[Xastir] Stable release timing?

[Rick Green]

Well, Debian etch just released, and (K,X)Ubuntu will release next week.

I just saw a note giving the release schedule for the *Next* release of 
Ubuntu, codenamed 'Gutsy Gibbon', to be released this October.

The process of producing an Ubuntu release begins by snapshotting the 
Debian Unstable repository, which will happen automatically until June 
21st, which is declared the 'Debian Import Freeze'
   A month or so ago, I tracked down the Debian maintainer of the xastir 
package, and learned that he rebuilds the package whenever the project 
releases a new 'stable' version.
   Considering the ease of installation with apt-get, and the popularity of 
Ubuntu (and now, its derivatives), I would give a high priority to making 
sure that what is declared 'stable' at the time of the next snapshot is 
actually that, plus is equipped with a newbie-friendly default 
configuration.  The last snapshot (In November or December '06), had the 
unfortunate habit of opening into a tiny (1/2" x 1/2") window, and even 
after manually expanding it, showed no obvious path to a workable config. 
The current CVS has these problems fixed, and opens with a simple 
line-drawing world map in the background, and the 'station config' dialog 
open, which is several orders of magnitude greater on the 
'newbie-friendly' scale!
   Can we get a new 'Stable' polished in time to have a better showing for 
the next distribution cycle?
   The one outstanding glitch I see is the lesstiff/openmotif issue. 
Ubuntu ships by default with lesstif2, due to what they consider 
less-than-open licensing of openmotif.  Clearly, there's a bug in the 
current lesstif2 library, but I can't find it documented in the ubuntu bug 
tracker.  Can I get some help describing this bug, so I can effectively 
push it upstream, and get it polished as well before the next release?

-- 
Rick Green

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
                                   -Benjamin Franklin