ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[Jeremy Bell <bell.jeremy@xxxxxxxxx>]

I tried asking this question on the forums and the IRC channel, but haven't
been able to find someone with the right answer.

I am researching whether it would be possible to distribute a shared
library/runtime package on the Ubuntu software center for distribution on
the phone and tablet versions of ubuntu. And additionally, whether mobile
apps distributed through the software center can take dependencies on these
shared library/runtime packages, such that they are automatically installed
when the user installs the app.

I assumed so, as desktop apps can do this, and it appeared to be the intent
to share the same ecosystem with the desktop app center.

For example, this would allow distribution of apps using alternate
languages and runtimes, such as ruby, python, or Mono/.net with platform
bindings. In my case, I am interested in using Mono, which is licensed
under LGPL, and so the shared library approach would be the only way to
distribute my app without it falling under the category of "derivative
work" in the license. Note that in the case of Mono, the mono executable
may be needed in addition to the shared libraries to run the app.

So this boils down to three questions:
1) can developers distribute shared library/runtime packages as is done on
the desktop, e.g. the mono package on the desktop.
2) can apps take dependencies on these packages and have them auto
installed?
3) once installed, can users overwrite shared libraries installed on their
device with their own versions? It's ok I think if they have to unlock
their phones first or tether them to a pc, etc... This is required for
compliance with the gpl/lgpl.

Thanks!
Jeremy