http://maemo.org/community/brainstor..._and_maemo_sdk

Currently there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to start developing in Qt for Maemo 5. Yes, Qt Creator is available for Windows and it works well. But if you want to develop for Maemo 5, most of the solutions seem to point at Linux. While this makes sense to a certain extent – after all, Maemo is based on Linux – Qt should be cross platform, thus one should be able to use Windows in a relatively painless way.

The fact is that Windows is the most used OS in the world, no matter how bad or good it is. Therefore there are a lot of Windows developers in our planet. Some of these might find it interesting to try to develop something for Maemo. And since Qt seems to be the future for Maemo platform, at least according to Nokia, it would make sense to have something to make it possible.

While for the professional developer it might be enough to just have some documentation how to set up a VM developing environment, this could be too complicated for an occasional coder. Let us not forget how easy it is to set up Visual Studio.

Setting up VMWare and installing a linux distribution is too difficult? Who the heck are these coders?

I'll make a deal with anyone in that situation. I'll walk the coder through installing vmware and ubuntu, and in turn they can teach me how to code for maemo.

Ah, but you seem to forget that one of the most basic traits for the vast majority of humans is laziness!

Then there is the simple fact, at least for an occasional amateur coder, that if setting up the system takes too long or is complicated, the original enthusiasm might die out quickly.

I support the idea, but I don't think someone with ability to code for Maemo would let his/her enthusiasm die out quickly because of that (at least mine didn't die when I had to deal with that disk image just to take a look at Maemo environment)

https://garage.maemo.org/projects/vpc-sdk

doesn't get much easier than that...

arpwatch,
those coders are just like me - visual basic (or similar) developers who are used to having everything around them.
having you available to setup a one time installation is nice, but it is not the same as having a reproducable environment for coding whenever the OS gets rebuilt or they are on a different machine etc.

I found a way to code happily from windows (or linux or mac) without scratchbox or serious tooling on my desktop.
I just make the tablet itself contain the compiler and -dev libraries I require (a simple C based SDK) and use scp and ssh to copy files and kickoff the compiler and stuff.
it has its issues, but I code everything quickly and easily whilst KNOWING its working because I'm running directly on the device.
it more than proves the concept and scratches my itch for simple coding in maemo without fuss (building packages is a minor hiccup)

qt needs to be this simple.

But what about someone with the ability to code in C++ and .Net or even Qt, but does not have any experience of Maemo?

Also, would you not have preferred an easier way to look at the Maemo environment without the need to deal with disk image?

This does look very interesting. I had no idea that this existed...

As a long time Windows developer who thrives in Visual Studio here's my 2 cents:

I want a Maemo GUI development environment that runs natively under Windows and can fully emulate a Maemo device with no desktop Linux involvement whatsoever.

Why? Laziness for one, as was noted above-- but also to pull in potentially thousands of developers who really don't care what OS is on a mobile device as long as they can develop for it using tools and environments with which they are familiar. This way we really facilitate inclusion... and may just win over a few OSS converts along the way.

I have been begging Nokia for such a solution for 2 years. I hope it's close...

FYI: Symbian has had this for years.

I like this idea a lot. Maybe it should be added as a solution?

Yeah, but the last time I tried to use it, it was really complicated and all I got was a headache. Then again, it was may two years ago or more...