I'm baaackkkk!

Exciting news. First, I'm once again serving as the product manager
for Radio UserLand. Second, I am leading an effort to use the source
code base from the Frontier Kernel Project as the basis for the next
version of Radio UserLand's kernel.

As you all know, UserLand is a small company with few internal
resources, but a very high regard for its developer community. In
2004, the Frontier kernel was released to open source on the hope
that by drawing on resources
outside the company, some of the lingering problems with the kernel
would finally be resolved.

Over the past several months, as I watched the Frontier Kernel
Project make progress, I started pitching UserLand on the idea of
using the Frontier OSR code for the basis of the Radio kernel. The
Radio.root would remain private, but the kernel would be available to
anyone who wanted to compile from source. UserLand management agreed
and that brings us to where we are today.

Here are some of the more obvious FAQ's:

Q. What does UserLand expect of us?
A. Nothing. UserLand will download the source like everyone else
and contribute changes back to the project in accordance with the
license and the spirit of the project. I will be the person
responsible for compiling the kernel, testing and reporting the bugs
and successes.

Q. Will UserLand be contributing to the kernel project?
A. Unlikely in the short term. But by recognizing and adopting the
work of the project and using the kernel to create an improved
product, UserLand hopes to add momentum to both and thereby attract
more interest and people
to the project.

Q. What happens if UserLand wants us to do something that we don't
want to
do?
A. Don't do it. UserLand isn't taking over the Frontier Kernel
Project or trying to co-opt it. It is just another participant and
user of the OSR. If a conflict with the kernel's project develops
(unlikely), UserLand will
have no choice but to submit or branch (with its separate
contributions being added to the repository).

Q. Who's the UserLand point of contact?
A. For now, it's me (steve@... or steve.kirks@...)
but Lawrence Lee (lawrence@...) is available too. I'm not
an employee or owner of UserLand Software, but they are letting me
lead this effort and contribute to both the Kernel Project and the
future of Radio. I expect to get some compensation for my trouble,
but that's mostly to justify time
spent on the project to my wife.

Q. Where do you want the Radio UserLand kernel to "go"?
A. What do I expect? Here's a short list:

1. Upload some missing icon files for the Mac build.
2. Work with someone to get a functioning UB build of Radio running
on an Intel Mac.
3. Work with someone to get a functioning build of Radio running on
Windows using Visual Studio Express C++ 2005

Past that, it will be up to the community for Frontier coders and the
Radio community.

To everyone who's contributed to the kernel: thank you for making
this possible.

Steve Kirks
Product Manager
UserLand Software
http://houseofwarwick.com/
steve.kirks@...