From Fedora Project Wiki
(Initial version)
 
(update for current info)
 
(24 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
= Feature Name =
= Xfce 4.8 =
 
Xfce 4.8


== Summary ==
== Summary ==
Line 13: Line 11:


== Current status ==
== Current status ==
* Targeted release: [[Releases/13 | Fedora 13 ]]  
* Targeted release: [[Releases/15 | Fedora 15 ]]  
* Last updated: 2010-01-05
* Last updated: 2011-03-28
* Percentage of completion: 0%
* Percentage of completion: 100%


== Detailed Description ==
== Detailed Description ==
The Xfce project has been working on a new version, 4.8 for quite a while now.
The Xfce project has been working on a new version, 4.8 for quite a while now.


{{admon/important | Schedule is tight! | The [http://wiki.xfce.org/releng/4.8/schedule Xfce 4.8 development schedule] is currently estimated to be very close the [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Schedule schedule of Fedora 13].}}
Xfce 4.8 was released on 2011-01-16.
 
{| border="1" align="center"
! Date !! Xfce !! Fedora
|-
| 2010-02-01 || Xfce 4.8pre1 ||
|-
| 2010-02-09 ||  || '''[[ReleaseEngineering/FeatureFreezePolicy|Feature Freeze]]'''
|-
| 2010-02-16 ||  || [[Alpha_Freeze_Policy| Alpha Freeze]]
|-
| 2010-03-01 || Xfce 4.8pre2 ||
|-
| 2010-03-02 ||  || Alpha Release
|-
| 2010-03-23 ||  || Beta Freeze
|-
| 2010-03-29 || Xfce 4.8pre3 ||
|-
| 2010-04-06 ||  || Beta Release
|-
| 2010-04-12 || Xfce 4.8final||
|-
| 2010-04-27 ||  || Final Freeze
|-
| 2010-04-29 ||  || Compose Release Candidate
|-
| 2010-05-11 ||  || F13 Release
|}


This means:
( The development [http://wiki.xfce.org/releng/4.8/schedule schedule ] )
 
* We only have 8 days from the release of Xfce 4.8pre1 till Feature Freeze. If release is delayed, we might need to drop the feature as it needs to be in a testable state for feature freeze.
* Fedora 13 Alpha will come with Xfce 4.8pre1 (15 days from release to Alpha freeze)
* Fedora 13 Beta will come with Xfce 4.8pre2 (22 days from release to Beta freeze)
* Fedora 13 RC will come with Xfce 4.8final (17 days from release to RC compose)
 
Additionally, a dist-f13-xfce tag will be used to coordinate the package builds, so impact on rawhide will be
minimal until the full set of packages is ready to land at once.


== Benefit to Fedora ==
== Benefit to Fedora ==
Line 64: Line 27:
Xfce 4.8 has a number of improvements and new features. A few of the more notable ones:
Xfce 4.8 has a number of improvements and new features. A few of the more notable ones:
* Xfce menu will support menu merging.
* Xfce menu will support menu merging.
* Bring back the graphical menu editor known from Xfce 4.4
* Allow graphical menu editors like alacarte to work with Xfce.
* Thunar is ported from thunar-vfs to gvfs
* PolicyKit support in xfce4-session
* Multilib enhancements for xfce4-panel plugins.
* Multilib enhancements for xfce4-panel plugins.
* run dialog now runs with the users full session environment
* Task list windows can now be filtered by monitor.
* Improved multi-head support


== Scope ==
== Scope ==


Existing packages will need to be updated to 4.8 in rawhide.  
Existing packages are updated to 4.8 in rawhide.  
Four new packages have been reviewed and will need to be imported:


* garcon: Implementation of the freedesktop.org menu specification.
Most required packages are already reviewed and in rawhide, but will need to be updated to the new 4.8 versions.  
* tumbler: D-Bus service for applications to request thumbnails for various URI schemes and MIME types.
* libxfce4ui: Commonly used Xfce widgets.


Two packages will need to be Obsoleted and blocked from F13:
One new package will need to be imported into Fedora 15:
* thunar-vfs (legacy package for apps that still use thunar-vfs instead of gvfs, e.g xfburn): <s>[https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=660159 Review]</s> - done
 
One packages will need to be Obsoleted and blocked from Fedora 15:
* libxfce4menu (replaecd by garcon)
* libxfce4menu (replaecd by garcon)
* libxfcegui4 (replaced by libxfce4ui)
 
At least the following will need to be updated (in that order):
* libxfce4util
* gtk-xfce-engine
* xfconf
* libxfce4ui
* libxfcegui4 (legacy, will be phased out once everything is ported to libxfce4ui)
* garcon
* exo
* xfce4-settings
* xfce4-appfinder
* xfce4-panel
* xfce4-session
* xfwm4
* xfce-utils
* xfdesktop
 
The following packages will need to be rebuilt:
* xfce4-mixer
* all xfce4-panel plugins
* all thunar plugins
Some of these may actually need porting.


== How To Test ==
== How To Test ==
New installs:
New installs:


* install rawhide/F11 on any machine.  
* install rawhide/Fedora 15 on any machine.  
* yum groupinstall 'XFCE'
* yum install @xfce-desktop
* confirm gdm offers Xfce4 as a session type
* confirm gdm offers Xfce4 as a session type
* confirm you can select this session and login
* confirm you can select this session and login
Line 96: Line 85:
* confirm yum groupupdate 'XFCE' works and all packages are properly updated/obsoleted.
* confirm yum groupupdate 'XFCE' works and all packages are properly updated/obsoleted.
* confirm the updated desktop works fine.
* confirm the updated desktop works fine.
== User Experience ==
* This release incorporates many changes to the Xfce desktop environment, including:
** A move to GIO from the older, less flexible ThunarVFS
** A re-write of the Xfce panel with better multi monitor and launcher support.
** Menu editing is available via packages such as alacarte.
** Core libraries streamlined to use less memory and provide a more stable user experience.
== Dependencies ==
* None


== Contingency Plan ==
== Contingency Plan ==


Revert to older Xfce 4.6 version. This may require a Epoch and rebuilding packages and plugins.  
Revert to older Xfce 4.6 version. This may require a Epoch and rebuilding packages and plugins.  
Or if the dist-f13-xfce tag has not yet been merged back into rawhide, only reverts in cvs will be required.
Or if the dist-f14-xfce tag has not yet been merged back into rawhide, only reverts in git will be required.
 
== Documentation ==
* The Xfce 4.8 desktop


== Release Notes ==
== Release Notes ==
Line 108: Line 113:
* See [[Talk:Features/Xfce48]]
* See [[Talk:Features/Xfce48]]


[[Category:FeaturePageIncomplete]]
[[Category:FeatureAcceptedF15]]
<!-- When your feature page is completed and ready for review -->
<!-- When your feature page is completed and ready for review -->
<!-- remove Category:FeaturePageIncomplete and change it to Category:FeatureReadyForWrangler -->
<!-- remove Category:FeaturePageIncomplete and change it to Category:FeatureReadyForWrangler -->
<!-- After review, the feature wrangler will move your page to Category:FeatureReadyForFesco... if it still needs more work it will move back to Category:FeaturePageIncomplete-->
<!-- After review, the feature wrangler will move your page to Category:FeatureReadyForFesco... if it still needs more work it will move back to Category:-->
<!-- A pretty picture of the page category usage is at: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy/Process -->
<!-- A pretty picture of the page category usage is at: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy/Process -->

Latest revision as of 19:50, 28 March 2011

Xfce 4.8

Summary

Update Xfce to the upstream 4.8 release with many new improvements and features.

Owners

  • email: kevin@tummy.com, cwickert@fedoraproject.org

Current status

  • Targeted release: Fedora 15
  • Last updated: 2011-03-28
  • Percentage of completion: 100%

Detailed Description

The Xfce project has been working on a new version, 4.8 for quite a while now.

Xfce 4.8 was released on 2011-01-16.

( The development schedule )

Benefit to Fedora

Xfce 4.8 has a number of improvements and new features. A few of the more notable ones:

  • Xfce menu will support menu merging.
  • Allow graphical menu editors like alacarte to work with Xfce.
  • Thunar is ported from thunar-vfs to gvfs
  • PolicyKit support in xfce4-session
  • Multilib enhancements for xfce4-panel plugins.
  • run dialog now runs with the users full session environment
  • Task list windows can now be filtered by monitor.
  • Improved multi-head support

Scope

Existing packages are updated to 4.8 in rawhide.

Most required packages are already reviewed and in rawhide, but will need to be updated to the new 4.8 versions.

One new package will need to be imported into Fedora 15:

  • thunar-vfs (legacy package for apps that still use thunar-vfs instead of gvfs, e.g xfburn): Review - done

One packages will need to be Obsoleted and blocked from Fedora 15:

  • libxfce4menu (replaecd by garcon)

At least the following will need to be updated (in that order):

  • libxfce4util
  • gtk-xfce-engine
  • xfconf
  • libxfce4ui
  • libxfcegui4 (legacy, will be phased out once everything is ported to libxfce4ui)
  • garcon
  • exo
  • xfce4-settings
  • xfce4-appfinder
  • xfce4-panel
  • xfce4-session
  • xfwm4
  • xfce-utils
  • xfdesktop

The following packages will need to be rebuilt:

  • xfce4-mixer
  • all xfce4-panel plugins
  • all thunar plugins

Some of these may actually need porting.

How To Test

New installs:

  • install rawhide/Fedora 15 on any machine.
  • yum install @xfce-desktop
  • confirm gdm offers Xfce4 as a session type
  • confirm you can select this session and login
  • confirm settings changes can be made and saved, and are found after a logout/login cycle.
  • confirm day to day desktop functions are working.
  • confirm all settings dialogs come up and work.

(More specifics can be added when final changelogs are available)

Updates:

  • confirm yum groupupdate 'XFCE' works and all packages are properly updated/obsoleted.
  • confirm the updated desktop works fine.

User Experience

  • This release incorporates many changes to the Xfce desktop environment, including:
    • A move to GIO from the older, less flexible ThunarVFS
    • A re-write of the Xfce panel with better multi monitor and launcher support.
    • Menu editing is available via packages such as alacarte.
    • Core libraries streamlined to use less memory and provide a more stable user experience.

Dependencies

  • None

Contingency Plan

Revert to older Xfce 4.6 version. This may require a Epoch and rebuilding packages and plugins. Or if the dist-f14-xfce tag has not yet been merged back into rawhide, only reverts in git will be required.

Documentation

  • The Xfce 4.8 desktop

Release Notes

  • Xfce has been updated to version 4.8. This version includes many enhancements and bug fixes. See the tour at http://www.xfce.org/about/tour for more information.

Comments and Discussion