[BangPypers] What are you using for developing desktop GUIs?

[Sriram Karra]

On Fri, Sep 27, 2013 at 7:06 PM, Dhananjay Nene <dhananjay.nene at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> a) What are sample installers one could use to install web based apps
> on user's machine (users more often than not use simple wizards to
> install apps)
>

It is a standard python application with a web server included - the server
and client are on the same machine, that is all. So there are no special
requirements, per se.

b) Do you start up app by default ? If so can the installer integrate
> into the native service system to start / stop the webapp?
>

I have not done this. The invocation is explicitly on demand. It is trivial
to protect against multiple invocations of the program, and to support a
'Exit Program' action on the front end that will shut down the web server.


> c) If you do not start app by default, how easy is it for users to
> start and stop the webapp.
>

It is as easy as any other program. To give you an example, take a look at
a sample: https://github.com/skarra/PRS

Here I require that the user have python installed. The main python driver
is called prs.pyw (for Windows) - the user has to double click on that
file. For use on other systems I have a symlink the py file to the pyw.


> d) Do you offer any integration in the system tray to shut down the
> app if the user is in a memory hungry situation and would prefer to
> shutdown your app to conserve memory
>

I have not tried this. But I am sure the answer to such question lies in
platform specific libraries. For e.g. on Windows Pywin32 can do wonders.
But again, these issues have to be solved regardless of what widget library
you use, or you go the tornado route.


> e) Do you undergo security audits ? If so, what issues come up in the
> discussions that wouldn't have come up in pure desktop apps ?
>

I do not do this stuff commercially. So have not had to deal with this. But
*again* - no one needs to even bother that this is a 'webapp' - the entire
thing runs on your desktop and will work even without an internet
connection.