October 6, 2003

Another cut was posted this morning, with a few more border etc. changes, and a much more comprehensive set of color changes included, which should cover most everything that slipped through the cracks last time, leaving those garish effects. Also, most changes now apply only to X11 versions of Tk, leaving Aqua and Windows mostly alone.

Next cut will hopefully fill in any missing pieces to the above, and start mucking with fonts. We also need to start getting some new megawidgets included (e.g. combobox) soon. As well, its time to start identifying some things as TIP's to start getting improvements moved into the core. Note also there's been some discussion on the core list about named colors, and being able to use that mechanism to adapt the appearance according to window manager (theme) changes.

September 22, 2003

A first cut strawman release of a Griffin Starkit last week encouraged a number of people to try things out. While the results (as expected) weren't stellar, the main point of doing this was to validate the process. Releasing as a self-contained Starkit containing both the code and demo apps made it very quick and easy for people to try things out on their systems, and report back via descriptions and screenshots on problems and suggest future improvements.

I've got to find some more time to put out an iteration based on that initial feedback soon, to keep the process going (anyone else who would like to do so, please volunteer - I still don't have a lot of time to devote to "free" work right now). Will is also trying to move ahead adding option support to Snit, a requirement for a megawidget basis. I'd like to see that and one or two megawidgets contained in a Griffin release in the not too far future. Finally, note that there is a new page started on the ProjectForum site talking about the how/what/when to move improvements back into the Tk core.

September 8, 2003

It's been a bit slower few weeks on the forum, with a fair bit of incremental work in terms of figuring out what people would like to see. Both Steve and I have been otherwise occupied for the last while as well, but are now starting to find a bit more time to devote to Tk.

Our plans for the next while are to consolidate the extensive list of improvements that are scattered throughout the forum into a set of deliverables and start scheduling tasks from that, finding volunteers for specific items, etc.

August 18, 2003

Just a quick update... note that both Steve and myself have some other major commitments over the next week or two so moderation on the forum will be lighter than usual.

This last week saw a lot of work towards fleshing out requirements for a core megawidget framework (needed to effectively build Tcl based widgets), including a closer look at Snit and Incr Tk. The list of new widgets to include has mostly settled down. Also, there's some support from the tcl-core list to make the Tk improvements one of the defining features for 8.5, which is great news.

In the near future, we'll continue closing in on the megawidget framework and widget list, but also start looking towards what it will take to get the first deliverable on the roadmap (an easy add-on package containing widget configuration changes, possibly some script only widgets, and one or two demo examples, which still need to be written). We'll also be thrashing out a longer term schedule when we can.

August 11, 2003

Beginning with a much-needed kick in the ass by Larry McVoy at the 10th Tcl/Tk Conference (thanks Clif!), the chance to breath new life into Tk has caught a lot of peoples' attention, generating lots of excitement, ideas and contributions from the community. Clif created a mailing list, and a ProjectForum site was established to focus activity.

In the first week, the site has been used to clarify the scope of the project and its goals, particularly with people who had not attended the conference. A project roadmap has been outlined, to provide a framework and timeline. We're rapidly closing in on a list of new widgets to add in to the core, and are cataloging the existing assets we can leverage to do this.

In the near future, we need help in several areas. We need to identify/create some "key examples" which will be used as the basis to evaluate and thus drive improvements to widgets and options. We need to finalize the list of widgets to be included, and we need to identify existing assets, e.g. BWidgets, Tix, IWidgets, and others, picking out both well-implemented widgets and those with good API's to use for each new core widget.

Posted at Jul 08/2004 02:33 PM:
DKF: Hmm. Status of the revitalization project is defunct. Who is going to put the bell on the cat and contribute a new widget to the core? New widgets are very visible.

Posted at Aug 23/2004 07:42 AM:
LV: apparently there is less need for revitalization than there is desire ... and the desire is not all that strong.