Appdata screenshot of Emacs might need a refresh

Appdata screenshot of Emacs might need a refresh

[Joonas Sarajärvi]

Hi,

Sorry for the rambling explanation for a fairly simple thing. If you 
wish me to just get to the point, please skip to the last paragraph. 
Otherwise, here are some details and background.

The etc/emacs.appdata.xml file in the GNU Emacs sources refers to a 
screenshot [1] that seems to be hosted as part of the GNU Emacs web 
site. This image can get displayed by various things that can offer a 
computer user to install GNU Emacs. Of the software I am currently aware 
of, this includes Gnome Software [2] and the Flathub web page [3].

The screenshot in the address at [1] does not currently fully conform to 
the guidelines [4] provided for Appdata screenshots:
- The aspect ratio is close to but not exactly 16:9
- Window borders are not shown
- Content in the window is rather "empty"

Additionally the screenshot is rather small, just barely within spec.

The "teaser" screenshot [5] shown on the GNU Emacs main web page is a 
lot better fit, but also there we have some issues which could be 
improved for Appdata screenshot use:
- Aspect ratio again
- Shadows around the window borders
- Version number 26.0.50 is displayed

I think that addressing these would be a good thing in general, but then 
there is something that might help specifically with an issue that I am 
working on. There is currently an issue with the Flathub web site that 
makes it not display a screenshot at all for Emacs [6]. It is suspected 
that this is because a scaling algorithm crops some content from the 
sides to exactly hit the 16:9 aspect ratio, and then the width of the 
screenshot drops below the 620 pixel minimum. I am not sure if this is 
actually the cause of this issue, but this is just what drew my 
attention to this screenshot.

I think Emacs would benefit from updating that Appdata screenshot, 
regardless of if it addresses that flathub issue that I wish to have 
resolved. If I take a new screenshot of GNU Emacs 26.1 in its default 
settings, and basically make it very similar to the "teaser" picture [5] 
but following the screenshot guidelines [4], could it be installed 
either to the old URL [1] or next to the old one with e.g. a name like 
appdata-26?

Thanks,
- Joonas

[1] https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/images/appdata.png
[2] https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Software
[3] https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.gnu.emacs
[4] https://www.freedesktop.org/software/appstream/docs/chap-Quickstart.html
[5] https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/images/teaser.png
[6] https://github.com/flathub/org.gnu.emacs/issues/1

Re: Appdata screenshot of Emacs might need a refresh

[Nicolas Petton]

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Joonas Sarajärvi <muep@iki.fi> writes:

> Hi,

Hi Joonas,

> I think Emacs would benefit from updating that Appdata screenshot, 
> regardless of if it addresses that flathub issue that I wish to have 
> resolved. If I take a new screenshot of GNU Emacs 26.1 in its default 
> settings, and basically make it very similar to the "teaser" picture [5] 
> but following the screenshot guidelines [4], could it be installed 
> either to the old URL [1] or next to the old one with e.g. a name like 
> appdata-26?

Yes, I would install it.

Cheers,
Nico

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Re: Appdata screenshot of Emacs might need a refresh

[Joonas Sarajärvi]

Hi Nicolas,

Nicolas Petton kirjoitti 05.06.2018 klo 15:20:
> Joonas Sarajärvi <muep@iki.fi> writes:
> 
>> Hi,
> 
> Hi Joonas,
> 
>> I think Emacs would benefit from updating that Appdata screenshot,
>> regardless of if it addresses that flathub issue that I wish to have
>> resolved. If I take a new screenshot of GNU Emacs 26.1 in its default
>> settings, and basically make it very similar to the "teaser" picture [5]
>> but following the screenshot guidelines [4], could it be installed
>> either to the old URL [1] or next to the old one with e.g. a name like
>> appdata-26?
> 
> Yes, I would install it.
> 
> Cheers,
> Nico
> 

Here it is:

https://muep.iki.fi/emacs/appdata.png

In the short term, I think this could be placed just into
https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/images/appdata.png

Later it might be sensible to start using an URL that has at least the 
major component of Emacs version (so currently 26) in the path and start 
maintaining the Emacs appdata xml so that the screenshot reference uses 
these URLs. Then users of old Emacs source would fetch a screenshot of 
the old version if they get it based on that appdata XML for some purpose.

If it is desired to keep the existing content at
https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/images/appdata.png
as-is, the new screenshot could perhaps be installed already at
https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/images/appdata-26.png or somewhere 
like that.

Thanks
- Joonas

Re: Appdata screenshot of Emacs might need a refresh

[Nicolas Petton]

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Joonas Sarajärvi <muep@iki.fi> writes:

> Here it is:
>
> https://muep.iki.fi/emacs/appdata.png

I uploaded it as appdata-26.png

Cheers,
Nico

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Re: Appdata screenshot of Emacs might need a refresh

[Joonas Sarajärvi]

Nicolas Petton kirjoitti 06.06.2018 klo 13:18:
> I uploaded it as appdata-26.png

Thanks, looks as expected.

I think the appdata xml in Emacs repository should be updated to use 
this new screenshot in master and emacs-26 branch.

- Joonas

Re: Appdata screenshot of Emacs might need a refresh

[Nicolas Petton]

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Joonas Sarajärvi <muep@iki.fi> writes:

> I think the appdata xml in Emacs repository should be updated to use 
> this new screenshot in master and emacs-26 branch.

Right, I installed the change in the emacs-26 branch.

Cheers,
Nico

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