R3.0 Plan for January 2009
Our primary goal remains the same: to move the project from the "lab"
and get it out to more developers in a structured and organized way.
During December
- We released seven new R3 versions, alphas 19-25, each with various
bug fixes and improvements.
- The first two weeks of the month were focused on fixing various
problems related to windowing, graphics, text handling, scrolling,
and auto-scrolling.
- Clipboard (cut and paste) device was re-integrated into the system, now
with support for Unicode clips.
- New documents continue to be added to the DocBase wiki. Guidelines
for alpha testers were updated and notes about source code
contributions were posted.
- Mid-December serious work began on solving what we call the "Developer
Forum" problem. That is: how to get the REBOL community all on to the
same communications channel. I've written a lot about this problem in my
blogs (for example, Better Developer Communications), so I won't go into the details here.
- This project has the code name RebDev, and for the last two weeks it
has had my full attention. The RebDev server is now up and running and
achieves the messaging objectives. A full description of RebDev features posted on
the wiki.
- In addition, the first client for RebDev was built using R3 itself. This
first client was a CLI (command line interface) version of it. It allows
users to access the full range of discussions directly from the R3
console. This client also helps prove and test R3 itself.
The CLI client is useful in another way too: its same core functions can be used to
write small scripts that help automate parts of the messaging system.
For example, "provisioning" the server with its initial topic structure
was accomplished with a short script. In the future it will also make it
easy to do things like auto-post messages when a bug is marked as fixed.
You get the idea.
- And finally, as a test of concept, I wrote a small web mobile phone
interface so I can now browse RebDev messages from my iPhone. The "show
me what's new" feature is of key importance to me. More work can be done
on this during January (hopefully by someone other than me.)
Plans for January
Last month I described my "perfect picture" of what needs to happen. We achieved a lot over the month and will push forward toward completing that picture during January:
- Release R3.0 alpha to the larger development community.
- Setup the R3.0 download URL and provide a sensible auto-update
mechanism.
- Move to RebDev as our primary communication channel.
We will do it in stages, just to be sure it all works as intended.
- Combine DevBase and RebDev. This merges our source file
version management into our multi-sectioned threaded messaging system.
- Implement the RebDev/DevBase R3 GUI client.
- Merge developer-contributed improvements including Henrik's work
on the GUI and Brian's improvements to mezzanine functions. My hat is
off to them in appreciation of their accomplishments.
- Continue with bug fixes and general development.
Also, if time permits:
- Begin REBOL.com website revisions in preparation for R3.0. This
is just a start.
- Module system See last month, and I hope more can happen this
month.
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