>> So you'd prefer me not to explain my problem as clearly and fully as >> possible? That'll help a lot, won't it? >> > > break your question into pieces, it will definitely encourage people > reading and answering :)
I've tried that. It doesn't work. At best, I get an answer to the first question in the set. >> And by the occasional Nokia person, with presumably a commercial interest in >> making sure that people out in the wide world know how to write software for >> their kit. > > by stating you're working on behalf on a customer, you are the one with > commercial interest in this discussion. I'm not the one trying to sell hardware with a poorly-documented operating system. >> I've had answers to less than 50% of the questions I've asked. The rest of >> the answers I've had to dig out myself by trial and error. > > > people can't do everything for you ;) also it might be a direct > consequence of too much questions in a row. I hadn't realised we were on a ration here. >> Sometimes you have to be direct to get a response. And since when is >> pointing out the shortcomings of documentation and community support >> "whining"? I assume Nokia would like to know when there are shortcomings in >> both of these areas. It's quite likely, too, that there are others out there >> with similar problems to mine who simply don't dare shout because of exactly >> this kind of slap-down. >> > > my opinion is that information is there. > maybe its access could be improved. The first MAY be true (although some of it is mutually inconsistent, if you can find it). The second definitely is. > however it's really there and you're silently ignoring the pointers in > my answer: the "Getting Application to Task Navigator Menu" section of > the Maemo 3.x tutorial explains about .desktop and .service files, so > does the "Adding Application To Menu" section of the How to write a new > application to maemo 3.x document. I said in my original question that I had read the second of the above. Contrary to what you say, it does not "explain about" .desktop and .service files. It gives examples, which I have followed, but that alone does not get my application displaying correctly. There's obviously more to it than the explanation given there, and that's what I was asking about. >> And keeping silent about poor documentation and support won't help Nokia to >> sell non-Windows PDAs. Technology alone never sells itself, despite what >> many techies believe - you need good grass-roots support as well. That >> comes, in part, from there being widespread knowledge about how the >> technology works, and by hiding the complexities of the technology as much >> as possible. >> > > The documentation for what maemo is relying on exists out there: "How to > write a new application to maemo 3.x document" points to: > . http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf > . http://www.gnu.org/software/automake > . http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext > . http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/ > > Maybe it could be more centralized which i guess is trying to be > achieved by the new howtos on maemo.org: > . "creating a debian package" > . "howto make a debian DBG package" I read the first of those and had to ask questions on this mailing list about even that. The answer I got was to go away and read the "Debian New Maintainers' Guide", which I did. After reading this and then both of the items you mention, I finally managed to get my .deb package built and installing (as I said in my original email). It still didn't put the application on the menu, though. > it seems that someone realized that creating an installation package > wasn't that straightforward for someone who doesn't know about debian > packages. It probably is straightforward when you do know. It's that business of getting to know that seems to be the stumbling block. If the documentation was ALL listed in one central place (e.g. one of the Documentation pages on the Maemo site), and if it took the trouble to explain how things are supposed to work before launching into specific examples, we might all be able to do it without having to ask questions on this list. David Hazel _______________________________________________ maemo-developers mailing list maemo-developers@maemo.org https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-developers
