Chakra Review

This is a review for Chkra the new and in development distri based on Arch and the KDEMod packages.

I am really hoping this distro gets to a usable version soon as I think it will replace Kubuntu as an easy but reliable KDE based distro thats not Suse! And it's based on Arch.....how cool!!

KDevelop 4, Beta 3.

KDevelop 4 Beta 3 is out and available for testing.

Grab it here.

Project Forking & MySql

This is an interesting article looking at the currently state of MySql since the take over by Oracle. It would seem a number of leading developers have now left (some even before Oracle arrived). There appear to be a number forks appearing and one of the original developers has now created the Open Database Alliance which aims to be a central hub for MySql and all derivatives including development, training and support.

This seems to be another example of how some open source projects go once they leave the control of the projects founder(s) or when a project gets to the size where many opinions are conflicting. As the above article mentions, glibc is currently suffering what appears to be a similar revolt as gcc suffered a number of years ago. People seem to be having "issues" with the glibc maintainer and some have gone so far as to file a bug against the maintainer. This, I don't think, is really the way to go and gives people ammo in the "OSS developers are rude, ignorant and unapproachable" argument which I find is, usually, the complete opposite of what I experience.

Whatever the outcome is both MySql and glibc appear to have interesting times ahead. Perhaps lessons can be learnt from these and previous projects that have suffered similar fates.

Amarok 2 Internet Streams.

As a music lover I should have by now poked around more in Amarok 2. I have until now only let it scan my modest collection and used it to play what it found.

However, sitting here tonight pondering a dodgy bit of Qt I was trying to write, I was looking for a distraction and found it in the various Internet based services that Amarok now hooks up to.

I am currently working my way through the Shoutcast service of Internet based radio stations. Based on the number of them I may be some time!

Bruce Byfields KDE 4.3 Beta Review

This is a link to Bruce Byfields latest review of KDE (4.3 Beta).

I did note the line towards the end of the second page that stated tha he is a fan of KDE 4.2. Good to see he was impressed enough to consider himself a "fan".

KDE 4.3 Beta 1.... Is Out

The Dot has officially anounched the availabilty of the first beta of KDE 4.3.

Lets get testing!!!!

New C++ Standard Overview.

Verity Stob one of my favourite tech writers has put together a quick overview of the changes coming in the new C++ standard.

You can find the article here

KDE 4.2.3 Is Out.

As detailed on the dot KDE 4.2.3 "Cuagmire" is out.

You can read the official release announcement here.

New KDE Systray

The plasma devs have been starting to show off the new systray that has been developed for 4.3. The video below shows off the new features.

Qt Creator Fake Vim

As seems to be fashionable latley I have been playing with Qt Creator (1.1).

As an IDE it comes very close to what I would want from an IDE. It's blazingly fast, it does not chew up ram like it's free candy and it does seemed to be designed to aid you in RAD type development. This is a refreshing change for someone that spends considerable time in Visual Studio 2008!

However, no matter how I try I seem to not be getting on with fake vim mode. This is a great shame as it is one thing I have always wanted in Visual Studio and (obviously) never managed. Perhaps it is me or is anyone else having issues?