Idea: Unofficial Custom App Import Repo

[robi]

As more and more nifty custom apps and configurations are made using the LAMP, Surfer and other Apps, it would be nice to have a way to share them more easily via backup config exports for those apps.

An open read-only S3 store can be made easily from public providers or private Minio installs to host those backups for easy import.

Anyone interested in setting up something like this?

I'd be contributing some of my configs and exports so folks don't have to start from scratch.

This would also open up the App ecosystem to run Apps currently unavailable in the App store, more app testing, experimentation and opportunity for new Cloudron users.

Who's in?

[girish]

Interesting idea! I guess this is like a set of app templates, if I understood correctly? Won't the templates need description, package version etc to make them usable?

[necrevistonnezr]

Cool idea!

[lukas]

Nice, which apps do you have in mind?

[robi]

@girish said in Idea: Unofficial Custom App Import Repo:

Interesting idea! I guess this is like a set of app templates, if I understood correctly?

Yes!

Won't the templates need description, package version etc to make them usable?

Yes and no. It's nice to have the detail, which is what makes it useful, but they would still be usable even if it's a surprise as in "Let's see what this one does!".

Working together on this to bridge the gap between all the info a packaged app needs and what an app backup describes when submitted via some web interface... to keep them aligned. Like a stepping stone..

The custom apps are going to come with all the info from the base Cloudron app anyhow, so it can be the template for the app(s) installed within too.

[timconsidine]

Nice idea @robi

The self-packaging capability of Cloudron is great, but I get the impression few (relatively) install a custom app, even after the hard work of initial packaging has been done.
That nasty terminal-thingy (joke, it’s not nasty) seems a mental block for many.
Having an app which has been installed, backed up as fairly empty instance and shared for restoring then using for real seems a good way to get over ’terminal terror’.
If I’m understanding the suggestion correctly

[robi]

@timconsidine right, much of the CLI finesse needed to get something running can be snapshotted via the app backup, which when restored just runs without fiddling.

So yes, more App happiness on Cloudron.