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EclipseConBoF Update Manager and Repostiories

Atom Eclipsecon Conference 2006 Eclipse Update

I've proposed a BoF session on the update manager and open-source repositories. The sign-up sheet (along with all others) is in the registration hall, where you picked up your badges from.

The goal is to talk about how a global, open-source repository for OSGi plugins can be created in a similar vein to Maven's JAR repository on ibiblio. The idea is that instead of every plugin developer having to create a plugin of third-party libraries (Log4J, Xerces, Commons-Net etc.) there can be a repository of pre-OSGi bundled Jars that can be downloaded straight into an Eclipse runtime or developer environment.

In addition, I'll also be discussing ways in which the update manager could be improved. Currently, it is dependent on features (which are fine for large suites like JDT or PDE) but this doesn't scale well to simpler plugins (why is it necessary to create a Log4J feature just to put a Log4J plugin on an update site?) or other open-source projects. I've proposed a ehancehment request to use atom feeds for an udpate site that describes the intent of this idea.

The goal of the BoF will be to debate ways in which this could be achieved, and then to provide a new Eclipse update mechanism to enable updating individual plugins rather than features. This can then be rolled out as a feature for existing Eclipse installs, and thereafter can use its internal mechanism to detect and pick up updates.

Please sign up and come along; the BoFs only get scheduled when they reach critical mass!