Reporting Metacard Bugs

[Bob Warren]

Richard Gaskin wrote (UR-List):

Maybe you can help.  While MC was born on UNIX, I'm pretty sure no one's
done anything to make it any smoother in specific Linux flavors.  But
it's an open source project now and maybe you could spare a moment to
help the dozen or so of us who maintain it become familiar with what's
needed.

The project is maintained through the MetaCard list:
<http://www.mail-archive.com/metacard%40lists.runrev.com/info.html>

Hope to see you there -

-- Richard Gaskin Fourth World Media Corporation

-------------------------------------------------------------
As a result of Richard's recommendation on the UR-List, here I am!
(fanfare of trumpets)

To start with, a few words as to why I am here, since my only previous 
experience with X-Talk has been a little with Rev.

When Microsoft assassinated VB6, this put me off Windows as well, and 
added to the fact that my adopted country is Brazil where financial 
resources continue to decrease, I decided to migrate to Linux and to 
hopefully abandon Windows altogether within the next 2 years or so. At 
the moment I am working with Ubuntu 5.10 ("Breezy Badger").

My main objective is to continue programming in Rev under Ubuntu Linux. 
However, the current version of Rev for Linux is so unstable (under 
Ubuntu and on my old Pentium II on which it is installed) that it is 
very difficult to use. I am hoping for a much more stable IDE from Rev 
within the near future.

In order to experience a little IDE stability using X-Talk, and also to 
help provide a little feedback as to how Metacard behaves under Ubuntu 
Linux, I am now running the 2.6.6 test version of Metacard. I also have 
it installed on Windows for the purpose of comparison. Hopefully, 
whatever I learn about Metacard will be helpful rather than confusing in 
relation to Rev, in which I am also a beginner.

Here is a little feedback already about Metacard 2.6.6's behaviour under 
Ubuntu Breezy:

----------------------
In Windows, some windows can be minimized and others cannot. For 
example, I can minimize my stack window. In this case, it is reduced to 
an icon at the bottom of my screen in the task bar. To get it back 
again, I click on the icon at the bottom, and the stack re-appears in 
the middle of my screen. On the other hand, I cannot minimize the coding 
editor of a button script I am creating. There is no minimize button at 
the top of the code editor's window, only a close button. This makes 
sense to some degree, because closing the code editor is one way of 
actioning the coding I have typed, though why I should not be able to 
minimize it, I don't know.

In Ubuntu, regarding the coding editor, what appears at the top of the 
window is just the opposite of what appears in Windows: I have a 
minimize and restore button (which also means that I cannot even drag 
the window itself to a new position). It also means that the coding I 
have typed can never be actioned, unless I go to the "File" menu and 
choose "Apply Script". However, although the script is applied, this 
does not close the window, and so far I have not discovered how to close 
it. Very soon, the number of code editors I have open at the same time 
becomes rather unwieldly.

I have already discovered that this is not the only aspect of window 
behaviour that needs attention in the Metacard IDE under Ubuntu Breezy.
-----------------------

Above, I have described a single difficulty which indicates that I 
cannot easily use Metacard under Ubuntu at all at the moment. In order 
to get such things fixed, where is the most appropriate place for 
reporting difficulties? Here on the List? If the Metacard equivalent of 
Bugzilla does not exist, but somebody decides to invent one, I would ask 
but 2 things:

1. That the bug reporting/enhancement request interface should be more 
user friendly than Bugzilla.

2. That it should not include a voting system aimed at evaluating the 
importance of bugs etc. in the opinion of other users. To me, such a 
system has various fundamental problems, and the importance of bugs or 
suggested features should be firmly in the hands of those responsible 
for the IDE/engine.

Regards to all,

Bob ("the bug") Warren