GNOME 2.0 Desktop Beta 2: "I bastun bor vi allihopa!"

[Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>]

GNOME 2.0 Desktop Beta 2: "I bastun bor vi allihopa!"
=====================================================

The GNOME 2.0 Desktop Beta 2 release, "I bastun bor vi allihopa!", is ready
for your bug-busting and testing pleasure! It is available for immediate
download here:

  http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/pre-gnome2/releases/gnome-2.0-desktop-beta2/

The GNOME 2.0 Desktop is a greatly improved user environment for existing
GNOME applications. Enhancements include anti-aliased text and first class
internationalisation support, new accessibility features for disabled users,
and many improvements throughout GNOME's highly regarded user interface.


Build Requirements
------------------

- The tarballs included in the release. :-)

- Some very basic packages not distributed with this release, such as image
  libraries, popt and freetype. These should all be included with or
  available for your distribution.

- python 2 with its expat xml modules for libglade (some modules still
  require the libglade-convert script, however we do plan to ship glade2
  files).

- Docbook DTD 4.1.2, Docbook XSL stylesheets and a valid system catalogue
  file for scrollkeeper (which in turn is required by many desktop
  components for documentation).

- You need recent GNOME 1.4 developer platform packages if you plan to
  install the GNOME 2.0 platform libraries alongside 1.4.

A dependency graph for the developer platform and desktop release is
available on the dot.plan website:

  http://developer.gnome.org/dotplan/notes/


Quick FAQ
---------

Q. How do I use anti-aliased fonts?
A. Set the GDK_USE_XFT environment variable. eg.: export GDK_USE_XFT=1

Q. My build fails saying it can't find libglade-convert, but I've already
   built libglade successfully. What's all that about?
A. You *really* do need Python 2 and its XML modules to build libglade! It
   only offers a warning at the moment, but without these installed, it will
   not build the libglade-convert script.

Q. Does beta 2 include the final GTK+ 2.0.0 release?
A. But of course!

Q. Who is using the GNOME 2.0 desktop at the moment?
A. Most of the core GNOME developers are using it every day. Those who
   aren't are on strict no-blue-cheese-steak diets.

Q. Can I still use my GNOME 1.x applications?
A. Of course! The GNOME 2.0 Desktop release includes just the desktop
   components, so your 1.x applications will still be required until
   they've been ported to the new developer platform.

Q. Have any applications been ported yet?
A. We've seen or used Gnumeric, X-Chat, GStreamer, and some others. There
   should be a few applications at least in beta mode when the desktop release
   comes out. When final, they'll be released as part of the Fifth Toe, GNOME
   Office, or Developer Tools collections.

Q. What about Galeon?
A. There's the small problem of Mozilla support for GTK+ 2.0, however
   some work has been done on this, so the beginnings of a Galeon port
   shouldn't be too far behind.

Q. Does gdkxft work with GNOME 2.0?
A. Absolutely not! In fact, you should remove it from LD_PRELOAD before
   building or running any software based on GTK+ 2.0.


Testers
-------

If you have incredible talents at breaking GNOME, perhaps even to rival
Telsa's infamous path of destruction (and excellent bug reporting of said
path), this release is made for you!

When reporting bugs, use http://bugzilla.gnome.org/ or bug-buddy. Make sure
you choose the correct version number, as reports against particular
versions are easier to triage reports against unspecified releases.

Before submitting a bug report, try running the software from your terminal
to see if it provides extra information, and please make sure that you build
everything with full debugging support.


Bug Squad
---------

Whether you're testing GNOME 2.0 or not, you can still help out with the bug
busting efforts by triaging and tracking bugs in bugzilla. Join the bugsquad
mailing list, and hang out on #bugs (on irc.gnome.org) to get involved -
Thursday is always bug-busting day!

  http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-bugsquad/

For help with bugzilla accounts, email bugmaster gnome org 


Distributors
------------

This release is not intended for inclusion in distributions. However, binary
packages for bleeding edge testers on your platform are very welcome. Please
email the release team <gnome2-release-team gnome org> if you have built
packages for your platform.


Hackers
-------

When reporting bugs is simply not enough, and you'd prefer to make your own
(or, indeed, fix the ones you find), this release is also made for you! The
best places to send your patches are to the module maintainers, bugzilla or
the relevant mailing list.

Most modules include a TODO list file, and you can find a lengthy release
wide todo list on the dot.plan site (this will migrate over to bugzilla
soon).

  http://developer.gnome.org/dotplan/todos/


Happy testing!

- The GNOME 2.0 Release Team

-- 
            ...                           *bounce*bounce*bounce*