Background

Conduit is a system we've developed at Simula for simple software installation on the main operating systems (Windows, Linux and Mac OS X). It is almost entirely written in Python. We needed a system like this to better support students attending our courses, minimizing the problems related to installing course software on different operating systems and packaging it.

Currently, Conduit is used in the INF1100 and INF3330 courses as the recommended alternative for installing the course software. Compared to other methods, such as APT on Linux and Windows Installer, it has the benefit of not being particular to an operating system. This makes a big difference to us, as we can concentrate on a single approach when supporting software installation on students' own computers; instead of one for each of the main three operating systems.

There's a lot that needs to be done on Conduit, however, before we reach our goals. We present here two ideas for Conduit-related Master's theses.

Project: Windows Installer Integration

In order for Conduit to work better on Windows, it should integrate with the Windows Installer framework. This implies that Conduit needs to install Windows Installer packages (.msi) and to handle their uninstallation.

What You Will Do

Extend Conduit with the ability to create and install/uninstall .msi packages, plus whatever else is needed for proper Windows Installer integration.

What You Will Learn

Real-life development with Python on a product that is highly useful to its users. Through working on this project you will gain experience in making your software cross-platform and avoiding bugs.

Qualifications

Good programming skills are required, preferably good knowledge of Python.