Application: KVIrc
Category: Internet
Description: KVIrc is a free portable full-featured IRC client based on the excellent Qt GUI toolkit.
Download KVIrc Portable Pre Release 3 [7.2MB download / 17MB installed]
(MD5: f20d54b4b2c97a93d91ecab72f47bace)
Release Notes:
Pre Release 3 (2009-04-06)
Pre Release 1 (2009-03-26): Initial release
Enjoy!!
Category: Internet
Description: KVIrc is a free portable full-featured IRC client based on the excellent Qt GUI toolkit.
Download KVIrc Portable Pre Release 3 [7.2MB download / 17MB installed]
(MD5: f20d54b4b2c97a93d91ecab72f47bace)
Release Notes:
Pre Release 3 (2009-04-06)
- Fixed lingering issue with settings not copying correctly.
- Introduced compression for the app. This will save 10MB of space after install.
Pre Release 1 (2009-03-26): Initial release
- Thanks for all the help from fellow Devs :)
- Thanks in advance for testing!!
- KVIrc Portable DT6
- KVIrc Portable 4 Pre-beta
Enjoy!!
Congratulations!
Oh and the app works well too
Bensawsome
iLike Macs, iPwn, However you put it... Apple is better ^_^
"Claiming that your operating system is the best in the world because more people use it is like saying McDonalds makes the best food in the world..."
ty Gizmokid2005 I'll test it asap and post my results
your friendly neighbourhood moderator Zach Thibeau
Guys! There weren't any changes from DT6 to PR1 except for the splash. I don't forsee any issues
Let me know for sure one way or the other!
Woo hoo! Great Gizmokid2005!
Wow, I'll have to try this one out.
In case anyone tried to download this in the last few days. I was moving my webhost and had issues with my hosting. The file is now available.
Let's get testing so we can go official!!
Thanks again!
Has been released!
What's with the [NON-COMMERCIAL] tag on the window? I thought that if you used the GPLed version of Qt that they'd *FINALLY* limited that lame interface intrusion.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Removed in V4 which is still in early beta and I'm using. They are still using Qt3 for 3.4.2.1 afaik. Version 4 of KVIrc uses QT4. I'm using it now, and there aren't any [NON-COMMERCIAL] tags anymore.
You know what their schedule is for v4? I'd like to skip doing any of the stuff that uses that annoying Qt version with the NON-COMMERCIAL tag. It makes the app look screwy and half-assed.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
It's OSS just like our stuff...i can't find a roadmap/timeline. I've got a request into the devs, but last I knew the question was asked, it'll be done when it's done. While 4.0 is usable and stable, it still has minor issues, and I know they are still implementing quite a few features.
****EDIT****
Here's their Roadmap
Still no dates, so my guess is, when it's done.
I do have the latest win32 snapshot in a DT also.
John, if you are planning to wait for the official release of KVIrc 4, you will wait for a very long time. It might not happen untill the end of this year. Official releases of KVIrc are really rare. It's not going to happen any time soon.
I guess this happens cause they are releasing only highly stable versions. Thoroughly checked and bugs free.
Any chance we can get the current release recompiled with the proper Qt? A window starting with [NON-COMMERCIAL] looks like an app some kid made in their basement and couldn't afford to buy the tools for and inspires little end user confidence. I'm aware that this was Qt's half-assed way of presenting their free version before they *FINALLY* went open source properly, but most end users will be unfamiliar with that.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
In support of your statement, the [NON COMMERCIAL] crap was one of the reasons I never used KVIrc
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
Come to think of it, if it says that at the top of the window, it's basically an indication to the end user that it can't be used for commercial use (meaning thaey could use the app for their job, etc), which is a violation of one of the principles of open source software.
So, due to that confusion, and the fact that it looks *incredibly* unprofessional, I'm gonna say we pass on this and any other app made with a similar notification in the Windows titlebar. If it can be recompiled with a properly open-sourced Qt library, I'd love to get it released, but we won't do it with the hobbled Qt3 version it is based on now.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
There isn't any way to recompile KVIrc3 with QT4 as noted in their roadmap of changes they made to go to Qt4. Here is their milestone for Qt4.
For those who don't want to add a cert acception, here is what they said:
Yeah, but the old methods from Qt3 should work with Qt4 right? It's not as pretty, but it should work.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I know and can tell, it would still be a lot of code modification to do to get it to work, and I don't have the experience to attempt those changes.
My only idea is to release KVIrc 4, even though it's in beta, it's solid, stable, and it works just as this PR did. We could release it like we do FFP test and TBP. Update it as updated snapshots are released until final stable release.
It would definitely be nice to see this officially released in some way, shape or form. This is the best IRC client around IMO.
I second that. KVIrc is by far the best IRC Client ever.
Well, I'm not competent to question John's views related to "childish programming". However, as a user, I can say that none of other IRC Clients are even near to KVIrc.
Please don't make up quotes and attribute them to me. I stated that the huge [NON-COMMMERCIAL] notification at the beginning of every window the app creates looks exceedingly unprofessional (no one has argued this point) and that it seems to indicate to the end user that they aren't allowed to use the app for work or other commercial purposes (which is, of course, a violation of one of the principles of open source and any app released with such a restriction can not be considered an open source app). It would mean we can't even consider this package of KVIrc to be open source because even though it is under the GPL, the toolkit it is linked to restricts part of the GPL, which isn't allowed by the GPL.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I see, it's a legal issue. Ok then, if it's fixed in version 4 you will accept it. No problems.
Cassandra, as John said, don't make up quotes and tag them to someone, at least make sure what you are saying is what was originally stated. Thanks
John - QT3 was released under the GPL (GNU GPL V2 to be exact) back when it was Trolltech. Going forward QT4.5+ is going to also have the option of being licensed under the LGPL V2.1. I do agree that does look pretty unprofessional.
That brings me to my point again, what about releasing KVIrc 4 with QT4 and update that?
KVIrc 3 has had over 250 downloads
KVIrc 4 has had over 68 downloads
And from all of the feedback that I've received and tweaks I've done, the launchers are almost identical (except for the exe name basically) as well as the installers. The app itself performs just as well in both releases, just KVIrc 4 isn't final yet as we discussed before.
Let me know what you think.
Trolltech may have said QT3 was GPLed, but if it says that you can't use it for commercial purposes, that's not permitted under the GPL. For example, even if I create a new app from scratch, I can't release it under the GPL and say "but you can't sell it or use it in an office". The GPL itself doesn't permit that. You'd have to create a new license. And you couldn't use the text of the GPL (it's copyrighted).
Now, I'd wager that's not what the non-commercial thing is supposed to mean from a legal standpoint... but to an end user it doesn't appear that way. So, in the end it doesn't matter, because of the possible confusion (and the unprofessional appearance), QT3 is useless for our purposes.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I agree with you there...at very minimum that shouldn't be there. I'm in no way contesting your statements, just making sure everyone is on the same page.
Any thoughts on 4.0?
Hypothesis: That KVirc Portable is indeed portable.
Method: download, install and play around with it on vista SP1 for a minimum of 20 minutes.
Results:
Besides for those, good work and keep it up.
But there’s no sense crying over every mistake,
You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
Did you get a first run window when you launched KVIrc?
er . . . .
EDIT:
Did you get a message saying the setting were not found? If so, by telling it to go ahead you created those. We don't understand what you were saying with the rest of those comments.
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
help and readme were fixed, neither of which warrant a new PR.
The reason I asked about the first run window, is that is where those keys are created. I thought I had that issue fixed, but apparently NSIS is still moving too fast for the operations..
And the data will NOT be stored in Data while the app is running. The settings are moved to the App\KVIrc folder as that's where the app looks for the settings at.
I'm still trying to track down and abolish the issue with the first run window, but it's intermittent making it hard to track down.
has been released. Please report any issues you find.
TaffinFoxcroft, this should fix every issue you've seen.
App\KVIrc\locale\*: all these MO files should be able to go in an optional section for languages, which would save about 4.4MB for ordinary users.
This is no longer true. While you're at it, you might as well completely scrap the "Program History / About the Authors" section as it's not really relevant.
App\AppInfo\appinfo.ini [Version]:DisplayVersion should, while it's a pre-release, be
3.4.2.1 Pre-Release N
(currently3.4.2.1
).This one is probably more a question for John... is there any way in which you could integrate the KVIrc Portable splash screen into the standard KVIrc startup progress splash screen, as in the GIMP? See App\KVIrc\pics\kvi_splash.png and App\KVIrc\pics\kvi_splash_overlay.png for reference.
Non-portability bug: (as reported by Taffin in PR2)
I tested this as administrator, can't test as limited user atm, I suspec that those'd just get shoved to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT then.
Edit: want to put some stuff in about the launcher code as well. Variable DRIVELETTER is never used: get rid of line 88 and lines 92-94. Line 175 should read
ExecWait $EXECSTRING
(ExecWait is preferred to Exec where you're waiting for the process to conclude, as it is more efficient). Line 184 (CreateDirectory "$EXEDIR\Data\settings"
) is redundant.I am a Christian and a developer and moderator here.
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1
Unfortunately, these keys should probably be handled by the launcher. NotePad++ does the same. But I think just backing up the originals on the host computer, then deleting KVirc's portable's entries, and restoring the hosts.
I'll do a hammer through test tonight.
I'll be on IRC about 18:00 my time, 19:00 your time, give or take tonight.
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
This project might get scraped...John has said it's going to be a no-go with the Tag in the title bar....so I'll probably be moving forward with 4 only...
I wanted to comment on a few things. I'm working on locating the origination of these keys and getting rid of them, but as I am scraping 3, I will be working solely on KVIrc 4, yet they use identical launchers so I'm going to comment on your code comments.
Variable DRIVELETTER is never used: get rid of line 88 and lines 92-94.
It's not used yet, but it could be used in the future, and I'd rather leave it, as it doesn't slow down the launcher, not by any noticeable amount, nor does it increase the size/footprint.
Line 175 should read ExecWait $EXECSTRING (ExecWait is preferred to Exec where you're waiting for the process to conclude, as it is more efficient).
You may want to review the code again. Here we are NOT waiting for the process to conclude, but are in fact launching the process with any additional parameters that have been added in the ini.
Line 184 (CreateDirectory "$EXEDIR\Data\settings") is redundant.
It is redundant, but it's redundancy to ensure data integrity. It's staying for that reason, and that's why it's there in the first place.
The rest is still a work in progress.