Robert McQueen, the head of the GNOME Foundation, published a plan for the development of Flathub, a catalog and repository of self-contained packages in the Flatpak format. Flathub is positioned as an independent platform, separate from individual suppliers, for building applications and distributing them directly to end users. It is noted that there are currently around 2000 applications in the Flathub catalog, with more than 1500 contributors involved in its maintenance. Approximately 700,000 application downloads are recorded daily, and around 900 million requests to the site are processed.
The key tasks for further project development include evolving Flathub from a build service into an application catalog-store that shapes the ecosystem for distributing Linux applications, taking into account the interests of various participants and projects. Significant attention is given to increasing the motivation of contributors and financing the projects published in the catalog, for which systems for collecting donations, selling applications, and organizing subscriptions (recurring donations) are planned. According to Robert McQueen, the biggest obstacle to promoting and developing the Linux desktop is the economic factor, and the introduction of a donation and application sales system will stimulate ecosystem development.
Plans also mention the creation of a separate independent organization to support and provide legal assistance to Flathub. Currently, the project is overseen by the GNOME Foundation, but continuing to operate under its wing is recognized as introducing additional risks associated with application delivery services. Moreover, the services created for Flathub to fund development do not align with the non-profit status of the GNOME Foundation. The new organization intends to use a management model with transparent decision-making. The governing board will include representatives from GNOME, KDE, and participants from the community.
Poleg vodje GNOME Foundation v projektu za promocijo Flathub sodelujeta Neil McGovern, nekdanji vodja projekta Debian, in Aleix Pol, predsednik organizacije KDE e.V. Za razvoj Flathub je podjetje Endless Network namenilo 100 tisoč dolarjev, pričakuje pa se, da bo skupna višina financiranja za leto 2023 znašala 250 tisoč dolarjev, kar bo omogočilo zaposlitev dveh razvijalcev za polni delovni čas.
Med opravljenim delom ali delom, ki se trenutno izvaja, je omenjeno testiranje novega dizajna spletne strani Flathub, uvedba sistema za razdeljevanje dostopa in preverjanje za potrditev, da aplikacije nalagajo neposredno njihovi razvijalci, delitev računov za uporabnike in razvijalce, sistem oznak za identifikacijo preverjenih in prostih aplikacij, obdelava donacij in plačil preko finančne storitve Stripe, sistem dostopa plačanim uporabnikom do plačljivih prenosov, ter omogočanje neposrednega prenašanja in prodaje aplikacij samo preverjenim razvijalcem, ki imajo dostop do glavnih repozitorijev (kar bo omogočilo, da se zaščitimo pred tretjimi osebami, ki nimajo nobene povezave z razvojem, a poskušajo zaslužiti s prodajo zloženk priljubljenih odprtokodnih programov).
Izvor: opennet.ru
