Application Review Request: rstudio-v0.94

[Allison Randal]

NOTE: This submission was sent through the MyApps process.

= Application Review For RStudio =

 * Name: Joshua Paulson
 * Email: <email address hidden>
 * Application name: RStudio
 * Tagline: RStudio is an integrated development environment (IDE) for the R programming language.
 * Keywords: RStudio, R Studio, R-Studio, R, Studio, IDE, GUI
 * Description: RStudio is an integrated development environment (IDE) for the R programming language. Some of its features include: - Customizable workbench with all of the tools required to work with R in one place (console, source, plots, workspace, help, history, etc.). - Syntax highlighting editor with code completion. - Execute code directly from the source editor (line, selection, or file). - Full support for authoring Sweave and TeX documents. - Runs on all major platforms (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and can also be run as a server, enabling multiple users to access the RStudio IDE using a web browser. For more information on RStudio please visit the project website at http://www.rstudio.org/
 * License: GNU Affero GPL v3
 * Support URL: http://support.rstudio.org/
 * Package file: attached
 * Images (links):
   * 64x64: https://myapps.developer.ubuntu.com/site_media/icons/2011/10/logo.png
   * Screenshot: https://myapps.developer.ubuntu.com/site_media/screenshots/2011/10/RStudio-Ubuntu.png

=== Status ===

Review pending

=== Application Notes ===

[Josh Paulson (3bsh)]

Thanks for the update in the review process. A couple notes/questions:

1) The tarball has been updated on the myapps.developer.ubuntu.com page (also attached here):
new: rstudio-rstudio-v0.94.110-0-gf31b0db.tar.gz
old: rstudio-rstudio-v0.94.107-0-gf31b0db.tar.gz

2) It is important that we build against specific versions of Boost and QT. Is it possible to specify this when you build the RStudio application for inclusion in the Ubuntu Software Center?

Thanks,

Josh

--
Joshua Paulson
Product Manager - RStudio

[Allison Randal (allison)]

1) Thanks for the updated tarball, we'll use that one.

2) Yes, we can specify the version of dependencies in the packaging files. The Ubuntu Oneiric release has Boost 1.42 and 1.46, and Qt 4.7.4, are those workable?

[Josh Paulson (3bsh)]

Allison,

Yes, the tarball which we provided will definitely build against those versions of Boost & Qt.

The real question we have here is will it be possible to specify dependencies greater than those bundled with the current version of Ubuntu and then build directly against those dependencies rather that the version in Ubuntu? The specific motivations for this are:

1) To move to a later version of WebKit (which is contained in Qt 4.8) and then eventually upgrade to Qt 5.0 (which will have the v8 JavaScript engine). Is that sort of later version binding possible for applications in the Software Center?

2) To move to a later version of Boost (1.47) which has a much improved SSL implementation?

Thanks,

Josh

[Allison Randal (allison)]

Excellent, that'll make this first release easy.

There are several options if you depend on newer versions of libraries. One option is to put the updated version of your app, and the updated version of the libraries in Backports. That works if the new library versions are already in a newer release of Ubuntu. In some cases, we may hold the update of your app until it can release at the same time as the updated versions of the libraries. And, depending on the popularity of the app, it may work well for you in the future to actively test your app on the pre-release version of Ubuntu, which will tend to have the latest versions of libraries hot off the presses. Which strategy works best will depend a bit on your working style, how frequently you make releases, and other factors. We can help you think through the options as it's relevant.

[Andre (ajx)]

There is also a packaging request ongoing in Bug #784725