Not too sure where to ask that, feel free to redirect me!
I'm currently working on getting better support between SDL and Ubuntu Touch. I've written code for SDL to add support for more features, and I'm working on a Clickable template to that effect. I hope with this to give developers an easier time porting SDL apps (including games ) to Ubuntu Touch, and perhaps to give another way of writing Ubuntu Touch apps
After some reflection and discussion with other developers, I believe that it would be beneficial to ship SDL with the base system, if that would be reasonable.
- It would avoid packing one copy of SDL with each app that uses it, and instead have one single copy of SDL on the system. SDL takes about 3-4Mb of space; the satellite libraries (there are 4) takes a few 100's of kbs each.
- It would make it easier for device maintainers to apply device-specific fixes to SDL and other kinds of tweaks when necessary.
- It would simplify the build process for SDL apps that expect SDL to be installed on the system. (CMake's "
find_package(...)
") - It would allow the base system to ship SDL updates without app developers needing to update their apps, leading to better global support of SDL apps, especially when an app maintainer becomes inactive
Essentially, it would "patch" apps without developers needing to do anything. And in case a device developer ships an outdated SDL, nothing prevents the app from shipping a newer copy of SDL.
I'm not sure what are all the variables to consider when making such a decision, but I suppose that I won't know unless I start the conversation!