Summary of "List & Label Cross‑Platform – Vision, Architecture & Roadmap – Part 1/3"

Summary of “List & Label Cross‑Platform – Vision, Architecture & Roadmap – Part 1/3”

Overview

The video presents an introduction to the new cross-platform version of List & Label, a reporting tool developed by combit. The focus is on the vision, architecture, and roadmap for making List & Label usable on multiple operating systems beyond Windows, including Linux, iOS, macOS, and ARM-based platforms.

Key Technological Concepts and Product Features

1. Cross-Platform Initiative

The project aims to enable List & Label to run natively on various operating systems, not just Windows.
The team rejected simpler solutions like Wine emulation on Linux, opting instead to rewrite core components from scratch for better performance and maintainability.
This rewrite includes the entire printing engine and related subsystems such as the formula parser, designer functions, export capabilities, object model, and data connections.

2. New Printing Engine

Rebuilt from the ground up using .NET 9 (and soon .NET 10).
No native Windows dependencies, enabling true cross-platform compatibility.
Uses Skia as the new rendering backend instead of the outdated Windows GDI/GDI+.
Skia is a modern, high-performance rendering engine used by Chrome and Avalonia, offering significant performance improvements.

3. Product Architecture and Compatibility

The new product will coexist with the classic List & Label version; both will be maintained and developed in parallel.
The classic version continues to support legacy features and workflows.
The new version is internally referred to as “List & Label CrossPlatform” (previously “LLG Star Trek” as a codename).
Project files will transition from the older LST format to a more readable and manageable JSON format.
The API and infrastructure will remain as consistent as possible between versions to ease migration and integration.

4. Roadmap and Release Strategy

Targeting a first release (minimum lovable product) in Q4 of the current year with List & Label 31 Enterprise Edition.
Early releases will have some missing features (e.g., cross tables, table of contents, index), but will already cover many essential use cases like tables and label printing.
Incremental feature additions planned via service packs.
Feature completeness expected around Q4 2027.
Not all legacy features will be ported, especially those dependent on Windows-only components.

5. Designer and Workflow

Initially, there will be no native designer for the new product.
Editing of project files will still be done using the classic designer or backend.
The new cross-platform product will integrate with the web report designer, which was designed with interchangeable backends from the start.
This approach supports workflows where design happens once, and printing/reporting can be done on any platform, including Linux Docker containers.

6. Benefits to Users

True platform independence (Linux, macOS, iOS, ARM, Windows).
Freedom to choose hosting platforms, notably cheaper Linux hosting and Docker container usage.
Significant performance improvements due to modern architecture, multi-threading, caching, and the Skia rendering engine.
Future-proofing for changes in server market trends (e.g., shift away from Windows servers).

Reviews, Guides, or Tutorials Provided

The video includes a planned demonstration segment showing technical demos of the new product capabilities.
It offers insight into the architectural decisions and roadmap, serving as a guide for users to understand the product evolution and what to expect.
Encourages early feedback from users on the minimum lovable product to shape future development.

Main Speakers / Sources

Yoken Bartlow: Technical lead for List & Label development at combit for over 25 years.
Benjamin Waserman: Lead for web components, including the web report designer and viewer, now heading the cross-platform project.
Sonia Truster: Sales team member managing chat and questions during the presentation.

This video serves as an introductory session outlining the ambitious cross-platform modernization of List & Label, highlighting the technical challenges, strategic decisions, and future plans to deliver a performant, flexible, and widely compatible reporting tool.