Pandora Standard File Format?

[teggun]

With regards to a package manager/repository system, how will this work where internet access is unavailable direct to the Pandora? I.e. where a wifi network isn't available, will software still be installable to an SD card from another computer? Or perhaps directly through a usb connection to the Pandora? What about if we want to copy software directly from pandora to another? Or have I got it wrong on how this system works?

Oh and for a file extension I vote .pan

-side note
.rar is just as used as .zip

I wouldn't say rar is used as well known as zip. Does windows provide native support for rar files out of the box? I know XP doesn't, can't remember whether or not Vista does.

 

[Squidge]

will software still be installable to an SD card from another computer? Or perhaps directly through a usb connection to the Pandora? What about if we want to copy software directly from pandora to another? Or have I got it wrong on how this system works?

Yes, you can install software to an sd card directly from a PC via USB, or from one sd card to another. No need to worry about any dependancies.

As for RAR, yes its common, but not as common as ZIP.

 

[Tinnus]

AND for zip we have zlib, which is a free, cool neat little library that includes deflate/inflate and a module for easily dealing with zip files

 

[goobers]

I still think a package format would be the best. OS X uses packages, and installing an app is as simple as dragging it to the apps folder.

 

[teggun]

Yes, you can install software to an sd card directly from a PC via USB, or from one sd card to another. No need to worry about any dependancies.

So all the package manager on the Pandora will do is download and decompress the files into a folder for each application/game?

 

[Vorporeal]

I'm down with .pex, but if you want to be REALLY non-nerd friendly, you could do a 4-letter one like ".pexe". The meaning of that one is REALLY obvious.

 

[flatmush]

I'm down with .pex, but if you want to be REALLY non-nerd friendly, you could do a 4-letter one like ".pexe". The meaning of that one is REALLY obvious.

Extensions should be no more than 3 letters, iirc some older filesystems don't support longer extensions.

 

[CoMiKe]

Like FAT12 and FAT16 without LFN support? But we won't be using that...

Although I prefer a 3 character file extension, too.

 

[Vorporeal]

I'm down with .pex, but if you want to be REALLY non-nerd friendly, you could do a 4-letter one like ".pexe". The meaning of that one is REALLY obvious.

Extensions should be no more than 3 letters, iirc some older filesystems don't support longer extensions.


I know, I assumed we'd be using ext2/ext3 though. I wasn't really suggesting it as a viable option, but was just saying there are other things that could be used to make it more non-geek/non-nerd friendly.

.pex is good.

 

[Squidge]

So all the package manager on the Pandora will do is download and decompress the files into a folder for each application/game?

Depends on the package, but .zip style packages will just be that, yes. Orkie style packages will not need to be decompressed or extracted, they'll just be a single file on your sd card.

I'm down with .pex, but if you want to be REALLY non-nerd friendly, you could do a 4-letter one like ".pexe". The meaning of that one is REALLY obvious.

Portable Executable?

Extensions should be no more than 3 letters, iirc some older filesystems don't support longer extensions.

All file systems we'll be using on SD cards will be capable of it though.

I know, I assumed we'd be using ext2/ext3 though. I wasn't really suggesting it as a viable option, but was

ext2/ext3 on SD card is possible, but considering most come preformatted as fat16/fat32, and neither Windows or MacOS by default don't know how to read ext2/3, its best to leave them as the default fs.

 

[sindbad]

I still think that having a dedicated file for starting games/other apps is best. It gives developers even more granularity about what they want their users to execute or not and it maintains compatibility with debs. For this, .desktop files are perfect.

A game would come in a directory with whatever files it needs plus a .desktop that points to the executable the developer wants executed (and solves the problem of scripts) and has an icon (any type, even svg). The launcher would look for .desktop files and load icons, names, languages and the execution path for them.
At a quick glance in the file manager, each file has it's own icon based on the mimetype.

Also, UDF could be used instead of FAT32 since it can be used by any os and it preserves information that some os's don't understand (like executable bits). I have my usb stick and a portable hard drive on UDF and they work great.

If the laptop functions are inadequate or it doesn't have a package manager like apt I'll have to install debian on mine and I hope I won't have to repackage everything.

 

[Squidge]

UDF is fine for Linux, but SD cards and USB sticks come by default formatted as FAT16 or FAT32. Also Windows does not allow you to reformat them as UDF unless you install additional software; so FAT16/32 is still the best choice (plus some people might want to use the same card in there camera and dvd player for example, which may or may not support UDF).

Remember that we need to keep it simple. We need it so people that have never used Linux can use it easily. Most people will have knowledge of Windows, so we should be compatible and take care of those users first.

Scripts are never a problem, as there first line always states what to launch in order to execute the script.

I doubt it'll have a package manager like apt, as they assume a certain Linux directory structure, and to keep things simple, the Pandora will require everything to be in one directory for each application. Stuff like /usr on NAND might even be read-only.

 

[namco]

A file extention for the pandora, useful for experts and newbs, and shows the pandora potential?

how about .pwn :lol:

 

[Svartalf]

I doubt it'll have a package manager like apt, as they assume a certain Linux directory structure, and to keep things simple, the Pandora will require everything to be in one directory for each application. Stuff like /usr on NAND might even be read-only.

Considering that you can pretty much use FAT32 as a linux directory structure- it's just got some nasty consequences with it. A package manager only cares about position and the metadata associated with an installation of a given package. THAT doesn't care about whether or not you're on FAT32 or on JFS. It works the same. It's bootloaders that care about what file system. And, I'd hope that the base system flash used something like JFFS2 or similar.

 

[Null]

how about .pwn :lol:

I approve of this statement. :lol:

 

[fusion_power]

ext2/ext3 on SD card is possible, but considering most come preformatted as fat16/fat32, and neither Windows or MacOS by default don't know how to read ext2/3, its best to leave them as the default fs.

Exactly. I only have Windows and of course I want a file system, that my OS can read! Scary, that some users seem to don't care about us poor windows slaves. ^^"""

I also have a "Music-SD" for my GP2X and I plan to use this SD Card in the Pandora to. So the FAT32 should be standard for the Pandora.

 

[Squidge]

It will be. The Linux nuts will probably change there firmware to mount sd cards as ext2 or whatever, but we don't care about that, as the they'll come from the "factory" as mounting fat32.

 

[CoMiKe]

I don't understand why there's no native ext2 support on Windows. We are in year 2008!

I'm a Windows user, and the thing that annoys me the most using Windows is the filesystem.

FAT32? Fine, but you can have files larger than 4 Gib.

NTFS? Shit, then your data isn't yours, as it's a closed file system...

And yes, there's a good EXT2 filesystem driver for Windows (and another one, but I think it doesn't integrate well with the rest of the system (as permissions aren't the same in Windows than Linux).

Anyway, sorry for going offtopic.

 

[goobers]

how about Pandora Program Format?

.poo

 

[cowai]

.pwn pwns...