Gaim
Beta 3: What goes up must fall down?
Great day in the park, we've released Gaim 2.0.0 beta 3. You know the drill--you can find assorted builds on our sourceforge page. We'd like to note that none of the beta 3 RPMs include a Gadu-Gadu protocol plugin. So if you need Gadu-Gadu then you should stick with beta 2. And as my pappy always used to say: don't hitch your wagon to a stump if it has eyes. We never did know what he was talking about.
* Update - April 4th, 2006 - 7:10PM CST *
Known bug: On Windows, timestamps are wrong in the log viewer. They're improperly offset depending on your timezone. This bug is purely a display issue. The logs are still tagged correctly, so in the next release, everything will display properly.
Beta 2: The Sequel to Beta
We're basically refining crude oil into a usable product. Only instead of refining crude oil, we're making Gaim better. But it's really the same thing. Really.
Please grab beta 2 and let us know what you think. With any luck we won't need to make any major changes, and Gaim 2.0.0 final will be out before you can prove the theory of special relativity.
* Update - January 24th, 2006 - 5:32PM EST *
Gaim 2.0.0 beta 2 does not include voice or video ("vv") support for any protocols. We've done some work toward vv compatibility for Google Talk, but it isn't ready for the general public yet. It is unlikely this will change for the final release of Gaim 2.0.0, but vv will be a primary focus for the next major release of Gaim after that.
* Update - January 27th, 2006 - 5:59PM CST *
Known bugs:
- Sorting the buddy list by status is broken in Gaim 2.0.0 beta 2. The next release, be it beta 3 or the final 2.0.0, will have this bug fixed.
- Duplicate saved statuses show up in the status selector.
- Some people are experiencing sound playback issues on Linux when using libao. Using the Command method or copying the sound files from beta1 are both workarounds. We're looking into this.
Flooded in Feedback
Wow! We've all been completely swamped in feedback since Saturday's beta release. I'm personally surprised how positive it is as a whole. We've gotten a ton of really well-founded gripes, but I think generally people are liking the direction we're going with Gaim 2.0.0. Also important to note is that there are a bunch of things we had suspected were bad or weren't sure about, and we've been able to gauge everyone's opinions about them. On that note, please keep your feedback coming, but there are a few recurring reports we definitely already know about and are working on that you don't need to let us know about anymore:
- The per-account statusboxes are a bad idea
- The statusboxes in general are too big.
- We intentionally removed more preferences than we should have, to see which ones absolutely can't be lived without. Some of them (e.g. Show idle times in buddy list, report idle time by Gaim usage) need to be ressurected
- Saved statuses need to be easier to get to
- Smooth scroll needs to be optional; people are very polar about how they feel about the smooth scroll
- Control-enter, though still optional (see the faq), is not particularly easy to find and should perhaps be added to the
gaimrc plugin.
I'm sure there are a bunch of other common themes I'm forgetting about here. The other Gaim developers and I will be sure to come back and update this list as we think of other recurring complaints we've seen. Thanks so much for everyone's truly overwhelming response!
The ratio of internal energy density to magnetic field energy density
We've released Gaim 2.0.0beta1. If you decide to try it out, please back up everything in your .gaim directory. We're looking for lots of feedback on this release--especially what you love about it and what you hate about it.
Again, this is a beta release and should not be used by those with a heart condition, if you are pregnant, or if you are under the age of 8. Side-effects include awesomeness, dumbfoundedness, dry mouth and lava. Consult your doctor to find out if Gaim 2.0.0beta1 is right for you.
Did I say "end of this month"?
Hey there! So, a whole ton of you have answered my call to get on my case to finish 2.0.0, and I haven't been able to respond to each of you individually, so I figured a news post would do the trick.
We're really close, now, to releasing our first beta. Check back next next Friday, December 16th. It really should be out by then. In the interim, here's a sneak preview screenshot!
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