Martyn Russell

I have spent some time taking the feedback from people on my earlier post I have had today and putting it into the script. The main things that have updated are:

• Provide a default plain text and HTML template for release notes.
• Retrieving the description from Bugzilla for a product and using that in the release note (if the default template is used).
• Add the md5sum of the tarballs in the release note.
• For po/ChangeLog, accept the language updater’s name to be included in brackets so it isn’t always the commiter’s name used (same as ChangeLog).

I have also provided some information on the site about formatting to make sure the scripts work for you. Most of which people should be doing already.

You can get Maintainer 0.3 here

With all the releases of Gossip that I have been doing recently, I decided I wasn’t really happy with the current tools available to get translation updates and the whole process of getting bugs fixed and updating the NEWS file. Plus Tim had also mentioned that it was one of many things that take up so much time when releasing projects like GTK+. I can only imagine how long it must take Matthias each release.

So I started to write a tool to make life that little more easier. It is not finished, but it is a start. Some of the current features include:

• Show updated translations
• Show fixed bugs
• Show a summary of bugs fixed and their description
• Create a release note for sending out announcements

I have been using it with Gossip the last few releases and I have tested it with glib and gtk+ and it works OK - see what you think:

Go to the project page here.

This week, the prize goes to Kris.

In Gossip we have been trying to get a flat look but with the expander enabled. This isn’t possible, even with GTK+ 2.10. So after speaking to Kris about it, he said the best way would be an Expander cell renderer. Kris also took the time today to actually write it for us.

So thanks Kris, great work, it looks superb!

A lot has been happening recently in Gossip.

Telepathy

We added a new branch specifically for Telepathy work called ‘TELEPATHY’ recently and Eitan has been working on that when he can. Xavier Claessens has been working with him at times too which has been great. Now that you can install Telepathy on Edgy using apt because it has been packaged up finally it makes it much easier for others to test.

Release 0.16

I released 0.16 yesterday and it is the last release we will be doing with pre GTK+ 2.10 support. This release has some cool fixes, of which, mostly was done by Xavier Claessens who has had so much time on his hands, I have found it difficult to keep up with the patches he is sending me. This is good of course and I hope it continues with the Telepathy work he is doing too. Some of the other work Xavier has done for us includes retrieving the VCard name details so you can revert from your alias for a contact to the _their_ choosen name. There is more work here to be done here, (like adding a preference to choose if you want to use the vcard or your alias). I have included a screenshot of how it currently looks, good work, thanks Xavier!

Since we have released, I thought I would try some of the coolness that GTK+ 2.10 has to offer, more specifically, the “show-expanders” property in the GtkTreeView that Kris worked on. The end result is below.

Xavier has also written a patch to switch us over to use GtkStatusIcon instead of EggTrayIcon which should land in CVS soon.

Venice

Our first years wedding anniversary came up recently so I took the opportunity to take Sue to Venice since she has always wanted to go and you have to at least once in your life. The city is absolutely beautiful even if it is a little crowded and it is good to see it while you still can. I hear it is sinking and I am sure global warming isn’t helping that

While in Venice I got the chance to try out my newly aquired Cannon 70-300mm III telephoto lens. It is really good for long range shots:

and my new macro lens which my brother bought me from Singapore:

Appendicitis

A bad case of Appendicitis got the best of me this week. Actually, it hit me Thursday morning with this bloated feeling. By lunch time I was on the bed trying to sleep it off. By 19:00, I was in Hospital and by 23:00 I was under a general aesthetic having it taken out. I was out of theatre by 01:30 and back on the ward where Sue had been waiting. Sue slept in the chair by my bed and stayed all night with me. I was so glad to see her after my operation. They let me leave Friday evening because of my miraculous recovery. So the end result is:

* no football for 5 weeks
* no driving for 2 weeks
* no work for 1 week

On the bright side, I am one step closer to becoming an astronaut, since I hear the operation is a prerequisite.