Tcl Meetup, 2022-04-12
Possible topics:
- single file distributions "blessed" by the community (i.e. tclkits of some form) - stevel
- the goal is a downloads page with links for common platforms
- make it easier for people to get the latest Tcl/Tk on common platforms
- include alpha and beta releases to get more people testing we move towards 8.7/9.0 since they won't need to build Tcl/Tk themselves
- single file executable to make it easier to try / remove
- this doesn't preclude installers and platform specific app bundles
- perhaps have a standard option that gets the single file distro to install itself in a platform standard way (allowing you to run as a single file to try, and install for better performance or less platform friction)
- a lite version containing just Tcl/Tk and a batteries included version with common extensions
- what extensions should be in a BI version?
- SQLite, tablelist, tcllib, tklib, others - e.g. everything in Magicsplat and Androwish (need to avoid including stuff that isn't actually useful or actively used)
- what technology for the VFS? zip / xvfs / SQLite / whatever?
- keen for rkeene to comment on xvfs
- rz has done a lot with zipkits on Tcl 8.7
- what about drh's ideas on using SQLite
- code signing for both Tcl/Tk and apps deployed using it
- apn mentioned Authenticode on Windows
- rz mentioned the Euro meeting mentioned the need to attach app code to a tclkit and sign it
- need to consider dkf's work on continuous integration which builds tclkits
- JCW has provided a pure Tcl metakit reader ReadKit which could be used to provide backwards compatibility with existing starkits that use Metakit
rz - 2022-04-12 05:50:04
State of the art for tcl/tk8.7a5 for me:
- you can build zip based tclkits. Just compile with "--disable-shared". The resulting tclsh and wish are tclkits.
- To add your own stuff, put it in a directory and use a file "main.tcl" as starting point.
- Under windows use "zip -r -q <tclsh or wish> *"
- Under Unix use "zip ../t.zip * ; cd ..; cat t.zip >> <tclsh or wish> ; zip -A <tclsh or wish>"
arjen - 2022-04-12 09:51:03
I would like to bring up a general topic: besides tclkits, what other development and deployment tools would be beneficial? (I am jealous of those IDEs you see all over the place, like Pycharm, even if I tend not to use them myself, at least not for coding). As the time is very unfavourable to me, I will not attend this meeting.
stevel tools such as TclProDebug, Eskil, Nagelfar etc come to mind. Perhaps Critcl. Others? Perhaps these could be combined into a "developer" download?
chw the stuffs described in LUCK (i.e. the vanillawishes for various platforms) have some development tools integrated, e.g. parts of Tcl Dev Kit, ASED, Visual Tcl, and TkSQLite.