Hello everyone, This is for y'all, but particularly for our new members. Let's start with a few logistical points :
* Use the following address for posting messages to the FreeCard mailing list : [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Avoid using the "freecard-announce" mail address for posting message to the FreeCard mailing list. * Post messages to FreeCard with the account that you used to subscribe to the FreeCard list. Otherwise, the messages end up in my mailbox for "approval". It's more work for me, and it's more delays for y'all. ---- And now a few comments about the follwing statements: > The FreeCard project is it's own entity. True. :) > It is a recreation of the xTalk engine in Java, and > a HyperCard like interface slapped on top of that. This is basically correct, but it might be more accurate though to describe it as follows : FreeCard is a multi-platform open-source successor of our beloved HyperCard. In its first incarnation it is a "clone" of HyperCard & HyperTalk. Subsequent versions will integrate advanced features not available in HyperCard; or any other xCards for that matter. Here are some examples : * A complete telephony API instead of just "dial" * HTTP POST, HTTP PUT, HTTPS, proxies, FTP, FTPS * HTTPS certificates, Secure Sockets, Cryptography * XML file format, parsing and messaging * XML-RPC * Blogging * Jabber and other instant messaging systems * Web Services, LDAP * Embedded as a Java Applet into web pages * Web browser embedded into a Java program * Digital TV, Speech, 3D * etc For more info, see the following page of our wiki: http://pan.uqam.ca/cgi-bin/usemod/wiki.pl?FreeCard_Features > And, what did you all think about after seeing > the news that the MetaCard engine is now also > in the hands of those doing Revolution? Slightly dismayed because I just acquired 5 MC licences. It is disquieting that yet another xCard has bitten the dust. Now the only show in town in RR (+ eventually FC). Will we be smitten by the same curse? > MetaCard was a good engine (with an adequate > set of routines) but the interface was lame. Scott has finally realized this and has chosen to divest himself of anything related to the GUI, to the docs, to the support of users, and to marketing his ware. He will thus focus ALL of his energies on the MC-engine from now on. It could turn out to be a synergetic combination. > I feel sorry for the folks who bought the engine > ... they've inherited a lot of problems I'm sure The engine being used by the MC-GUI as well as Rev's GUI is one and the same. In both cases, the MetaCard engine is underneath the hood. Any criticism/bugs of the engine will affect both of these wares. FreeCard may be better, with less bugs, particularly given its adoption of XP's "test-first" practice, but the comparison is a bit unfair at this time because FreeCard has not been released yet. > (Raney was sitting on his ... regarding many bugs). OTC, I found Scott quite helpful and prompt. Btw, Scott is a member of this group. > All of this has nothing to do with FreeCard luckily! > FreeCard is a totally rewritten xTalk compiler for > the JavaVM. It'll be a much better cross-platform > solution than anything else. That's the spirit! ;-) > Does that help or hinder the efforts here? I think it helps us because now our GUI (FreeGUI) is on the same footing as MC's native GUI. They are both open source and they're only supported by the user community. > I am inspired, but not in the way you think. > I would like to use my 'inspiration' to help > ensure that FreeCard (or derivatives thereof) > will be an alternative to the Revolution products. This is indeed the hope of this group. :) > Scott Raney's MetaCard Corp. was a relatively small > American company that you felt 'at home' with...and > it seemed like you could trust them (mostly). Scott and his MetaCard Corp were very effective. Plus they were quite flexible in terms of licencing. Doing some work for them could earn you one or more licences. I managed to earn 6 licences in all. > Runtime (in Scotland) seems like a company that is > very adversarial, and the user license alone gives > me the creeps. ... Their user license alone is the > reason alternatives should be created immediately. I don't know if I would caracterize them as adversarial. Granted though that their licencing is more strict than MetaCard's licencing was. In particular the clause where Runtime states that you cannot use Rev to develop a GUI that will compete directly with Rev. But let's not over-look the fact that Runtime made an exception for FreeGUI such that you can legitimately use Rev to contribute to the development of FreeGUI (FreeCard) without violating their licence. > The news of the acquisition left me > feeling like it was 'bad news'. This was my first gut feeling too. Yet another promoter of an xCard ware has bitten the dust. Everyone loves a good xCard but none of them seem to be profitable enough to sustain their creators/maintainers. Let's hope that the same curse does not fall upon Rev or FreeCard. We're on the ropes right now! (boxing metaphor). > I am encouraged, however, by the current development > towards a 'runtime' scripting environment from many > different sources. I have previewed a dozen (or so) > candidates that look very promising ... all in the > Java VM... Sounds very interesting. Could you please elaborate further. What are the names/URLs of these projects? > ... and different languages (not just xTalk). FreeCard will support several [scripting] languages. Its own (FreeScript), as well as JavaScript, Python and some other well-known scripting languages. Moreover, FreeCard will also natively support Java. FreeCard will therefore become the platform of choice for prototyping Java pgms. The other web-centered scripting languages will make it easy for current web developers to port to FreeCard. The fact that FreeCard will have a new part that can display HTML, plus the fact that our stacks can be embedded into a web page, will further facilitate the 'conversion' of web developers to FreeCard. Why would anyone limit themselves to what can be done in a web page when a multi-platform alternative exists that is more stable, more reliable [events], faster, and more powerful, e.g. FreeCard. Web pages are not WYSIWYG. They don't support drag-and-drop ... and so much more. We are talking *real* software here, versus the web stuff whose state-of-the-art has not even reached the equivalent yet of the GUIs we've have hrown accustomed to since 1984. > This means it (the concept) will be more of an > 'open source' tool ... rather than being in the > hands of one 'dictatorship'. Your rhetoric is a bit harsh with respect to Runtime, e.g. I would not caracterize them as a "dictatorship", but you're absolutely right about the freedom that we can enjoy if-and-when we craft our own community-based alternative(s). FreeCard is our name, "empowerment of the rest of us" is our game. ;-) Let us help you to help yourselves, :)) Alain __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: VM Ware With VMware you can run multiple operating systems on a single machine. WITHOUT REBOOTING! Mix Linux / Windows / Novell virtual machines at the same time. Free trial click here: http://www.vmware.com/wl/offer/345/0 _______________________________________________ Freecard-general mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freecard-general
