A question

[Michiel]

I've been writing this small application with QT 4 for personal use. This contest could give me a reason to work on it some more and make it look more professional.

However, I fear I might not stand a chance because of its small scale. My question is: How big and complicated do you expect the average desktop application entry to be? Tic-tac-toe? Kate? Open Office?

Even though that Greenphone is nice, I'd be happy with one of those books. :)

[wysota]

I've been writing this small application with QT 4 for personal use. This contest could give me a reason to work on it some more and make it look more professional.
Yes, that was one of the ideas to start the contest - to give motivation to people to finish their projects.


However, I fear I might not stand a chance because of its small scale.
Any application is welcome to take part (you don't lose anything participating, right?). Complexity is not the point of the contest. Usefullness is.


My question is: How big and complicated do you expect the average desktop application entry to be? Tic-tac-toe? Kate? Open Office?
I don't think we expect anything :)

If you fear that your application won't fit into the desktop application category, I suggest you implement it either as a custom widget (it can be very small then) or as a mobile device application. As Qtopia now uses Qt4, you can port virtually any Qt4 application to embedded devices. You might just need to redesign the interface and you have qvfb to test the app if you don't have an embedded device.



Even though that Greenphone is nice, I'd be happy with one of those books. :)
Believe me, Greenphone is very nice :) I suggest you give yourself a chance and participate. And tell your friends to do the same.

[Michiel]

Any application is welcome to take part (you don't lose anything participating, right?). Complexity is not the point of the contest. Usefullness is.

I don't think the two are totally independent. An application will become more useful if you put more time into it. And I'm one person who's also a student with a job. :)


I don't think we expect anything :)

I'm entering the contest anyway. I'm just curious about how much time and effort the competition is putting in.


If you fear that your application won't fit into the desktop application category, I suggest you implement it either as a custom widget (it can be very small then) or as a mobile device application. As Qtopia now uses Qt4, you can port virtually any Qt4 application to embedded devices. You might just need to redesign the interface and you have qvfb to test the app if you don't have an embedded device.

Hm.. I'm using it as a desktop application. I suppose it could be a good app for a mobile device, but as I don't have one, I'm not very motivated to port it. I suppose it would depend on how difficult it is. Could you point me to some documentation about porting Qt4 code to Qtopia?

[wysota]

I don't think the two are totally independent. An application will become more useful if you put more time into it.
Yes, but an application may be complex and have a limited usefulness (note that usefulness is not only about the functionality). On the other hand, you might have a very simple app that's very useful.


I'm just curious about how much time and effort the competition is putting in.
As much as you want to spare.


Hm.. I'm using it as a desktop application. I suppose it could a good app for a mobile device, but as I don't have one, I'm not very motivated to port it.
Consider this - it is highly probable that the top prize in this category will be the Greenphone :) So the motivation could be to be able to run it on an actual thing.


I suppose it would depend on how difficult it is.
If the application depends only on Qt, it should run out of the box.


Could you point me to some documentation about porting Qt4 code to Qtopia?

I can point you here: http://qtdeveloper.net/archives/category/qtopia/
I think you'll find all info you might need there. Just for completeness:
http://doc.trolltech.com/qtopia4.2/index.html

[Michiel]

As much as you want to spare.

Not the answer I was looking for. :)

I'll try one last time. If you can't answer because of the rules, just say so. How ambitious are the entries you've already received? Are they closer to (A) Tic Tac Toe, (B) Kate or (C) Open Office?


Consider this - it is highly probable that the top prize in this category will be the Greenphone :) So the motivation could be to be able to run it on an actual thing.

I do have a nice smartphone (Windows Mobile). And it would be pretty arrogant for me to expect to win. So that's not really a lot of motivation.


If the application depends only on Qt, it should run out of the box.

Well, it kind of does. I didn't even use the std library on this one. But when you say 'out of the box', do you mean I can copy the executable to a phone (or emulator) and it will just work? I can't believe it's as easy as that. I would guess I have to compile it differently, map keys differently, make sure it fits on the small screen resolution, etc.

I don't know where to begin or what to expect. I was sort of hoping for a "port your Qt4 application to Qtopia" tutorial. :)

[wysota]

Not the answer I was looking for.
Sorry :)


I'll try one last time. If you can't answer because of the rules, just say so. How ambitious are the entries you've already received? Are they closer to (A) Tic Tac Toe, (B) Kate or (C) Open Office?

It's not about the rules, they don't state anything about keeping projects a secret. We only receive one page project descriptions, nothing more, so it's hard to judge. One app seems pretty complex, but there are others that are quite simple. In general we're somewhere between A and B, I guess...


I do have a nice smartphone (Windows Mobile).
I don't know what it can do, but I can assure you it sucks compared to a Greenphone. I only played it a dozen minutes, but I fell in love :) If the software didn't have problems with stability at that time, I'd say it's perfect.


And it would be pretty arrogant for me to expect to win.
What's the point of entering the contest if you don't intend to win it? :)


But when you say 'out of the box', do you mean I can copy the executable to a phone (or emulator) and it will just work?
I mean to take the source code and recompile it for the target platform.


I can't believe it's as easy as that.
It is, Qtopia Core has the exact same code base as Qt.

I would guess I have to compile it differently, map keys differently, make sure it fits on the small screen resolution, etc.
Well, that's what I mean by out of the box. I said you have to redesign the UI for the app to be usable. But it should execute just with a recompilation.


I don't know where to begin or what to expect. I was sort of hoping for a "port your Qt4 application to Qtopia" tutorial.
The point is, you don't have to port anything. Just follow the links I gave you. Lorn describes there how to get going with Qtopia development.

[Michiel]

I don't know what it can do, but I can assure you it sucks compared to a Greenphone. I only played it a dozen minutes, but I fell in love :) If the software didn't have problems with stability at that time, I'd say it's perfect.

Heh. Yeah. But it's green. :p


What's the point of entering the contest if you don't intend to win it? :)

And here I thought it was also going to be fun. :)


I mean to take the source code and recompile it for the target platform.

I guess I'll look into that.

Thanks!

[wysota]

Heh. Yeah. But it's green. :p

The colour is really very nice.

[Michiel]

Could I enter the program under both categories? Since either version (desktop / embedded) could be used independently.

[wysota]

Could I enter the program under both categories?
No, I don't think so. But you should ask Johan - he wrote the rules :) Of course you can enter with two different applications in two different categories :)


Since either version (desktop / embedded) could be used independently.

Then I suggest you choose the embedded as the contest page says:

Desktop Application
Any Qt4 application that doesn't fit into previous categories can participate in this category.
If your application fits elsewhere, you should try to avoid the desktop category. Of course the final choice is yours, I won't force your decision. Also be prepared that if we don't receive enough entries in the mobile category, we'll probably merge it with the desktop one.

[Michiel]

You see, I'm not yet 100% sure if I want to create the embedded version. First, I want to complete the desktop version. Add documentation, some extra features, etc. If I have time, I might port it to Qtopia. Before that I don't know what to enter into the category field of the registration form. But that may be near the end of the contest, which is a bit late to send in the registration.

This is not a real problem, I suppose. I will probably register it as a desktop application and resubmit it if I finish the Qtopia version before the deadline. If at that time you need to reject the Qtopia version, so be it.

[Michiel]

Well, I just went ahead and submitted it as a mobile application. The description does explain clearly that there is also a desktop version.

I hope that if I somehow fail miserably in creating the mobile version, that my submission can be altered to include only the desktop version. :p

Do participants receive any feedback about their project submission? Or only about the submission of the whole program, after the deadline?

[wysota]

What kind of feedback do you mean? You'll receive info if the project was accepted for the contest or not.

[Michiel]

That's the kind I meant. Thanks.