Software item screen has unspecified "Share via microblog" item

[Matthew Paul Thomas]

Binary package hint: software-center

software-center trunk r841, Ubuntu 10.04

1. Navigate to "Get Software" > "Developer Tools" > "Libraries" > "akonadi-dbg".

What happens: The software item screen contains a "Share via microblog" link.

This link isn't in the specification, it uses the word "microblog", and it doesn't seem to do anything. Why does it exist?

[Gary Lasker (gary-lasker)]

Hi mpt! This is a new feature that Ken VanDine added to Software Center as part of the Social From the Start (Maverick) blueprint:

  https://blueprints.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/desktop-maverick-social-api

If you try it on Lucid, then indeed clicking the link will do nothing (you'll get the following stacktrace):

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/gwibber-poster", line 112, in <module>
    w = GwibberPosterWindow()
  File "/usr/bin/gwibber-poster", line 84, in __init__
    self.set_icon_from_file(resources.get_ui_asset("gwibber.svg"))
NameError: global name 'resources' is not defined

However, try it on Maverick and clicking the link will bring up a "Gwibber Poster" dialog (hence the term "microblog") that will allow you to post the text "Check out apturl:akonadi-dbg" via Gwibber.

At this point the basic functionality is there and working, but certainly design work is welcome. And no question that whatever we determine the desired user experience to be, it should be included in the Software Center spec.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

Posting the text "Check out apturl:akonadi-dbg" wouldn't be much use, because neither twitter.com nor identi.ca recognize apt: as a URL protocol, so they wouldn't make it a clickable link. It is precisely for media like these that we have apt.ubuntu.com and the "Edit" > "Copy Web Link" menu item.

If USC integrated with Gwibber at all, I think the most sensible point would be when reviewing software. The review dialog could have a checkbox to post your rating in Gwibber along with the relevant apt.ubuntu.com link.

[Gary Lasker (gary-lasker)]

Ok, so we will need to decide how we want to implement this feature as it is unfinished in its current state. I think the next step will be to define exactly what we want in the Software Center spec. mpt, would you mind working with Ken to finalize the requirements for this feature?

If we decide not to go forward with this, we'll need to remove this link from the app details view.

Thanks!

[Robert Roth (evfool)]

Was this Share via microblog feature removed for Maverick? With Maverick and SC 3.0.7 I have not found any Share via microblog link.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

I still have it in 3.0.7. I think it's present only if libgwibber is installed.

In <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter/RatingsAndReviews#reviews-tweeting> I've specified that that "Share" link should be replaced by letting people optionally tweet their reviews.

[Kiwinote (kiwinote)]

It seems quite reasonable to no longer have a share button in the details view, now that we have full microblogging integration via the reviews dialog. I have pushed a commit for this to my branch.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package software-center - 3.1.25

---------------
software-center (3.1.25) natty; urgency=low

  [ Kiwinote ]
  * data/ui/SoftwareCenter.ui:
    - mark the back/forward actions as translatable (LP: #742129)
  * softwarecenter/db/database.py,
    softwarecenter/models/appstore.py,
    softwarecenter/view/availablepane.py,
    others:
    - make custom lists work (LP: #712903)
  * softwarecenter/app.py,
    softwarecenter/distro/Ubuntu.py,
    softwarecenter/view/widgets/pathbar_gtk_atk.py:
    - when the supported filter is set to supported_only, navigate up if:
      - we are in a details view of an app which is not supported (LP: #480827)
      - we are in a list view which becomes empty
  * softwarecenter/app.py,
    softwarecenter/view/catview_gtk.py:
    - correctly count the nr of apps displayed in the recommended category and
      update it when needed (LP: #735634)
    - only display subcategories if they are non-empty (LP: #419270)
  * softwarecenter/backend/weblive.py:
    - don't crash if we try to delete a non-existent file (LP: #743511)
  * softwarecenter/db/reviews.py,
    softwarecenter/distro/Ubuntu.py:
    - fallback to ReviewLoaderJsonAsync when we can't use multiprocessing
      (LP: #741069)
    - fixes to make ReviewLoaderJsonAsync 'work' (ie most common cases)
  * softwarecenter/db/update.py:
    - don't import softwarecenter.log
  * softwarecenter/view/appdetailsview_gtk.py:
    - don't draw random boxes when we have an error layout (LP: #739269)
    - retire share button as we now have full microblogging support in the
      review dialog (LP: #592619, LP: #743765)
  * softwarecenter/view/appview.py:
    - correctly refresh listview when supported filters are changed
  * softwarecenter/view/catview.py:
    - if a category has subcategories, then category.query should include all
      items included in the subcategories, not a subset of these
  * softwarecenter/view/widgets/pathbar_gtk_atk.py:
    - avoid having a half-height pathbar (LP: #743614)
  * refresh .pot file

  [ Gary Lasker ]
  * softwarecenter/view/widgets/reviews.py:
    - fix crash if app_version is not defined when
      calling upstream_version_compare (LP: #746120)
  * softwarecenter/view/purchaseview.py:
    - disconnect webkit signal handlers when the webkit view
      is not showing (LP: #696861)
    - support 'user_cancelled' from the software-center-agent
      (LP: #641321)
  * softwarecenter/view/softwarepane.py,
    softwarecenter/view/widgets/actionbar.py:
    - animate the action bar show/hide
  * softwarecenter/view/appview.py:
    - in the AppViewFilter, also consider apps in the for-purchase
      channel as available; this allows them to show up in
      e.g. What's New (LP: #746679)

  [ Michael Vogt ]
  * softwarecenter/db/update.py:
    - ensure the iconname that comes from the software-center-agent
      does not contain a ".", the icon cache gets confused otherwise
  * merged lp:~evfool/software-center/sfix672229, many thanks to
    Robert Roth (LP: #672229)
  * merged lp:~alexeftimie/software-center/fix-704719-briefly-wrong-display,
    many thanks to Alex Eftimie (LP: #704719)
  * softwarecenter/view/purc...