Hello all,
This has been a while coming since 2.6.0 was released. But I said at the
time that since there was no longer ever going to be a split between
stable/unstable, and that there was only ever rolling-stable releases, that
there was now never any right time to make changes which have an impact.
This is one of them.
Currently, FVWM ships with a number of modules. Some of them are used a lot
in peoples' configs (such as FvwmButtons, FvwmEvent, etc.) and others are
not so much used -- and indeed some of them have just bitrot.
Unsurprisingly, that's due to confusion as to the need of the module, and in
some cases the language the module is supporting, because it's no longer the
"coolest" language to use, or has been pushed back because of another module
giving functionality.
So, here's a list of modules I wish to see deprecated, with reasons why:
* FvwmCommand
* FvwmConsole
* FvwmConsoleC.pl
These three are on a list to be removed, but the functionality to replace
them (notably getting FVWM to listen on a $DISPLAY socket, for instance)
just isn't there yet. So whilst I don't plan on deprecating them just yet,
I'm aware I'll need to at some point.
* FvwmCpp
This one has to go -- no one that I've seen in the years I've been using
FVWM actually has a configuration in CPP anymore. If they do, they've not
noticed it's been broken since FVWM 2.3.X, and no one has fixed that.
* FvwmDragWell
The use-case of this doesn't match any application anymore.
* FvwmIconBox
Replaced with IconBox style option, although not quite the same as having an
actual window managing icons (c.f. TWM)
* FvwmSave
* FvwmSaveDesk
These two are broken, and a very very poor choice of trying to be a session
manager. Use a session manager if you can with FVWM.
* FvwmTaskBar
This is a FvwmButtons module swallowing FvwmIconMan. People wanting mail
notification can use xbuffy, xbiff, or mail-notification.
* FvwmWharf
This is FvwmButtons.
* FvwmWinList
This is FvwmIconMan.
Note that I am not interested in someone suddenly jumping out of their front
door shouting: "I'll do it, I'll do it! I'll maintain this module." These
modules listed simply do not do their job to the way FVWM works anymore, and
worse yet, for some of these modules, the applications interacting with them
don't understand their requests. If people really did care that much, the
problems with these modules would have been addressed long ago were they in
use.
How do we deprecate these things? Slowly -- I am not about to commit
anything to remove them. There will be a long time in which one module is
deprecated, with there being a transition in FVWM to handle module
information for deprecated modules.
I will be writing a FvwmDeprecated module stub, and will point the
deprecated modules to it, as they're deprecated. This will do nothing more
than log the fact the module doesn't exist, perhaps using xmessage if it's
installed, etc. Then, over time, as people switch configs, the need for
this will go away. It won't be a permenant arrangement of FVWM, but will
need to be around for some time as people adjust their configs.
Furthermore, as modules are deprecated I will be personally providing
instructions on how to migrate from that module to another, where the
deprecated module has an equivalent functionality. Not all modules
(FvwmSave{,Desk} for instance will not.)
I won't be beginning work on this just yet -- maybe I'll start it over
Christmas.
Any questions, please ask.
-- Thomas Adam
--
"Deep in my heart I wish I was wrong. But deep in my heart I know I am
not." -- Morrissey ("Girl Least Likely To" -- off of Viva Hate.)
