Metainfo files for addons/plugins/extensions that extend desktop applications

[Richard Hughes]

Recently I added the addon component type to AppStream[1] which is an
XML standard that is used by Fedora and lots of other distros to
create metadata for various software center applications such as GNOME
Software and KDE's Apper.

By creating a metainfo.xml for each plugin, these are then shown next
to the main desktop application and allow the user to easily install
extra components in the UI. This is obviously important for projects
like eclipse and gedit, as without the extra packages (which don't
show up in the application-centric software center) the standalone
applications are not super useful.

I've written a blog post[2] about what upstream software needs to do
to integrate with the KDE and GNOME software centers, and I'd really
appreciate any feedback and help at this stage. Ideally these files
can be pushed upstream and then packaged like normal, or they can be
shipped in the srpm file like I did for gedit-code-assistance (which
is awaiting a new upstream release). I don't think many packages will
be affected, but I didn't want to catch any packagers by surprise when
new files start popping up.

If you want to contact me, either reply here or grab me on IRC -- I'm
hughsie on freenode and gimpnet.

Thanks,

Richard


[1] http://www.freedesktop.org/software/appstream/docs/
[2] http://blogs.gnome.org/hughsie/2014/06/11/application-addons-in-gnome-software/