Release Commercial apps now accepted in the repo.

[foxblock]

Alright, the problem was I set the price to "0,99", which did not work. Now "0.99" does work actually, so in my case using a colon as decimal separator did not work.


PayPal was also giving me an error saying something along the lines "the price for the item you are trying to purchase is not formatted correctly".


Dunno if that's just the case over here or in general (as you specifically allowed the colon to be used).


Aaaalso while I am at it the automatic redirect was not working for me (FF 8.0) and I find the multiple submit buttons on the "Manage Package" page rather confusing as the one used to update additional info for the app is placed in the centre and seems to be for the whole page, while it only applies to said additional info box. (maybe just have one submit button for the whole page there anyway).

 

[milkshake]

ah maybe paypal only allows commas for countries that use commas instead of decimal points, what currency did you select?

 

[foxblock]

Well, that would not make too much sense :S


I selected "EUR - Euro" and we use the comma as decimal separator here in Germany (and most of Europe I believe).

 

[milkshake]

well apprently when you try to use the comma instead of decimal place with euro it fails, maybe it must be with a decimal place with euros.


im trying to locate some info about which currencies they allow support for commas and which for decimal places but I havent had much luck, anyone else know where to find this info?

 

[Caine]

Well, that would not make too much sense :S


I selected "EUR - Euro" and we use the comma as decimal separator here in Germany (and most of Europe I believe).

Blue uses period as decimal mark, green uses comma. Red is other and grey is unknown. Source: wikipedia.


Why is the UK always the odd one out in Europe?


Strange that a comma does not work with the Euro as the entire Euro zone uses the comma as decimal mark.

 

[milkshake]

if you notice where the blue is... is pretty much areas that are part or were once part of the british commenwelth which is probably why this is the case.


anyway I belive paypal doesnt allow the use of a comma as a decimal seperator, so ill just add some code to convert it to a period before sending it to paypal.


also some countries dont have decimal places at all like japanease YEN apparently so they cant have any decimal places

 

[Miner49er]

This is really cool work Milkshake!


I wonder if there will be an influx of rubbish 'apps' for £0.69 now?


To me, the incentive to write code for the Pandora has never been money orientated but I'm sure there are plenty of folk out there who are. Time will tell.

 

[Tempel]

at the moment there is no support for the clients unless they can support loggin into the repo.

Let's make this happen!

First, what happens when someone tries to access the JSON without logging in? Obviously, commercial apps shouldn't be available from here. But should they be removed entirely? Or should they be listed but marked as inaccessible (eg. have the "uri" field left blank or missing)? The second way means clients can tell users that something is in the repo, but must be bought.


Second, how do clients log in to obtain already-purchased apps? I assume the website uses an HTTP POST to send username/password information, then cookies to maintain the session, but I'm not sure if that's the best approach for client software. I know of two standard methods for authentication over HTTP: basic access authentication, and digest access authentication (there's also the secure remote password protocol, but that's not a built-in part of HTTP). Once authenticated, the JSON sent by the repo would contain full information on the apps the user has purchased, including download URI (presumably, the user would need to authenticate again for each download, to keep unscrupulous users from just passing around the download link). This would also let the site track app downloads through clients in the same way that it currently tracks downloads through the site.


As for the specific scheme, I suggest skipping basic authentication, since it sends usernames and passwords in cleartext (which is fine over HTTPS, but I don't want to force you to set up HTTPS). Digest authentication is vulnerable to some attacks, but at least attackers wouldn't be able to get passwords; they might be able to download your purchased apps, but not log in to the website and mess with your account. Still, I think that requiring digest authentication with quality of protection "auth" would be a good idea.


Thirdly, we might want to look at purchasing apps from the client, but I don't know enough about the security implications to feel comfortable with that yet. Unless someone around here really knows this stuff, let's leave it for now.

 

[EvilDragon]

But the best thing would be if there are donation options so the chances are low that the entire Repo turns in a pure appsrote where all apps cost money.

I doubt it, it wouldn't work for ports of GPL'ed apps.


You'd need to release the sourcecode of the app as well and then any other dev could recompile it and release the sourcecode - so nobody would probably try to sell ports.


It would work however for Indie games that were not available before.


AFAIK Pickle asked the author of Crayon Deluxe if he can port the game, but he wasn't interested releasing it for free. That might make a change here.


There are a lot of good indie games available for little money, Pandora ports would rock

ah maybe paypal only allows commas for countries that use commas instead of decimal points, what currency did you select?

Well, IPN is an internal way to exchange payment data, so maybe PayPal set it up to ALWAYS use commas. After all, no end user will see the IPN transfers.


So maybe just convert all . to , at the repo

 

[milkshake]

This would also let the site track app downloads through clients in the same way that it currently tracks downloads through the site.

It already tracks downloads from clients and the website is it processes the download in the same way for both methods (in effect it streams the file to the end user and marks the download counter when all the data for that app has been transferred).


Would using http POST from the client and storing session info be any less secure or approriate than the browser doing this (as this is how it works by default?)


or would be sending the username and password (encrypted somehow) to autherise the download each time be better?

 

[milkshake]

Well, IPN is an internal way to exchange payment data, so maybe PayPal set it up to ALWAYS use commas. After all, no end user will see the IPN transfers.
So maybe just convert all . to , at the repo

I belive its the other way around from what I have read, it only supports supplying periods (unless it gets into 1000's but I dont allow that anyway).


but your right i can just user

$new_price = str_replace(',','.',$price);

 

[Mr Rob]

I doubt it, it wouldn't work for ports of GPL'ed apps.


You'd need to release the sourcecode of the app as well and then any other dev could recompile it and release the sourcecode - so nobody would probably try to sell ports.

Though I understand your point, I actually wouldn't be opposed to people telling GPL applications for a fee. Yes, some other developer could essentially undercut you, recompile the app, package it up and upload it to the repo for free, but I cannot imagine anyone doing that unless someone was trying to sell an application for an insane price. Besides, it takes time and effort (and resources, some devs have web hosting costs and the like), so it's fine as long as no one is violating any licenses or the like.


And of course developers can use the donate functionality, or other methods, too.

 

[Phelsumania]

good work shake greate choise of maintainer for the repo, was this your secret project you talked to ED about? or is there yet another treat in store for us in the future still to look forwards to?

 

[milkshake]

good work shake greate choise of maintainer for the repo, was this your secret project you talked to ED about? or is there yet another treat in store for us in the future still to look forwards to?

yup

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Are only programs accepted ?


Does artwork and music can be submitted too ?

 

[foxblock]

Are only programs accepted ?


Does artwork and music can be submitted too ?

The repo only accepts PNDs, so if you package some kind of presenter or launcher application with your art or music it will pass, otherwise not.

 

[sandwhich]

Nice stuff


One minor (really minor) thing: Instead of...


"sorry you must be logged in to purchase any apps - redirecting you back to the app page now."


"Sorry, you must be logged in to purchase any apps - redirecting you back to the app page now."


...looks better maybe. Just sayin


*takeshishatandruns*

 

[milkshake]

Sandwhich i adjusted this for you.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Are only programs accepted ?


Does artwork and music can be submitted too ?

The repo only accepts PNDs, so if you package some kind of presenter or launcher application with your art or music it will pass, otherwise not.

Well using aplay should not be a huge difficulty :^)

 

[ckblackm]

Will paypal and/or the credit card company nail you with a currency conversion charge if the buyer and seller use different currencies?