Xfce 4.6

Xfce 4.6 is due to release within the next couple of months, and as everyone knows, I'm a big fan of the Xfce desktop environment. I've been using a subversion checkout for several weeks now, and as expected, it's more of the same - in other words, it's exactly what we've come to expect of the Xfce developers: fast, attractive, and stable.

In case anyone running -current wants to give it a try, I've just pushed some packages to http://xfce46.rlworkman.net along with a few selected "goodies" compiled against it. Be sure to check out the xfce4-power-manager addon; it's a much needed and long awaited addition to Xfce, and was written by a Slackware user too :-)

Random Thoughts

Since I haven't posted anything here in a long time, today seems like a good day to do so...

First of all, there were LOTS of questions regarding the lack of updates to -current in late October and early November, and while Eric and I addressed it on AOLS, I'll do so again here. As is plainly obvious now, the batch of updates that went out after all that time had quite a few big changes - in particular, the move from 2.6.24.x to 2.6.27.x required quite a bit of research and testing. While it might be nice to have a weekly "status update" or some such, the fact of the matter is that doing so would take time away from doing *real* work; ultimately, it seems much better for everyone involved if the ChangeLog shows *results* of work rather than *ideas* of work.

Second, I think the -current tree has mostly stabilized to the point of being safe to build packages against it intended for long-term usage, so I've just released the first batch of my unofficial contributions on my packages page.

Third, for anyone who happens to be in the Tuscaloosa area, a few of us have started a Tuscaloosa Linux Users Group, so have a look at it.

Finally, we have closed the submission form at SlackBuilds.org to give us time to clear out pending and prepare for the release of Slackware 12.2.