2004.09_Projects-Free Software and Its Makers.pdf

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Free Software Projects

Projects on the Move

Free software covers such a diverse

WindowMaker [3]. WindowMaker

does not use the GNUstep libraries,

providing its own instead, although

the look and feel is more or less

identical.

Being based on OpenStep,

GNUstep has the reputation of

being efficient, simple, quick, and

well thought out. The project also

has some qualities that set it apart

from other desktop environments.

There is a good selection of “RAD

Tools” (RAD stands for Rapid

Application Development) that sup-

port fast application development.

Native display support for Post-

script files is another interesting feature;

this is another OpenStep capability. For

example, the Analog Clock [4] is a sim-

ple clock that displays the time in

Postscript format.

range of utilities, applications and

other assorted projects, that it can

be hard to find the perfect tool

from all that programming effort.

BY MARTIN LOSCHWITZ

you occasionally need a little

help to make your choice of what

to use. We pick the best of the bunch for

you: the GNUstep development frame-

work, the ViewSVN Subversion

front-end, and comments on the Sarge

release.

Some people prefer to use a Linux dis-

tro with a collection of pre-compiled,

ready to run software. Others prefer the

DIY approach. For readers who prefer to

work with their own tailor-made distrib-

ution, Linux From Scratch [1] is just

what the doctor ordered. It has all the

basic tools needed to compile a system

from the source code. In contrast to

meta-distributions like Gentoo, this dis-

tro does not even include a compiler.

The current version 5.1.1 of Linux From

Scratch has been up for grabs from [1]

since the beginning of June this year.

taken over by Apple in 1997, who then

integrated OpenStep into Mac OS X.

GNUstep is a complete development

framework, including a widget toolkit

among other features, and thus a fully-

fledged replacement for Qt and GTK.

There have been GNUstep window

managers in recent years, although they

have typically been unable to proceed

beyond an early beta before their devel-

opers gave up. If you are interested in

what GNUstep looks like, take a look at

Full-Featured

The distro includes a range of applica-

tions such as the GUI-based GNUMail [5]

mail client, the Cynthiune [6] audio

player, and GNUWash [7], a countdown

timer, and a useful tool for timed activi-

GNUstep

Most Linux users will be familiar with

the terms Qt/KDE and GTK/Gnome.

They will associate them with widget

toolkits and their matching desktop envi-

ronments. GNUstep may be less familiar

to most, although it has the potential to

take on its more popular counterparts.

GNUstep is based on the OpenStep

specification [2], which was originally

published by NeXT (founded by Apple

boss Steve Jobs) in 1994. NeXT was

Figure 1: The GNUstep environment can easily hold sway with KDE and Gnome. It performs well and is

easy to use. The GNUstep Live CD allows users to test the desktop without risk – no install required.

September 2004

www.linux-magazine.com

An up-to-date overview of free software and its makers

A s the range increases so rapidly,

Free Software Projects

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ties. More communicative readers will

appreciate TalkSoup [8], a GUI-based

IRC-Client. GWorkspace is GNUstep’s

standard file manager [9].

If you are interested in testing

GNUstep, check out the GNUstep Live

CD [10] by Gürkan Sengün. The CD pro-

vides a fully-functional desktop with a

selection of major programs pre-

installed. Thanks to the Morphixinstaller

tool, you can easily put the GUI desktop

on your hard disk. As a special feature,

the Live CD also allows users to install a

Hurd kernel.

So if you think that KDE and Gnome

are too hard on resources, you might be

happier with GNUstep. The GUI desktop

is simple, but full-featured. GNUstep is

seriously quick, and does not take up

much hard disk space. If you are not pre-

pared to sacrifice precious resources for

the environment, you can simply use

Gürkan Sengün’s Live CD.

full-fledged Subversion interface to those

users who are chary of the command

line.

appearing to be doing nothing but pitch-

ing their two cents’ worth into Debian

mailing lists.

As an example, let’s take a look at the

row on support for AMD 64 processors

that reached its sad climax in June this

year. The AMD 64 architecture explicitly

supports the execution of 32 bit binaries.

The problem is that these 32 bit pro-

grams required 32 bit libraries. The

system has to provide them, along with

the 64 bit libraries needed for 64 bit pro-

grams [12]. Having both versions of a

library on a system would mean modify-

ing the dpkg package manager.

Let’s Stop Moaning and

Cooperate

The Open Source Community has always

looked for ways to improve its own pro-

grams, and has done without formalities

thus far. Political discussions were more

or less invisible to outsiders, the Debian

project being no exception. Although the

Debian developers are not renowned for

their speed with regard to new releases,

each release has provided important

enhancements. New versions have

always been carefully implemented, and

most upgrades went off without hitches.

Debian is again going through major

changes at this time of writing.

Debian GNU/Linux needs to support

the new Opteron and Athlon 64 CPUs,

and debate is still raging on the GFDL,

the GNU Free Documentation License.

Besides this, there are always the tasks

of updating software for the upcoming

Sarge version, and completing the

Debian Installer.

Recent months have shown a disturb-

ing propensity among developers to fight

internal issues out in public. This may

appear to be a welcome step toward

more transparency at first glance, but it

does cause some major issues, with

more and more Debian developers

Flamewars and no End in

Sight

Goswin von Brederlow bravely sug-

gested an approach to extending dpkg

step by step to add so-called “Multiarch”

support. This resulted in a gigantic

flamewar, and a long-drawn-out discus-

sion on what to call the Debian port,

x86_64 or amd64. The developers finally

agreed on amd64, before going on to

compile all the packages in the archive

to support the AMD 64 architecture in a

process that took several months. How-

ever, Scott Remnant, the dpkg

maintainer, found the name for the port

unsuitable, preferring to call it x86_64 in

dpkg. This meant that none of the pack-

ages compiled for the AMD 64 would

work, and inevitably led to more discus-

sions.

The debates on the GFDL, or

binary-only firmware [13] are

just two more examples of how

frustrating public discussions

can be. Following protracted

debates on the usual mailing

lists, the developers agreed to

classify the GFDL as non-free,

and to remove binary software

from Debian. It seems quite

obvious that most developers

had not considered the drastic

consequences of their deci-

sions, which did not hit home

until some time later. When it

became apparent that the Sarge

release would need to be post-

poned for several months,

some developers tried to

reverse the decisions to avoid

impacting the release sched-

ule.

ViewSVN

CVS is out, the more modern Subversion

(SVN) seems to be the way to go in

future. Although Subversion was tagged

unstable up to just a few months ago,

many projects have already started to

use it. However, SVN turned out to have

an issue, that CVS originally had. Users

without the skills needed to use the com-

mand line client were out on their own

for lack of a GUI-based interface.

ViewSVN [11], a program that

displays Subversion folders in a

browser, has been around for a

while now. Although the viewer

is “pre-Alpha”, it has a quite an

impressive range of functions.

The current version 0.0.4 is

capable of displaying files and

directories, and provides a

graphic display of the diffs for

two versions of a file.

The program needs a Web

server and PHP. It is particularly

interesting for admins who still

use an Apache 1.* version, or

some other Web server. Apache

2 does not need ViewSVN, hav-

ing the ability to display SVN

directories natively thanks to

WebDAV. Apache 1 does not

have this ability. It remains to be

hoped that the developers will

add more functions to provide a

Figure 2: The GNUMail program also runs on Mac OS X. Besides the

mail client, a whole bunch of other applications is available for the

GNUstep environment.

www.linux-magazine.com September 2004

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Free Software Projects

The attempt proved extremely diffi-

cult. Whenever it seemed that the

proposals were ready for voting, a new

proposal suddenly appeared and needed

to be evaluated. Despite the awkward

situation, Debian was simply incapable

of reaching a quick decision.

Of course, there is nothing basically

wrong with discussions among develop-

ers. On the contrary, they provoke

innovations, and help to clarify common

points-of-view. This said, it can hardly

be constructive to embark on endless

debates that stray so far from accepted

conventions. A stubborn decision-mak-

ing process can cripple the development

of the whole distribution. Recently, end-

less discussions have even led to

time-served Debian developers quitting

the project, such as Christian Marillat,

who was more-or-less mobbed.

and are in for real trouble when they

attempt to install Debian on a system

with current hardware.

Who knows why the Debian arena has

developed into a platform for fierce

debate, rather than a platform for sensi-

ble decisions. One of the major factors

seems to be the fact that many project

members are looking to assert their

rights, while more influential developers

are attempting to lead the way. The

Debian Project Leader has increasingly

become a representative figure, although

the position theoretically allows more

decision-making. Additionally, conserva-

tive members often oppose change on

principle.

It is now 2004, and if you think that

users will be happy with software dating

back to 2002, don’t be surprised if peo-

ple do not take you seriously. The

developers need to finally make those

important unresolved decisions. Sarge

has to be released as soon as possible,

and there must be an end to the spurious

arguments preventing AMD 64 support

in Debian.

If the developers are unable to reach a

decision on these critical issues in the

near future, the outcome may be a crisis

at Debian. With some 900 developers,

Debian is the biggest Open Source Com-

munity project, and a role-model for

many. How can we expect to protect the

world of free software against the threat

of software patents and outrageous copy-

right demands if its biggest project is

incapable of finding an internal consen-

sus?

That’s all folks…

… for this month at least, but we do

have one request before we go: If you

can recommend a program that you

would like to see featured in Projects on

the Move , why not mail me with your

suggestion [14]? I look forward to your

comments!

■

INFO

[1] Linux From Scratch:

http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

[2] OpenStep specifications:

http://www.gnustep.org/resources/

OpenStepSpec/OpenStepIntro/TXT.html

[3] WindowMaker:

http://www.windowmaker.org/

[4] Analog Clock:

http://www.linuks.mine.nu/aclock/

[5] GNUMail:

http://www.collaboration-world.com/

cgi-bin/project/index.cgi?pid=2/

[6] Cynthiune: http://organact.mine.nu/

~wolfgang/cynthiune/

[7] GNUWash: http://pyromatz.dyndns.org/

gnustep/gnuwash.html

[8] TalkSoup:

http://linuks.mine.nu/andy/talksoup/

[9] GWorkspace: http://www.gnustep.it/

enrico/gworkspace/

[10] GNUstep Live CD:

http://linuks.mine.nu/gnustep/

[11] ViewSVN: http://developer.berlios.de/

projects/viewsvn/

[12] Martin Loschwitz,“Projects on the Move”:

Linux Magazine, Issue 42, May 2004, p86

[13] Martin Loschwitz,“Projects on the Move”:

Linux Magazine, Issue 45, August 2004,

p86

[14] Tips and suggestions:

projects@linux-magazine.com

Crisis Looming?

This causes the most hurt to developers

who put in several hours of work on the

distro and its infrastructure every day.

They feel cheated when they see that

their co-developers have nothing better

to do than fight about minimal issues on

the pertinent mailing lists. This also

impacts the users, who are being asked

to make do with antiquated software,

Figure 3: Information on the upcoming Debian Sarge version. Developers have repeatedly had to post-

pone the release date due to frictions within the project.

Martin Loschwitz is from a small Ger-

man town called Niederkrüchten and

a developer for Debian GNU/Linux.

Martin’s leisure time is mainly pre-

occupied with activities in the Debian

or GNU community.

September 2004

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