KDE: A Day in the Life the KDE Snapcrafter Part 2

Posted on August 22, 2023 by sgmoore

KDE Mascot
KDE Mascot

Much to my dismay, I figured out that my blog has been disabled on the Ubuntu planet since May. If you are curious about what I have been up to, please go to the handy links -> and read up! This post is a continuation of last weeks https://www.scarlettgatelymoore.dev/kde-a-day-in-the-life-of-the-kde-snapcrafter/

IMPORTANT: I am still looking for a super awesome team lead for a super amazing project involving KDE and Snaps. Time is running out and well the KDE world will be a better a better place if this project goes through! I would like to clarify, this is a paid position! A current KDE developer would be ideal as it is a small team so your time will be split managing and coding alike. If you or anyone you know might be interested please contact me ASAP!

Snaps: I am wrapping up the 23.04.3 KDE applications release! Head on over to https://snapcraft.io/search?q=KDE and enjoy! We are now up to 180 snaps! PIM snaps will be slowly rolling in as they go through manual reviews for D-Bus.

Snapcraft: minor fix in qmake plugin found by ruff.

Launchpad: I almost have approval for per application repository snapcraft files, but I have to prove it will work to our benefit and not cause loads of polling etc. So I have been testing various methods of achieving such a task, and so far I have come up with launchpads ability to watch and download release tarballs into a project. I will then need to script getting the tarball and pushing it to a bzr branch from which I can create a proper snap recipe. Unfortunately, my proper snap recipe fails! Hopefully a very helpful cjwatson will chime in, or if anyone wants to take a gander please chime in here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/launchpad/+bug/2031307

As reality sets in that my project may not happen if I don’t find anyone, I need help surviving until I find work or funding to continue my snap work ( still much to do! ) If you or anyone else you know enjoys our snaps please consider a donation, anything helps! Please share! Thank you for your consideration!

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KDE: A day in the life of the KDE snapcrafter!

Posted on August 18, 2023 by sgmoore

KDE Mascot
KDE Mascot

As mentioned last week, I am still looking for a super awesome team lead for a super amazing project involving KDE and Snaps. Time is running out and well the KDE world will be a better a better place if this project goes through! I would like to clarify, this is a paid position! A current KDE developer would be ideal as it is a small team so your time will be split managing and coding alike. If you or anyone you know might be interested please contact me ASAP!

On to snappy things I have achieved this week:

Most 23.04.3 is done, I am just testing them now. New applications: kmymoney ( Thanks Carlos! ), kde-dev-utils, and kxstitch ( Thanks Jeremy! )

With that said, I have seen on the internets –candidate channel apps being promoted. Please use this channel with utmost care as they are being tested and could quite possibly be very broken!

Still working on some QML issues with kirigami platform not found.

I have begun the launchpad build issues journey and have been kindly pointed to using snap recipes on launchpad so we aren’t doing public uploads which creates temporary recipes to build and cannot be bumped priority wise. So I have sent the request into the kde-devel arena to revisit having per repository snapcraft files ( rejected in the past ) as they do with flatpak files. So far I am getting positive feedback and hopefully this will go through. Once it does I can move forward with fully automating application new releases. Hooray!

This week I jumped into the xdg-desktop-portals rabbithole while working on https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=473003 for neochat. After fixing it with adding plug password-manager-service I am told that auto-connect on that one is discouraged and the libsecret should work out of the box with portals. I found and joined just in time a snapcrafter google meet and we had a long conversation spitballing and testing our portal support. At least in Neon it appears to be broken. I now have some things to do and test to see that we get this functional. Most of our online apps are affected. For now though – snap connect neochat:password-manager-service :password-manager-service does work. Auto-connect was rejected as it exposes to much. Understandable.

I have started a new thread on the KDE forums for users to ask any questions, or let me know of any issues you may have related to snaps here: https://discuss.kde.org/t/all-things-snaps-questions-concerns-praise/4033 come join the conversation!

In the snapcraft arena I have fixed my PR for the much needed qmake plugin! This should be merged and rolled out in the very near future!

I would like to continue my hard work on snap things regardless of the project going through. Unfortunately, to do so, I must ask for donations as life isn’t free. I am working on self sufficiency but even that costs money to get started! KDE snaps are used by 1.7 million active devices! I do ask that if you use KDE snaps and find my work useful, or know someone that does, to please consider donating to keep my momentum going. There is still much work to be done with Qt6 rolling out. I would like to work on the KDE Plasma snap and KDE PIM suite of apps ( I have started on this ).

Even if you can’t help, please share! Thank you for your consideration! I have a new donation form for anyone that doesn’t like gofundme here:

https://www.scarlettgatelymoore.dev/donations/donation-form/

Gofund me:

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KDE: Post Akademy Snap Wrap Up and Future

Posted on August 11, 2023 by sgmoore

Skrooge snap
KDE Skrooge snap

It has been a very busy couple of weeks in the KDE snap world! Here is a rundown of what has been done:

  • Solved issues with an updated mesa in Jammy causing some apps to seg fault by rebuilding our content pack. Please do a snap refresh if this happens to you.
  • Resolved our scanner apps not finding any scanners. Skanlite and Skanpage now work as expected and find your scanners, even network scanners!
  • Fixed an issue with neochat/ruqola that relaunching the application just hangs https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/neochat-autoconnect-requests/36331 and https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=473003 by allowing access to system password manager. Still working out online accounts ( specifically ubuntu-sso )
  • Fixed issues with QML and styles not being found or set in many snaps.
  • Helped FreeCAD update their snap to core22 ( while not KDE, they do use the kde-neon ext ) https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD-snap/pull/92
  • New applications completed – Skrooge – Qrca – massif-visualizer
  • Updating applications to 23.04.3 – half way through – unfortunately our priority for launchpad builders is last so it is a bottleneck until I sort out how to get them to bump that up.
  • Updated our content pack to latest in snapcraft upstream for the kde-neon extension.
  • Various fixes to ease updating our snapcraft files with new releases ( to ease CI automated releases )

An update to the “Very exciting news coming soon”: While everything went well, it is not (yet!) happening. I do not have the management experience the stakeholders are looking for to run the project. I understand completely! I have the passion and project experience, just not management in this type of project. So with that said, are you a KDE/C++ developer with a management background and have a history of bringing projects to the finishline? Are you interested in an exciting new project with new technologies? Talk to me! I can be reached via sgmoore on the various chat channels, sgmoore at kde dot org, or connect via linkedin and message: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarlettgatelymoore If you know anyone that might be interested, please point them here!

As this project gets further delayed, it leaves me without an income still. If you or someone you know has any short term contract work let me know. Pesky bills and life expenses don’t pay themselves 🙁 If you can spare some change ( anything helps ) please consider a donation. https://gofund.me/5d0691bc

A big thank you to the community for making my work possible thus far!

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KDE Akademy 2023, Sunburns, and KDE Snaps

Posted on July 25, 2023 by sgmoore

KDE Akademy 2023
KDE Akademy 2023

A big thank you goes out to the Ubuntu Community for making my attendance to the KDE Akademy 2023! This was a very successful conference for me. I had very positive feedback for my speech on “A million reasons why snaps are important. I also had a productive BoF on snapping KDE applications. Most importantly I got to catch up with many old and new friends and got to put faces to the new. There were so many great talks and BoFs, but one of my favorites was the Goals as all three compliment each other. The keynote was amazing, I had no idea open source has made its way into space! How cool is that!?! Despite the high temperatures ( something I am used to, but not that humidity! ) I had a wonderful time and was able to visit many cool sites in Greece. What an amazing place.

In the snap world I haven’t had much time this month as previous months as my part time gig doing them expired a few months ago and I had to focus on some paid work which has now run out. However, I did finish a new content pack containing KDE frameworks 5.108 and Qt 5.15.10 and most of KDE release applications 23.04.2. I also got Konsole working!

KDE Konsole snap
KDE Konsole snap

I have some fixes merged into snapcraft that will fix some strange build errors reported on the forums and for myself as well. I will be creating a new PR for the new content pack as soon as testing is complete.

We will have some very exciting news coming as soon as the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted. Until then I must reach out to the community for help to “Keep the lights on” until more paid work comes in. If it wasn’t for all of you I couldn’t make all of this possible and I thank each and every one of you. This is the greatest software community ever!

https://gofund.me/018ddb06

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KDE Gear 23.04.1 Snaps Released! Snapcraft updates and more.

Posted on May 24, 2023 by sgmoore

Kweather Snap
Kweather Snap

I have completed the 23.04.1 KDE Gear applications release for snaps! With this release comes several new KDE Snaps!

  • Kweather
  • Krecorder
  • Kclock
  • Alligator
  • Ghostwriter
  • Kasts
  • Tokodon

Plus many long outdated / broken snaps are updated and or fixed!

Check them all out here:

https://snapcraft.io/search?q=KDE

I have been busy triaging and squashing bugs in regards to snaps on https://bugs.kde.org

Snapcraft:

Updated the kde-neon extension for the newest content pack.

Made a core22 qmake plugin with tests PR

https://github.com/canonical/craft-parts/pull/463

Future work:

Top on my TO-DO list is still PIM. There are many parts, making it more complex. I am working on it though. QT6/KF6 is making it’s way to the top of the list as well. KDE Neon has made significant progress here, so I am in early stages of updating our build scripts to generate our qt6/kf6 content snap.

Thanks for stopping by!

https://gofund.me/2c7b1808 All proceeds go to improving my ability to work. Thanks for your consideration!

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KDE Snaps, Gear 23.04.0 available in snap store

Posted on April 28, 2023 by sgmoore

KDE Digikam 8.0.0 Snap
KDE Digikam 8.0.0 Snap

It has been another crazy busy couple of weeks. There are too many snaps released to list here, but you can track my progress here:

https://invent.kde.org/packaging/snapcraft-kde-applications/-/issues/30

Some notable releases are:

  • Digikam 8.0.0
  • KPhotoalbum ( New! )
  • KDevelop
  • Kate ( Now classic )
  • Arianna ( New! )
  • Kdenlive
  • Kommit ( New! )

I updated our Frameworks/QT5 content pack to kf5 105 and qt5 5.15.9.

I have added more documentation at:

https://invent.kde.org/teams/neon/-/wikis/Snaps

I am finishing up the last of 23.04.0 snaps and will tackle KDE PIM suite next week. I will also work on more apps that have their own release cycle.

Several snap bugs have been resolved and closed! Please remember if you have issues, to file them at bugs.kde.org as I have a hard time finding them at <insert random forum / social network here>

On the Debian front, I successfully closed two CVE’s for ruby-rack in Buster! I will be doing more ELTS/LTS security updates next month!

Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoy my work, consider a dontation.

https://gofund.me/2c7b1808

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KDE Snaps! Oh so many released! Debian update

Posted on April 14, 2023 by sgmoore

KDE Elisia snap
KDE Elisia snap

It has been another very busy couple of weeks! I have released many snaps, fixed a few bugs, started the documentation, and have many snaps in progress. So without further ado here is my status update for KDE snaps:

Fixed two very important Krita bugs:

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=465307

Fixed several other minor bugs and triaged all the snap bugs I could find on bugs.kde.org. Remember to assign snap bugs to me! It makes my life easier and I see them quicker.

I have started some documentation for developers that want to assist in getting their KDE app snapped here: https://invent.kde.org/teams/neon/-/wikis/Snaps

I have released around 40 snaps! This would make for a very unruly blog post to list, so I have created a list here of my releases:

https://invent.kde.org/packaging/snapcraft-kde-applications/-/issues/30

I am happy to report there are several first time releases including a very kool music app called Elisia !

I have many more snaps in various stages and many more to come. My goal is to get them all by the end of this 3 months ( 1.5 left to get it done ), a lofty goal I know. What can I say, I am ambitious.

Now on to Debian. I am excited to announce that soon I will become contributor status for Freexian ( and hopefully, after time, a collaborator ). I am waiting for my mentor to upload my first security update(s) for Buster LTS. This will be a new type of contributions for me, but I am confident I will do well and I have new hope that I have found my new forever home. I will be very useful in many areas and I look forward to growing with the company.

In closing, if you can spare some change we have a few unexpected expenses ( doesn’t everyone?! ) Anything helps, thank you!

https://gofund.me/2c7b1808

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KDE Snaps! Many new releases, more to come.

Posted on March 31, 2023 by sgmoore

I have been extremely busy the last 2 weeks churning out KDE snaps! All of the have been tested and released on AMD64 and Arm64 architectures. If you run into any problems please file bugs @ http://bugs.kde.org and feel free to assign me. Thanks!

KDE Krita snap
KDE Krita snap

Krita Version 5.1.5

https://apps.kde.org/krita/

KDE Parley snap
KDE Parley snap

Parley Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/parley/

KDE Kate snap
KDE Kate snap

Kate Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/kate/

KDE Okular snap
KDE Okular snap

Okular Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/okular/

KDE Haruna snap
KDE Haruna snap

Haruna Version 0.10.3

https://apps.kde.org/haruna/

KDE Granatier snap
KDE Granatier snap

Granatier Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/granatier/

KDE Gwenview snap
KDE Gwenview snap

Gwenview Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/gwenview/

KDE Gcompris snap
KDE Gcompris snap

GCompris-qt Version 3.2

https://apps.kde.org/gcompris/

KDE Bomber snap
KDE Bomber snap

Bomber Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/bomber/

KDE Falkon snap
KDE Falkon snap

Falkon Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/falkon/

KDE Ark snap
KDE Ark snap

Ark Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/ark/

KDE Blinken snap
KDE Blinken snap

Blinken Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/blinken/

KDE Bovo snap
KDE Bovo Snap

Bovo Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/bovo/

KDE Atikulate snap
KDE Atikulate snap

Artikulate Version 22.12.3

https://apps.kde.org/artikulate/

There are many more snaps coming your way!

As usual, I hate to ask, but if you can spare anything we appreciate it, even if they are just kind words, thank you!

https://gofund.me/d73342c3

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A Big Thank You Community! KDE Snaps resumed and More.

Posted on March 16, 2023 by sgmoore

Witch Wells, Az
Snowy Sunrise Witch Wells, Az

After my last post a few things have happened. First, I want to thank all of you for your support, monetary and moral. The open source community is amazing and I love being a part of it. We are surviving thanks to all of you. Despite my failed interview, a new door has opened up and I am happy to announce that Canonical is funding me to work part time for a period of 3 months on KDE Snaps! While not the full time role I was hoping for, I’ll take it, and who knows, maybe they will see just how awesome I am! 🙂

I started back to work on these last Tuesday. So far I have made good progress and even have a working Core22 snap!

Work done on upstream snapcraft ( tool used to make snaps ):

New content pack version, fixed an issue with snapcraft remote-build choking on part with /sdk, fixed regex as our naming scheme has changed:

https://github.com/snapcore/snapcraft/pull/4069

Ran into a new bug with snapcraft expand-extensions and so I must now enter all of this information manually into snapcraft.yaml until fixed, bug report here:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/snapcraft/+bug/2011719

And without further ado, our first core22 snap is Dragonplayer Version 22.12.3 available in the snap store. Many more coming soon!

KDE Dragon media player
KDE Dragon media player

With a new month upon us, I must ask for help again, I will not see any money for this work until next month. Please consider a dontation. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

https://gofund.me/c9cc02ed

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Snowstorms, Kittens and Shattered dreams

Posted on February 24, 2023 by sgmoore

Icy morning Witch Wells Az
Icy morning Witch Wells Az
Icy morning Witch Wells Az

Long ago I applied for my dream job at a company I have wanted to wok for since its beginning and I wasn’t ready technically. Fast forward to now, I am ready! A big thank you goes out to Blue Systems for that. So I go out and find the perfect role and start the application process. The process was months long, but was going very well, the interviews and I passed the technical with flying colors. I got to the end where the hiring lead told me he was submitting my offer… I was so excited, so much so, I told my husband and parents “I got the job!” I know, I jinxed myself there. Soon I receive the “There was a problem”.. One obscure assessment called GIA came back not so good. I remember that day, we were in the middle of a long series of winter storms and I when I took the test, my kitten decided right then it was me time. I couldn’t very well throw her out into the snowstorm, so I continued on the best I could. It is my fault, it clearly states to be distraction free. So I speak again to the hiring lead and we both feel with my experience and technical knowledge and abilities we can still move forward. I still had hope. After some time passes, I asked for an update and got the dreaded rejection. I am told it wasn’t just the GIA, but that I am not a good overall fit for the company. In one fell swoop my dreams are dashed and final, for this and all roles within that company. I wasn’t given a reason either. I am devastated, heart broken, and shocked. I get along with everyone, I exceed the technical requirements, and I work well in the community. Dream door closed.

I will not let this get me down. I am moving on. I will find my place where I ‘fit in’.

With that said, I no longer have the will, passion, or drive to work on snaps anymore. I will leave instructions with Jonathon as to what needs to be done to move forward. The good news is my core22 kde-neon extension was merged into upstream snapcraft, so whomever takes over will have a much easier time knocking them out. @kubuntu-council I will do whatever it takes to pay back the money for the hardware you provided me to do snaps, I am truly sorry about this.

What does my future hold? I will still continue with my Debian efforts. In fact, I have ventured out from the KDE umbrella and joined the go-team. I am finalizing my packaging for

https://github.com/charmbracelet/gum

and it’s dependencies: roff, mango, mango-kong. I had my first golang patch for a failing test and have submitted it upstream. I will upload these to experimental while the freeze is on.

I will be moving all the libraries in the mycroft team to the python umbrella as they are useful for other things and mycroft is no more.

During the holidays I was tinkering around with selenium UI testing and stumbled on some accessibility issues within KDE, so I think this is a good place for me to dive into for my KDE contributions.

I have been approached to collaborate with OpenOS on a few things, time permitting I will see what I can do there.

I have a possible gig to do some websites, while I move forward in my job hunt.

I will not give up! I will find my place where I ‘fit in’.

Meanwhile, I must ask for donations to get us by. Anything helps, thank you for your consideration.

https://gofund.me/a9c36b87

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