Thread: Status of CFE

I would like to apologize to all the CFE users, but CFE has turned into another one of "those" front ends.

I'm just not working on it like i'd like to and have no help from anyone else (for the core application). So at least for now, CFE is in maintenance mode for the foreseeable future.

What that means is that if someone finds a bug, i'll gladly get it fixed. And if someone works on a plugin (there is one that I know of in the works) i'll be glad to offer assistance and make any simple changes that are needed to accommodate them. But as for active development on CFE, i'm done for now. And if anyone else wants to take a crack at any of the outstanding items that need to be done, i'll be more than happy to share anything i've already thought about as well as assist where needed.

Hopefully i'll get the passion and drive to work on it back sooner rather than later, but right now i'm just not feeling it which makes it hard to focus time on.

Hopefully by this weekend, i'll make one more update to fix a UI issue in the music player (times are not directly about the track time bar like they should be) as well as add a new method for plugins to use from the PluginManager (to get the main window).

Sorry again for becoming another one to dwindle off, but hopefully i'll be back sooner rather than later.



-dave

we all understand. Work comes first.

I wish it was that simple, though that is part of it.

It's mostly that i've just lost the passion for it and without the passion there isn't much to drive you to work on an OSS project

Hopefully some time away from trying to force myself to work on it will clear my head and I can get back to it.

-dave

Thanks for your candid response, Dave.

I wonder if we as Mac users shouldn't have a poll to see which front end we like most and offer to support that single front end. For example, I'm very partial to AMP as it really emulates the OSX Front End environment, though it likely has limitations that I don't understand. That being said, if we had a single front end we could generally all support (financially for those that are able - most of us could easily throw $25 or more into the pile to make the continued development worth the time and energy), I think we cold at least develop one front end for Macs that worked as well as we expect from our Macs, across the board.

I know this seems like a lot, and I'm not sure how large (or small) the actual market is, but I, for one, would be willing to pay $100 for a really sexy, OSX look front end for my Mac Mini based system...

Originally Posted by crimsonaudio

I wonder if we as Mac users shouldn't have a poll to see which front end we like most and offer to support that single front end.

User support/usage isn't so much of the problem as development help. Essentially each of the front ends to date has been a one or two person project. As a professional developer, I can atest to how difficult it is to take on a project as complex as a car front end with no assistance. It can be done, but it is very draining.

For example, I'm very partial to AMP as it really emulates the OSX Front End environment, though it likely has limitations that I don't understand.

The biggest problem with AMP is that it has been dead for awhile and Bobby burned some bridges (more in the Mac dev community than here) shortly before he disappeared.

That said, AMP is where I took look & feel queues from as I too (you hear that Jirka? i'm not the only one ) prefer a more Mac-like l&f to the front end.

That being said, if we had a single front end we could generally all support (financially for those that are able - most of us could easily throw $25 or more into the pile to make the continued development worth the time and energy), I think we cold at least develop one front end for Macs that worked as well as we expect from our Macs, across the board.

If you want to financially support a project, talk to Jirka and look into QCar. I for one specifically do not want monetary support for CFE. Partly because I view it as something for me that i'm willing to share and expand based on others desires, my interests, and my time. Partly because I wanted the experience of Mac development on my resume. And mostly because I didn't want to take peoples money and then end up like this as well as having to deal with paying users that want something that I can't (for whatever reason) deliver.

I know this seems like a lot, and I'm not sure how large (or small) the actual market is, but I, for one, would be willing to pay $100 for a really sexy, OSX look front end for my Mac Mini based system...

IIRC that is about the price tag Jirka was talking for QCar. I'm not a fan of his look and feel, but I think it is supposed to be skin-able which may make a more OSX like look possible. What i've seen of it and talked to him about, it's by far the most complete Mac front end to date and is the only one with a (still a work in progress though) promising mapping & navigation feature.

-dave

Again, thanks for the candid response, Dave. It's greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by crimsonaudio

Again, thanks for the candid response, Dave. It's greatly appreciated.

Your welcome. Like everyone else, I just want the best for the community and the platform

-dave