AbiWord Weekly News #156, (2003, week 32, released 2003.08.10)

Welcome to this issue 156 of the AbiWord Weekly News.

Follow-ups:

      OTS now comes with a "How I Really Did It" autobiography, which it subtitled, "GPL Graph Grader Nadav b0rkedcode."

This week in development

      Dom announces the official calendar of releases until 2.0, while several peripherally Abi events occur.   Within AbiLand, however, the Open Text Summarizer gets a dialogue, X/HTML gets extended, and just before 1.99.4, our SuSE builder and Documentation manager sod off for awhile!   All that and a tutorial on how to summarise text in this week's AWN.

Request for user assistance

      If you want an equally rich and powerful Windows release, we really, really could use some Windows developers.   A whole mess of people with even just an hour a week could help.   Of course, the "three with only two hours a week" model hasn't been helping!   We're desperate!   We'll take a line a day if there's enough of you!   Please help...please!   Doesn't a platform like yours deserve a chance?

      Windows users, your help is doubly requested*.   We would like to see more bug reports coming from the Windows crowd, so, if you're feeling more daring, please download and try out the Win32 binaries when they're available.   If you want some sweet functionality in AbiWord II: The Wrath of Dom, you will have to participate.   You could also consider joining Project Blue Ant.

Silliness of the Week

      Never get the George Foreman USB iGrill!   It may know a regular grill can cook something in X time, but no one ever tells you that a turkey takes 3 days on the USB iGrill!   "We'd love to give you your money back, but we lost it in the mail...."

This Issue

      And remember, I give you an email address so you can talk to me, in case you're not on either mailing list.

In this issue:

• Discussion
• Development
• Bug Update
• Release HackDown

Editor(s) of this issue:  E. A. Zen

      If you're interested in using AbiWord for the first time, receiving a more up-to-date version, any particular version or special release, feel free to visit the new  Latest Releases page.

DISCLAIMER:  It should be generally noted that anything said before the "In this issue:" line is purely editorial.   Actually, everything I say is purely editorial.   You kind of get used to it.

Discussions

Traffic on the  developer mailing list has settled at about 200-400 postings per week.   This week, interesting topics on the developer list included:

1. OTS - how it works! and Commit: ots plugin has a dialog now, fix crasher :   Nadav writes his response to a FootNotes coward from last week.   So, if you ever wondered how the Open Text Summarizer works, here's your chance.   If you need some background in the mathematical principles (for a refresher, of course, yeah), you may want to review Graph Theory.   Though its attempts at summarising the summary in a single sentence or phrase is, actually, it literally is comical at times, it is a very good utility, and any project and any individual using is very lucky to do so.   As for AbiLand, OTS now has a dialogue, but never trust a Lachowicz to send a screenshot ;o)   Since there were no other OTS stories this week, I wanted to show off something Nadav sent me.   Under OTS's example uses/programmes, you'll find something that Nadav created, in just a few hours, which utilises work that came from our own Jordi Mas, which includes work with the grader, highlighter and a soon to be usable term frequency grader.   Behold, The GNOME Summarizer.   I wonder if that makes it the TGS....

2. reference/standard RPM specfile for Abiword :   Sharuzzaman Ahmat Raslan is seeking an automatically built or release intended RPM spec file for Abi 1.0.6.   Rui gets on board the "you should be looking at 1.99.3" band wagon before explaining that the only RPM spec files available are in the source rpms available at your download site of choice (psst, start with Latest Releases!).

3. commit: abi: string stuff, xml work, xhtml options ,
   commit: abiword-docs: sample template for XHTML export ,
   commit: abi: XHTML option, change on request ,
   commit: abi: parse import properties into hash and
   commit: abi: document styles in HTML exporter :   Frank goes back to his X/HTML roots, putting in hours and houts of work to clean up more of Abi's powerful *html abilities.

4. [bug 5547] Options button in Save Dialog :   Alan check out bug 5547 and wonders about creating an exending options button for exporting to file format (to reduce dialogue bomardment).   Dom officially includes it in the 2.2 RoadMap.

5. ANNOUNCE: libgda/libgnomedb 0.91.0 released :   In case you missed it elsewhere (why would you read another developers' news source!?), Rodrigo is happy to announce the latest co-releases of libgda and libgnomedb.   Several fixes and translation updates are included.   For those you not already aware of these projects, you can visit their website.   The short description from Rodrigo says the the gnome database project is "a complete framewok for developingdatabase-oriented applications, and actually allow access to PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, SQLite, FireBird/Interbase, IBM DB2, mSQL and MS SQL server, as well as MS Access and xBase files and ODBC data sources."   Some synergies get leveraged, some paradigms get shifted and another Free Software miracle occurs.   And, this places it remarkably close to 1.0.

6. Away Re: ATTN: intend to release 1.99.4 on Monday evening :   James Ogley, the Great Schmoe of SuSE building, and David Chart, Lead Documentation Dude, are going to be away at a very unfortunate time....

7. ATTN: intend to release 1.99.4 on Monday evening :   Gnome DB maybe close to 1.0, but AbiWord is right on the edge 2.0!   Dom announces the virtually final release schedual.   With all the details and developer responsibilities.   Notice this is the last release before the Release Candidates.   The Social lives of half a dozen or so developers just died for a month...not even, actually.   How soon, exactly?   It's in there...very interesting date, too.

Traffic on the  user mailing list is sporadic at best.   Often, a good topic comes up, but users tend to only respond to the original poster rather than the list (as well), which limits what I would add, as the only lone threads I post are announcements of importance or points of great interest.   This week, interesting topics on the user list included:

1. BiDi :   David L Mohn wants to use BiDi (BiDirectional text) in AbiWord, but is going about it, by no fault of his own, the wrong way.   An incorrect/outdated faq left David to believe that 1.0.6 was bidi-enabled when it is, in fact, not.   Dom and Uri strongly urge David to use 1.99.3, and Dom explains the functions of the BiDi toolbar.

Using plug-ins for Abiword 1.99.x :   Hanxue Lee would like to use a fully functional, plugin enabled version of 1.99.x.   Unfortunately, despite intent from both Jeremy and Mikey, there does not yet appear to be any Win32 plugins other than the FileTypes.

AbiWord 2 crashing on FreeBSD :   Dean Bogdanovic has a crashing AbiWord!   As Stephen rightfully points out, when AbiWord crashes/freezes/wigs-out-in-any-way after hitting the space bar, it is a spelling-related issue.   After getting a debugging build going, Martin tracks it down to fudged pspell/aspell build.   This gives BSD users two options, complain to the pspell/aspell maintainer (whichever is causing your problem, not both), or use ispell, for which, Martin points out "ispell is not as good at guessing the word you meant but it doesn't crash (coz Dom maintains it)."

Development

      Track who put in how much and why.   And, while you're at it, consider whether you'd like to keep your own cvs build as well.   Tables...ooh....

      Current pows are here. This will probably be replaced next week if not this very week.

Name:  More Windows Maintainers
Description:  Jordi and Jeremy could always use help
Advertisement:  Help free people from the oppression of MSWord today!
Recommended Outline:  You must become magical to know how to fix this.
Comments:  Wouldn't be a bad idea to start with the printing bug...
System:  Windows
Challenge level:  ****. 4 stars out of 5
Current Heros:  Jordi Mas, Jeremy Davis

Bug Update

Bug Market

      This week's activity: ResoUnconf +85 (86 : 1), VeriNew -11 (14 : 25), ClosAssi unch (0 : 0),

      Louis Bugkeyser accurately predicted the old trends returning, but most certainly didn't predict the sudden increase of ResoUnconf.   As 2.0 is finally officially scheduled, it is expected to remain high for the remainder of the month.   Alan Bluespan commented, "Feh, swines...pearls...acorns, the bug market ain't what it used to be."

      For information about how to view the chart, please read 142's Special Interest.

Bug Votes

      These are the week's Top 20 Bugs in the categories  problems and  requests for enhancements.   Influence next week's results by  casting your own votes.   Ah, another release, another change of what bugs are on the "Most Wanted" list.

      Bugs crossed out include 3970 (changing layouts can lead to showing other location...) 5298 (Justification doesn't work) and 4071 (Abiword is crashing during importing word document), while a new bug was added, 5293, Delete a selected multiline text leaves part of the text.   This also brought 1333 (yay) and 1474 back up from the bottom.

Release HackDown

      This is an AbiWord Weekly News original concept:  The Release Hackdown.   In the table below, you can watch what bugs are being fixed in preparation for the very next release.   Check the key at the bottom to understand formatting.

      No pressure, guys, I'm sure only 2000 or so people will be watching to see what you do weekly.   That breaks down to about 285 people daily and 12 people hourly, so, it's like being peeked at once every five minutes, literally.   "Isn't that veird!?"

Stable

      There is not stable tracker bug, so, I'm chopping it out until told otherwise.

Head

      On our way to two-point-oh, affectionately referred to as, AbiWord II: The Wrath of Dom.

      A marker in the memory leaks, 2921, has been taken out, and so has one from 4627, Copy & Paste bugs.

      See Announce: 2.0 release plan for more details on the intended route towards Abiword II: The Wrath of Dom.

Open Source, Open Books.

      Approximately once a month, don't hedge bets, I'll get this updated by asking (read: whining at) dom.   In the meantime, whenever you want to see how much is in and where it gets diverted, just peek down here.

      Word of caution, numbers lightly fudged due to (hopefully) temporarily incomplete data.   Like a consultant's suggested price, you'll find hidden meaning in the data if you stare long and hard.   Surgeon's General's Warning:  Staring long and hard may have psychotropic affects; keep out of reach of people who like that sort of thing.

      I cannot promise the time of de-fudging, nor can I promise there will be de-fudging any time soon. However, I feel confident that there will be some de-fudging going on.

Current Balance: $1604.34
Interest earned: $8.64

Expenditures: $950
$400 to pay for Martin's Boston Gnome Summit Trip
$400 to buy Andrew Dunbar a new computer
$ 60 to misc./entertainment expenses at GNOME summit, GUAD3C, other, paid out of dom's pocket
$225 Patch Prize (those already successfully awarded)
-   $ 45 Will Lachance
-   $ 45 Marc Maurer
-   $ 45 Ruud Vring
-   $ 45 Patrick Lam
-   $ 45 Dom Lachowicz

Unique contributors: 58*
paypal: 57
check :  3
cash  :  1
*58: plusse 3 repeat offenders whom we love dearly

Contributions: $2723.00
Less paypal and other banking fees: $115.00