[gcmd-dev] gcmd 1.2.8.16 Was: Re: gcmd-devel Digest, Vol 98, Issue 6

[Uwe Scholz]

Hi!

AM Gardner <address@hidden> schrieb am [Mi, 01.01.2014 01:57]:
> First, let me say a big 'Thank You!' to all those who helped with this 
> update.  Fantastic to see it.  I think GCMD is the best file manager 
> available, and very under appreciated. 

Thank you! That are also my thoughts! Also I want to say, that without
the people contributing to this update and without the very clear manual
at gnome.org, it would not have been possible for me to release this
update.

> To that point, I'd like to suggest that this release be announced on
> other linux lists (eg, ubuntu-users) to maybe increase awareness of
> GCMD.

This is a good idea, I think we can do that for the next big update
1.4. Up to now, I announced the release in the gnome-announce-list, as
advised for official GNOME software. I tried to write something about
the current situation of GCMD in this post:
https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-announce-list/2014-January/msg00001.html

Interestingly, on wikipedia the update has been noticed already :)

> Second, I'd like to share my experience installing the upgrade on 
> XUbuntu 12.10. 

Wow, thank you very much!

> All the following come with the caveat that I am not a computer
> expert, just an average user, so forgive as necessary. Maybe this will
> help others - it is one of the great things about linux - most
> problems can actually be solved by ordinary users, unlike other
> operating systems, with the help of the user base.  And so I'm happy
> to have a chance to contribute my little bit.  I followed the 'simple
> install' instructions in the readme file.
> 
> Installing the update was a bit of a pain.  Specifically, './configure' 
> failed because of wrong versions of gtk+, libgnome, and glib.  Figuring 
> out how to fix these errors wasn't easy for me. I couldn't find the 
> needed packages (based on the names given in the error messages) in 
> synaptic.  I eventually plodded through the docs supplied with the 
> update and found the file "gnome-commander.spec". It gave more exact 
> package names, at least for libgnome and glib. To get a newer version of 
> GTK+ I installed gnome-devel (~500MB!) - I found that from a google 
> search.    So I was set and ran ./configure again with no problems.
> 'Make' however ran and ran and ran - I was pretty sure I was seeing the 
> same messages over and over, and my /home space decreased by ~200MB.  I 
> killed it.  I could not find where that space went, so have not yet 
> recovered it.  I ran 'sudo make' on my next try.  It ran, and I started 
> to see different messages than I saw with just 'make'.  It finished, no 
> errors, and Voila!!   GCMD 1.2.8.16 up and running, with all my 
> customizations intact.

First of all, it's great that you managed to get the update of GCMD
running. I was really wondering if this will work because I by myself
are working with an up to date Gentoo box, which is certainly different
from Ubuntu. So, something has to be done in this field, I see.

Unfortunately, the problem you described above is really strange. I can
not understand, why compiling the code as root is working, while as a
normal user is not. :-/


Concerning the future work on GCMD, I would suggest the following: In
the master branch a plenty of changes where already committed. Up to 95%
where conducted by the old maintainer Piotr (without regarding all those
localization updates).

I would propose to release Version 1.4 of GCMD in the near future. I
know from Michael that he is using it for quite a long time now, with no
problems. I tested this branch for some months, too, and I feel really
comfortable with it. It is very fast and has many new features!


If you could find the time you could test the current master branch by
following these steps:

git clone git://git.gnome.org/gnome-commander
cd ./gnome-commander
autogen.sh
make
sudo make install

It would be great if you can report any troubles here so we can fix them
before the next release. 

I would also be glad if anybody else could follow the steps above, too,
and report problems. 

> I have a handful of GCMD 'anomalies', collected over a couple years of 
> use, that I'll figure out how to report. 

Just post them here if they are not already covered by a bugreport at
bugzilla (https://bugzilla.gnome.org/browse.cgi?product=gnome-commander)


> But again, thank you for this update.  I have very seldom been so
> pleased with a piece of software as I am with GCMD.

Great to hear that. Thank you, this is really motivating! :-)

Ciao,
Uwe

> AMG