In the last few days, I have been working on a window manager for the DeforaOS project: Framer [1]. Of course, the project was added to the sources tree here [2].

Just like most desktop-oriented software projects from DeforaOS, it features an embedded mode. Even though its interaction with Panel [3] is still hardcoded, it is meant to handle screens with limited resolutions in a nicer, more ergonomic way. With the addition and current state of these projects [4], it becomes possible to use and ship the first usable implementation of the embedded DeforaOS desktop.

[1] http://www.defora.org/os/project/display/3283/Framer
[2] http://www.defora.org/os/project/browse/3283/Framer
[3] http://www.defora.org/os/project/display/3262/Panel
[4] http://www.defora.org/os/download/288/Desktop

As announced [1] on the developers' mailing-list [2], another round of releases took place a couple days ago:

• Browser 0.1.3 [3]
• Panel 0.0.3 [4]
• Editor 0.1.1 [5]

This was essentially done to apply a few usability fixes while wrapping up the incoming rev5 release of the hackable:1 project [6]. Debian packages are therefore already available.

[1] http://lists.defora.org/devel/2009/09/msg00021.html
[2] http://lists.defora.org/
[3] http://www.defora.org/os/download/download/3279/Browser-0.1.3.tar.gz
[4] http://www.defora.org/os/download/download/3281/Panel-0.0.3.tar.gz
[5] http://www.defora.org/os/download/download/3280/Editor-0.1.1.tar.gz
[6] http://www.hackable1.org/

Along with a new release [1] of DeforaOS' media player [2], I have added packages for both hackable:1 [3] and pkgsrc [4]. There aren't any new features, except for the addition of a desktop file. An embedded mode is in the works though.

[1] http://www.defora.org/os/download/download/3277/Player-0.1.2.tar.gz
[2] http://www.defora.org/os/project/display/336/Player
[3] http://trac.hackable1.org/trac/browser/trunk/packages/player
[4] http://pkgsrc.se/wip/deforaos-player

The DeforaOS project was recently submitted to Ohloh [1], a network of Open Source projects. There [2], you will find statistics about the source code and the development activity in particular.

An interesting first result of the project analysis is that sadly, the development has slowed down during the last year [3]. However, the pace has remained pretty linear over the years [4], which also reassures me.

[1] https://www.ohloh.net/
[2] https://www.ohloh.net/p/DeforaOS
[3] https://www.ohloh.net/p/DeforaOS/factoids/1880460
[4] https://www.ohloh.net/p/DeforaOS/analyses/latest

Two new packages have just made their way into pkgsrc [1] wip repository [2]: deforaos-libsystem [3] and deforaos-browser [4], for their respective libSystem [5] and Browser [6] projects. It should then be easier to install and test the file browser on platforms using pkgsrc for software management, and NetBSD [7] in particular.

Of course, more projects will follow and it will be announced and documented here.

[1] http://www.pkgsrc.org/
[2] http://pkgsrc-wip.sourceforge.net/
[3] http://pkgsrc.se/wip/deforaos-libsystem
[4] http://pkgsrc.se/wip/deforaos-browser
[5] http://www.defora.org/os/project/display/27/libSystem
[6] http://www.defora.org/os/project/display/230/Browser
[7] http://www.netbsd.org/

I just quickly uploaded a new version [1] of Panel [2]. The most important change is the name of the header file, which no longer conflicts with ncurses on some systems. It also works better on multi-head setups, and I also believe the task switcher to be much more usable.

[1] https://www.defora.org/os/download/3273/Panel-0.0.2.tar.gz
[2] https://www.defora.org/os/project/display/3262/Panel

A couple of days ago, I have uploaded formal releases of some of the projects part of DeforaOS:

• libSystem 0.1.2 [1]
• configure 0.0.6 [2]
• Browser 0.1.2 [3]
• Panel 0.0.1 [4]
• Surfer 0.0.7 [5]

Some of them are already available as binary packages for Debian GNU/Linux [6], on the i386, amd64 and armel architectures, through the hackable:1 project [7].


[1] https://www.defora.org/os/download/download/3264/libSystem-0.1.2.tar.gz
[2] https://www.defora.org/os/download/download/3265/configure-0.0.6.tar.gz
[3] https://www.defora.org/os/download/download/3266/Browser-0.1.2.tar.gz
[4] https://www.defora.org/os/download/download/3268/Panel-0.0.1.tar.gz
[5] https://www.defora.org/os/download/download/3270/Surfer-0.0.7.tar.gz
[6] http://www.debian.org/
[7] http://www.hackable1.org/

Among other new features also important enough to deserve news on their own, a new project has just been added to DeforaOS' sources repository: Panel [1].

It is still very basic, but constitutes one of the few missing bits before releasing a proof of concept, yet functional preview of what would the DeforaOS desktop look like. For the rest:

• the desktop manager has been extended, now also able to draw the background image [2];
• the file copy tool is much more responsive [3];
• the progress program has been improved as well [4].

It seems that archlinux [5] users could be interested in these tools, as another lightweight and reasonably fast (?) alternative to other desktop environments. This will deserve another round of formal releases!

[1] https://www.defora.org/os/project/display/3262/Panel
[2] https://www.defora.org/os/project/browse/230?file=/src/desktop.c,v
[3] https://www.defora.org/os/project/browse/230?file=/src/copy.c,v
[4] https://www.defora.org/os/project/browse/235?file=/src/progress.c,v
[5] http://www.archlinux.org/

I am currently moving the primary CVS server from my private network to a public machine. This means a few things:

• it will be easier to accept contributors;
• the anonymous server will be renamed "anoncvs.defora.org";
• the public CVS mirror is no longer updated at the moment;
• I was able to register the project with a CIA bot [1].

It'll take some time to update the documentation here, and get external links updated outside this website. Sorry for the inconvenience...

Feel free to join the IRC channel on Freenode though [2], the commits are nicely reported there now :)

[1] http://cia.vc/stats/project/DeforaOS
[2] #DeforaOS on irc.freenode.net

It took me another three weeks since my promise [1], but I finally managed to release these:

• libSystem 0.1.1 [2]
• Browser 0.1.1 [3]
• Surfer 0.0.6 [4]

They will also be available as Debian packages in the first fully automated build of hackable:1 [5].

[1] https://www.defora.org/os/news/3235/Announcing-the-Surfer-project-along-with-software-packages
[2] https://www.defora.org/os/download/3250
[3] https://www.defora.org/os/download/3252
[4] https://www.defora.org/os/download/3251
[5] http://build.hackable1.org/debian