Maurits thinks aloud

We plan to release GIMP# 0.9 first week of July after the announcement of the winner of the plug-in contest. A preliminary overview of what will be in release 0.9:

• The UnitTest plug-in working on win32
• GIMP# plug-ins callable from other plug-ins or scripts
• A port of the Krita raindrop filter
• A plug-in that checks for updates (GIMP# and GIMP)
• Support for saving jpeg 2000 files
• More GIMP API coverage

Now that we have released GIMP# 0.8 it's time for a little contest to give GIMP# some more exposure. This contest is about writing a new plug-in that has to meet a few conditions:

• the plug-in shouldn't be trivial. So if you implement a plug-in that swaps the red and the blue values of an image, you won't win. 
• the plug-in shouldn't be a port of an already existing GIMP plug-in, unless that plug-in is abandoned.
• there will only be one prize for the winning entry. This will be decided by an independant jury, meaning not us, the GIMP# developers. All other entries will become part of the next GIMP# release, unless the contestant objects.
• all code should be made available under the GPL.
• the plug-in should run on Linux, and preferably also on Windows.

 What do we offer:

• a prize! The winner may choose a dvd/cd/book from Amazon with a maximum price (including shipping costs) of 50 dollar.
• support! There is no documentation yet. So if you need information just contact us. If you need a part of the GIMP API that isn't implemented yet, we will provide that.
• fame! Your plug-in will become part of GIMP#. We will even get you CVS access if you want to become a member of the development team. 

It might be wise to contact us if you wish to enter this contest and tell us a bit about the plug-in you plan to write. 

Final and very important note: the contest starts as of today. The deadline will be 30 June 2006. Within one week from the deadline we will announce the winner and we will make sure he/she gets the prize.

We have finally released GIMP# 0.8 after more than 3 months hacking. Major highlights of this release:

• Completely reworked framework
• Support for 64 bits machines
• Added unit test filter (based on NUnit) with about 100 unit tests to improve quality.
• A new plug-in to read jpeg 2000 files.
• A new plug-in (ported from an abandoned one) to read Neochrome (Atari ST) files.
• The wbmp plug-in can now save files.
• Picture package now supports drag & drop.
• Many bugfixes and minor improvements.

The Windows installer will be made available within a few days.

Most work has been done and we will spend the next days to create a few more unit tests (right now there are about 60), create a Windows installer (Massimo Perga is responsible for this) and finally update the website.

I'm also considering a small contest after release 0.8. This contest will be about writing a new plug-in, using GIMP#. First prize will probably be a book/dvd/cd from Amazon. All other (if any) contestants will earn eternal fame and their contributions will become part of the next GIMP# releases.