Today, I was able to take another step forward with Ancestra, a genealogy application I’ve been developing using Qt and C++. Ancestra is designed to help organize family history, examine relationships, and explore historical records while keeping track of information that still needs to be researched. Getting the application into the Snap Store was an interesting experience. My first attempts to build the package on Manjaro ran into problems with Multipass networking and LXD. I eventually moved the build to Canonical’s Launchpad service, where Ancestra compiled successfully. After correcting a packaging path, I was able to build Ancestra 0.7.2, upload it to the Snap Store, and release revision 1 to the stable channel. I also installed and launched the published version on my own computer. You can find Ancestra at https://snapcraft.io/ancestra and view the successful Launchpad build at https://launchpad.net/~we6jbo/we6jbo-craft-remote-build/+snap/snapcraft-ancestra-b7df831eaf1a76dfc914d8f7dc7f8116/+build/3326508.
One of the reasons I’ve been interested in developing Ancestra is the opportunity to connect technology with genealogical research. An example is TG324786, Mary Johannsen, who was born on November 28, 1868, in Schleswig-Holstein. Researching individuals like Mary can lead to questions about where families lived, how different family lines connect, and what historical documents might help explain those relationships. Ancestra gives me another way to work through those questions while continuing to learn more about software development and the process of publishing applications for other people to use. Today’s release doesn’t mean the research is complete, but it does mean that the software I’ve been working on has reached another important milestone. I hope to continue improving the experience as I learn more about both the people I’m researching and the technologies that make these projects possible.
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