Connecting the dots with Solaris and middleware In the middle

Updated March 9, 2009

The Update Center 2 Toolkit project is demonstrating how the Image Packaging System, also known as the pkg(5) System, can deliver the following features for multi-platform layered applications:

• Multi-OS platform packaging of packages and updates
  
• Pre-installed installation images
• Ongoing installation image management
  
• Network repository-based delivery of add-ons and updates 
• Desktop notification of updates and new add-ons
  

This article describes the results of the first of several experiments intended to demonstrate how projects' build environments can be enhanced to deliver pkg(5)-based distributions. In this article we address the first stage of an experiment based on the popular OpenDS project.[Read More]

The Update Center (UC) 2.0 Toolkit open source project that I am a part of is reusing OpenSolaris' Image Packaging System (IPS) for distribution of software and updates on a variety of OS platforms.  In addition to reusing the underlying IPS CLI and server side repository infrastructure, the Update Center Toolkit team has been keen to reuse the IPS-oriented package management GUI tools being developed by OpenSolaris.

OpenSolaris is using PyGTK, the Python binding to GTK+, and the Glade GUI design tool to help them rapidly develop the new package management GUI tools for OpenSolaris. Since IPS itself is written mostly in Python, using a Python-based toolkit for the GUI applications was a natural decision.

Based on Danek Duvall's suggestion (yeah, blame Danek!), we took a look at the wxPython GUI toolkit.

[Read More]