Is it time to fork Celestia?

[Startyger]

I see the value in taking development into different directions. I don't think Celestia, itself, should be compromised. Perhaps the idea of Neighboring Commnunities, yes, all dependent on the Celestia engine.. might be a better idea... However, the interaction between us all seems to make celestia turn out better. It's cross platform and works to suit the ideas of so many people. Perhaps, it is merely the forums that should change. This has been attempted, but people don't stay with in the boundaries. a place for add- ons (with divisions like fiction/non-fiction) a place for developmet and a place for official announcements.... these can be broken down into separate catagories.. and will help organize this sprawling community of developers and users: programmers, artists, scientists, technologists, marketers, educators, students etc.


I can't wait for the day that i see a commercial for Celestia, or one showing a user er.. using celestia.. being prompted to work in Stellar Cartography for NASA, the Armed forces.. or Independent industries forging further into starjewel'd frontier... this, this is what i personally, see as the furture of celestia... whether fact of fiction, a starmap.. an inspiration for us all.... which, whether developer or user.. it has obviously, been already...

(by the way, i'm an artist who teaches science classes part time and enjoys science fiction and is learning to code... so.. i guess that's part of why i support everyone's claim on celestia... )

[Tech Sgt. Chen]

OK, so Chris is living his life while he's young and has the chance. He's taken a break from coding and the stresses involved, not to mention the probable stresses of his job. Who else knows the stresses that Chris is dealing with? So, what are we going to do now? Blame Chris for developing Celestia and offering it free to anyone interested? Blame him for not wanting to squander precious time by spending it all behind a computer screen? Maybe blame him for offering the source code free to anyone interested in continuing the developement?
People never cease to amaze me! Yeah, I know many of you have spent countless hours pouring over line after line of code! I know how frustrating it is just trying to keep track of HTML code which doesn't even compare to a complex coding language.
You all deserve a standing ovation as far as I'm concerned. But, don't fault Chris for your personal choice to get involved. If you can't continue without Chris, don't continue! Take a break yourself.
Trust me, Celestia WILL still be here if you decide to return. And if you don't, someone else WILL eventually take your place. The program is THAT GOOD!
The way I see it is, the only way Celestia will die is when everyone gives up on it, users and coders. And, if by some minute chance that happens, Celestia will still be here when Chris returns. I'm still having fun running Celestia 1.3.2. Yeah, I made some enhanced star textures for myself and decided; why not share with others who might be interested?
It will be the same for all users of Celestia. They'll keep coming up with ways to enhance their enjoyment of it and possibly offer those enhancements to others. Celestia is open source software. If you want to continue development in your own fashion, go ahead! If you don't, that's OK too. But, don't blame Chris for offering what he has come up with so far, for free. Maybe, some of you should take up skiing.

[t00fri]

Don't worry,

we are working very hard including Chris. Very soon he will release a new 1.4.0 pre version.

Bye Fridger

[brunetto_64]

wow...
good news!!!!

[symaski62]

forceware v77.30 beta 12/6/2005


wow !!

[Tech Sgt. Chen]

Fridger,
That standing ovation was meant for you too. You've been with Celestia virtually from the start. Before Chris introduces the new Pre-release version; could you see if he can re-enable star textures per spectral class - or - at least make it easier to use them in the new version?
Stars are the backbone of the universe!!!