Strategies

• consolidate + maximise the value of latest Tcl
• provide good out of box experience for Tk
• aim for a long-lived classic Tcl + Tk release
• split core modules (including Tk) into separate “sub-projects’ with own release cycle

Tcl/Tk 8.6 would be Tcl/Tk 8.5 plus a key new feature - TclOO.

Why TclOO in Tcl 8.6? For a number of reasons:

• Donal has almost completed it, and so it is “low hanging fruit”
• it will get the “Tcl doesn’t have OO” argument off the agenda in a way that doesn’t force people to use it (yes Larry, we know you hate it but not everyone does)
• it will enable itcl support without the internal itcl core hacks (via Arnulf’s itcl-ng)
• it will facilitate a standard megawidget mechanism for Tk (be it snit or Damon’s or something else)

In the case of Tcl, classic means “maintained but not actively developed” - that is, from 8.5 onwards Tcl is only enhanced with features needed to improve Tk, and any development effort is focussed on the next generation of Tcl (see later).

In the case of Tk, classic means “I’d want that on my bookshelf” - i.e. there may be a series of releases (Tcl/Tk 8.6, 8.7, etc) but they are focussed on achieving a modern look and feel out of the box, with new defaults and new widgets (and/or integration of third party widgets)

What goes into Tk 8.6?

• Jeff’s GOOBE ideas (Jeff, please expand)
• Damon’s work?
• maybe tklib::widget and other parts of tklib
• other “best of breed” Tk extensions such as tktable, tktreectl, img, etc
• a decent TIle theme on X11
• and consideration needs to be given to finishing the plugin

Basically, anything that will make Tk 8.6 look good out of the box and is relatively low hanging fruit. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just sufficient - especially given the New Tcl and New Tk efforts might radically change the language implementation.

An 8.6 classic release would also be a basis for people seeking to develop a reasonably sized distribution containing best of breed or common extensions (ref. Larry’s ideas) - see modular Tcl below.

Notes

• Expect et al can depend on classic forever (as can itcl via tclOO + itcl-ng)
• get 8.5 out as soon as possible
• get 8.6 out as soon as possible after 8.5
• add new point releases on a much quicker cycle, driven by features being added to Tk