[SailfishDevel] converting apps to/from UbuntuPhone

[Alfonso Martone]

After browsing sources for a simple UbuntuPhone app (
https://launchpad.net/dice-roller ) I was wondering if some
awk/python/ruby script wizardry could convert UbuntuPhone pure QML apps
to SailfishOS.

Yes, Ubuntu.Components is different than Sailfish.Silica - including
properties with different names, available resources, mainpage to be
encapsulated in some "MainView" block, and so on. But everything is a
parsable text format in both environments and everything relies on QML
stuff. I bet that an automated tool could safely convert 95% of the work
(possibly adding in some extra QML code for things not present in
Silica), leaving only a few platform specific details to the developer
porting it. To write such a converter, one has to understand both Ubuntu
and Sailfish components (sadly it will take a while, at least here).
IMHO it's easier a converter than a "common QML library" for both
environments.

UbuntuTouch/Phone guys apparently chose the "Android style" path,
including the bizarre policy groups thing (the one that makes Android
users wonder "why this stoopid Calculator app requires access to
Contacts and PhoneCalls?").

I bet that lots of people will code for Ubuntu only because "it's
Ubuntu". This is why I tried to understand how to port their apps to
Sailfish (which IMHO is a better investment than OS philosophy debates).