As development goes on on Lunapaint, I've started reading some tutorials on bsd socket programming. The reason is that I want to be able to code some network tools for AROS, for starters, to add to the usability of the OS. I've never programmed any network tools before, so it's gonna be an interesting process. Async coding, which is something you need to understand before doing any serious network coding, is something I'm used to doing with Javascript and AJAX, so there's really nothing new in that area, although C has quite a different mentality. But I think I'll have some fun tools on show in a couple of weeks.

I've often thought about making some kind of Web browser, based on HTTP, but not on HTML. I know about all the accessability issues people are having with badly implemented Flash pages and javascripts which are "misbehaving", but that's not a problem I'm having in mind when I think about my own idea. I'm imagining a new visual browser, for people who aren't impeded, like something out of a hollywood movie - or kinda like a graphical BBS client - with animations, music, sound. Not to strike down at people who are blind or have other disabilities preventing them from using such a browser, I'm aiming this at people who want an audio/visual experience, like a movie, a game and so on. Perhaps I could even call it an online diskmag browser. For this I'd need to develop a simple scripting language, preferably based on Javascript, and then some simple way of downloading content. It could be a nice project to develop... although I dunno how much time I would have for it now... Ideas aren't bad though ;-) We will see if I get anything done on it.

I've not yet committed any changes to AROS' Wanderer desktop. I think me and Craid would have to combine forces and talk about it before I start making any serious effort. The Wanderer code is quite clean, so it shouldn't be too hard to modify it and understand it. AROS is seriously lacking in the Desktop area, so it is high in my thoughs from week to week. I'm juggling allot of projects now, so I'm not making any promises. But I'm gonna keep you updated on what's happening.

I thought I'd be delayed with Lunapaint v0.2.4 as I had a couple of beers and felt distain from coding. But after three beers I started up and finished the oh so boring canvas scrolling code. And it works perfectly. No more slow, lagging scrolling. Mmmm.

So I think I will be on time anyway. On sunday I'll release v0.2.4 for everyone. And you'll be better off for it :-D

Anyhow, there's been allot of discussion around at Amiga related sites. People seem to miss the fact that AROS has the escape route people have been missing for a long time. Ok, it's hard to install right now, but not for long (I hope). It already enables you to be productive in many ways. Please join #aros and follow the progress, it's much more interactive than any forum site. You'll talk to the developers.

Anyhow, I'm on my 8th. :-D I need to get back to the party on #aros ;-)

I've been working with the new TeamAros website lately - so there haven't been too much work done on Lunapaint - but I still have a week to get v0.2.4 ready. No worries. Anyhow the new TeamAros website will have allot of new functionality, and I hope to be able to finalize everything so that me and Olivier can fill it with content and play with my CMS api. Features will include:

* Task Groups
* Developer pages with documentation, tutorials and so on
* Bounties (like today), Donors list and for Sponsors
* Indepth features
* Team Aros news (not just bounty news)

Ofcourse it will take time to make all the information available, and it will only be available in english, at first. But you will see it sooner than later. The webserver already has "made room" for the new code and will receive it this weekend.

As for Lunapaint, I'm gonna finish up the animation exporter this weekend and start looking at the layers window. Implementing layer hiding and opacity shouldn't be much work, so I think I'm gonna try to get that in for v0.2.4. Again, please send me some feedback on how your experiencing the app - I would really appreciate it. Long life for AROS!

Over the last few days I've been fiddling around with the AROS sourcecode for Zune and Wanderer. I haven't added anything yet, but I guess I'm going to soon. There are some tasks there which awaits interested eyes and I will try to do something about it. Now that I released Lunapaint v0.2.3, there's a serious paint app available for AROS, and I'd want more people to be able to install this OS and start using it.
The biggest complaint anybody has when trying out AROS is Wanderer. And I agree, it sucks. In fact, right now it isn't good for anything but doubleclicking folders and running apps. Each time you'd want to use some file operations and so on, you end up in the AROS shell. The Wanderer code is very sweet. It's commented and properly idented. Not like most other AROS code! :-) But it's very incomplete, and I hope to be able to help expand it.
Then there is Zune. Zune has been bugfixed a bit since it was worked on by Reed, the original author. But he's long gone, and the code is really unmaintained. There's no identation, few comments and... well it's just a bloody mess. To be honest, I'm not looking forward trying to understand that code! It's gonna take a while I guess. But Zune needs a cleanup and it needs maintainers. Perhaps when we're done with it, there will be a new theme engine. That's what I hope anyway.
So all in all, in addition to working on Lunapaint v0.2.4, I'm gonna start looking around in the AROS code and see if I can make some modifications. There's allot of work here for all the developers, and any help would not be unwelcome!