Thunderbird Multi-touch for Mac
About the Project
Thunderbird Multi-touch for Mac – This project is a platform specific implementation. Specifically, it is setting up multi-touch trackpad controls for Apple computer systems on Thunderbird. In keeping up with Apple’s features that those users expect on their system, it is important for this functionality to be present for Thunderbird users on the Mac.
The links for this bug are as follows:
- Bugzilla 465257 – Thunderbird should support multi-touch gestures on OS X
- Project Wiki Page for Bug – This is my wiki page for documenting my work
- Dedicated Bug/Issue Blog Subscribe Feed – To subscribe to just blogs on this issue
- All Open Source Blogs Feed – To subsribe to all blogs by me on ‘open source’ developments, etc…
I chose this project due to my interests in the Mac operating system and my long history of using it (roughly 14 years now). I’m also interested in developing on the Mac and aside from my Apple Development Course which I am taking at this time, this project would also help provide me this experience. In the interests of the Thunderbird application, and considering Apple attention that they pay to the quality of the user’s experience on that system, I would like to help ensure that the multi-touch functionality is available in full swing for Apple enthusiasts that use this email program.
Process & Tracking of this Project
To follow progress on this project and to track it, you can go to the links above. If you wish a more automated approach, you follow the history to the Project wiki page noted above and click on the “history” link at the top of the wiki page or from here, or you can create an account on the Open Source & Seneca wiki and then click on the “watch” on the project wiki page. You may submit your email on the bugzilla page to receive updates on event changes that occur on Mozilla’s wiki page aswell. And of course, you can subscribe to the feed on this blog from the top of this article, or by subscribing to my category named “mozilla-bug-dev”. or directly clicking on this feed link.
My timelines and expected progress are guided by my OSD600 Open Source Development course schedule. Substantially, work will be done on this in the context of this course from September 2009 until December 2009. Hopefully in that time I can completely something fulfilling, but I have the wish to keep at it, or at least to give it a great start for others. There are a set of expected release goals which I will identify next?
Plan for 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 releases
[scope of the work to be done - t.b.d.]
[plans/goals and a measure of success for each release - t.b.d.]
[what to learn for each release: technologies,toolkits, research... learning plan... t.b.d.]
[resources needed in order to accomplish this work - t.b.d.]
Contacts & Support
Through David Humphrey, I have contacted Brian Clarke via comments on the Bugzilla page for this issue. He is the primary contact for guidance and has provided my first step as noted in the comments on that page. There are a number of other valuable people writing comments on this Bugzilla page, which helps in providing some direction in where the Mozilla developer community is going with this multi-touch functionality for Thunderbird.
Collaboration & Contribution
The one special requirement for this project is an Apple laptop that supports a multi-touch trackpad. Generally this would be a Mac Book Pro from April of 2008 or later and the Mac Book Air laptops.
However, even if you do not have this hardware, any knowledge of adding custom input controls into the Thunderbird application environment would be helpful as a large application like this is rather foreign to me at the moment. Please feel free to contact me via this blog or the wiki pages noted above at any time.
Barrier & Risk Management
In considering my barriers at the moment, the most significant is having waited a full week for a safe change set of Thunderbird to download that has no burning status in tinderbox, now I can start working out my compile bugs to get Thunderbird compiled and attempt to start developing some test behavioral changes in the software’s source code. Actually, before that would be getting some help from my instructors to define the expectations that I should be able to accomplish for the 3 deliverable versions of this fix as it pertains to this semesters work.
After defining this, its just a matter of keeping in touch with the Mozilla mac developer community, in order to tap into the wealth of knowledge that exists out there… at least after I’ve done some thorough research on any problem I encounter first.
Filed under: mozilla-bug-dev, open source | Leave a Comment
No Responses Yet to “Thunderbird Multi-touch for Mac”