Community meeting on IRC 30th September 2021

[sledges]

Schedule: Thursday 2021-09-30T07:00:00Z (Check here for UTC or to download calendar reminder)

• The meeting will be held on oftc.net IRC #sailfishos-meeting
• Click here to join via Matrix
• Read-only Telegram group, follow this link
• Logs of previous meetings (2020 archive here)
• Meeting logs before March of 2020
• List of tasks assigned during the meetings

Topic proposals for the meeting:

• add your name/nick using the template below to suggest a topic.
• indicate how much time you will need for the topic so we can time-box the meeting accordingly
• please be as thorough as you can with your question/topic
• if you can’t make the meeting please ask and then name a substitute who can in your place.

It is expected that you show up and present your topic, or name a substitute and make sure they attend in your absence. These IRC meetings are for real time participation and live discussions, otherwise you can post the topic on here and get responses that way.

We need you to be present to clarify details in the topic, and to ensure the discussion is leading to the answers you are looking for! If you do not participate or your question/topic isn’t clear enough it will be postponed. Also: Always ask for more time than you anticipate your topics needs!

Please try and have your topics ready at least 3 days before the meeting. This will help us have answers ready beforehand to save time. Topics announced afterwards will be postponed to the next meeting.

Template for topic proposal: (post your topic proposals as comments to this forum topic)

• Name / IRC nick:
• topic:
• some details about the topic:
• approx. time needed:
• optional: name of substitute if you cannot make it to the upcoming meeting (and inform your substitute)

[sledges]

Copying @beidl’s question from Community meeting on IRC 9th September 2021 - #9 by beidl

• Name / IRC nick: fredldotme
• topic: droidmedia buffer imports and H264 encoding
• some details about the topic: I’d like to use droidmedia to encode H264 frames and send them over Miracast using our LGPLv3 licensed component in Ubuntu Touch (https://github.com/ubports/aethercast). It needs an additional API to import ANWB handles, so I’d like to know if there’s interest from SailfishOS and talk about details.
• approx. time needed: 5-10 min
• optional: Using the Telegram bridge, just prepend with an @ there

[sledges]

Copying @fridlmue’s question from Community meeting on IRC 9th September 2021 - #10 by fridlmue

• Name / IRC nick: fridlmue
• topic: QML App - force SW-keyboard to open when “HW-keyboard” is plugged
• some details about the topic: When something is plugged to the Phone’s USB-Port that appears to be a HID Keyboard, the Software-Keyboard does not pop up. If e. g. a YubiKey is plugged, it seems to be accepted as hid, which is good. But if I want to have user input while the device is plugged I can’t. Can I force the keyboard to appear somehow (at best in QML only), also when a “HW-keyboard” is plugged?
• approx. time needed: 5-10 min

[nephros]

@"sledges

• Name / IRC nick: fridlmue
• topic: QML App - force SW-keyboard to open when “HW-keyboard” is plugged

Just as a side note: this would also help usability on the Gemini, which has no way to open the SW keyboard at all, and so can not input special characters (and emoji). Which would be easy if the sw kbd were available.

[Levone1]

Anyone know if any update on the possibility of buying license for unofficial ports?

[ddobrev]

• Name / IRC nick: ddobrev
• topic: Company support for mapping and navigation
• some details about the topic: Pure Maps is by far the best choice for mapping and navigation for Sailfish. Unfortunately, since its author of @rinigus is forced to work mostly alone, progress is slow. Is there any way Jolla can help speed work up on this critically important application?
• approx. time needed: 15 minutes

[ddobrev]

• Name / IRC nick: ddobrev
• topic: (Stop) censorship in the forum
• some details about the topic: Just the other day I saw @deloptes ‘s and others’ opinions censored for no reason at Total Buggy OS - Xperia 10 Plus. This is the first time I’ve seen any censorship here, and I’d like to discuss what we all can do to make it the last one as well.
• approx. time needed: 15 minutes

[nthn]

What’s the question?

[ddobrev]

A good point. I was hesitating whether to clarify more or keep it short and concise. I’ve edited the details.

[poetaster]

Depending on Jolla packages like: https://github.com/sailfishos/python3-imaging and ffmpeg-tools makes packaging for Harbour a bunch easier …

• Name / IRC nick: Mark Washeim / poetaster
• topic: Depending on Jolla packages like: https://github.com/sailfishos/python3-imaging and ffmpeg-tools
• some details about the topic: Depending on Jolla packages like: https://github.com/sailfishos/python3-imaging and ffmpeg-tools makes packaging for Harbour a bunch easier AND obviously makes build jobs on obs, for instance a lot lighter, faster… what are the chances of being permitted to require those? It’s clear to me that python3-imaging, for instance, is not in 3.4 which leaves me using the approach I have now, but it’s a real advantage or 4.x. It radically simplifies builds of Imageworks, Videoworks and Audioworks (audiocut) for Harbour and chum if this route opens.
• approx. time needed: 5 min.
• optional: name of substitute if you cannot make it to the upcoming meeting (and inform your substitute)

[flypig]

• Name / IRC nick: David Llewellyn-Jones / flypig
• topic: “hub” for users interested in trying out ports
• some details about the topic: I recently wanted to provide someone (unfamiliar with SFOS) details about what ports are available. I found the info on the web to be fragmented and hard to negotiate. It would be useful to have a launch-point that can be easily kept up-to-date (a forum wiki maybe?) for this. There are already some resources available [1-4].
• approx. time needed: 10 mins.
• substitute: I should be there, but o/w please either discuss it without me or shift it to the next meeting.
• additional: There is no question for Jolla to answer here, just hoping to discuss ideas in the meeting.

Thanks to everyone at #sailfishos-porters for helping with these:
[1] mer wiki
[2] GitLab ports CI
[3] OBS and search for device codename.
[4] Github and search for droid-config-<device codename>.

[sailr]

• Name / IRC nick: sailr
• topic: XA2 phone calls no audio
• some details about the topic: [3.4.0.22] XA2 phone calls no audio For quite some time now, there has been the problem that no sound is heard on the XA2 during calls and the device sometimes has to be restarted several times. I would like to know what Jolla’s strategy is to fix this problem. Is there anything we as users can do to help solve the problem(e.g. transmit log files)? Please see the linked thread for more information.
• approx. time needed: 15min
• optional: Unfortunately I can not attend during working hours. There are numerous people with the problem and my guess is that someone will be there to discuss this. If no one should be there, please just answer the question. Thanks!

[rinigus]

I would like to add my response to the request for help by @ddobrev.

Pure Maps and OSM Scout Server are open source projects. They both rely on significant number of third-party libraries which are open-source as well. All developers behind these projects, myself included, will surely be happy for any help we can get.

In the case of Pure Maps, I have labeled simple entry issues with “help wanted” and “good first issue” which don’t even require any programming knowledge. Nobody has volunteered so far. In principle, adding HERE support is not that difficult, it needs mainly reading API docs on HERE and implementing correct calls via plugin system of Pure Maps brilliantly designed by Osmo. From the look into that issue, it seems like not much volunteering is going on either. Again, reading up is needed on implementing map details for offline representation. While few looked and I tried to give the pointers, not much has come out of it either.

All this brings me to the suggested topic by @ddobrev. If someone in the community feels that the maps application stack requires more work, you are very welcome to join and work on it. I believe that wish should come from the volunteer her/himself and should not be pushed to any third party.

In the case of Jolla’s help, they are surely welcome. But I would like to stress that Pure Maps is not the only mapping app developed for SFOS. @Karry has been working on his application for a while and has been nicely active recently. We tend to work at different periods of time, with me focusing on other projects this year. So, from Jolla’s POV, why would they have to give a preference to one app instead of the other? I am sure @Karry would welcome any help he can get as well.

In principle, mapping stack does require some additional attention, possibly from companies as well. In mapping stack case, we have the costs associated with accessing the mapping data. These include access to online map services (Mapbox and others), bandwidth to distribute the data, import of the map data. About a week ago, I had to stop subscription to Thunderforest maps as our use went over their free tier. As we do not have any path right now to pay and Thunderforest cannot support such projects indefinitely, this outcome is only fair. Somehow, in the end, we will have to find the way to pay for access to the data and their processing of it as we don’t create any revenue via advertising or privacy trading schemes. Whether it is in the form of foundation or private payments to the mapping companies, I don’t know. But it would make sense to think about it before we will be facing this issue at some point.

[ddobrev]

Thank you for letting me know about OSM Scout. I had no idea there was an application too, I only knew about the library. I’ve just tried it but I was unable to even start navigation because searching gave me no results. This leaves Pure Maps still the best choice to my knowledge and therefore the one I’m going to talk about on the 30th. However, I’m also going to mention OSM Scout and in case the sailors decide it has more potential, so be it.

[karry]

OSM Scout is designated for offline usage. Online maps are there just as a bonus. So for searching, navigation or reverse geocoding (“Where am I?” functionality) you have to download database for desired region. There is no integration with 3rd party online services - beside hillshades tiles and map tiles outside offline database…

So, logical downside is that OSM Scout navigation don’t takes current traffic into account.

[ddobrev]

Thank you for the clarification. This thought did cross my mind but I had no time to download maps at that moment. Still, this does make my point that at present Pure Maps is the more advanced application so it remains the one I’m going to try securing help for. Nevertheless, I wish you to catch up, some healthy competition is only beneficial.

[Keeper-of-the-Keys]

• Name: KeeperoftheKeys
• Topic: Aptoide is still/again pushing an untrusted client why is it still in Jolla store?
• Details: The aptoide store client seems to push dangerous and compromised software, this is either the second time this happened or it never stopped happening since last time. As the saying goes “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me”, why is this clearly untrustworthy party still in the Jolla store endangering us?
• Time needed: 5 min
• Optional: since this is smack bang in the middle of my work day I don’t know if I can be there but I’m sure Jolla can answer/discuss this even if I’m not there.

Related forum post:

[aptoide] Untrusted *again*?

After recently breaking my Xperia X I finally had no choice but to upgrade to an Xperia 10ii (it is much better then I expected though I would still have preferred a less high device) and am currently setting everything up. I installed the aptoide store and updated it, after this I was constantly being shown ads and it also seems that the apks found are not what they are supposed to be, specifically I tried finding whatsapp and I got something that was not whatsapp that was 5 times the size of …

[sledges]

@Keeper-of-the-Keys, thanks for the question, however it has arrived too late for this meeting (latest submissions – before Monday morning).

I’d personally like to clarify a detail or two about using Aptoide, wrote my question here: [aptoide] Untrusted *again*?.

[Keeper-of-the-Keys]

@sledges OK so I hope to hear about it next meeting.

[lolek]

Name / IRC nick: lolek
topic: ui experience/accessibility
some details about the topic: Sailfish need some minor improvements so one hand usage will be better
approx. time needed: 15mins
optional: 

There are lot of locations in the sailfish that requires to use second hand while it would be just a small ui change to improve this. One has to realize that all lists, should start from the bottom to the top not the opposite way. For example the notes, the first note is located in the top left corner of the screen, impossible to reach there using one hand without fiddling with the phone. The same apply other places.
There are of course other issues, some described by me here:

One Hand Usage accessibility improvements

Hi there, so after some time I gave Sailfish OS another look using Xperia 10. Great that finally there’s encryption! That’s one of a big step forward in the right direction. Yet when I saw acceptance dialog of application permission I was disgusted ): The problem I had was inability to use one hand to just cancel or confirm it. Not to say that the dialog was expanded and glued to the top of the phone. This is a real no go and require user to use second hand to operate. The web browser is …