Notes From Worldwide Developer Conference
Here are the highlights from the conference for those who missed it. The Lullabot guys will publish a podcast of the entire conference call later. There was also an IRC chat in parallel with the conference. Not sure if anyone is going to publish that or not. Part 1: Dries talked about the future of Drupal mainly. Making Drupal easier for users is a primary goal. The following are the areas of focus for the next Drupal release - Installer Paves the way for install profiles. Being written by CivicSpace (Kieran Lal, Jeremy). - CCK Allows creation of node types without creating modules - Views Very powerful presentation tool - URL aliases Easier for users and modules to create aliases - Templating Move theming stuff out of modules into template files. Separates code from presentation. - Better File/Image Handling Upload module needs improvements. File handling - Default theme in core Bluemarine has served its purpose, but need something less boring. - Internationalization Translating Drupal into different languages, and countries/regions that are bi/multilingual (Europe, Canada, ...etc.) - Usability changes / Performance Improvements Block visibility by role. Forum/Flatforum. This is not an exhaustive list. There are other areas for improvement. Help with ideas, contributing code, testing patches, writing documentation or in any other area that you feel like. Questions and Answers: - Drupal Foundation. No decision on this so far. - Adoption of 3rd party Javascript library. What we have works. No commitment to other parties so far. - What are the interesting Summer of Code projects? Usability and accessability of Drupal - Dries and Drupal Will continue to spend time on Drupal since it interests him. - Image modules are popular downloads Part 2: Karoly Negyesi (chx) (Poor voice quality. Hard to hear much. I missed that part.) Part 3: Angela Byron (webchick) Much better voice quality! Overview of Google 2006 Summer of Code projects, one by one. Could not accept all applicants. Only 14 of them. Konstantin Kaefer gave an overview of his project: Drupal administration improvement. Conference still going as I sign off from it.
Part 2: Karoly Negyesi (chx) (Poor voice quality. Hard to hear much. I missed that part.)
Go and post into Skype forum that on Linux they should use ALSA drivers. They already got a few (hundred) such posts but they can't get enough bashing for using OSS drivers. That's like creating a website with Drupal 3.0. It was good back then but not now. I already talked with jjeff to rerecord this part via GTalk / Tapioca.
Op donderdag 25 mei 2006 22:26, schreef Karoly Negyesi:
Go and post into Skype forum that on Linux they should use ALSA drivers. They already got a few (hundred) such posts but they can't get enough bashing for using OSS drivers. That's like creating a website with Drupal 3.0. It was good back then but not now.
Here is a mail I sent to some other ML a while ago about the exact same matter: ... Or wire some funds to the KDE/Gnome folks for SIP/asterisk/etc funds. Yes. Skype is great. Its just as great as Myspaces. Or MSN, or even Google. You cannot do without, so you will HAVE to live with its downsides. And the more they become the #1, the less they care about these downsides. Skype has been promising ALSA supprt (serious how hard is that? ALSA is far, far easier in terms of libraries, APIS and all that) for nearly a year now. They are not caring about *nix. They just care about shares and marketshare, like any comercial company should. All they do is keep us happy with promises about ALSA. "we are really working on ALSA right now". If they would put ONE man on it for a full day, it would prolly be done. ALSA is really easy. We should help the OSS world set up a non-commercial, free (as in beer and as in freedom), non-closed, easy-to-develop-on-top-of app. http://wiki.kde.org/tiki-index.php?page=Google+Talk+support http://www.gnomemeeting.org/ Imagine that power: addressbook app: John Contact : mail John | speak to John | IM John (John is offline right now on all the messaging stuff) Information: John was last online on MSN friday. You spoke to Yohn Thursday (re-listen the conversation) and so on. These things are not possible if we keep leaning on companies like skype. But become possible if we fund projects by companies like SuSE or RedHat. That steer projects like KDE(kopete) or Gnome (meeting) --- re: Drupal --- Else we need to decide on "going commercial" where we wire funds into a pot that pays us for meetings like this. That pays Karoly for a second soundcard (I bought a 2nd card for Skype/Linux alone) And that funds our commercial activities. But as long as we do not have this, we should consider not to use such limiting (but well marketed, and well built, do not get me wrong) organisations like Skype. Bèr -- [ End user Drupal services and hosting | Sympal.nl ] Drupal upgrade repareert kritiek beveiligingslek: http://help.sympal.nl/drupal_upgrade_repareert_kritiek_beveiligingslek
On 25-May-06, at 2:04 PM, Bèr Kessels wrote:
Op donderdag 25 mei 2006 22:26, schreef Karoly Negyesi:
Go and post into Skype forum that on Linux they should use ALSA drivers. They already got a few (hundred) such posts but they can't get enough bashing for using OSS drivers. That's like creating a website with Drupal 3.0. It was good back then but not now.
Here is a mail I sent to some other ML a while ago about the exact same matter: ... Or wire some funds to the KDE/Gnome folks for SIP/asterisk/etc funds.
<snip> <snip> The Gizmo project is SIP and now works with any SIP system, not just Gizmo itself. Jingle libraries are adding voice capabilities to various Jabber clients. Skype works today, but we have several up and coming replacements. I believe some folks at CivicSpace have occasional access (?) to an Asterisk box. I think we can probably fund an Asterisk box for testing out of Germany, I bet we can get one put in at OSL, and we can probably get another in at a San Fran. The Enterprise group on groups.drupal.org (http://groups.drupal.org/ enterprise) might be a good place to organize around this. -- Boris
There are working corss platform solutions.
Skype works today, but we have several up and coming replacements.
Actualy, your only biggish problems with linux sip clients are coming from varios firwalled/NATed network setups. STUN doesn't work in all scenarios. On linux I've been using KPhone, Ekiga(gnomemeeting), sip communicator (a java client) and some homebrew for a while without major problems. I mean using audio/video conferencing including group conferences. Asterisk and SER are doing a fine job indeed. OpenMCU & friends are a working platform. The real problems are not really technological. They are UI on the client side and lack of sufficient sysadmin skills for deploying decent VOIP setups. The third problem is that more often than not, users on most platforms will need holding their hands a bit until they get the best from their hardware - microphone setups, echo cancellation, etc...
I believe some folks at CivicSpace have occasional access (?) to an Asterisk box. I think we can probably fund an Asterisk box for testing out of Germany, I bet we can get one put in at OSL, and we can probably get another in at a San Fran. I can discuss the same in Cardiff, so we can possibly have a box here as well.
For practical conferencing meetings a good place to research is VRVS, as in vrvs.org - this is Internet2 and High Energy Physicsonline community, which is open to the public. I think it could be possible to have a drupal section there. It is a web portal to H.323, SIP/SDP and VNC. It supports virually any sip or h.323 setup including it used to have sip communicator launchable from their website. Cheers, Vlado
On 25 May, 2006, at 16:50, Boris Mann wrote:
The Gizmo project is SIP and now works with any SIP system, not just Gizmo itself.
I have been using Gizmo for some time as a replacement for Skype. In general I am much happier with it than I ever was with Skype. The biggest plus is that it is not all proprietary. Being able to use existing SIP-enabled devices and services rather than only Skype- proprietary ones is a huge plus. Maybe next time we can try Gizmo. Maybe we should just set up a test conference call and see how the quality compares. Anyone interested?
The Gizmo project is SIP and now works with any SIP system, not just Gizmo itself.
I have been using Gizmo for some time as a replacement for Skype. In general I am much happier with it than I ever was with Skype. The biggest plus is that it is not all proprietary. Being able to use existing SIP-enabled devices and services rather than only Skype- proprietary ones is a huge plus.
Maybe next time we can try Gizmo. Maybe we should just set up a test conference call and see how the quality compares. Anyone interested?
- Does it work behind NAT? (that is my major gripe against SIP) - Can you prod your contacts on Skype to move to it easily?
On 26 May, 2006, at 10:09, Khalid B wrote:
The Gizmo project is SIP and now works with any SIP system, not just Gizmo itself.
I have been using Gizmo for some time as a replacement for Skype. In general I am much happier with it than I ever was with Skype. The biggest plus is that it is not all proprietary. Being able to use existing SIP-enabled devices and services rather than only Skype- proprietary ones is a huge plus.
Maybe next time we can try Gizmo. Maybe we should just set up a test conference call and see how the quality compares. Anyone interested?
- Does it work behind NAT? (that is my major gripe against SIP)
Yes, Gizmo itself does. SIP may still have issues, but I have used Gizmo behind several firewalls both with and without NAT.
- Can you prod your contacts on Skype to move to it easily?
It's very similar and an easy transition. The prices for call in and call out are very similar. Gizmo includes free voice mail, but unlike Skype it e-mails you the message rather than storing it. Gizmo and Skype have had a bit of a price war going on lately, specifically for calls to US land lines. Gizmo even has a plugin for Adium if you're an OS X user, so you don't have to run Gizmo at all. Adium will show your Gizmo buddies right along side of all the other IM systems. You can chat with and talk with gizmo users through Adium.
That pays Karoly for a second soundcard (I bought a 2nd card for Skype/Linux alone)
Karoly has two sound cards (one motherboard, one Turtle Beach Santa Cruz) and exactly that causes the problems... But if you say a third sound card -- a PCI one -- will solve problems, I will be happy to shell out the necessary $10-20.
Hello Karoly! I heard you yesterday :)
Karoly has two sound cards (one motherboard, one Turtle Beach Santa Cruz) and exactly that causes the problems...
If the problem is that you have *two* sound cards at once, maybe you can disable integrated sound in BIOS? -- Kind regards, Dmitry mailto:dgukov@gmail.com
I signed in for a few minutes but then my system started nagging about sound stuff and crap like that. So I decided to kill skype for the evening.... some initial remarks: Op donderdag 25 mei 2006 22:06, schreef Khalid B:
- Better File/Image Handling Upload module needs improvements. File handling
Image handling and file handling are NOT two in one. We have perfect, simple solutions in contribs and even in various patches for core to handle images. Fixing the file system should NOT hold us from another release with no image support, Folks, this is 2006, where images are almost to be considered passé, yet Drupal has nothing, absolutely nothing wrt images. This is unacceptable.
- Default theme in core Bluemarine has served its purpose, but need something less boring.
Why not two? One for the eye and one for the fingers? Box_grey is IMO still the best one for developing (fingers) your own theme. While goodlookers are nearly always very hard to customise. Two new themes? Or even: Two themes and the rest out? With the goodlooker being the default and the development theme idling for those who wnat to explore the realms of Drupal Theming?
- Internationalization Translating Drupal into different languages, and countries/regions that are bi/multilingual (Europe, Canada, ...etc.)
Drupal should commit to a release (5.0) with multilinguality, else this is never ever going to happen. I know we dont do roadmaps. But the result of not doing roadmaps is amongs others that we still have nothing Really Solid and Working in core for more languanges. Again: this is 2006 ... blablabla ... This is unacceptable. four years with only one i18n that needed patching and solved only a subset of all the possible i18n needs. This is even mor unacceptable if you think about the place where Drupal was bor: Belgium, one of the countries that are multilingual all trough their bones. ;)
- Image modules are popular downloads DOH! (sorry, but this almost makes me cry :) )
And I put this forward before: The fact that *all* image modules are so high up, indicates IMO that none of them are really what people need (no, this one is bad too, lets download the next one in the list...)
Konstantin Kaefer gave an overview of his project: Drupal administration improvement.
Will this make it into some post/mail/proposal/wiki or whatever? Because I beleive the -one but- most important (images being the first) end-user improvement that needs to be taken care of, If we wish to continue in the end-user-market, with Drupal, we need a good admin interface. Even if this means going back to the admin-theme concept. The current way, where half of the themes make administration completely impossible, where stuff is ordered historical above everything else, is, again, unnacceptible in 2006. And I hear some of you think: talk talk talk, where are the patches? well go look, all these points have patches, all of them somehow refused or discontinued. Regards Bèr Kessels
participants (7)
-
Boris Mann -
Bèr Kessels -
Dmitry Gukov -
Jim Riggs -
Karoly Negyesi -
Khalid B -
Vladimir Zlatanov