Re: [XBoard-devel] getting closer to a release: updated Changelog, AUTHORS and copyright

[h.g. muller]

At 19:23 12-7-2009 -0600, Eric Mullins wrote:
> ...
> This I mostly agree with, except for one point.  If the purpose is to 
> beta-test, then I would not recommend a "formal" release.  We don't need 
> an elaborate installer for a beta test, so for beta purposes, a simple zip 
> would suffice.

True, but we somehow do have to attract beta testers. That especially holds
for XBoard testers. Perhaps we should put a link to the Debian package
I forged for 4.4.0 on the main GNU xboard page, inviting beta-testing of it?


> I don't know the status on that either.  I'm willing to throw something 
> together for this if required, but I know NOTHING about selective 
> installation from an online repository.  I remember discussing that 
> possibility, but I don't know if that's still on the agenda or not.

If we drop PSWBTM from the install, it is quite feasible to have users download
everything in one archive (only ~50% larger than a bare minimum), and then only
unpack what they select (3 optional selections: Fruit, Variants, Xiangqi).
PSWBTM is only useful for engine testers, and they can be reached very
effectivey through CCC and WinBoard forums. So I can offer a zip file from
WinBoard forum including PSWBTM, like I offer the Gold Pack now.


> > 2) The Desktop-Effects problem makes that XBoard will almost universally
> > not work when people try it.
>
> This must be fixed before a formal release, otherwise 4.2.7 will be remain 
> the best bet for any distro.  Speaking of xboard, there are a number of 
> things we can do:
>
> * at least create ubuntu packages (such as using ppa launchpad)
> * we could even write a script to act like the startup dialog, launching 
> xboard with various options the user selects when running it
> * provide sample .Xdefaults and or FICS or ICS scripts, or at least a good 
> HOWTO

Are Ubuntu packages different from the Debian package I made?
( http://home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/xboard_4.4.0~hgm-2_i386.deb )

> I think it's worth waiting until xboard works properly before formally 
> releasing.  I have NO IDEA how to fix the focus problem we're seeing with 
> desktop effects.  However, since I run linux with desktop effects, I'm a 
> good candidate to at least TRY. Heh.

Perhaps we could work on this together. I will send you a seperate e-mail
about this.


> > 3) The jaws.rc is not yet merged with winboard.rc. This also means the
> > standard version does not support all the accelerator keys yet.
>
> This was on my agenda today, but I didn't get to it because it seemed like 
> we were heavily pushing for a quick release and I wanted to make sure 
> anyone could compile the source first.  I'm happy to look further into 
> this as well, but HGM indicated he wanted to as well, so we'll have to 
> coordinate.

Let's put this on my plate for now; Copying over the accelerators and dialog
boxes is trivial, and I will read the MS docs on menus to figure out how to
build the extra menu at run time from the jaws.c code.