Hello All. I've been meaning to address this here to hopefully catch some FLTK users that might not be subscribed to all the newsgroups at FLTK.org.

It seems, that we are finally getting 1.1.8. I haven't seen an announcement that specifically states the current SVN is at a release candidate but reading between the lines for the last few weeks seems to suggest this.

For one, all the bugs have been addressed either with a fix or being tagged as 1.2. I for one would like to take my hat off to Matthias for all of his exceptional work over the last handful of months.

Next, there is a post in the general newsgroup located here that asks for suggestions on what to do now. There is another here that asks more questions. Where do people what to see the library go? Continuation of the 1.1.x line to 1.2? Wrap it up and leave it as a solid library to be use for the future? Or something else that the developers haven't thought of that the user base might want.

So point your browser on over to www.fltk.org and weigh in. I'm sure that they would love to hear your opinions at this time. It may weigh on the future direction of the developers efforts.

My Opinion
I personally would like to see the 1.1.x line continue. I have grown comfortable with it. I like the stability and ease of use. For a while I was rooting for 2.x but there is such flux that I gave up. Sometimes it would compile and sometimes, not so much.

For some time it looked like CygWin was going to get the boot due to problems that were generated by CygWin itself, Not FLTK. I am very thankful that things were fixed enough to be able to compile using CygWin or as MS. I develop using my --enable-cygwin version then switch to a --disable-cygwin when I want to give someone an executable that uses windows but not CygWin.

What I would like to see is now that there is a stable library is people to weigh in on simple applications. Things like a calculator, editor, paint program, spreadsheet etc that people could use to replace the ones that come wrapped with windows. You know, the stuff accessed with start/accessories. Some of these things are available in the test directory and others are not. What do people use, what would they like to have from an FLTK accessory?

Anyhow, it seems the time is upon us. Go give some thanks to those that have invested years in bringing us FLTK. Feed them ideas, it seems to be what they like to eat.

Mark

__________________
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work."
--Thomas Alva Edison
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
--Benjamin Franklin
"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes."
--Hugh Downs

For anyone interested there is a post by Matthias that gives a rundown of what is going on with FLTK into the early part of summer.

You can read the article here.

It talks about the FLTKutf work going on and the status of 1.1.8. Also mentioned is possibilities for the next steps.

Mark

__________________
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work."
--Thomas Alva Edison
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
--Benjamin Franklin
"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes."
--Hugh Downs