Wow, a lot of stuff going on here
Don't have too much time right now (need to leave for the train back home soon), but I'll try to explain a few things, what I think of them and why...
First, about the OS...
As mentioned above, the Pandora had issues with an OS that became outdated quickly, mainly because OE seems to be a bit picky on whether it wants to build stuff or not.
I've been following aTc great work on .next, and it still looks like that an image that built fine two days ago doesn't build properly two days later because of random recipe changes by someone... this is something we really don't need anymore.
Therefore, I think Debian should be a fine OS for us.
We can use the official Debian repositories, so it stays up-to-date.
And then provide our own repository with higher priority that has stuff like nub, LED, etc. configuration tools or optimized SDL ports like the one from notaz for the Pandora.
This way, we don't have to maintain too much for the base system - as Debian is updated automatically.
Let me know if you think there are any issues - I'm certainly no expert in that stuff
Next, onto anything we add ourselves...
One thing I learned from notaz during the last years is that we should stick to mainline kernel as close as possible.
Otherwise, you will have hacks that will make it hard updating to new kernel versions in the future. And if people can simply build the kernel from mainline, it's easier to run any ARM Linux distribution on the Pyra.
So whatever we plan here - no evil hacks.
About compatibility and the PND system:
I never said the PND system is perfect and shouldn't be optimized. There ARE things we can improve, and we should do that as good as possible.
I also don't need 100% backwards compatibility - many things will probably be re-ported or exist in Debian anyways.
But there's some stuff that doesn't have the sourcecode available and where the original dev is gone. Mostly homebrew games - and they don't need a lot of special things, so that would be great.
Also, porting everything again takes time. So if a new Pyra owner can simply put his old card into the system and many of his stuff runs fine from the beginning until updated ports are there, that would be great.
Now, onto the PND System...
This is what I appreciate about the PND System.
I have many, many programs installed. About 60 - 70 GB. It won't fit the internal storage.
How can I install them with standard Debian package manager?
I know, I could mount the SD Card into the filesystem, but that will probably cause issues with FAT32 cards.
Using EXT4 cards is no solution, as many non-Linux users probably want to copy their roms onto the cards with normal Windows.
And what happens when the card gets lost? Then Debians database is completely screwed, as it doesn't find files it expects that they have been installed.
Would you even be able to use the internal OS without having to reinstall it completely?
Just think you're on holidays and lose the card - you will be unable to use the system at all?
Also, when we're at exhibitions like the GamesCom, we've got 10 Systems for the people to play.
We create one SD Card which we clone multiple times and put them into the Pandoras.
We don't need to install everything onto every Pandora.
If one messes around with it, we replace it with a different one.
Can these things be achieved with the normal Debian system?
If yes, I'd be happy to NOT use PNDs, but then we need to find another option.
Next is handling of PNDs for devs.
Right now, devs create the PNDs and upload them to the repo.
The users browse it with PNDManager, see screenshots and install it.
Do debian files support screenshots and automatic categories, as PNDs do that right now?
Does a dev have to create his own debian repository or can we create a community one where devs can upload the same way they can do with the repo right now?
Think about my above points.
Is that all achievable without major hacks in the Debian system?
If yes, we won't need PNDs anymore.
If no, then I think having a dual-version (repository for standard stuff like libreoffice, firefox, the base system, etc.) is fine and PNDs for stuff needing a lot of space and can't be found in normal debian repo (games, emulators, etc.) would be best.
