FOSSwire

PkgBase has long been an unknown web site outside of FOSSwire; it was simply a quickly-linkable site that could be used to provide new users with instructions on how to install software packages.

And in reality, that’s all it should ever be. Today I’ve re-written PkgBase from the ground up. Instead of trying to guess the user’s operating system and spit out an error when something went wrong, the new site will now simply do nothing. That sounds like a bad thing, but now all of the information is on one page – no need for a different page for each distribution.

If PkgBase can guess the visitor’s distribution, then it will point them to the proper section of the page. If not, then the visitor can simply read from the top of the page and quickly find out what to do.

To use PkgBase, simply link to http://pkgb.net/, followed by the package you want to install. For example, if I want to make a link to install Gobby, I can simply use http://pkgb.net/gobby. Anyone who visits the link will be directed to the proper section of the page for their distribution; for me that link ends up being http://pkgb.net/gobby/#ubuntu.

Note the use of a slash at the end of a URL. If there is no slash present, then PkgBase will make a best guess at detecting the user’s distribution. If there is a slash at the end, PkgBase will assume you know what you are doing and will do nothing. This is to accommodate the use of page anchors at the end of URLs, so if you give someone a URL like http://pkgb.net/firefox/#gentoo, PkgBase will assume that you actually want to point to the Gentoo section and not try to guess itself.

There is a lot more that can be done with the site, and I’m still working on making it as easy as possible to install packages with no confusion. PackageKit would be a great option for this, though some client-side JavaScript will be needed to detect for the PackageKit plugin.

Feel free to use PkgBase anywhere you like. URLs are guaranteed to be permanent. I would love to hear your suggestions on how to improve the service.

Ever wonder what the occasional “stay tuned, we’re working on something” messages have been at the bottom of posts? It’s been a few months in the making, but it’s finally here: the third update to FOSSwire.

Our focus this time was not new buttons and knobs, but interaction. See that login box on the right? Give it a try: type in your OpenID or click one of the providers below it to sign in in a few clicks. You’ll be able to manage your comments and take advantage of tons of other features described below.

Discussion

Comments are now easier than ever to use: we’re taking advantage of Markdown formatting, meaning you can use emphasis, links and even images to style up your comments. When you see a Quote button next to a comment you want to address, click it to refer to it and include it in your post.

If you’re signed in, all you need to do is type in a comment and hit Reply. If not, just input your name and E-mail address and do the same.

Talk

Comments aren’t an end-all solution. Sometimes you just want to start a discussion about something unrelated or get support for a problem. Say hello to FOSSwire Talk. Talk is a unique yet simple discussion platform that works as a hybrid of comments and a forum. Discussions can be tagged and categorized. If you’ve got something on your mind, want to discuss code, or just want to have a good old vim vs. emacs war, pop open Talk and fire away.

Talk works much like comments: you can use Markdown formatting to write your posts and replies, and can quote others’ posts. However, while Talk is accessible to the general public, you must be signed-in to post.

We’re looking to expand on Talk in the future. If you have anything in particular you’d like to see, post it in the Feedback section.

Submissions

Here’s something everyone can enjoy: submissions. We’ve received a number of requests over the years from people wanting to write articles for FOSSwire. Now you can, and it’s easier than ever to do so. You can submit a full-blown article to the submissions queue where it can be voted on by other members. We’ll periodically take the best-rated submissions and put them on the front page for all to see.

Editors will even help you out with your content using the post whiteboard, a private workspace to dump your thoughts or communicate with an editor. We’ll help you make sure your article is the best it can be.

Submitted articles can be of any type: news, editorials, tutorials, rants, raves, and whatever else works out for you. If you want to be that person to review an Ubuntu release, there’s nothing stopping you.

What’s more: you get full credit for your submission. Under published posts is a generously-sized box with your avatar/picture that links back to your profile and website.

Be Social

Perhaps we’re a bit late on the Web 2.0 bandwagon, but we’re offering even more ways to communicate and interact with FOSSwire.

First, as mentioned earlier, is OpenID support. You can sign in with one click and begin posting. If you want to have more than one OpenID linked to your account, go right ahead.

As stated in the section above, you can have a profile box displayed below your articles. To use it, just open the profile editor: click My Profile and then Edit to fill out all of the information that you want. We’ll be adding more fields in the future so you can add all of the social networks that you want.

Speaking of social networks, take a look at the right sidebar. You may already know, but FOSSwire is available on Facebook, Identi.ca, and Twitter. Follow us to stick with the latest updates.

Backend

So how does this all work? You may have known that we were using WordPress on the old site, but now we’re fully up-and-running on custom software using the Django web framework. All of the posts, content, and comments have been imported from WordPress into this platform.

Having a custom-built site means that we’re not restricted to traditional publishing methods; if there’s something that we think should work differently then it’s just a few lines of code away. In the end it makes the site a lot more manageable and ultimately enjoyable for everyone.

After years of perpetual beta (it's vogue these days), Celtx, the open source media pre-production and screenwriting application, finally earned its 1.0 status this past June. So it might seem a little odd that only eight months later, Celtx is making the jump to 2.0 (and it does seem a little sudden) so let's take a look and see if this new version worth its version number.

A new codebase

Celtx is a XUL application, and repurposes the underpinnings of Firefox for its evil machinations. In 2.0, Celtx finally makes the leap to the Firefox 3.0 codebase, bringing with it some awesome new stability updates, speed increases, and more. It's still missing movable tabs, but hopefully the next feature can help solve that...

Toolbox

As a user of Celtx myself (and a longtime writer and reviewer of it here and at YouMakeMedia, our sister site), I've always had a few feature requests and complaints. The ability to use add-ons and modifications is one that I've actually had since 2005, when I first used Celtx! I'm thrilled it's finally made it in the application. To be an "official" toolbox application, e.g. to use specific functions of the Celtx collaboration servers and to be listed on the Celtx website, your plugin has to be approved by Celtx, however I've been assured that you are still allowed to make and distribute your own plugins as long as they don't use functions that plug into the Celtx server (the proprietary aspect of the Celtx ecosystem). That brings me to the next big new thing:

Celtx Studio

Until now, Celtx has used Project Central, an online site, to facilitate collaboration between writers. Project Central is great, but it doesn't offer a lot of granular control, and is mainly designed for showcasing your work to others.

Celtx Studio is designed to augment Project Central, allowing folks to upload their projects and set sharing permissions and other necessary settings for managing a project. It's different from Project Central because a project isn't inherently public if you upload it. In fact, the only way to make it public is through the "preview" function or by uploading it separately to Project Central. They've also added a long-requested backup feature, which will let you go back to any save point in your project history. Never worry about accidentally deleting that great line again - you'll always be able to go to your archives and recover safely!

Celtx Studio, being proprietary, is where Celtx has revealed they plan to make money. It's currently free during the beta period, but after the kinks are ironed out they plan to charge $50/year. Interestingly, they haven't specified whether that's Canadian or American dollars - Celtx is based in Canada but the majority of professional users are likely to be in America (Hollywood and all) so that's a decision that will be important.

Problems

Of course, moving Celtx Studio and the collaboration features to a paid model is ideal for Celtx - it's finally a business model, and shows that Open Source can find ways of making money. However, the move diminishes one of Celtx's core functions; Celtx has always diversified itself from the pack based on its all-in-one convenience and its collaboration. With the collaboration stripped unless you're willing to pay, does Celtx's all-in-one convenience make it worth using?

I'd suspect the desktop client won't disappear anytime soon, primarily because there are very few free applications for managing the pre-production of a media project, or writing a screenplay. However I do bet that Studio won't catch on as quickly as they hope. It's not too polished, and it seems very narrow in scope. Perhaps I'd be looking at this differently if I hadn't been using Celtx with collaboration easily for the past four years for free, however it seems that taking away features from users is not ideal - adding features is the way to go. Admittedly the new archives feature is pretty awesome, but I'm not sure if it's enough to justify Studio to existing users.

Maybe we'll be seeing some alternative collaboration options from add-on developers in the near future. Perhaps an app that allows FTP-syncing of scripts (another long requested feature, and one that was in early versions of Celtx) or one that automatically emails scripts to the other collaborators when they are saved.

Either way, I know there will be a lot of users (myself included) who won't find enough value in the $50/year fee to begin paying. I hope I'm wrong for their sake - the Celtx team is comprised of some awesome people who I've supported strongly over the past four years - but ultimately I'm not convinced that Studio (at least in its current form) will be the sole monetisation solution for Celtx.