PyRoom: a WriteRoom clone in Python
Published by Matthew Revell February 4, 2008 in General
You could argue that the free software world isn’t short of a text editor or two. With some people already pretty attached to their preferred choice, you might wonder if we really need another.
Some time ago, I read a newspaper article complaining that today’s computer desktop dangles too many distractions in front of professional writers. The author presented two solutions:
- a return to typewriters
- and Hog Bay Software’s WriteRoom.
WriteRoom is a big black box with green text. Basically, think Windows Notepad but with fancier marketing and a $24.95 price tag. Nonetheless, its simplicity has struck a chord with many; not least of all me.
That’s why I was delighted when Bruno Bord told me about PyRoom. It’s one of several WriteRoom clones that grew out of a thread on the Ubuntu forums and, as you might expect, is written in Python.
If you have Bazaar, you can get hold of PyRoom with:
bzr branch http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~brunobord/pyroom/trunk
Writing this post in PyRoom almost makes me nostalgic for my Amstrad PCW days. It’s is a work in progress so give it a try and file bug reports. Bruno’s also on the look-out for translators.
Launchpad users meeting for January
Published by Matthew Revell January 29, 2008 in General
30th January 17.00 UTC in #launchpad
Launchpad isn’t just about source code, bugs, or translations. Nor packages, specifications, community support or file downloads.
Launchpad’s about people. Okay, that sounds a bit cheesy but it’s true: every new feature or improvement we make to Launchpad is designed to make it easier for you, me and anyone else to work together.
That’s why we hold monthly user meetings: talking to people who use Launchpad is absolutely the best way to find out what we can improve and what works well. You can find the Launchpad team in #launchpad and on the launchpad-users list just about any time but these meetings give you a focused opportunity to talk directly to members of the Launchpad team.
Come along to this month’s meeting on 30th January at 17.00 UTC in #launchpad on Freenode. Add your question or any other item to the agenda or simply speak up during the meeting. See you there 🙂
Launchpad 1.2.1: PPA package deletion, branch feeds and more
Published by Matthew Revell January 24, 2008 in Releases
Today we unleashed Launchpad 1.2.1, our first release of 2008!
Highlights include:
- Delete PPA packages in the web UI: no more sysadmin requests to delete a package from your PPA. To delete packages from your PPA visit: https://launchpad.net/people/+me/+archive/+delete-packages
- Branch feeds: get the latest commits associated with a person, team, project or individual branch in your feed reader. Take a look at the Bitlbee project’s branch feed
- Code hosting project overviews: quick-glance overview of branches and revisions made to projects with code hosted on Launchpad. See Bazaar’s overview page.
Don’t forget our logo competition! Send us your design for the chance to win an Ubuntu messenger bag.
Read the full Launchpad 1.2.1 release notes!
Logo contest update
Published by Matthew Revell January 23, 2008 in General
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been accepting entries to our Launchpad logo competition.
Rather than store up the entries until the deadline (31st March, by the way), I thought I’d share a couple of those we’ve had so far. Of course, you don’t have to wait for me to pop up here to see what people are submitting. If you want to get an email whenever a new logo is put forward, click Subscribe on the submissions page.
I like the flow of Damián Vila’s design, which maintains a green feel similar to the present Launchpad site design. The rocket flying off from the Launchpad logo-text puts me in mind of Launchpad as just that – a launching point for work on free software projects.
Donn Ingle says he “tried to capture the fun spirit of the overall Launchpad design”. His is the first logo to move away from green and I think he does capture a sense of fun in his design. I’d love to see an animated version.
Do go see the other entries in the competition. Better still, fire up Inkscape and create your own!
This post doesn’t imply any particular favourites, by the way 🙂
Down-time 5am 24th January UTC
Published by Matthew Revell January 21, 2008 in Notifications
On Thursday 24th January we’re making the first Launchpad release of 2008! Launchpad will be offline while we roll-out the new code.
Offline at: 05.00 UTC 2008-01-24
Expected back online at: 06.30 UTC 2008-01-24
Thanks for bearing with us while we release Launchpad 1.2.1!
Translate Ubuntu Hardy Heron
Published by Matthew Revell in Translations
The next Ubuntu release – Hardy Heron – is now open for translation!
If you want to help ensure it’s accurately translated into your language, you can get going at:
https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/+translations
If you’re new to translating Ubuntu and want to find out more, take a look at the Translating Ubuntu.
Frequent lang pack updates
If you’re running Hardy Heron during its development cycle, you’ll receive twice weekly language pack updates reflecting the latest work in Launchpad Translations. These updates should start later this week.
If you’re planning to work on Hardy translations, this is a great way to see your work in place before the official release.
If you have any questions about using Launchpad to translate, ask on launchpad-users or come join us in #launchpad on Freenode.
Kubuntu distributes KDE 4 using PPA
Published by Matthew Revell January 14, 2008 in PPA
Seen some of the bling and functionality in KDE 4 and thought, “I want some of that”?
If you’re running Kubuntu or Ubuntu, no problem! Thanks to Launchpad’s Personal Package Archives, upgrading is as simple as adding a new repository.
Jonathan Riddell – chief Kubuntoid – sent word on why they’re using a PPA:
“It’s the fastest and most flexible way to make our KDE 4.0 packages available. For example: it’s very easy to bring in new contributors since we can just add them to the necessary team. The other great thing is that we can get packages out there very quickly because they get published as soon as they are compiled.”
Take a look at Kubuntu’s KDE 4 page to get KDE 4 on your desktop.
Help design the new Launchpad logo!
Published by Joey Stanford January 9, 2008 in General
Announcing the Launchpad Logo Community Design Contest.
What: Design a new logo for Launchpad
When: Now through 31 March 2008
How: See http://help.launchpad.net/logo for more details and official rules
Prize: Winner will receive an Ubuntu Messenger Bag
Launchpad 1.1.12 now live!
Published by Matthew Revell December 20, 2007 in Releases
Welcome to the last Launchpad release of 2007! The highlights of Launchpad 1.1.12 include:
- Project announcements: get the latest news from a project or
distribution directly on its Launchpad overview page. Or subscribe
to its Atom feed. - Bug feeds: subscribe to an Atom feed of all the bugs related to any distribution, project, team and person in Launchpad. Also subscribe to individual bugs.
- Higher quality bug reports: if you’re a project owner you can now ask Launchpad to display your bug reporting guidelines to people who file bugs against your project.
- Launchpad is running Bazaar 1.0.0. Congratulations to the Bazaar team on this new release!
Read the full release notes for more on what’s new in this release. See you next year when we’ll be back in January with Launchpad 1.2.1!
Zope CMF and LibMMS switch to Launchpad
Published by Matthew Revell in General
Another part of the Zope project – the Zope Content Management Framework (CMF) – has joined both Zope 2 and Zope 3 in using Launchpad to track bugs, making it much easier for all three to work together on common bugs.
Similarly, Soren Hansen is now using Launchpad to track bugs and host code for LibMMS, a library for connecting to Window Media streams. He told me why he wanted to host the code in Launchpad:
“I have a couple of other projects on Launchpad that I pretty much just put there to share them with co-workers and such, but out of nowhere, branches popped up with new features from people I’ve never talked to (neither before nor since).
“It’s really distributed revision system at it’s best. One of the things that could have gone wrong when people started adopting distributed version control was that changes would never flow back upstream. Adding Launchpad to the workflow makes it all come together naturally.”
