[Peep-develop] 0.5.0-rc2 development complete

[Collin S. <col...@co...>]

While the release cycle slowed down recently due to Michael's and my
critical paths reaching critical mass, we are moving steadily towards
the final 0.5.0 release.

Following a marathon hacking session this eve a litany of bugs were
ferreted out and a tentative release candidate number 2 (0.5.0-rc2)
produced.

The 0.5.0 clients are now stable and pass all regression tests.  Some
final checks will be made this weekend and the official announcement is
anticipated early next week.

The release will include 

* Support for 2 protocols: UDP/TCP (with SSL support on its way)
* XML themes! <- Portable themes that allow a Peep installation to 
  configure out of the box.
* Plug-in architecture for post-processing
* XML messaging
* Better stability. Yeah. This should be a lot more stable.
* New sound effect architecture - makes adding new effects simple
* New repository layout. Sounds are better organized and organization 
  is now based on directory structure, rather than file numbers.
* ALSA 0.9.x support (But untested).
* Better debugging support 

After this release candidate, the final feature enhancement prior to the
0.5.0 release will be SSL support for secure client-server
communication.

Those who have not visited the homepage recently may want to take a look
at a recent screenshot of a prototype visualization component planned
for later in the 0.5.x series.

Stay tuned!

-Collin

-- 
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Collin Starkweather              http://www.collinstarkweather.com
Consulting Software Engineer      col...@co...
Ph.D. Candidate     University of Colorado Department of Economics
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