regressions, bread and NX

i wasn't in the headspace for working on stuff like the strut issues yesterday, so instead i putzed about with a few look issues, including a visible mark on the "outside" of applet handles to help demarcate them and slightly less ugly hide handles (they're still ugly though ;)

there are some visible regressions in kicker HEAD right now. most of them are known to me, but if you aren't sure take a look in kdebase/kicker/TODO. i've updated it with known regressions and issues, all of which will be addressed for 3.4. hopefully this should save me a few emails a day =) i appreciate feedback but kicker is used by so many people so much that it can get overwhelming really fast as people helpfully report issues promptly.

there aren't a whole lot of regressions to work through, thankfully, and then i'll pretty much be "done" with kicker for 3.4 feature-wise. after the feature freeze next month i would like to do some optimizations (code first, optimize last). if anyone is interested in helping out by running kicker and some of the more critical applets through cachegrind under various usage scenarios (first startup, regular startup, appletproxied taskbar, appletproxied system tray, etc) please get a hold of me. this kind of data gathering is time consuming, but highly parallelizable. i wouldn't mind spreading the load this one a bit.

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i've received a fair amount of feedback on the systemtray hiding stuff. mostly positive, with some constructive criticism. the current systemtray isn't designed for this kind of thing (e.g. nice user-visible names and icons) and i want to use the config dialog eventually for ordering of icons (another high-demand wishlist item). some has noted that this is just a band-aid over a bigger problem. i agree with that to an extent, however the problem exists and there's no point in pretending it doesn't. moreover, as long as we encourage the use of the panel for apps to put icons on the problem will exist. applets aren't the answer, either, since that just relocates the problems while making life more annoying for both users and application developers.

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someone wrote asking about NX stuff, and that's next on my plate. i'm more concerned about kicker right now because it's already a central piece of the desktop and it needs to be Perfect for release. also, kNX can move into KEG and have rapid regular releases independant of KDE, whereas Kicker can't.

one big question is going to be how to integrate krdc and kNX, because i think that's crucial. i don't want to see KDE have N remote connection apps when just 1 will do. as both krdc and kNX need major UI reconstructive surgery, i'm leaning towards getting kNX spruced up _and_ fully functional, then merging the vnc + rdp support from krdc into it. i just don't want to do the UI work twice.

speaking of which, i need to have a discusion with the [Free]NX server people to get someway of telling KDE that it's running through NX. that's going to be key to breaking NX out of its little window and allowing cool integration stuff like putting "Suspend Session" in the KDE logout dialog.

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Peyton and i went out for our usual sunday brunch at Nellie's down the street. it's a charming little cafe that has fewer tables than demand and some of the coolest staff. everyone there is a little oddball, like the waitress who will often slip into a "character" for the whole time you're there. she even does different characters for different tables. last week we got Rosy the Mexican. they also have little baskets of toys and colouring books for the kids, which Peyton likes. and they have a lot of veggie-friendly stuff on the menu, which is resonably priced.

on the way home we stopped at the French bakery across the street to pick up fresh croisants for breakfast, some artisan bread to eat with dinner tonight and a couple of pastries for a treat. they also give what they don't sell to a homeless shelter at the end of every day. being a locally owned/run business with superior product and good ethics, i prefer to get my baked goods from them than my local Safeway.

that and it's just so kitsch to buy non-perfectly shaped but wonderful tasting fresh bread from a little bakery. it is part of the Romantic lifestyle, which has less to do with romancing people than romancing one's self and our environs, to which i strive towards with occasional success.

if this lifestyle were culturally Cool (which seems to be the primary motivator for most), i think we would enjoy our lives more, our day-to-day would be more meaningful and we'd avoid the WalMartization of our local economies.