[OTR-users] Pretty-please standardize OTR signature storage, per OS.

[subharo at hushmail.com]

Hello Tamme,

So far I like your approach.  I've never heard of py2exe before, 
but you seem to have done your research WRT the options for using 
Python in Windows.  If py2exe is good enough for BitTorrent, then 
it's good enough for me.

BTW: before getting started on otr-dev:

1) How would you feel about releasing it under, say GPL v2 
licensing?  That would be my first choice.

2) It sounds like you would like to develop in Windows first.  I 
would also propose that Debian stable (or testing or unstable, only 
if necessary) be the primary Linux distro to develop in first 
(trying to proceed in parallel with a Windows implementation), 
taking the time necessary to keep the core functionality 
installable and working in both OS's (before adding any bells-and-
whistles features).

I especially suggest Debian, because today's most popular Linux 
distros (Linux Mint, *buntu, Elementary OS, etc) are downstream 
from Debian.  IMHO, the best hope for this project, would be that 
an official Debian Developer would eventually come along (which I'm 
not), and help this software become a proper Debian package, 
eventually making its way into Debian main, with all the necessary 
dependencies getting sorted out along the way.  Eventually, it 
would be great if all OTR-computible IM's would have this proposed 
package as a dependancy (and not just a "recommendation", which 
IMHO would be very naiive in today's computer security climate)!

Debian also ranks as a top recommendation on https://prism-
break.org/ , as being trustworthy amidst all the Big News in the 
computer security world, which I'm sure you're also following.

I can perhaps offer a bit of help as time allows, and lots of Linux 
expertise.  I'll have to think over my current commitments before 
making any promises.  I've done some small-time coding of one-off 
system-adminstration-related Python scripts (usually not more than 
a hundred lines of code, which can accomplish quite alot), but I 
have little familiarity with modern version control systems and 
software packaging (you know, making .debs, unofficial APT 
repositories, etc).  I've never been a professional coder.  I've 
worked with many coders in past jobs.  I do have a B.Sc. in 
computer science, and 5 yrs experience as primarily a Unix/Linux 
Sysadmin (with some Windows admin experience too).  I have an eye 
to make things low-maintenance, simpler when possible, and easy to 
backup and restore.

Are there any other python geeks, Debian geeks, or Debian 
Maintainers out there?

If you agree that this sounds sensible, then I'll see you on otr-
dev.

On Mon, 09 Sep 2013 16:05:43 -0400 "Tamme Schichler" 
<tammeschichler at googlemail.com> wrote:
>Python is perfect on Linux, but on Windows it's unfortunately so 
>uncommon that almost no-one has it installed. A possible reason 
>could be 
>its size: About 15 or 20 MB for Python 2 and 3, respectively. 
>That's 
>huge compared to the ~10 MB installers most messengers have.
>The IM installers would definitely need to bundle Python or 
>download it 
>automatically, similar to Pidgin and its GTK+ (with the exception 
>that 
>installing it normally would most likely be fine, if there's a --
>silent 
>option).
>
>A possible workaround would be compiling the script with 
>PyInstaller or 
>py2exe which packages part of the Python environment into a single 
>file. 
>The service would be most likely larger but external dependencies 
>should 
>shrink to a version of the MSVCR only, which is <1 or around 5.5 
>MB 
>depending on the licensing terms. py2exe is pretty popular 
>according to 
>http://www.py2exe.org/ , but I don't know whether it works with 
>Python 3.
>
>Something that could work is installing a compiled (.pyc) version 
>of the 
>necessary framework components into the service's directory. (I 
>just 
>found out about this possibility after installing Gajim, though 
>Blender 
>and GIMP also have their own, larger, installations.) If this is 
>possible it would probably be the best option for compatibility on 
>
>Windows and small enough to ship with the default installer.
>
>
>That said, I briefly worked with Python on a file parser. I 
>definitely 
>agree on the about 1:10 ratio, and working with binary data is 
>incredibly easy in this language. I think I would be able to 
>contribute 
>to the development if nothing unrelated comes up.
>
>Maybe we should continue on [OTR-dev], as most users likely aren't 
>too 
>interested in this discussion at this point.