[sldev] Linux variants to support (Re: Projects that I'm working on)

[Rob Lanphier]

On 04/10/2009 08:21 AM, Alissa Sabre wrote:
> * GTK immodule support in Linux viewer  (VWR-2261)
>
>   This is the major project I'm currently working on.
>   Subprojects are:
>
>   * Porting my work based on 1.22.4 to the latest svn trunk codebase.
>     Almost done, but having some trouble in XRandR code.
>
>   * Isolating _too_new_ GTK features in the above code, as a
>     preparation for the dlopen based re-implementation.  40-50%.
>
>   * Thinking of yet another approach to live with very old GTK.
>     Possibilities include: A raw GLX window in a GTK container, or a
>     1x1 GTK widget entirely stealing keyboard focus from SDL window.
>
>   * Also thinking how I can persuade Tofu Linden to abondon the idea
>     sticking on the three-year-old-but-still-officially-supported
>     Ubuntu 6.06. :-)

I'm going to guess that it's going to take more than Tofu.

It's entirely reasonable for us to drop support for older desktop
distros. Since desktop Linux (the platform, not just our Linux viewer)
is in a seemingly perpetual beta, and that distros are pretty much
designed to be upgraded free of charge, it doesn't make as much sense to
support old versions. If there were some statistics that seem accurate
enough to back up the case that virtually no one is still running Ubuntu
6.06 that expects to run Second Life, that'd pretty much seal the deal
from a business perspective.

However, there's also a logistical hurdle that we also have to get over.
I'm going to guess that some of this is driven by the fact that we run
Debian Etch on our server infrastructure, and that our build farms and
common libraries (e.g. the ones we package up and provide, as well as
use ourselves) are tuned for supporting them. I don't know for sure if
this is at the heart of the issue, but it's a reason I've at least heard
before. So, I'm going to let other Lindens on this list speak up about it.

Rob