July 2002 Archives

James Strachan (of Jaxen and dom4j fame) and Martin van den Bemt launched the Xulux project (http://xulux.org). James writes in his weblog (http://james.weblogger.com):

The Xulux (pronounced zoolooks) project is gathering steam. Its going to be an ASF licenced open source XUL framework. The aim is to simplify the development of rich/thick clients using XUL to define more traditional, rich user interfaces. The XUL can then be transformed into HTML / DHTML / JavaScript for old HTML browsers such as IE while still supporting rich in XUL browsers such as Mozilla or Flash (thanks to ZULU). So the aim is to build a HTML, Swing and SWT clients for XUL as well as a server side framework for developing XUL applications.

So rich clients (Swing, SWT, Mozilla, Flash) can be supported while still using XML and web application development technologies.

It looks like the jXUL guys, who've stopped maintaining jXUL are happy for Xulux to adopt the codebase, ASF licence it and improve it. They may even join Xulux and help out at some point in the future.

Check out their logo. No code yet.

Check out the VanX screenplay for the Luxor episode The "Linux Kernel" for Desktop Apps - Uniting XUL, SVG, HTML, Velocity, Web Start, XSL/T, Python and more at http://luxor-xul.sourceforge.net/talk/vanx-jul-2002/slides.html

Episode Review. Gerald gives you a no-fluff, fast-paced, example-packed XUL tour and dispells some XUL myths (XUL needs Javascript or Mozilla; XUL is an arachic XForms predecessor) on the way.

Gerald explains the Five Freedoms of the XUL charter and how all the pieces fit together. After praising Mozilla XUL Gerald trashes some XUL-like wannabes and explains how and why Luxor XUL dares to differs from Mozilla XUL.

Experience the future and get a taste of the Free World.

Episode Reruns. Luxor: Beyond Swing and HTML: Building Rich, Cross-Platform, Zero-Admin Desktop Apps on Open Standards Today online at http://luxor-xul.sourceforge.net/talk/jug-oct-2001/slides.html

Can closed-source, single-vendor, Windope-first rich client milk machines match open-source XUL alternatives? Join the discussion at "The Server Side" - http://www.theserverside.com/home/thread.jsp?thread_id=14311

Grab a copy at http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=28946. New attractions in Beta 5 include:

• Modul-mania. New modules include: Apollo, Caramel, Houston, Rachel, and Salsa
  • Apollo - Test Skeleton for Web Start/JNLP
  • Caramel - Java Extensions (non-GUI only)
  • Houston - Yet Another Status and Logging Toolkit
  • Rachel - Resource Loading (includes HTTP web service)
  • Salsa - Swing GUI Add-Ons
• Python interpreter added (thanks to Jython)
• More Docs (e.g. framed XUL tag reference, framed JNLP tag reference, etc.)
• More Examples (e.g. Calc, a simple calculator)
• Numerous bug fixes and minor improvements

First Call. Be the first to know about Luxor releases and sign up for Freshmeat's notification service at http://freshmeat.net/projects/luxor. For Apollo and Rachel sign up at http://freshmeat.net/projects/apollo and http://freshmeat.net/projects/rachel.