Gospel Library, Linux Application

[adavis13]

Alright, I have begun looking at C++ GUI frameworks that could be used potentially, I would be curious what the windows team is using if its not C#. There is ultralight which uses html and CSS or the is dear imgui which uses more low level C++ things Both can cross compile to systems other than linux if any others come up. Any input on which would be easiest for porting the Windows app would be helpful.

[lumbeezl]

Qt would be the best framework for C++, no question. Of all the native applications frameworks I've used, Qt takes the pie. LGPL allows dynamic linking so licensing is no issue at all.

As far as a prototype is concerned, please check your private messages for my email. Best if we begin communication that way. I'd love to begin work on this. Just let me know.

Thanks

[lumbeezl]

I'd like to ping this again to get some more traction.

I think building an application that can run on Mac and Linux would be useful for lots of members. I'd love to take time to develop this.

[devansisson]

I have not tried this, but I believe the ios gospel library app will work will all m series macbooks.

As far as GUI frameworks, what about using flutter?

[lumbeezl]

I have not tried this, but I believe the ios gospel library app will work will all m series macbooks.

As far as GUI frameworks, what about using flutter?

Flutter is a decent choice. I'd personally prefer native functionality and best performance across platforms, hence my recommendation for Qt. But all of this is moot if we can't get access/permission from the Church to access the content in the application.

I think any work performed on this before that is given would be wasted.

[devansisson]

I’m thinking an MVP would be worth pursuing. An idea is good but the church wouldn’t sponsor API use without some sort of vision for the development of the tool. I now have more time than id like so ill add it to my list.

[lumbeezl]

I'm open to work on it. I have a few hours each week I could dedicate.

I could start a private repo on Bitbucket to get the project started. I think there are a few open source options that have formatted the scriptures, so I can begin there.

I'm thinking of using Qt/QML since they're mature, performant and already used for major projects.

I'll have the repo created by end of week and I'll send you a message with an invite.

[lumbeezl]

I've initialized the repo.

I'll try to build simple prototype with some scripture JSON files. If anyone is interested, please reach out for an invitation.

[munaish]

Qt would be the best framework for C++, no question. Of all the native applications frameworks I've used, Qt takes the pie. LGPL allows dynamic linking so licensing is no issue at all.

As far as a prototype is concerned, please check your private messages for my email. Best if we begin communication that way. I'd love to begin work on this. Just let me know.

Thanks

One of the major issues to be concerned about when programming a GUI is whether frequent updates to the library are going to frequently outmode your app on new versions of your Linux distribution.

I don't know about in C++, but in Python, I would recommend Tkinter (compare to TCL/TK) over Qt and Gtk for this reason (since Tkinter is more integrated with Python). I used to use WxPython (compare to WxWidgets) with Python, and Gtk with Vala (a programming language that compiles C#-like code to C), until I got tired of my code not working after a small number of years (and me not being invested enough in it to learn the changes required to update it, if updates were even possible without reworking the app). I think I've been using Tkinter for over a decade with few to no issues at all in a Linux desktop IDE app I use regularly (for programming, writing, reading, and such). Anyway, I might recommend looking into using TCL/TK in C++, if you're going the C++ route, and compare it to Qt as to how reliable it is long-term.

Someone who uses C++ more would probably be more familiar with how much of an issue which libraries would be in this regard. I'm not really sure how often this is an issue with Qt. If you've used it for at least five years and you update your Linux distribution regularly, you probably already have a decent idea. I haven't explored Qt much (not even on Python). However, I think you would find the TCL/TK license nice for the purpose at hand.

Also, I strongly encourage not putting the focus primarily on how nice the interface looks (other than readability). Put the focus on content, features, and usability, because that's what matters (that's why people use the app). Even a command-line Gospel Library app would be just fine as far as I'm concerned (actually, I'd probably use that more than a GUI-based version, to be frank). Probably the major issue there would be making a good file pager that does word wrap, and supplying the data in a way that wouldn't easily allow people to repurpose it for unauthorized stuff. The main advantage of GUIs (other than it being more mouse-friendly and widget-friendly) is that the fonts render better on them than on the command-line. Plus, you can use more keyboard shortcuts and stuff in a GUI. Command-line apps are definitely more cross-platform, though, and they don't tend to get outmoded except on rare occasions. They're also faster and take fewer resources.

Plus, on the command-line, you wouldn't have to load the whole app just to use part of it. You could just do a command to open the specific thing you want to read, or whatever, and get it right away. You wouldn't want to try to immitate the GUI-based Gospel Libraries there in the way they look and function (but in the content they provides you with, yes).

[lumbeezl]

Qt has been used in countless production applications for over two decades. LTS releases are planned and regular plus the documentation is absolutely phenomenal. It's LGPL licensed which won't be an issue with desktop use. Likely the largest project that uses Qt is KDE Plasma, so I'd be willing to bet quite a bit on its stability in the future.

As far as a CLI app would be concerned, that's not really what I'm hoping for. My motivation for the project is to get an official Gospel Library Linux/MacOS application and access to the Church's API, resources, etc. I imagine that it would need to be almost identical to the official application on Windows, so GUI would be required.

With that being said, for an initial prototype my focus won't be on visuals, but the functionality. But honestly only so much I can do with just the text of the scriptures. I think everything else is owned by the Church.