Viking by Brilliant Service is using GNUstep in the Objective-C based software for their Head Mounted Device, pictured here:

Their website is here.  :)  I'm very happy to see GNUstep being used in so many new and different places.   The prospects for the future are exciting.

The GNUstep Base Library, version 1.24.3, is now available.

1 Announcement
**************

The GNUstep Base Library, version 1.24.3, is now available.

1.1 What is the GNUstep Base Library?
=====================================

The GNUstep Base Library is a library of general-purpose, non-graphical
Objective C objects.  For example, it includes classes for strings,
object collections, byte streams, typed coders, invocations,
notifications, notification dispatchers, moments in time, network ports,
remote object messaging support (distributed objects), and event loops.

   It provides functionality that aims to implement the non-graphical
portion of the OpenStep standard (the Foundation library).

   There is more information available at the GNUstephomepage at
`http://www.gnustep.org'.

1.2 Noteworthy changes in version `1.24.3'
==========================================

   * Implementation of the NSXML DOM classes

   * Implementation of consistent TLS/SSL support

   * Implementation of new/selectable sorting algorithms

   * More explicit dependencies on external libraries.

1.3 Where can you get it?  How can you compile it?
==================================================

The gnustep-base-1.24.3.tar.gz distribution file has been placed at
`ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/core'.

Please log bug reports on the GNUstep project page
`http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=gnustep' or send bug reports to
<bug-gnustep@gnu.org>.

GNUstep GUI 0.23.0

1 ANNOUNCE
**********

This is version 0.23.0 of the GNUstep GUI library (`gnustep-gui').

1.1 What is the GNUstep GUI Library?
====================================

It is a library of graphical user interface classes written completely
in the Objective-C language; the classes are based upon Apple's Cocoa
framework (which came from the OpenStep specification as release by
NeXT Software, Inc).  The library has been enhanced in a number of ways
to take advantage of the GNU system.  These classes include graphical
objects such as buttons, text fields, popup lists, browser lists, and
windows; there are also many associated classes for handling events,
colors, fonts, pasteboards and images.

   The GNUstep GUI Library is designed in two parts.  The first part is
the front-end component which is independent of platform and display
system.  This front-end is combined with a back-end component which
handles all of the display system dependent such as specific calls to
X/Windows.  This design allows the GNUstep applications to have the
"look and feel" of the underlying display system without any changes to
the application, and the library can be easily ported to other display
systems.

   The GNUstep GUI Library requires the GNU Objective-C compiler, the
GNUstep Base Library, the TIFF Graphics library, and a back-end
component like the GNUstep 'Back' Backend.

1.2 Noteworthy changes in version `0.22.0'
==========================================

New features include:
   * This version is binary incompatible with previous versions due to
     the change of NSNotFound in GNUstep base.

   * Support for drawing the GUI with a scale factor, for high-DPI
     monitors.

   * Character panel

   * Color picker "Magnifier" tool, for grabbing the color of arbitrary
     parts of the screen

   Many NSImage improvements (Mac OS X 10.6 drawing methods, better
selection of image reps, better support for icons). Many bugfixes,
including in Xib loading, printing, and NSView geometry.

1.3 Where can you get it?  How can you compile it?
==================================================

The gstep-gui-0.23.0.tar.gz distribution file has been placed at
`ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/core'.

Read the INSTALL file or the GNUstep-HOWTO for installation
instructions.

1.4 Where do I send bug reports?
================================

Please log bug reports on the GNUstep project page
`http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=gnustep' or send bug reports to
<bug-gnustep@gnu.org>.

1.5 Obtaining GNU Software
==========================

Check out the GNUstep web site. (`http://www.gnustep.org/'), and the
GNU web site. (`http://www.gnu.org/')

GNUstep-make 2.6.3

1 Announcement
**************

The GNUstep Makefile Package version 2.6.3 is now available.

1.1 What is the GNUstep makefile package?
=========================================

The makefile package is a simple, powerful and extensible way to write
makefiles for a GNUstep-based project.  It allows the user to write a
project without having to deal with the complex issues associated with
configuration, building, installation, and packaging.  It also allows
the user to easily create cross-compiled binaries.

1.2 Changes in version `2.6.3'
==============================

Minor bugfix release.

1.3 Obtaining gnustep-make
==========================

You can get the gstep-make-2.6.3.tar.gz distribution file at
`ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/core'

   Please log bug reports on the GNUstep project page
`http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=gnustep' or send bug reports to
<bug-gnustep@gnu.org>.

Interview with Saul Mora on NSBrief

I recently had an interview with Saul Mora on his program NSBrief.  We discussed the history of the project and it's potential.  This interview went very well and I'm looking forward to seeing it posted on his site.

UPDATE: The interview has been posted. :)

Apportable using GNUstep to port applications from iOS to Android

I just found out about a company which is using GNUstep to port applications from iOS to Android.   There website is here.   They list GNUstep as one of the projects they are using here.   Upon further discussions with them they are using GNUstep Foundation very heavily with other parts of GNUstep in other places.

I have to say I didn't expect this, but it is an awesome thing to see!

Someone Finally Said It...

Someone finally said what I've been thinking all of these years.   Though, upon reflection, I think that this comment gives Miguel way too much credit.   Something like the GNOME desktop would have started with or without Miguel.   The fact of the matter is that there were a lot of objections to Objective-C back then.   People weren't used to it's syntax.  The climate seems to have changed lately, since Objective-C has passed C++ in popularity according to a recent statistic.

I have watched for a while and observed that GNOME has successfully reinvented the wheel on so many things which OpenStep and Mac OS X already had and, indeed, which GNUstep already had many years before.  One amusing recent example was a discussion about using app wrappers in GNOME.  Something GNUstep has had since the very beginning.

At any rate, I love GNUstep.  It's always been and always will be a labor of love.

Official GNUstep presence on GitHub

I'm pleased to announce that we finally have an official presence on GitHub.  Currently the mirror updates every few minutes from the SVN repository and is a one way mirror.   That will change in the next few days.    The repository is here: GNUstep github repository.

I have been working hard to put every single GNUstep repository onto the github account that I've created for this purpose.  I should complete this task sometime today or tomorrow so that developers will have access to all of GNUstep's code.   Once I'm done with putting all of the code up (there are still 39 more "repositories" to add) I will work on the scripts to make the commits from git propagate to subversion on GNA.

This allows people who are comfortable with git to use it, should they so choose, and allows people who are comfortable with SVN to stay with SVN and gives us a presence on a site which is very popular and has lots of potentially interested developers.

Please let me know if any of you have any questions or comments. :)

Thanks, GC

Banning software patents....

I have been fighting against software patents for years.   It's upsetting to see things like this happening:

http://www.widgetpress.com/defense

And this:

http://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/07/16/1152252/UK-Developers-Quit-US-App-Store-Over-Patent-Fears

Doesn't the US realize that we are killing our software industry by doing this?   You can't even say that big business believes in software patents anymore since large companies in the US are now also turning against  them.

The EU and the UK both rejected software patents for a very good reason.  Because they realized that abstract ideas should not be patentable.   Software is fundamentally reducible to mathematical algorithms.   It is incremental in it's nature and, many times, there is only one way to do things.  For all of these reasons and many more.

Most companies today, especially small ones, are forced to patent certain things they do because they need to maintain a patent portfolio.   They do this to defend themselves.   So, like nuclear weapons, patents proliferate in a sort of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) approach.

As an incentive to reform I would like to see the USPTO take a dose of what it is creating.  The USPTO should be required to pay a fine for every patent which is found invalid with the money going towards a fund to pay restitution to those who've lost money due to the USPTO's negligence.  In addition, it should be an option to sue the USPTO for issuance of a bad patent by either the party holding the patent or the party which was sued due to the issuance of the patent or both.

Ultimately, it is the USPTO putting these weapons of mass destruction in everyone's hands.  They should be forced to reap what they've sown.

Building clang for use with GNUstep

1) Build using the instructions here: http://clang.llvm.org/get_started.html

2) Once that's done, download the latest version of Hans Boehm's garbage collector here: http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Hans_Boehm/gc/

3) Untar, Build and install boehm-gc.... it should be gc-7.1.tar.gz
    build it with clang like so:
              ./configure CC=clang LD=gcc && make CC=clang LD=gcc
          make install
    NOTE: You only need to do step 2 & 3 if you want garbage collection, if not you can skip it.

4) Build gnustep-make like so and install it:

              ./configure CC=clang LD=gcc && make CC=clang LD=gcc

          make install

5) Build libobj2 and install it:

              make CC=clang CXX=clang++ LD=gcc

         make install

              

6) Build base, gui and back and install them:

         ./configure CC=clang CXX=clang++ LD=gcc && make CC=clang CXX=clang++ LD=gcc messages=yes

         su

         . /usr/GNUstep/System/Library/Makefiles/GNUstep.sh && make GNUSTEP_INSTALLATION_DOMAIN=SYSTEM install

That should be all there is too it.  Not much, but a few little details which might serve to make it enough of a pain to discourage some people.

Talk in Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) April 21, 2011 - Report

I realize this is a little late, but I figured that I should post my impressions anyway.   First I have to say I was honored when Mark Darymple invited me to come and talk at Cocoaheads in Pittsburgh.  I tend to give talks off of the cuff since I don't usually do well sticking to a script and that's what I did at this meeting and it worked fairly well.

The reception of GNUstep was very positive and the members of the group were eager to learn.  I got a lot of questions about the project including what we're planning to do with respect to an iOS compatibility layer and also what we're currently working on.   I also did get a lot of complaints about how GNUstep looks, in general.  I showed them the work that's being done on both Windows and GNOME to improve how GNUstep blends in with those environments using the new theming code.   They seemed very impressed by that as well as by Bean.

I did a basic demo of how Gorm works as well as PC and showed them pbxbuild building a Mac OS X project.  

Most of the members of the group knew about GNUstep, but didn't know it currently followed Cocoa and some had not followed it in a while since they assumed the project was no longer active.   This is one of the many reasons why I am trying to do this talks.  To make sure I spread the word that it is still out there and still kicking.

I sincerely thank the people of Cocoaheads, Pittsburgh for giving me the opportunity to come and talk.  It was a distinct pleasure meeting each and every one of you. :)

How to build the GNOME theme...

This article is in response to a request for instructions on how to build the theme...

Given that this is currently very experimental code I didn't think an article about how to use it was in order yet since it's not released, but it makes sense to do this nevertheless. :)

Here's how:

1. Get the code from SVN per the instructions at the gna.org project page.  The URL for the SVN project page is https://gna.org/svn/?group=gnustep 
1. You should be able to go to the GNUstep project and choose Source Code->Use Subversion and follow the instructions there.   Once you check out, the code should be located at gnustep/modules/plugins/themes/GnomeTheme.
2. Make certain you have all of the necessary GNOME packages installed as well as their dev equivalents, these include (please let me know if I'm missing anything):
1. gtk-x11-2.0
2. gdk-x11-2.0
3. atk-1.0
4. pangoft2.1.0
5. gdk_pixbuf-2.0
6. pangocairo-1.0
7. gio-2.0
8. pango-1.0
9. gobject-2.0
10. gmodule-2.0
11. glib-2.0
12. gconf-2.0
3. Build GNUstep's core libraries... there are plenty of tutorials on how to do this.
4. You should then be able to build the GNOME theme and install it simply by doing: 
1. make
2. make install (as root)
5. Once that's done, you can start using the theme in one of three ways:
1. defaults write NSGlobalDomain GSTheme GnomeTheme
2. open the Info panel of the app you want to test the theme with and choose the theme for the application there
3. open SystemPreferences and go to the Themes module and choose the theme from the list of themes available there. 

Please let me know if there's anything I missed here or if any further information is needed.  GC

Menu Separator goodness...

Menu separators make a big difference. ;)   I know this is a relatively minor change, but it looks excellent with the theme.

More GNOME Theme Improvements

Bean running with the GNOME native theme

As you can see...  I'm making some progress.   I've corrected a number of problems with GNUstep's in window menu generation.   It's now very close to what most other apps generate in GNOME.

I considered a few approaches, one was to leverage some of the code I wrote for the Windows theme to generate the menu from the menu structure and create a GtkMenu to attach to the Window... the issue with this approach was that it would have required the window to be a GtkWindow, which wasn't a good idea.  The other approach I considered was to reparent the GNUstep created window into a GtkWindow which contains the GtkMenu.  The issue with this was that it would have been impossible to switch back to another theme which doesn't use the GNOME widgets and GtkWindow.

The approach I settled on is a good middle ground.   The changes fix a number of issues which were present in the code previously.   Also, it gives more control to us regarding the look of the in-window menus.

My plans are to work out the remaining bugs with this and release it so that people can start playing with it.   I will have more screenshots in the future as it becomes more mature.  Feel free to comment on anything you think can be improved. :)

GNOME on GNUstep: First look

Here is what it currently looks like:

As you can see, it's not perfect.  The icon is still on the bottom left, the menu is still floating.   I've made all of the changes necessary to get the GNOME theme working again.   I've also refactored it so that it loads nicely from SystemPreferences, which the previous version didn't do.

Once I get the final details worked out, you should be able to run your GNUstep applications alongside GNOME applications without any problems and without them sticking out like a sore thumb.

Any comments are appreciated.   I am trying to make GNUstep blend into GNOME as much as possible so that you can port your Cocoa apps to many different environments easily.

Sony SNAP using GNUstep as it's development environment...

Sony SNAP is using GNUstep as it's development environment.   They are, apparently, going to use it as the basis for an SDK they're developing to build software for their Consumer Electronics devices, such as TVs and etc.

Here is the link: http://snap.sonydeveloper.com/pages/develop/

We have been in touch with SONY about this and are very excited about the prospects.   More soon. :)

GNUstep Is Not OpenStep...

Hey guys.   I thought I would make this blog post to make a point: GNUstep is not OpenStep.  GNUstep is a Cocoa implementation and has been for quite some time.   I'm concerned that every so often in books or on blogs I see "GNUstep is an OpenStep implementation for Linux."  This statement is blatantly wrong in two different capacites: 1) GNUstep is Cocoa and 2) GNUstep works on Linux, Solaris, BSD, Windows, etc.

Let's also address a few other misconceptions.  GNUstep has been used to port a number of applications to Windows and Linux without any issues.  So when people say "GNUstep is incomplete" they, honestly, don't really know what they're talking about.  In most cases, GNUstep will contain whatever you need and, if it's not there then, for goodness sake, do the thing that supposed to be done in Free Software... implement it and contribute the code to us.

I'm beginning to wonder why so many people have trouble with this very simple concept.   Please, people, stop spreading misinformation about GNUstep.   GNUstep is not OpenStep, OpenStep is a dead standard.  GNUstep is [an attempt to implement a Free Software version of] Cocoa.  While GNUstep does retain some of the OpenStep methods which are useful, it is a Cocoa implementation at this point in time and I'm really tired of correcting people on this point.

GNUstep Development Visualization using Gource :)

I've just used gource to produce several videos to show GNUstep's development over the years.   I've only done the parts of GNUstep which reside under core and, of course, Gorm.

Special thanks to Andy Ruder for setting up his GNUstep git repositories at gitweb.aeruder.net. :)  Without these I would have had to suffer through the pain of importing GNUstep into git from SVN, not a painless operation. ;)

Hopefully, you'll see some familiar names from the past and present.

NOTE: I suggest viewing these in 720p (HD) as that will make the information easier to make out.

Here is Base:



Here is GUI:



Here is Back:



Here is Make:



Here is Gorm:



The command I used to make these was this (using gnustep-back as an example):

gource -s 0.01 --stop-at-end --highlight-all-users gnustep-back --output-ppm-stream - | ffmpeg -b 3000K -f image2pipe -vcodec ppm -i - ./gnustep-back.mp4

I was able to download gource using Mac Ports and also got ffmpeg from the same place and installed it on my MacBook. I also have gource built on my Linux box as well and it should work the same there for anyone who wants to give it a try. :)

Analysis of the Bilski case

It's unfortunate that SCOTUS has ruled as it has on In Re: Bilski since this was a landmark opportunity to strike down the patentability of software.   Instead they bowed to business as usual and decided to preserve the patentability of software, so our fight goes on with respect to fighting this.

http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2010/06/bilski-v-kappos-business-methods-out-software-still-patentable.html

While it does seem to make software harder to patent, it doesn't go far enough and it seems to be too little too late.   More on this is here:

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=0a681b87-8340-4759-8de9-1dd495a405e7
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20100628100422167

This is a frustrating day for me and many others, since it seems to make very little change to the status quo.   As others have said, this is a "no-op" and we're back to where we were before Bilski was even started.

Spam on my blog.... changing to members only for now...

I've recently been getting a lot of spam on my site, so I'm changing it so that only members can make comments.   I apologize for any inconvenience.