Re: Making it easier to start contributing to LibreOffice development

2023-08-12 Thread Thorsten Behrens
Hi Hossein,

Hossein Nourikhah wrote:
> How to automate (from command-line) the installation of a Visual Studio
> Build Tools build environment, for C++, .NET, C#, etc
> https://stackoverflow.com/q/62551793
> 
I think that's a _really_ great idea, adding that to lode - pulling in
just the build tools, and putting them into a non-standard path via
--installPath (so as to not interfere with any existing install). That
should make for a much more standardized build env on Windows, with fewer
opportunities to get it wrong.

> 2-4 Dropping some of the huge dependencies
> There was disagreements in this area, but it is actually possible to drop
> some of the huge dependencies to simplify the build process. It is also a
> big task. This is an example patch from me:
> 
> Drop boost dependency for writerfilter
> https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/139279
> 
For this one, I'm not convinced that is the right approach. You'll
have a hard time replacing boost/spirit, the json parser and the
various specialized containers with something equivalent. As Stephan
said, the useful bits out of boost will eventually appear in std c++ -
and that is the way, we'll eventually get rid of boost.

If boost is a drag (is it really? we only build a tiny fraction of it,
no?), perhaps cutting the tarball down to the absolute minimum is a
better plan. Their git repo is already quite modular...

Cheers,

-- Thorsten


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Re: Making it easier to start contributing to LibreOffice development

2023-08-10 Thread Julien Nabet

SUMMARY:
I think it would help if it were easier to get started on contributing
to LibreOffice development.   I tried, but gave up after 4+ hours.  I
don't know where is the best place to make this suggestion.

To be able to help, it would be useful to have some feedback about these:
1) On which env and version are you (Linux distrib, macOs, Windows) ?

2) Did you use https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/GetInvolved ?

3) Could you indicate some parts which blocked you ?

Regards,

Julien


Re: Making it easier to start contributing to LibreOffice development

2023-08-10 Thread Hossein Nourikhah

Hello,

Thank you for bringing this into attention. There are two things here:

1. Helping you build LibreOffice: As Ilmari said, we (me and him) can 
help you with possible problems in your build. If needed, I can provide 
screen sharing session to find the possible problems and fix them.


2. Simplifying the LibreOffice build: This is an ongoing effort. For 
example:


2-1 Simplifying the build instructions: The below Wiki page is my effort 
to make build instructions easier to use, by separating the platforms, 
and summarizing the instructions. It is not yet finalized, but it is 
usable:


Build LibreOffice from source code
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/User:Hossein/Build

2-2 Simplifying the build process: This is also an ongoing effort. Using 
cmake or meson can help simplifying the build, but it is a very complex 
task. The author of meson (Jussi Pakkanen) has tried to do experimental 
builds of LibreOffice, and he could achieve partial success. But, for a 
complete build more work is needed.


Building a part of LibreOffice on Windows using only Meson and WrapDB
https://nibblestew.blogspot.com/2022/01/building-part-of-libreoffice-on-windows.html

Compiling LibreOffice with Meson even further
https://nibblestew.blogspot.com/2022/02/compiling-libreoffice-with-meson-even.html

2-3 Automating instructions
Some of the tasks needed for the build are currently manual, but they 
can be automated. For example, installing individual Visual Studio 
components can be done using a script. I have opened a Bugzilla ticket 
for this purpose:


tdf#156708 - Automate installing and checking for individual components 
of Visual Studio on Windows

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=156708

You can read more here:

Use command-line parameters to install, update, and manage Visual Studio
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/install/use-command-line-parameters-to-install-visual-studio?view=vs-2022

How to automate (from command-line) the installation of a Visual Studio 
Build Tools build environment, for C++, .NET, C#, etc

https://stackoverflow.com/q/62551793

2-4 Dropping some of the huge dependencies
There was disagreements in this area, but it is actually possible to 
drop some of the huge dependencies to simplify the build process. It is 
also a big task. This is an example patch from me:


Drop boost dependency for writerfilter
https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/139279

2-5 Making the actual build faster
I have just merged a patch that makes it possible to use ccache on 
Windows:


tdf#155446 Fix problem with ccache on Windows
https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/152277

On the other hand, there is still room for more improvement, by making 
it possible to use PCH (pre-compiled headers) and ccache at the same 
time, on Windows.


If you have time and you are willing to help, the above are some of the 
things to take a look at.


Regards,
Hossein

On 09.08.2023 20:31, Ilmari Lauhakangas wrote:

On 9.8.2023 19.32, David Booth wrote:

SUMMARY:
I think it would help if it were easier to get started on contributing 
to LibreOffice development.   I tried, but gave up after 4+ hours.  I 
don't know where is the best place to make this suggestion.


BACKGROUND:
A few months ago I ran into a problem using LibreOffice.  Since I have 
experience with software development -- I'm a software architect with 
multiple degrees in Computer Science -- I wanted to help improve it.  
I followed instructions as I could find them, but found them them 
unclear.   After spending 4+ hours I was unable to reach the point of 
being able to get started and had to stop, due to other priorities.


Perhaps if I get another burst of volunteer energy I could try again 
someday.  And if I do, maybe a good first task would be to improve the 
instructions for contributing to LibreOffice development.   In the 
meantime I thought I should at least share my experience, in case 
someone else might be inspired to improve the instructions.


Hello,

it's true that depending on the platform (*cough* Windows) the build 
setup can be tedious. This is not set in stone, however, and devs are 
working on improvements.


You can send me a private email and we can schedule a mentoring chat 
where we go through the first steps. It is normal these days for all 
new contributors.


Regards,
Ilmari Lauhakangas
Development Marketing at The Document Foundation


--
Hossein Nourikhah, Ph.D., Developer Community Architect
Tel: +49 30 5557992-65 | Email: hoss...@libreoffice.org
The Document Foundation, Winterfeldtstraße 52, 10781 Berlin, DE
Gemeinnützige rechtsfähige Stiftung des bürgerlichen Rechts
Legal details: https://www.documentfoundation.org/imprint


Re: Making it easier to start contributing to LibreOffice development

2023-08-09 Thread Ilmari Lauhakangas

On 9.8.2023 19.32, David Booth wrote:

SUMMARY:
I think it would help if it were easier to get started on contributing 
to LibreOffice development.   I tried, but gave up after 4+ hours.  I 
don't know where is the best place to make this suggestion.


BACKGROUND:
A few months ago I ran into a problem using LibreOffice.  Since I have 
experience with software development -- I'm a software architect with 
multiple degrees in Computer Science -- I wanted to help improve it.  I 
followed instructions as I could find them, but found them them unclear. 
  After spending 4+ hours I was unable to reach the point of being able 
to get started and had to stop, due to other priorities.


Perhaps if I get another burst of volunteer energy I could try again 
someday.  And if I do, maybe a good first task would be to improve the 
instructions for contributing to LibreOffice development.   In the 
meantime I thought I should at least share my experience, in case 
someone else might be inspired to improve the instructions.


Hello,

it's true that depending on the platform (*cough* Windows) the build 
setup can be tedious. This is not set in stone, however, and devs are 
working on improvements.


You can send me a private email and we can schedule a mentoring chat 
where we go through the first steps. It is normal these days for all new 
contributors.


Regards,
Ilmari Lauhakangas
Development Marketing at The Document Foundation


Making it easier to start contributing to LibreOffice development

2023-08-09 Thread David Booth

SUMMARY:
I think it would help if it were easier to get started on contributing 
to LibreOffice development.   I tried, but gave up after 4+ hours.  I 
don't know where is the best place to make this suggestion.


BACKGROUND:
A few months ago I ran into a problem using LibreOffice.  Since I have 
experience with software development -- I'm a software architect with 
multiple degrees in Computer Science -- I wanted to help improve it.  I 
followed instructions as I could find them, but found them them unclear. 
 After spending 4+ hours I was unable to reach the point of being able 
to get started and had to stop, due to other priorities.


Perhaps if I get another burst of volunteer energy I could try again 
someday.  And if I do, maybe a good first task would be to improve the 
instructions for contributing to LibreOffice development.   In the 
meantime I thought I should at least share my experience, in case 
someone else might be inspired to improve the instructions.


Thanks,
David Booth