Nvu Development, December 2007

Nvu was released in June of 2005 as version 1.0. Users continue to search the Web, basically without success, looking for news of additional Nvu development. Nvu was a great step forward and there has been continued development if you know where to look.

Nvu is an open source, cross platform, WYSIWYG HTML editor. The concept behind Nvu was to take what had been done as part of suites and release it as a stand-alone application. Nvu is open source which means you can get the source code and make your own version. But even though Nvu is open source, “Nvu” is a trademark of Linspire Corporation, sponsors of the project. That is a continuing source of confusion.

Nvu Development

I haven’t found a definitive number of Nvu users but it has been said to be in the millions. The 1.0 release had lots of problems but even so there continues to be happy users looking for continued development and Nvu new releases.

Because of the trademark issue (and maybe some sloppy marketing) new updates to Nvu have gone unrecognized by many. In fact, the first update came after Nvu 1.0 was released and I read the delivery message as, “You could have easily made this thing (Nvu) work.”

KompoZer is Now Official

The successor to Nvu is KompoZer, basically the work of an individual. The first release of KompoZer was announced as the “unofficial bug fix for Nvu.” Indeed it did fix some bugs but many of us awaited the "official" bug fix or the next version of Nvu.

It didn’t take me long to realize that Nvu had been abandoned and even if I considered it a classic HTML editor I moved to the unofficial bug fix. There was a time when the community thought KompoZer was abandoned as well. Not true: KompoZer development continues.

I’m not sure how one produces an "unofficial" bug fix or how the fix becomes official. I could take KompoZer, as is and sell it according to the rules of open source. Since that is true it seems I would be empowered to call it an official bug fix. OK, KompoZer is now the official bug fix to Nvu.

Version Numbers

Getting beyond the unofficial-official issue, I had concern over trading in my Nvu 1.0 for KompoZer 0.7 something. That seemed like a step back and caused me to perceive increased risk. Just landing from Mars I hadn’t figured it out yet.

In case you just got here let me assure you that:

1. Nvu shouldn’t have been released as a 1.0,
2. KompoZer should have been released as a 0.7,
3. Upgrading from Nvu to KompoZer is painless, and
4. The current version, KompoZer 0.7.10, is a nice product on the way to becoming a real 1.0.

We didn’t notice any glitches when playing with the WYSIWYG function. Running lean and mean lets KompoZer compete more than adequately with better-known competitors. zdnet

KompoZer Download

The KompoZer Web site now defines KompoZer as: "...designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding." KompoZer is all it is said to be and has clearly surpassed Nvu in capability.

This blog is not part KompoZer or Nvu development. We think KompoZer is a way for new web authors to start their web site for free. Links to KompoZer Download, User Guide and other points of interest are provided in the right column. Download KompoZer and get started on your first web page.

Wysi

; .