I’m interested in continuing the work done in last year’s Google Summer of Code configuration management project by kkremitzki. I’ve been in contact with him about continuing this project. However, my background is mostly in Windows environments. He suggested that I split my attention half and half between Linux and Windows so that I could first learn the details about FreeCAD’s ecosystem on Linux and then, using this knowledge, I will spend time focusing on Windows and ultimately make improvements to the new user and new developer experience on both platforms.
I am nearing completion of my Google Summer of Code proposal. The Linux portion of the project is fleshed out, but I’m looking for suggestions on what improvements I could do for Windows.
I have a few ideas I’m considering and would appreciate feedback. I see there are Anaconda and Chocolatey packages available. I wanted to create PowerShell scripts or something more native to Windows for installation and management of FreeCAD and its dependencies.
Also, I’m also interested in packaging libMesh, an LGPL 2.1 c++ finite element library, for Windows and Debian and adding it as an optional FreeCAD integration.
[quote=zach post_id=299991 time=1554787048 user_id=24667]
I have completed my proposal.
It can be found as a PDF attachment to this post.
[/quote]
Not directly, but my senior computer science capstone course in my undergraduate program is related to the MOOSE Framework (a C++ finite element framework) which utilizes libmesh. I thought it might be a good addition as an optional include for people familiar with MOOSE and/or libmesh.
Just to clarify on the libMesh side of things, when Zach and I were discussing this project the topic of libMesh came up as something we were both interested in, and I figured it would be a good stretch goal to round out his plans for the Linux and Windows side of things.
Sorry for the delay in my updates. I’ve had some family come in this past week and they’ve been keeping me from my computer!
I have created accounts for Launchpad and Salsa. I have also set up my IRC environment using nheko. A blog for future updates has been created via github pages: https://zachgummow.github.io/FreeCADBlog/. It’s just a hello world stub until I have more to share though.
I’m getting Kubuntu installed on a desktop and should have that environment ready soon.
The first meeting went well. We covered several topics and decided that the following steps would be most important moving forward:
Install and configure an Ubuntu virtual machine
Compile FreeCAD from source
Build the dependency packages
During the meeting I went over the steps of setting up my Ubuntu virtual machine. I already had VirtualBox installed and an Ubuntu .iso ready so this was quick to set up. However, I made the mistake of not allocating enough disk or memory space. The work I did during the meeting was removed when I reformatted the virtual drive but I was able to reproduce it on my own after the meeting.
I decided to use Jekyll to simplify the work my blog will require. It’s still a work in progress and I will be writing entries in the blog to cover my experience in more detail.
