Evolution — the open-source mail and calendar program from the GNOME desktop environment — is getting ported to Windows. Finnish hacker Tor Lillqvist, who brought the GIMP image editor to Windows, is behind the effort.
Finally, a decent alternative to Outlook!
Dr. Dave, author of the outstanding Spam Karma plugin for WordPress, has decided to create his own distribution of the open-source blog tool. Citing frustration with the handling of the development process by project leaders, he is independently distributing an altered version of WordPress with the next version of Spam Karma pre-installed.
Since WordPress is released under the open-source General Public License, Dr. Dave is completely within his rights to do this. Splitting off a separate version, or “fork,” of WordPress in this way has some serious drawbacks, however. The forked version won’t be officially supported in the WordPress forums, for one. Taking on the burden of support and maintenance for the fork may also consume so much of Dr. Dave’s time that he can’t further develop Spam Karma. On top of that, there’s the prospect of political turmoil and backlash within the WordPress user and developer communities.
That said, the prospect of a fork doesn’t bother me as much as the approach that was taken. Dr. Dave’s post announcing his intentions is snide — one might even say mean-spirited — in tone. Frankly, it all strikes me as a bit juvenile: “If you aren’t going to manage your open source project the way I like, then I’ll just take my marbles and go home!”
For my further thoughts on the fork and on the way it was handled, read my comment on Dr. Dave’s announcement.
Posted 4/19/2004 @ 1:43 AM
Dr. Dave has posted a lengthy, and quite gracious and restrained, response to the concerns I expressed in my comment on his announcement. While I’m still a little uneasy about the direction he’s chosen to go, I do understand it better.
It’s important to clarify that based on his reply to me this is not a fork of WordPress. My impression is that the core WordPress files will remain relatively untouched, with the differences being mostly in the area of minor bug fixes and better Spam Karma integration. No word yet on whether SK2 will remain available for those who opt to use the official releases. My guess is that it will be, but installation may be more of a headache. See Dr. Dave’s comment, below, for further clarification on this issue.
Someone has created a lightweight counterpart to the feature-rich Googlebar extension for Firefox and the Mozilla suite. Googlebar Lite strips out many of the rarely-used features of Googlebar in favor of a lean-and-mean approach to search.
I haven’t had a chance to try this yet, but I’m looking forward to giving it a shot. The full-fledged Googlebar seems to be a cause of frequent slow-downs and Firefox crashes on my home computer, though it runs just fine on my work PC (an Athlon-only problem?).
I’ll update this entry in a few days, after I’ve had a chance to see how the new toolbar works out.
(Props: The Unofficial Google Weblog)
Posted 4/18/2004 @ 9:31 PM
As promised, here’s an update on my experiences with Googlebar Lite now that I’ve had a few days to put it through its paces.
I’m happy to report that GBL is fast and reliable, and has solved the stability problems that the original Googlebar seemed to be causing on my home system. I can once again happily browse with 20 or more tabs open in a single window experiencing browser-killing slowdowns. The extension offers all the features I really need from a Google toolbar and not one more. I like it so much that I’m now using it at work, where I never had a problem with the older Googlebar.
So there you have it: Googlebar Lite is a winner. Stop reading this and go get it now. You can always come back here and thank me later. 
Wise-Women.org has an excellent tutorial on using structurally-sound (X)HTML to make the application of CSS styles easier. There’s a good list of linked resources at the bottom of the piece as well.
(Props: 456 Berea St)
Actually, I can totally see this:
“You’re Special Agent Dale Cooper. You’re often too brilliant for people to really follow, but your infectious enthusiasm makes up for the fact that you’re frequently incomprehensible. You are smart, intuitive, clear-headed, compassionate, and cute as hell — about your only flaw is your insane coffee consumption.”
At least the “incomprehensible” part. Maybe the “cute as hell” part, too.
Take the test yourself to find out what Twin Peaks character you are.
