On 5/26/07, matthiasm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > FLTK 1.1 is reaching its final state. 1.1.8 has become a wonderful > piece of software, incredibly stable, very fast, and still very fast. > Thank you very much to everyone who contributed! Very few OpenSource > projects survive ten years! > > So what is next?
Here is my 2 cents: I am not an FLTK developer. I use FLTK for my GPLed Fl_TeacherTool software. My code is small, so I have no vested interest in any particular direction. After reading all the posts it seems *clear* that most people are in agreement that the two most desired features not in stable FLTK are UTF-8 and printing. Also, I have personally seen discussions/reviews where lack of UTF-8 support has probably cost us potential users. We have to ask why has FLTK survived so long? Other than the fact that FLTK happens to be a really nice gui toolkit, it's due to having talented devs like Matt and Mike maintain the code base. Most people who *use* FLTK don't have the skills to debug and maintain the code properly. I know I don't. So why do Matt, Mike and other FLTK devs do this work? Same reason most Open Source developers do. THEY NEED THE SOFTWARE. Same reason why I created Fl_TeacherTool. I needed the software. But why should I be the only one who gets to enjoy it. I get satisfaction, pride and benefit in sharing my work. As I'm sure the FLTK devs do. I look at this issue from a practical view. How can our devs get UTF-8 and printing into a usable/stable FLTK with the least amount of sweat and blood. From reading the posts, 1.1.8 seems to be the path of least resistance and also (maybe more importantly) keeps key contributing developers firmly invested in FLTK. Therefore, my small vote goes to maintain 1.1.x stable (bug fixes) so we have a stable branch. Then create 1.2 which basically has 1.1.x stable + UTF-8 + printing + Greg's Fl_Table. Work towards stabilizing 1.2. This seems like the most practical solution and the one with the most chance of succeeding. As for attracting new users: Good documentation, tutorials, code walk throughs, videos, etc. Basically, anything that lowers the barrier to entry. Kudos to all the devs, especially Matt and Mike, for creating a rock solid 1.1.8. -- Robert Arkiletian Eric Hamber Secondary, Vancouver, Canada Fl_TeacherTool http://www3.telus.net/public/robark/Fl_TeacherTool/ C++ GUI tutorial http://www3.telus.net/public/robark/ _______________________________________________ fltk mailing list [email protected] http://lists.easysw.com/mailman/listinfo/fltk
