We have made it possible for a solution provider to add their Marketplace listing on their own web site. MPC was to be really our AppStore interface for the Eclipse community.įor the Indigo release in June 2011, we also added the ability to drag-to-install using MPC.
We wanted to mask a lot of the complexity and confusion over using update sites.
It allows Eclipse developers to search the Marketplace catalog directly from an Eclipse installation and then with a single click install the solution(s) into Eclipse. This is plugin that is shipped in all of the Eclipse packages, except the Classic SDK. Ian Skerrett: In 2010, we also launched the Eclipse Marketplace Client (MPC). InfoQ: What has been added since the initial Marketplace and/or Marketplace Client was launched? As an aside, Drupal has been great for doing this site. The move to Drupal also allowed us to focus on stability and reliability. We can also show what are the most popular solutions, making it easier to find new solution. Developers can create a list of solutions that like to use and from the create a single Eclipse update site. We also introduced the concept of individuals creating favourite lists. Ian Skerrett: We focused a lot on usability, making it easier to navigate and search for solutions. InfoQ: What were the key enhancements of the Marketplace over EPIC? We want Marketplace to be the place where developers can discover and install the solutions they want to add to their Eclipse environment. Ian Skerrett: An advantage of using Eclipse is huge selection of plugins and solutions developers can use with Eclipse. InfoQ: Why did Eclipse feel it needed to provide a central marketplace? EPIC was implemented on an older content management system so Marketplace was our effort to move the catalog to Drupal and improve on the usability and features.
Ian Skerrett: We started Eclipse Marketplace in 2009 as a replacement to an older site called Eclipse Plugin Central (EPIC).
InfoQ caught up with Ian Skerrett, VP of Marketing and Ecosystem at the Eclipse Foundation, to find out more about its history and future, and started by asking where the Eclipse Marketplace came from:
Over 1,000 plug-ins are listed the top plug-in (both by favourites and download count) is the subclipse plugin, developed by CollabNet to provide access to subversion servers. In addition, the marketplace offers a ranking system, based on the number of favourites a plug-in has, as well as counting the number of downloads each plug-in has had. This allows vendors to post updates and control the distribution whilst still making it easy for users to find the software. The marketplace doesn't actually host the plug-in content directly instead, it provides the ability to find out where the corresponding “update site” happens to be, and what feature(s) should be installed. The marketplace is an evolution of an older site (called Eclipse Plug-In Central), and provides a centralised location where users can discover plug-ins for Eclipse, and open-source and commercial vendors can publish information about their plug-ins. The Eclipse Marketplace passed 1 million installations this week.