[wxWorkshop-dev] ** wxWorkshop Reorganization **

[<wxw...@li...>]

** wxWorkshop **
** Reorganization **

Today I have taken over as one of the Administrators of the wxWorkshop 
Project.  I look forward to re-invigorating the project, and moving it 
into the present. 

I have also added another administrator who will help with the project 
management and generally keep the group on track with the goals.

The goals of wxWorkshop hasn't changed in that the end product is still 
going to be an IDE & RAD tool for wxWidgets that will work for Linux, 
Windows, Unix, and MacIntosh platforms.  And it will still be a totally 
GPL licensed program which is the license wxWorkshop has been all along.

I am going to make some changes to how wxWorkshop is developed and 
managed, with the idea that we're going to get a release yet out of this 
project, and a very powerful program that wxWidgets Developers will want 
to use.  Therefore, some of the changes:

    * wxMSW Development on wxWorkshop will be put into its own Branch in
      the CVS Software Repository, and will be suspended until
      wxWorkshop is fixed to work correctly on wxGTK, wxX, and wxMAC
      platforms.  Once the code does work on those platforms, the wxMSW
      code will be merged back into the repository main branch, and all
      wxWidgets platforms will continue.
    * wxWorkshop will now use good Portable Coding Standards on all
      platforms, which will be rigidly enforced.  There is no reason
      that the exact same source code can not work on all platforms.
    * Also, wxWorkshop will be coded entirely in Unicode.  The Unicode
      macros in wxWidgets will still compile on ANSI versions of
      wxWidgets so that the Developers using wxWorkshop will now have a
      choice depending on which wxWidgets version they use.
    * No wxWorkshop releases will occur unless wxWorkshop works on all
      platforms equally well with the features implemented for that release.
    * wxWorkshop will now be refactored to replace obsolete and
      deprecated code and libraries, and made to work with the latest
      wxWidgets toolset and platforms at the time of the releases.
    * wxWorkshop will now accept contributions:  Labor AND Monetary
      contributions to help those of us to bring wxWorkshop to completion.
    * A new timeframe will be set up to the completion of wxWorkshop. 
      If it is just myself working on wxWorkshop, I predict that I will
      have the first full release of wxWorkshop sometimes in 2009;
      sooner if I have help.  Of course, this date is just an estimate
      and may change.  (BTW, I will not abandon developing this tool
      since it is critical to the success of my future projects).
    * I make the pledge to Developers that whatever code they contribute
      will stay in wxWorkshop under the GPL or LGPL licensing.  None of
      the source code will be allowed to be allocated into closed-source
      environments.  Developers, as the authors of the code, will retain
      full rights to the code under the GPL.  At no time will wxWorkshop
      become a closed-sourced program/application.


So, who do we need to get wxWorkshop implemented and released?  We need:

    * wxGTK, wxX, and wxMAC contributing programmers (we'll be ready for
      wxMSW contributing programmers once wxWorkshop is consistent on
      all platforms).  Initially the work will be total refactoring,
      replacing deprecated functions/libraries, and bringing the source
      code up to good programming standards (example:  All hardcoded
      strings and numbers to be moved to include files, and referred in
      the rest of the code as defined symbols.  This makes for much
      easier translation of wxWorkshop to other languages)
    * Autotools/Autoconf & Bakefile experts who can work with the build
      system to allow for the libraries to be built as either static or
      dynamic libraries, and allow the entire source code to be built as
      debug or release versions.
    * Contributors who can correct and write the manuals, user guides,
      and tutorials.

 
    I am hoping for a good resurrection of wxWorkshop and hope many of 
you agree that wxWorkshop has the potential to be an excellent tool for 
the community.  I look forward to working with everyone in making a good 
and serious cross-platform tool that helps adoption of wxWidgets everywhere.

--Spicerun