[gNewSense-users] KFV Mode 0.8: Better integration with online data, bug fixes, etc.

[Bake Timmons]

* Announcing KFV Mode 0.8 *

I am happy to announce KFV Mode 0.8, a program that helps automate the
Kernel Freedom Verification (KFV) project of the gNewSense GNU/Linux
distribution.  Version 0.8 is attached to the end of this email.


Changes since 0.7:

* Incorporates more information from sections that have already been
  adopted, displays it to show what is left to do, and generates the
  corresponding markup.  Various display enhancements.

* Saves and opens old files, asking if user wishes to update opened
  files with information from online.  kfv-revive function updates
  several section files at once if they need it.

* Many bug fixes, so many and diverse that it is hard to sum them up.
  KFV Mode 0.8 has undergone more and more diverse testing than all
  previous versions combined--hundreds of files processed.  Testing has
  been on both the console and on X, for versions 22 and 23 (unreleased)
  of Emacs.  The fixes include any applicable patches since 0.7 that
  were posted online.

* New system of customization.  KFV Mode now exploits the Emacs
  customize command to provide dozens of customization items to the
  user.  Any old files previously for this purpose are now ignored.
  Users should feel more confident now about adapting it more to their
  needs.  Moreover, most customizations do not conflict with
  the goal of "standardized" markup, if that is a concern.

* New style of highlighting for additional elements relevant to KFV
  process such as data structures often associated with non-free
  firmware and various license jargon.  Better license comment
  highlighting.

* License guessing capability, often resulting in reasonable defaults
  for choosing a license (just pressing Return accepts a default).
  Moreover, more specific markup generated for certain cases.

* Expanded license choices to cover additional cases covered on mailing
  list (although this has been easily customizable for some time).

* New firmware asterisk ("*") marking by using asterisk key to toggle
  the marking on a table entry.  This also triggers some appropriate
  markup to be generated for this entry's wiki file and summary.

* New KFV table keybindings:
  C-c C-a change report field to "N/A"
  C-c C-n change report field to "N"
  C-c C-y change report field to "Y"
  C-c C-u go to parent section buffer (same as opening ".." entry)

* Better performance in general.

* Enhanced uploading:
  - New file caching feature lessens load on gNS wiki server as well as
    enhancing certain other aspects of KFV Mode operation
  - Much reduced posting of files that have already been uploaded.  This
    scenario can occur in bigger sections in which you might complete in
    several different sessions of uploadings
  - Central, generic script is created, replacing redundant and
    simple-minded script previously

* New website, repo, mailing list , etc. (will be announced later)


Notes:

* Thanks to Christophe and Sam on gnewsense-users for valuable feedback
on bugs and features.  Thanks again to Christophe for an introduction to
KFV Mode that he put on the gNewSense wiki.

* From the directions in the beginning of kfv.el:

;; 2. Do this step only once when first using a higher version of
;;    kfv.el than you have in the past:
;;    Run M-x kfv-update-kfv

  Running kfv-update-kfv is *highly* recommended.  It's also wise to
  finish up whatever was started on previous versions of KFV Mode.  When
  done, try out the new version.  It uses a slightly different
  format that is incompatible with previous versions.

* As noted previously on the gnewsense-users mailing list, the "Comment
  ID" field and backward compatibility with Emacs 21 (older than the
  main version in gNewSense 2.0) have been dropped.


Features of KFV Mode 0.8:

* Do a section page of the gNewSense KFV project entirely within Emacs
* Scripted uploading of markup avoids wasteful busywork of a web browser
* Automated markup generation reduces work and makes pages more
consistent
* Informs user about work of others in similar sections
* Highlighting focuses on relevant license and data details
* Keybindings and error checking reduces typos and speeds data entry
* Analysis of license text often leads to reasonable defaults
* Very easy navigation among files, sections, and subsections
* Many customization options; all KFV Mode functions are documented
* Incorporates latest changes to formatting conventions in KFV project


Requirements:

KFV Mode runs under the Emacs editor and has been lightly tested on
Emacs versions 22 and recent snapshots.  It is as simple as loading the
attached file in Emacs with load-file and then running the kfv-start
command.

Code and feedback are appreciated.  Even if you do not plan to use Emacs
for helping with KFV, perhaps you might consider copying some of
KFV Mode's features into other software.
-- 
  Bonard B. Timmons III
  address@hidden

-- 
http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned to stop worrying and
                          love email again

kfv.el
Description: Binary data