Richard A. Guay wrote:
>
> To those who only complain, why don't you help in cleaning it up
> instead of begroaning it!
I spent probably 8 hours roving around in the code making improvements.
Then realized that I was dealing with things that were all conceptually
simple and more trouble to fix within the existing framework than to replace.
The code is very fragile and mostly unmaintainable. Period.
Several people have responded emotionally: "But I like fvwm."
Fine. I mostly like it too.
But probably four others (some in direct email) have responded more directly
to my comments about the code and it's cruftiness: "I totally agree with you."
"Plan to throw one away; you will, anyhow."
-- Frederick P. Brooks, Jr, _The Mythical Man-Month_
> If you are so dissaticfied, then leave!
I am. And I'm inviting other developers to come along and put their efforts
into another project that is going somewhere...as opposed to one that hasn't
managed to even assemble the patches sent to the mailing list in SIX MONTHS.
Users should stay with fvwm2 as long as they like.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
> You do not have to try to get everyone else mad about fvwm. That
> only causes people not to try to work with it and fix it up. If you
> refuse to be helpful, then just be quite!
My advice to programmers that they look at the other window managers as a
starting point for improvement is given with the best of intentions.
Fvwm2 development is for all intents and purposes stopped and dead.
Meanwhile, there is an fvwm2 variant (AfterStep) that seems alive and well.
Also, there are two other promising WM projects (Enlightenment, and
WindowMaker) that have been totally rewritten and that have large and active
user-bases.
Some people have suggested that fvwm 3.0 should be a complete rewrite.
Perhaps so, but it's reckless to embark on such an effort without carefully
looking at the other "complete rewrites" that are actively underway while
fvwm2.0.45 has been the "current" release SINCE JANUARY: dead by definition.
I have been a relatively happy user of fvwm2. I just don't see the point in
starting to write code for it.
I don't even care if the guy doing Enlightenment is a little cranky and
doesn't bother to watch his spelling. He's doing very cool work and the E
hackers are ambitious to the point of planning X11 extensions just to
achieve the Quality results (shaped window transparency for see-through
menus and icons) that they demand from their windowing environment...
Probably I've been preaching to the "unconvertable," but I hope that you
[all] can accept this as a wake-up call and not a cop-out.
Stig
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Received on Mon Jul 07 1997 - 12:25:26 BST