Re: [Zint-barcode] ct article and digital signing of MS-Windows exe

[Robin S. <rst...@gm...>]

Hi Harald,

Thank you for letting us know about this article. Getting some exposure is
always good, but I do think it contains some implied and justified
criticism.

The Windows signing is frustrating problem to me as I feel that Microsoft
should really have a method for open-source projects, who almost by
definition don't make profit, to be allowed to add to their desktop
ecosystem without having to be out of pocket for the privilege - after all
Microsoft are happy enough to reap the benefits of open source software
when it suits them.

Your offer of using your company key is very generous. I don't have an
objection to this in principle, but I would caution that it may link the
project and your business, even if only in the perception of others, in
ways which may have both good and bad consequences, so not a decision to be
taken lightly.

I would also happily see a version for Mac, but without access to a Mac
(and I honestly can't justify the cost of buying one) I don't know how this
can be done. I understand from someone with more knowledge than me that
XCode, Apple's preferred platform, is bit of a mess, and that Visual Studio
is a better option for developing Mac programs, so it may be possible to
re-use some of the resources already in place for Windows? Again, something
I have no experience with. A while ago I did manage to get MacOS running on
a VM and managed to get Zint to work with homebrew, but it was a really
slow process.

I also notice that the article refers to Zint as "englischsprachige
Software". I don't like the fact that Zint is only available in English and
I think German would be the ideal first target for translation, but part of
the reason I walked away from development was the sheer frustration from
the many many hours I spent trying to get l18n to work... the code looked
right, it compiled fine on a local copy of Linux which was set up for
German language, currency, time-zone etc, and the messages still came out
in English - and I never figured out why.

As you know I haven't tackled any Zint code for a little while now, so
perhaps the situation has changed.

Sorry, again there are no conclusions here... just old man yells at cloud.

Robin.

On Wed, 6 Mar 2024 at 13:29, Harald Oehlmann <har...@el...>
wrote:

> Dear zint team,
>
> the German print computer magazine c't has published a whole page on
> zint with the aim that created QR-codes should not use a web generator,
> as the data gets transfered to the publisher.
>
> https://www.heise.de/select/ct/2024/5/2402314393563214498
>
> Within the all positive text, there are two draw-backs:
> - MS-Windows exe not digitally signed. So, blue warning by Windows Defender
> - No Mac-OS version
>
> Would it be an idea that I sign the qtzint.exe with my company key
> (Elmicron GmbH) when we are distributing?
> Any opinions on this?
>
> About the MAC-OS-Version, I suppose this would be quite easy. Someone
> should just do it. But without is ok to.
>
> I have a scan of the article. I don't want to attach it to this mailing.
>
> Thank you all,
> Harald
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