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AbiWord Weekly News #198,
(For the week ending May 29th, the 22nd week of 2004)
Welcome to this issue #198 of the AbiWord Weekly News.
Follow-ups:
All future releases will have a special module to make their creation easier ^_^
This week in development
Would someone pop in a bit and check the glyph shaping and translations? Oh, and there's a funny story about spam.
Request for User Assistance
Attention Indic and Arabic users! We need more of you to attempt to use and report bugs on CVS Head. As we continue to improve the glyph-shaping engine, we will need to know what is working and what is not. You, our users, are an essential part of our community development. Please participate in helping us improve the application all of us are using.
In case you haven't guessed, the fact that the plea below, languages, has remained unchanged is because no-one has even told us they're trying to help. However, we were told that two were not that different (if at all) from a close linguistic relative. That said, please-oh-please give us assistance.
Hi there. We're looking for people who can help keep AbiWord accurate and uptodate in a number of languages. Please look over them and see if ither you or someone you know might be able to assist us. Remember, your contribution is not only welcomed or encouraged but is also documented, for an easier-to-brag experience. The languages we are looking for are listed below:
- Afrikaans[af-ZA]
- Armenian[hy-AM]
- Assamese[as-IN]
- Chinese (Singapore)[zh-SG]
- Cornish[kw-GB]
- Corsican[co-FR]
- Croatian[hr]
- Esperanto[eo]
- Estonian[et]
- Farsi[fa-IR]
- Flemish (Belgium)[nl-BE]
- Frisian[fy-NL]
- Georgian[ka-GE]
- Hausa (Niger)[ha-NE]
- Hausa (Nigeria)[ha-NG]
- Hindi[hi-IN]
- Icelandic[is-IS]
- Korean[ko-KR]
- Macedonian[mk]
- Marshallese (Nauru)[mh-NR]
- Occitan[oc-FR]
- Thai[th-TH]
- Urdu[ur-PK]
Due to the traffick of people who are trying to help with picked up languages, those who are interested in helping us are encouraged to join ither mailing list. Please read the instructions for the list you are most interested in joining to get the correct address. Joining, as you'll find out, is a simple three step process. First, send a letter to one email address; second confirm you sent the letter by sending a reply, and third...oops, there is no step three. Ok, so, excluding all the minor steps of what to click and/or type, it's really a simple two-step process.
There are just two important reminders in using the mailing lists which all users are expected to do. If you want your message to even make it to the list, you message will need to be in plain text only. Due to an insurgence of a certain virus a while back, all HTML email is rejected for reasons of sanity. Webmail users will have to figure out how to turn on plain-text only before sending email. Second, you are required to send the language in Engrish or English. For those of you who don't speak English well enough to send Engrish, it is recommended that you send the letter in both your native language (identify your language please) and after that, in the same message, send it in a machine-translated version of your message, like BabelFish, in case no-one who speaks your language is available to translate your message for the list. Failure to follow these proceedures in the past have led to frustration and resentment. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience these two requests may cause you.
Silliness of the Week
I'm not particularly silly today, but I think I've gained wait from eating large quantities of Rosa's fudge with my “Angel” syndications. Also, I missed this week's “Shorties Watching Shorties.” I did find out that “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” (number one in the hood) is still on, but I can't play the [adult swim] games (Active-X is MSIE only, ignorant bastards). I'd also like to continue to drop hints about the “SpaceKatazz” spinoff. You'd all watch that right? Well, that covers my T.V. viewing habits for the week. Oh, one more thing, what would you rather watch this Fall, ugly naked fat guys wrestling, or aliens harrassing people on Earth...and elsewhere!? Just keep me posted. “SpaceKatazz!”
I would be the one to talk to, as of the correction to the name, June 1st. It's good to know names...especially when it's the name of something that directly affects your life. Drama looks better on one's credits than a 12 minute plus cartoon.... This looks to be fun.
Also, now that I'm angel-free, who's interested in The Open Source Development TV Network?
This Issue
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 50-100 postings per week. This week, interesting topics on the developer list included:
-
Commit (HEAD,STABLE): bunch of build fixes
:
→ For non-English, U.S. users, the web help isn't much help, as it includes the locale in the address, and as you've probably learned, most locales don't actually exist on the site. This problem is scheduled by Mark to be fixed...eventually.
§ Also, nederlandse has been changed to Niederländerinenenerinen. commit: TAB in TAbles. :
→ Hitting tab now moves to the next cell when navigating tables. Hitting shift+tab moves you in the reverse direction. Hitting tab at the end of a row inserts a new row.
§ Inserting a tab will be done via copy&paste, maybe, depending on the input control. I just summarise the email not the cvs commits. Err...technically speaking, that is. commit: Fix crash inserting table sover selected TOC commit: Fix lots more TOC selection bugs :
→ In the words of Martin Sevior, “Select, delete, insert table. undo, redo all work properly”
§ I like copy and paste; it saves time. Commit: new module 'abiword-release' :
→ Properly tagging a release is hard, extensive, tedious and requires an abnormally high constitution and competence level. This module fixes these problems! Or, it just takes the one-big job and allows the release manager to turn them into a bunch of little jobs.
§ I'm not a real “details” kind of person; that's why I take of the news and nothing all that important. PATCH: for Head: Replace Windows Document Icons with unified icon, for auto-selection :
→ Ryan has created a patch for new yummy abi-document icons for Windows. And like a proper AWN reader, he created properly with our preferred diff -u command.
§ Good reader, goooood reader.
Development
CVS StatsKeep track of the latest developments, from bug fixes to requested enhancements. You'll find it easy to watch the progress made by the developers or individual developers involved. Perhaps you'll even be encouraged to try a development build of either branch.
| Developments for 2.0 from May 23rd through the 29th of 2004 | ||
| Who | Commits | In summary |
| Mark Gilbert | 1 |
Fix build breakages in the psion plugin.
Plugins: → Psion: fix a couple build breakages |
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| Developments for 2.1 from May 23rd through the 29th of 2004 | ||
| Who | Commits | In summary |
| Martin Sevior | 22 |
Fixes on some our favourite features, three bugs, 64bit fixin's and
finally turned that .CRASHED into a less scary .saved!
Features: → Table of Contents: properly fix lots more selection bugs → Visual Dragging: fix one of Mark Gilbert's "randomly dragging stuff around" crashes Platforms: → Cross Platform: some fixes for 64bit issues, changed *.CRASHED → *.saved for the file name after a crash Bugs: → 6824: Crash when inserting table with TOC selected → 6887: Crash when undoing insertion of endnote/footnote with TOC selected → 6902: Crash when inserting section break with tables in header and document |
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| Mark Gilbert | 17 |
Cross Platform, Architecter and Windows fix,
plus the HTML fixes he filed a bug for, which contained the phrase
“Martin is paying big bucks,” or maybe it was another HTML fix;
the important thing is that I have another excuse to mention Ryan Pavlik.
Platforms: → Cross Platform: fix 64bit crash, more stability fixes, gri crash fix, fl_bl assert to catch a crash → Windows: fix build for graphics plugin File Types: → Hyper Text Markup Language: some sizable export fixage, some negligible little export fix that didn't make it in Documentation: → General, building: script update → English, U.S.: minor doc update wrt open copy From Ryan Pavlik |
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| Mikey Cooper | 7 |
Four bugs got squished this week and Windows works like you think does, broken,
but AbiWord on Windows has gotten better.
Platforms: → Cross Platform: another off-by-one pixeldirt fix at last page separator in Print View → Windows: do not scroll if zooming with the mouse wheel, fix 2 warnings -- unsigned/signed mismatch and unreferenced local variable Bugs: → 1766: [RFE] Keyboard short cuts for Zoom → 4561: PageUp doesn't work if too close to top of document. → 6544: Abi doesn't draw past last page in Normal View at small zoom level → 6897: Two different zoom cases at once (menu bug) |
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| Marc Maurer | 1 |
Did I mention the release manager module?
Guess what! It does NOT use the anoncvs mirror!
Building: → Release Manager Module: do not use the anoncvs mirror |
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Things worked out this time, so, life's getting better.
POWs
It's happening Really Soon Now™!
Bug Update
Bug Market
![[graph]](../graphs/abi_bugs-2004.05.30.png)
This week's activity: ResoUnconf +22 (24 : 2), VeriNew 8 (25 : 17), ClosAssi -4 (0 : 4),
VeriNew rises back into the positive range, as ClosAssi finally takes a plunge into the negative. Alan Bluespan explained that this was a normal part of the release cycle, and further pointed out that it is likely the markets will level out just before the release of 2.2. Louis Bugkeyser agreed in full, adding only that there would most likely be an upswing in ClosAssi in the short term.
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 misfeatures 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.
| Top 20 MisFeatures™ as of May 29th, 2004 | |||
| ID | Votes | Milestone | Summary |
| 376 | 82 | 2.0.x | File associate problems for all file types with Win32Slu...... |
| 3778 | 46 | --- | Hanging indent setting ignores units |
| 5059 | 41 | 2.2 | Recent Files breaks with international file names |
| 4745 | 31 | Future | Change colour of foreground text for screen only |
| 2362 | 30 | 2.2 | AbiWord only prints across half of page |
| 4031 | 30 | Future | Hebrew status line message is not displayed correctly |
| 5252 | 30 | 2.2 | Contrast between cursor (caret) and background is ruined ...... |
| 5782 | 30 | --- | Abiword hangs opening attached Word document |
| 5794 | 30 | --- | Horizontal space and distortion at print page break in We...... |
| 6181 | 30 | --- | cursor position is not updated when changing paragraph style... |
| 2868 | 26 | 2.0.x | character widths are not calculated correctly for some fonts... |
| 4896 | 25 | 2.0.x | the very last character can't be selected |
| 2421 | 24 | 2.0.x | TM, Bullet, Euro, Smart Quotes and other symbols originat...... |
| 6011 | 21 | --- | Spelling check provides bad suggestions and improperly pl...... |
| 6354 | 20 | --- | --merge=FILE command line option does not work in abiword... | 1679 | 17 | --- | List changes should keep selection |
| 3216 | 15 | 2.2 | Tabstops Cannot be Set in Second (or Third) Column |
| 3801 | 15 | Future | [META] Seems to struggle with large files |
| 4968 | 15 | --- | "Fit to Width" slightly broken |
| 5931 | 15 | --- | un-breakable space show and print as degree sign |
| Top 20 Requests For Enhancement as of May 29th, 2004 | |||
| ID | Votes | Milestone | Summary |
| 2183 | 458 | Future | Fully Support OpenOffice's XML file format |
| 3668 | 166 | Future | Support for window tabs instead of separate windows |
| 2321 | 145 | 2.2 | [RFE] Maths/Equation Editing, as a plugin maybe? |
| 1374 | 108 | Future | [RFE] print odd and/or even pages only (for front & back ... |
| 4057 | 70 | --- | Thesaurus Shift+F7 keybindings shortcuts consistency |
| 1144 | 68 | Future | Improve KWord import/export filters |
| 2365 | 51 | --- | AbiWord needs 'view codes' |
| 1929 | 50 | Future | Hyphenation is missing in Abiword |
| 515 | 41 | 2.0.x | columns change should only affect selected text |
| 1851 | 36 | Future | [rfe] Ability to create an ALL CAPS style, and Small Caps...... |
| 2473 | 35 | 2.0.x | [rfe] Support move & resize of images anchored to a page... |
| 1235 | 30 | Future | [RFE] Not possible to change zoom and font size on toolba... |
| 2463 | 30 | --- | support embedded objects |
| 2219 | 27 | Future | AUTONUM wanted in [ Insert/Field/Number ] menu |
| 2169 | 24 | Future | Line numbering |
| 3233 | 23 | 2.0.x | New Language preference menu |
| 3419 | 20 | Future | [RFE] Add microspacing feature (tracking) for characters |
| 2136 | 15 | Future | A Latex importer would be nice and useful |
| 3083 | 15 | Future | [META] Redesign smart quote system |
| 1270 | 13 | Future | Should support graphical columns ala wordperfect 8/9 |
Borked scriptage to be reviewed, but 5815 appears to have lost votes.
Release HackDown
When I'm caught up again....
Abi's Relatives
Several projects are used by, use or synchronise with AbiWord. Some of the most noteworthy libraries and applications will be summarised here. Some may be added under guise of the GNOME Office Suite.; others may be added because it's really just a plug by request. Want your project plugged? Send money to Dom. I'm offering rates of $10 per plug, $25 for a month-long plug, $50 for a quartly plug and $200 to go all year. P*ing us off or the discontinuation of this section does not result in a refund.
Libraries
AbiWord uses several libraries, and other sub-applications, to give it that extra bit of polish. Here, you will learn whatever news I scrape together or has been sent to me in relation to them. I wanted to do more this week, but not so much.
Nadav...how you doin' out there, Buddy? You, uh...you still alive out there, Man?
Nothing since February.
I'm guessinnnn'...squat.
1.1.3 to be released December, 2004; as opposed to Conglomerate, which had a secret release in December 2003.
Applications
AbiWord is crucial to the use of, coordinates development with, or to some extent relies upon a number of applications. Only one two of these applications make it easy for me to steal information from them, so, we're talking about a lot of blog reading.
Windows WorldHere, we'll explore our Windows associates more. Well...it's currently only the one, but it's a very important one.
Nullsoft Scriptable Install System
Since 2.0 was released, there really has been much news to report.
GNOME Office SuiteSince I don't know of applications outside of AbiWord that use AbiWord, I'll be doing this Gnome Office business. These people should have newsletters, so, I can steal crap from them.
Is anyone else having trouble contacting advogato?
“ New libgdamm (libgda C++ bindings) release is available, now fully usable, and with actual working example code. Download it here.”
It's not the fastest thing developing, so, be just a bit more patient.
Dave's random testing is finally over after he's managed to receive one of his own messages. The problem, of course, was directly the result of too much spam to the list (same reason why I was nolonger getting sawfish messages). It is now being discussed under “ Back on list” what lists should go into subscription only and how best to deal with the relatively active development list. If you want to give your input, you best do so while you still can. If you want to sell them XP-ready software at great rates, this maybe your last chance. If you are “The Video Professor,” you can kiss my F*ing A*.
Other
Look, a place to talk about the AWN
I'll have more time to dedicate to the AWN, two hours a week, in fact. Without Angel, Smallville will be left to languish on itsown.
Not as important as “Angel.”
Did you know that “Angel” got more ratings with even less money? Who's doing the WB's books?
I get to mention Ryan again for his Windows document icons patch. Yay, Ryan!
Open Source, Open Books.
Last Updated: December 13th, 2003Approximately 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.
These are numbers from all of time! Everything since the paypal AbiFund has been setup is in here, not just this month or just this week. Just in case you didn't figure that out, I'm restating it since the PayPal incident first incited interest in this.
Current Balance: $2144.20
Interest earned: $19.34
Expenditures: $2185
$210 to feed 12 people at GUADEC
$100 to pay for Marc's work on the new server
$700 to pay for the new server
$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
- - note: Pat and Dom went to an Italian restaurant named Dom's on Boston's North End.
Neither Pat or Dom seem to recommend visiting Dom's anytime soon.
Actually, I didn't ask Pat, but I'm pretty sure he'd agree.
Personally, I recommend avoiding Dom altogether.
Hmm, typo, what?
Unique contributors: 61*
paypal: 66
check : 3
cash : 1
*61: plusse 3 repeat offenders whom we love dearly
Contributions: $2311.84
Less paypal and other banking fees: $167.64
| PLEASE! Help promote AbiWord development by donating money. The money go to a general AbiWord "fund", presently hosted by Dom Lachowicz (cinamod@hotmail.com). | |
| In order to donate money, you must have a PayPal account. If you do not already have one, the links above will allow you to open one. Please consider putting cinamod@hotmail.com in the "Referral ID" field, which results in a one-time $5 donation from PayPal to AbiWord development if you verify your account. Note that only donations of $3 or more are of interest. Sorry, this is due to the fees imposed by credit card companies and PayPal. | |