[Trisquel-devel] First development alpha iso images of Trisquel 8.0 "Flidas"

[Luke]

On 11/29/2016 09:06 PM, Rubén Rodríguez wrote:
> Preliminary steps for the development of the next release are finished,
> including continuous-integration build jails, a Linux-Libre 4.4 based
> kernel, a bootstapable system and now functional Live images available
> at http://jenkins.trisquel.info/makeiso/iso/
> 
> The image has many of the basic components that will be the base for
> Flidas. The default desktop environment will be MATE 1.12.1, a fork of
> GNOME 2 that brings back all the functionality and quality level of
> previous Trisquel releases. The panel, file manager and control center
> are already looking polished. This decision comes from the current
> editions of GNOME requiring 3D acceleration even in fallback mode, a
> requirement that in many cases forces the user to choose between a
> degraded user experience and performance, or the usage of non-free
> graphics drivers. Instead, we aim to provide a fully functional, highly
> performing desktop for all users.
> 
> The main tasks that need to come next are:
> 
>  - Software selection. Starting with the current list of preinstalled
> applications (which we want to preserve if possible), we need to decide
> which need replacement, and what is the best program to include instead.
> We can also add some new programs, but keeping in mind not to bloat the
> system. We do not preinstall two applications that do the same thing.
>  - Adding missing programs. The current image is missing many programs,
> such as Pidgin, Gimp, etc. They haven't been compiled yet, in most cases
> their helper scripts need to be reviewed and upgraded.
>  - The desktop environment still needs some polish, in particular to
> iron some kinks in the GTK theme.
>  - Fixing well-known faults in Trisquel 7 such as the AT-SPI issues,
> printer integration, and hardware composition.
>  - Making the Live installer.
>  - Making the netinst/text-mode installer.
>  - Set up alternative architecture build jails.
>  - Design the new artwork.
> 
> From a project management perspective, we also need:
> 
>  - To start and track a list (in the wiki) of known issues and pending
> independent tasks, and update it though new releases.
>  - Clean up the merge request queue. This will be my next high priority.
>  - Make sure that contributors can build packages to test on the
> development iso images, and contribute their improvements.
> 
> Now that my job has normalized into a more manageable routine I will be
> going back into a weekly schedule of hacking sessions and progress
> reports. On top of that, from this point on (thanks to the
> Gitlab+Jenkins instance at https://devel.trisquel.info) the
> participation of contributors should be much easier, which would
> accelerate the development by making me less of a bottleneck.
> 
> Happy testing!
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> Trisquel-devel at listas.trisquel.info
> http://listas.trisquel.info/mailman/listinfo/trisquel-devel
> 

Hello Ruben,
Glad to hear Trisquel development is starting again! Trisquel was my
first experience with fully free software and it changed my computing
life forever. I will test the new iso as soon as I get the chance.

I agree that a priority should be getting merge requests pulled, but
also it there should be a priority on security updates. There were some
very serious vulnerabilities since the last Trisquel release, many of
which went unpatched. Even if there are less special features, keeping
an LTS release secure and stable should be top priority.

Also FireFox has added a large number of anti-features, I have made an
attempt to comment them all here. You are welcome to use them for aBrowser:

https://git.parabola.nu/abslibre.git/tree/nonprism/iceweasel-hardened-preferences/iceweasel-branding.js


Luke