[info/discussion] releasing for macOS
Releasing
Creating proper releases on macOS requires
- a self-contained Inkscape application bundle (
Inkscape.app
) - signing the app
- packaging the app into a disk image (
.dmg
) - notarizing the disk image
I can happily report that we have all 4 steps covered now!
However, there is a "but" involved. We have all 4 steps covered, but
- the CI pipeline only covers steps 1 and 3
- steps 2 and 4 are performed by myself semi-automatically from my personal machine that has the necessary credentials, using the artifact produced by CI.
But I think that is not a problem for us. On the one hand, development snapshots (like "nightly builds") don't need that official blessing that signing and notarization provides IMHO. (I'd even call it counterproductive to some degree, as you cannot mess with the application bundle anymore once it's signed. Although that argument might not hold up very well in the long run.) I will change my mind should it ever become impossible to launch unsigned apps at all.
On the other hand, I can effortlessly "fill in the blanks" and produce a signed and notarized app from my home machine.
.dmg
design
The CI pipeline produces .dmg
files with a generated background, on purpose. It is meant to unmistakably show that this is a development build while providing the relevant information (version, Git commit) "in-your-face".
Proper releases - no matter if alpha, beta, rc or finals - will be prettier.
OS support
Our macOS releases will support OS X El Capitan 10.11 to macOS Catalina 10.15 (to be released this fall). We will support up to 12 year old Mac hardware.
Catalina hasn't been tested yet.