Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:56:06 -0400 From: Jerry McAllister <jerrymc@msu.edu> To: Zbigniew Szalbot <z.szalbot@lc-words.com> Cc: User Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>, "N. Raghavendra" <raghu@mri.ernet.in> Subject: Re: Windows > Unix volunteers Message-ID: <20080626215606.GA19155@gizmo.acns.msu.edu> In-Reply-To: <4863D586.6010203@lc-words.com> References: <4863C10F.9000807@lc-words.com> <86abh8b04j.fsf@riemann.mri.ernet.in> <4863D586.6010203@lc-words.com>
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On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 07:44:38PM +0200, Zbigniew Szalbot wrote: > Hi all, > > N. Raghavendra: > >At 2008-06-26T18:17:19+02:00, Zbigniew Szalbot wrote: > > > >>What is a good place to look for volunteers who would like to modify > >>Windows source code for an open source software. We have a programme > >>that changes wallpapers on your desktop but it is only available for > >>Windows. > >> > >>As a FreeBSD fan, I'd love to see it in ports. > > > >I guess you have already checked out graphics/chbg, and perhaps some > >other similar ports, before asking that question. > Yes, I have. I am not really looking for such software but for a forum > where people who do UNIX can be found. > > FYI - our little software is special one in that it changes backgrounds > with Bible's life words (www.lcwords.com/en/desktoplive.html). > > Anyway, I am not trying to advertise it here, especially that it is for > Windows. Just trying to find out where to look for people who could be > interested in porting it into UNIX using our Windows source code, if > they find it helpful. > > I hope I am not offending anyone. No one is offended at all. It is just that so many people who are new to FreeBSD start by asking how to write something without looking in ports to see if it has already been done. So, you were getting a little of the standard FreeBSD 'religious' training about checking in the ports. A second part is that many FreeBSD newbies do not realize that almost anything to do with graphics and screens is not directly a part of FreeBSD, but of the separate graphics system - the most common by far being X-Windows plus a choice of X-windows manager software. This is true of all UNIX systems. FreeBSD now favors Xorg as the X-Windows system, but the windows manager is still completely up to you. There are many possible choices. I use Afterstep mostly. But, Xfce, KDE and Gnome are also quite common. Your project looks like possibly an interesting variation on things that are already written, but different enough. This is about as good a place as any to look for UNIX programmers, though you might also want to check for an Xorg list and maybe some other graphics oriented lists. If your stuff is well written - well thought out and structured - then it should not be hard to port it to UNIX/X-Windows/C or C++ code. You might have to create some different versions for different systems. That can easily be accomplished with conditional compilation blocks and some careful structuring of Make files. So, go ahead and do it and then submit it for inclusion in the ports when it is ready. Sorry, I do not have even a fraction of the time needed available to work on something like that. But, you may well find some in one of these lists. ////jerry > > Warm regards, > > -- > Zbigniew Szalbot > SGM Lifewords > www.sgmlifewords.com
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