While implementation is pending on Mac folder icon fan packs, as well as their Windows equivalents, there is also pursuit being made to put the SoaT Government Waste Calculator into numerous app modes outside of its current web port. With some minor difficulty, a Windows EXE version may be possible.
However, an Android app would be truly ideal. These would work on most major phones, and could theoretically qualify for the Google Play Store. Yet, one market remains inaccessible: the iPhone market.
Strange as it may seem, Dozerfleet Main, at the time of this writing, isn't quite powerful enough to handle the demands for iOS development. Because it, like macOS development, may require XCode to run. Without being fleeced by the Apple Developers club, Dozerfleet Labs is restricted to only downloading the most recent version of XCode. That's problematic, for one key reason: the Virtual Box VDI file running macOS on Dozerfleet Main!
At the time of this post, Dozerfleet Main is operating out of a Dell tower from 2017. It is one of the last of its kind to still use DDR3 RAM, rather than DDR4. As such, it's near-impossible to secure a RAM upgrade to a module that can competently match the 8GB module currently inside. The module type demands for that specific sub-generation of DDR3 are simply too hard to come by. Worse: the power supply is barely able to run a RAM upgrade of any kind. This creates a near-impossible dilemma.
With no ability to upgrade to more RAM, Dozerfleet Main is deadlocked into a ceiling of only 8 GB of RAM, rather than the 32 GB that would be far more ideal for its intended purposes. This celing means that, at any given time, even an idle Dozerfleet Main can be consuming up to 4.7 GB in the background, just running Windows 10.
With fewer than the minimum 4 GB to give for a Virtual Box emulation of macOS Monterey to run on, Monterey simply cannot run at all. And that's when the assumption is made that a stable ISO for installing Monterey can be found in the first place!
Certain earlier versions of macOS can be installed, but will only work if given at least 2 GB of RAM to operate with. Dozerfleet Main is able to dedicate 3 GB of RAM to operate a macOS virtualization, and still have 700 MB of RAM left over. However, this still comes with the issue of finding a version of macOS that will run this. So far, the only stable virtualization that has lived up to the task is macOS Mojave. And therein lies the problem.
Dozerfleet Main, running macOS Mojave inside of Virtual Box, is able to successfully run LibreOffice, Krita, and Imag2icon. These three programs take the place of Photoshop Elements, Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, IcoFX, and more, allowing the Mac side of Dozerfleet Main to pull off feats that are not possible on the Windows side without the aforementioned Windows-end programs. Yet, those same programs' Mac equivalents won't run or install on Mojave, since they are on the App Store. The App Store, as it were, will only allow back to Catalina to download the apps. Otherwise, all macOS installations are expected by the App Store to be either Monterey or Big Sur. Mojave is disqualified from most App Store content.
Barring the routine money to join the Apple Developers club, Dozerfleet Labs doesn't have access to older versions of XCode, which are needed to run XCode on Mojave. Therefore, while the fan icon packs are possible, and some image editing is possible, not all tasks on the Windows side can be replicated on the Mac side. LibreOffice Draw can fill in for Microsoft Publisher, but not for the more advanced Affinity Publisher, which is Serif's answer to Adobe InDesign.
Likewise, without XCode, the Mac equivalent to Visual Studio Community is off limits. This prevents the Shrimp on a Treadmill Government Waste Calculator from being turned into a macOS app. And with no way to make it for macOS, any version, there is also no good way to port it from Dozerfleet Main into a store app for the iPhone. Thus, no iPhone version is possible at this time.
With the right amount of plugins, the same Visual Studio on the Windows side that can be used to convert the web forms to Visual Basic forms, capable of being compiled into an EXE file on Windows, can also be used for making an Android port.
Therefore, measures are being pursued to make SoaT into an app for Google Play. Of all the apps in the Software and Crafts section of Dozerfleet Labs, none deserves the app port treatment more than this simple govenrment waste calcualtor.
No comments:
Post a Comment