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AmiZilla is still alive- ROAar! :) This is a full update of what we've been doing for the last 6 months- work on the NSPR, XPCOM and how exe compiling is going. Plus we've started a multi-platform GTK->MUI(Zune)/Reaction abstraction layer- check out the screenshot and demo exe links!
AmiZilla Update 28/06/05
Ok, many people seem to think the AmiZilla project is dead, and with good reason, as there's been no information released in a long time! So I thought I'd put out an update, so people can see things are happening!
Ok, firstly, the NSPR is basically functionally complete- this is a base Operating System abstraction layer (for things like TCP/IP etc). XPCOM seems to be mostly functioning- XPCOM is a Cross Platform Component Object Model- it allows different components in Mozilla to message each other, and access files on any platform etc. A couple of people have had the code compiling with these layers, producing an exe of around 500M in size (with debug info), which ran and exited cleanly, but requires an X11 server as a screen device! At the moment, we have switched from a static huge exe, to a library version (a2ixlibrary), but we haven't been able to do a complete build with this yet.
We're creating some helpful documentation on what files are needed, and how to compile an exe etc, along with some much needed info on how to set up a Cross-Compiling environment on Linux and Windows. This is very important, as unless you have a Dragon accelerator, you can't compile AmiZilla on a 68k-based Amiga, as they physically just don't have enough memory to compile it (you need 256-512M memory at least, and we won't even go into how long it takes to compile 200M of source code, on a 68k...)! It should be possible to compile it on an AmigaOne, or Pegasos though.
But more interesting, a couple of people are working on a GTK->MUI(Zune)/Reaction layer, primarily for the AmiZilla project, but it will be able to be used for other GTK apps too. It's likely, we will be looking at getting Firefox running first (it's only a simple compiler switch, to compile either Firefox or Mozilla), then maybe the whole Mozilla suite if people want it (probably unnecessary though). We're looking at getting it running on 68k/MUI first, and hopefully the 68k exe should run on AmigaOS4 and MorphOS as is.
Then we can look at MorphOS/OS4/AROS native ports. With a MorphOS port we may need a compile of the latest version of GCC ie: 3.x, to be able to compile AmiZilla though.
The GTK->MUI/Reaction layer will be done as a separate project, to make it easier to support multiple OSes (Amiga 3.x, OS4, MorphOS and AROS), but the initial target will be to get Firefox running on Amiga 3.x. Also, an AROS bounty has been put up for a GTK->MUI (Zune) layer, so that it can then be easily ported to any other Amiga Operating System (if not already done). Also, the MorphZone bounty program is considering, either starting their own GTK->MUI wrapper bounty, or pointing it towards the AROS one. The GTK layer will be done as two shared libs- glib.library and gtk.library.
So far, GTK->MUI seems fairly straightforward, as MUI is quite flexible, and fairly similar in structure to GTK- these both use an Object Model (ie: as in using objects like Windows, Buttons etc, not as in C++/Java Object-Orientated programming!), and GTK does not poke directly into it's data structures, but uses functions for object manipulation.
We've put together a basic working example using GTK calls, of initialising GTK (really an MUI call), opening a Window with a Button on it, closing the Window, and shutting the system (MUI) down. We've also compiled the GTK dev-kit examples helloworld and helloworld2, without any modification to their sources. One minor problem is that MUI gives back a pointer when it's initialised, but GTK doesn't, so we'll have to save that pointer somehow, probably in per-app data, saved within the library structure itself.
GTK->MUI Screenshots
GTK->MUI Demo code and compiled exes (68k)
GDK is an OS independent video abstraction layer for GTK- GTK makes it's calls to GDK, which then calls the underlying system (in Linux it's X-Windows). We haven't looked into it fully yet, but we shouldn't have to worry about GDK, as only GTK calls it, and Firefox shouldn't make any direct calls to it- and as we're replacing GTK calls with MUI/Reaction ones, GDK won't be called!
More of a challenge will be GLib- we're currently researching how much Firefox uses it, as some of GLib is very simple, and would just take a recompile, but other stuff like events, signals and threads could be more problematic, and may require replacing with Reaction/MUI calls.
More developers are always welcome to join us- the more resources we have, the quicker this will get done! :) To join the AmiZilla list, either send an email to amizilla-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, or go to the Yahoo AmiZilla website (but you need to create a Yahoo account, to do it this way). Also, donations to help encourage more developers, are most welcome too! :) - AmiZilla donation page.
- Ants
AmiZilla Team
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| Poster | Thread |  BobC.
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Re: AmiZilla Update
Posted on 29-Jun-2005 4:49:11
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Cult Member
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Joined: 9-Mar-2003
Posts: 556
From: Mid Atlantic State USA | | |
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| Thanks for the update Ants..sounds very encouraging too.
Bob C.
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Re: AmiZilla Update
Posted on 29-Jun-2005 4:54:39
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Member
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Joined: 28-Jun-2005
Posts: 75
From: Auckland, New Zealand | | |
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| MagicSN wrote:
> Are you guys working on both Reaction and MUI implementation of GTK ? Are the two versions at the same state ? Or is one of them "ahead" ?
Currently we're reading up on GTK+, MUI, and Reaction/Amiga Graphics Library. So far, we've only started some basic GTK code using MUI, as we just want to start somewhere (doing Reaction at the same time, just makes things too complicated- jumping between GTK and MUI calls is sending me crazy as it is! :). I'm not sure how we'll proceed yet- we may start working slowly on a OS4/Reaction version at the same time, or do a MUI one first, and then a Reaction version.
You can keep an eye on how the code is progressing at [URL=http://sourceforge.net/projects/GTK->MUI]SourceForge GTK->MUI[/URL] (yeah it probably should have been GTK->MUI/Reaction- I didn't put it up...), and I'll put out news updates too.
> Are there people involved in the project who have AmigaOne's and already could adapt the makefiles and such for OS 4
None at present- one of us has WinUAE, with OS3.9 on it- I have an A1200 with OS3.1 (which died 2 weeks ago :( - haven't had time to check out why yet), and a Pegasos1- I'm not sure if the OS4 emulation layer on MOS, will run AmiZilla or the GTK->Reaction layer yet (I'll have to check).
> (IMHO it often makes a lot of sense to already adapt the project to several destination platforms while working-on instead of "in the end"
I agree! We'll try and do this if possible!
>... of course I don't know the Mozilla source-code, so I cannot really give a qualified comment how viable this is right now, especially as you guys have all hands full with making the OS 3.x version already) ?
Yeah, the GTK layer maybe ok, but getting AmiZilla working on 68k, is going to be scary enough! :)
Anyway Steffen- feel free to mail me, if you have any questions, suggestions etc- we'll keep in touch! :)
Cyas -Ants Last edited by Ants on 29-Jun-2005 at 05:26 AM.
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Re: AmiZilla Update
Posted on 29-Jun-2005 5:03:12
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Member
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Joined: 28-Jun-2005
Posts: 75
From: Auckland, New Zealand | | |
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| > Sure you're not thinking of Firefox? The Mozilla Suite might include a mail client, but I'd have thought that thunderbird would be a completely different set of sources (albeit perhaps with much in common).
Yes, the Firefox and full Mozilla Suite (which I'm pretty sure is Thunderbird) is the same source code- you just change a Constant #define, to compile either Firefox or Mozilla.
> That said, I don't think that there's quite as pressing a need for a new mail client - the current ones work fine, and e-mail hasn't changed as much as the web in the last few years.
Yeah, I agree, an emailer is not what we need on Amiga OSes. Porting the full Mozilla could complicate the porting process- but we still could think about it later!
-Ants
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Re: AmiZilla Update
Posted on 29-Jun-2005 5:10:49
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Member
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Joined: 28-Jun-2005
Posts: 75
From: Auckland, New Zealand | | |
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| > How much time, approximately, will it take before a alpha Firefox
can be compiled? With the current speed of progress!
6 months? 10? 12?
Well, this is a very imprecise estimate- we should get the GTK layer done in 3-5 months, and then work on the AmiZilla compile. So at the worst, I'd say 7-10 months- but if all goes well it could be much less!
The problem is, we haven't read up all the GTK/GLib/MUI docs yet, and seen what's needed for Amizilla, or done enough work with compiling AmiZilla- once we've done that (and know the problems we'll be up against), we could give a much better estimate! :)
-Ants
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Re: AmiZilla Update
Posted on 29-Jun-2005 5:14:24
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Member
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Joined: 28-Jun-2005
Posts: 75
From: Auckland, New Zealand | | |
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| > If I understand correctly, the current version of Firefox is based on Mozilla 1.8.
AFAIK, the current version of Mozilla source we're porting is 1.7.7, which is Firefox 1.0.3.
-Ants
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Re: AmiZilla Update
Posted on 29-Jun-2005 5:21:39
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Member
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Joined: 28-Jun-2005
Posts: 75
From: Auckland, New Zealand | | |
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| > i think the mui/reaction warpper is a good idea, i hope the amiga version will remove all the bloat, unnecessary stuffs... and result in a fastn' responsive browser.
thus the amiga version might be the better version of mozilla(cauz: bloat-free)
Yes, that I think that will happen- running natively on Reaction or MUI should speed it up quite a bit (or at least make it more responsive!), as you remove all the GTK/X-Windows bloat, which, AFAIK is what makes Linux sluggish.
So far the code we've done for the GTK->MUI layer is very small and fast! :)
-Ants
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Re: AmiZilla Update
Posted on 29-Jun-2005 8:09:41
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Elite Member
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Joined: 10-Mar-2003
Posts: 8042
From: amigaguru.com | | |
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| ants:sounds great, loved this bit of important feedback.
best of luck on the project to all innvolved.
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See my blog and collection website! . https://www.blog.amigaguru.com
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Re: AmiZilla Update
Posted on 29-Jun-2005 15:45:48
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Super Member
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Joined: 30-Apr-2003
Posts: 1081
From: Italy | | |
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AmigaOS, the last hope...
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| | gnarly
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Re: AmiZilla Update
Posted on 29-Jun-2005 16:46:53
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Cult Member
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Joined: 16-Mar-2003
Posts: 742
From: Cheltenham, UK | | |
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| Quote:
| Mozilla Suite (which I'm pretty sure is Thunderbird) |
Not quite. The Mozilla Suite is SeaMonkey. Thunderbird uses the same codebase though IIRC.
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Re: AmiZilla Update
Posted on 30-Jun-2005 2:47:32
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Member
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Joined: 28-Jun-2005
Posts: 75
From: Auckland, New Zealand | | |
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| gnarly wrote:
> Not quite. The Mozilla Suite is SeaMonkey. Thunderbird uses the same codebase though IIRC
Ahh, right!
To everyone:
Hey, thanks for the positive feedback- it makes reading up all the GTK and MUI docs worth while- you end up very confused and going a little crazy, trying to remember which call is from which API (and one of us, was looking at Reaction as well)!
-Ants
. Last edited by Ants on 30-Jun-2005 at 02:51 AM.
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