site with info so a script doesn't have to "harvest" their whole site weekly to build the .xml-file. Would the hobbes template file be sufficient and ok to use?
A front end application should service the user.
The intention is not to deal with supporting libraries such as libc, as YUM and Yumie should take care of that, but rather applications, even though it should use YUM and Yumie for installation of applications that install the required libraries.
It should provide the user with a visual presentation that is useful, such as Icon/image, application/package/... name, a short description, author, version, revision date and homepage and/or bugtracker link + the actual "link" to the download
The front end application should rely on existing installers and support the file/download-format available.
It should download packages WPI/EXE/ZIP/7z/JAR/... and open them in the default/associated application.
It should launch YUM/Yumie for rpm packages/links.
Developers want feedback, so this suggestion help them only a little as the application may provide a link to their different bugtrackers.
By the way, the front end application is available, it's the creation and maintenance of the .xml-file and the location that has to be sorted out.
Regards,
//Jan-Erik Lärka