help for newbie, and some python

[Al Johnson]

On Wednesday 03 June 2009, Anthony Winter wrote:
> On Wed, 03 Jun 2009, Robin Paulson wrote:
> > 2009/6/3 Anthony Winter <awtel at sayne.org>:
> > > OK, good start. But - assuming that it does run from a command line
> > > (and I still haven't found a terminal yet, but there must be one
> > > somewhere), what are the steps in getting it run by 'clicking' on an
> > > icon, in
>
> paroli/illume?
>
> > > That's the missing bit...
> >
> > i assumed you were connected via ssh, and could get at a terminal that
> > way
>
> er no, I want to write apps that will be used on the phone. In the field.
> In a hurry, sometimes.

Create a .desktop file in /usr/share/applications, in this case probably 
called /usr/share/applications/base.desktop. The easiest way to do this is 
probably to copy and modify one of the other files in that directory, but the 
format itself is standard:
http://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/

For the icon to appear in the illume launcher the Categories entry has to 
include Applications.

> > i can't remember if there is a terminal in om2009 or not - i think
> > there is, and it's pretty good. have you discovered illume ie the
> > desktop yet? if not, you might want to go to
> > http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Paroli#FAQ
> > specifically, "how do i get illume?"
>
> I have discovered it, and while the initial frustration level has receded,
> I still haven't got the hang of it yet. I'm beginning to see why Apple have
> captured the non-geek market.
>
> > where all your questions will be answered
>
> Not really. For example, the OM2009 link is to Elementary, which looks
> neat, but a) it's not gtk, and b) it's in C, and life (and in particular,
> the possible life of a Neo) is too short to write apps in C. So I need
> something with python bindings.

Elementary also has python bindings, but if you prefer to stick to gtk you 
can. You may need to install gtk and its python bindings if they aren't in 
Om2009 by default. Installing the bindings should pull in the required gtk 
packages:
	opkg install python-pygtk
Depending on what you're doing you may need other packages as opkg is more 
granular than most package managers. You can check what's available with 
something like:
	opkg list |grep gtk
	opkg list |grep python

> > the wiki is great, have search - there's mountains of useful info there
>
> Weeeeeel, there is a lot there, but I haven't yet found the key to doing
> what I want...