Comments on: R3.0 Plan for December 2008
Here is an update on our 3.0 plans...
Our primary goal is to move the project from the "lab" and get it out to more developers. But, we recognize that it must be done in a way that does not create chaos or it will stop us in our tracks.
During November
- Our main focus remained on the GUI system. (Even if you think it's not
that important for your use of REBOL in console mode, the GUI is a great
stress test for natives and I/O devices.)
- Fixed various internal 3.0 bugs, mainly ones creating problems for
the GUI.
- Continued enhancements to the GUI look and feel, and enhanced the
operation of a range of GUI styles.
- Built a prioritized list of PARSE enhancements to add to 3.0.
- Added the primary popup/modal and requestor mechanisms. It's a good
model that solves many of the problems we faced in R2.
- Moved the 3.0 bug database for more open access via the web.
- Built the first 3.0 reblet, RebTalk, as an overall stress test of the system. Includes HTTP server backend.
- Added more doc pages to DocBase, mainly related to the GUI.
I would like to thank Henrik, BrianH, DocKimble, and BrianT for their efforts last month.
For December
If I can paint a perfect picture of the future, here's what I'd like to
see this month:
- The REBOL development community using and testing R3.0 in a
much bigger way. It's time to jump forward. With that in mind, read the
list that follows.
- Provide R3.0 download via web URL. It would run as a bootstrap
that would connect to the web and download various modules and reblets.
The benefit for us is that a single exe gets a longer life because
updates (and patches) can be made.
- Easy source code access. Personally, I know that when I look at
other open software projects, if there's an easy way to get the source
code and submit my changes/fixes, I feel like I'm contributing in a
useful way. I want that for R3. But, it needs to be easy and
clear.
- A centralized forum for developer discussion. We've been using
AltME, but it's a darknet (private), and we know it's not the best thing
for large multitopic discussions. Last month the community talked a lot
about a range of possible solutions, including web-based BBSes. But, the
more I consider it, the more I want a REBOL solution. As I've said
before my reasoning boils down to this: most forums waste my time. So I
need a system that I can easily enhance, extend, reprocess, etc. I'm
really picky.
- A finished GUI. Well, at least one that has the default look we
like and all of the primary components (styles) used to write reblets
(and much more easily than in R2).
- The module system. Most of the hard part (namespace handling)
is already in the current R3.0, but we need to implement the policy
layer, a set of mezzanine functions mainly. We don't want (and I will
reject) anything too complicated. I've been there before, and it
gets problematic really fast.
- Fix bugs as listed in the bug database.
Yes, it's a lot to do, and this is a holiday month, but I want 3.0 out!
Don't you?
12 Comments Comments:
Graham
1-Dec-2008 14:41:28 |
I would submit that you are wasting more time developing your own BBS than just using one off the shelf.
And the delay is impacting on the opportunity for others to test ... which is far more important.
| Greg Schofield
1-Dec-2008 17:20:02 |
ASAP in terms of getting a new R# to play with.
But actually I see the point of a REBOL BBS as well, for the very reasons outlined above. I don't like the way forums etc., work -- there is room for improvement. So even a simple copy attempting to do nothing new, but doing it in Rebol, is a good move. | cr8825
1-Dec-2008 22:52:25 |
hi,
writing a BBS in rebol it s a good news, especially if this one will be a teaching application.
how-to keep simple to do complex thing ;-)
perhaps rebol 3 for christmas !!!!! | DideC
2-Dec-2008 0:32:40 |
French rebolers have used a PHP based forum during some years (www.codeur.org, closed todays). It was a project of one man and not a product like phpBB is. But then he managed to make the content available in XML and, later, he put an XML-RPC interface to access it.
This allow me (thanks to Gavin F. McKenzie's XML-parse and Andreas Bolka's RebXR) to write a powerful Rebol client to the forum. Something that have the ability to reduce to a small bar in my screen corner and that just flash when new messages were available. Threads and posts were displayed in a Rebol window, with all the formating of a rich text engine (bold, italic, alignment, pictures, code..) all things working asynchronously (thanks to Dockimbel's Uniserve). The editor could preview your post (rich text) before sending it just as it will appear on the web page. It work like Gmail does today, saving your words every minute so that you can write long post without to worry about a hasardous click (close, ups, ch..t !). You could even edit your published posts later to correct some typos...
It was for me a wonderfull project and it learned me so much about Rebol, that I'm feeling nostalgic...
So I would enjoy having the oportunity to jump in another project of this kind.
I know that many people see this stuff as time lost for R3, but I'm sure it's not. And for those who said it will take 3 weeks to do : He, the first version was done in 2 days.
Go, Carl go !! | Chris Cyvas
2-Dec-2008 5:50:33 |
I've been waiting for this for a long time and I'm really looking forward to the 3.0 drop. Well done and keep up the good work! | Luis.
2-Dec-2008 8:55:40 |
What?! How long do we now have to wait for 4.0 to come out!?
:P
Had to... Had to do it... It's the voices...
Cheers,
Luis.
| Allen
2-Dec-2008 17:55:45 |
Luis, would your prefer to join the Perl 6 queue? :-) | Alan Macleod
2-Dec-2008 18:49:31 |
I hate forums. Altme is the first "forum" I've used on a consistent basis. They are slow..slow to update, slow to read through. I hate web-based (html) stuff in general so a rebol client for me is a step in the right direction.
DideC, that app sounds great to me. Perhaps some of those features can find their way into rebtalk. | Tim Wylie
2-Dec-2008 22:27:39 |
Does this mean there's still only going to be a windows release? I hate having to use wine to run scripts. | Luis.
3-Dec-2008 1:50:08 |
Dang! 6 !? I'm in the lane for v48!
Cheers,
Luis.
| Brian Hawley
3-Dec-2008 7:50:17 |
Graham, developing the BBS in REBOL has already brought benefits to R3. The BBS was written in a couple hours, and the rest of the time has been spent fixing R3 bugs exposed in its use. So far it has proven to be a big win. | onetom
17-Dec-2008 0:29:09 |
I already got a beautiful and caring thai wife and a wonderful daughter for christmas...
http://sa.sse.hu/~onetom/bionee/Image_00001.jpg
What else can I ask for? Maybe R3 (for Mac and/or Linux ;)? Can I?
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