Finally released Gnome– 1.2.0. Yes, it’s a stable release. API-frozen and all 1.2.x releases will be
binary compatible, and all that. Now I can forget about
Gnome– for a few months and focus on other GNOME C++
stuff.

Such as Bonobo. I’m slowly hacking together a Bonobo UI
equivalent of Havoc’s gnome-hello. Unfortunately it looks
like this will be a necessary step before worrying about
doing it from C++, as this new API is so poorly
documented.

I am beginning to worry that GNOME 2 is deprecating the
dodgy GnomeApp stuff in favour of an API that has not had
full-enough exposure. It seems that GnomeApp is so poor
because it was originally so poorly documented, and
therefore very few
people were actually able to explore it before it was fixed
into gnome-libs. I worry that the same thing is happening
with the Bonobo UI code. Sure most of the top GNOME hackers
are familiar with it, but that’s because they were active in
its development. But an API needs to be exposed to
independent criticism. Maybe my worries are unfounded and
all is well in the world.

After the recent, and now subsided, GNOME flamewar, I still stand by my <a
href=http://www.advogato.orghttp://www.advogato.org/person/murrayc/diary.html?start=15>praise
of the GNOME community. It’s also worth noting that it’s
because the gnome hackers are young, smart, and unorthodox,
and because the community is so open, that they are able to
get so much done. If this also means that they are not
always the best politicians then that’s a small price to
pay.

Yet another total disk failure. I’ve got to find a less risky disk swapping system

Several more Gnome– canvas bugs came up.
They’re mostly fixed already, but it means another slight
delay before we go stable again. It’s the hope I can’t
stand.

I tried Gabber, and I am really impressed.
It combines my ICQ and Yahoo messenger contacts into one
list. It’s obviously doing a lot of complex stuff in the
background, and it actually works.

The first day of my new contract was uneventful until myself and another contractor were suddenly escorted from
the building by a company lawyer. Apparently the contracts
have not been finalised between the company and our agency.
The lesson: Not all agencies are alike.

I got one of those nifty wee Sony Network Walkman
things, and was disgusted to discover that I have to
convert all my MP3s to its silly proprietary format. The
software (OpenMG) can’t even do it on-the-fly, so I have to
copy all my music into its dodgy database, thus doubling
the disc capacity required and losing my hierarchical file
structure. Alternatively I can just
manually convert the album each time, but that is
incredibly slow and means that I lose the USB speed
advantage that was my primary reason for buying it.

Back from a few days limping around NYC. I didn’t get to see everything that I wanted to on account of the ankle. But
the trip did at least reduce NYC to a real place instead of
something glimpsed through popular culture. Just previously,
I’d spent a few days in Strasbourg (very pretty) and Lyon
(very big), trying to speak some French. I’ll spend the
weekend in Britain, which no longer feels like going home.
Then I’ll be back to Munich to start my new contract, which
I’m looking forward
to.

Gtk– 1.3 development is progressing gradually, thanks to
kenelson. Most importantly it is now aimed
only at unstable GTK+, leaving stable GTK+ to the current
stable Gtk–.

I’m chasing a couple of reported Gnome– bugs, which I
don’t think are actually bugs. Having a hard time getting
people to prove their assertions with compileable code. We
should be able to go stable when these are cleared up.

Went to the climbing wall today for the first time since
I broke my ankle, just to see whether it was possible. It
seems so as long as I don’t get ambitious

I’m going to france for a few days tomorrow. Then back for the weekend, then off to New York for a few days. Doing the tourist thing.

I released a new Gnome–, as a kind of
canditate for a stable release.

I hope the rumors about Eazel’s death are exaggerated.
However, they don’t seem to have processed my paypal
donation, and that suggest that the rumors are true.

When will I learn not to use travelocity. It is so unstable and slow. It would be faster to stand in line at a travel
agent, and they might even be able to sell me a plane
ticket. Worthless fools.

My agent sends me an rtf file and says ‘Please sign it in the marked area (at the end of the contract) and e-mail it back to me’. Muppet.