Re: [dev] merp is a loneliness mitigation device written in python and Tk

On 12 Jul 2010, at 03:33, Joseph Xu wrote:

> Hi:
>
> I switched my main computer to Windows XP a while ago to play some
> games, and was frustrated with the lack of simple usable IRC clients
> (among other applications). So I decided to write my own. Since I
> didn't want to mess with Visual Studio and complicated GUI toolkits,
> I decided to write it in python using the standard Tkinter library.
> The result is merp: a simple, cross-platform, graphical, options-
> dialogs-toolbars-icons-click-okay-to-continue-free irc client. The
> source is just under 700 lines and poorly written, as it was only
> meant to be a prototype. I was hoping to get some feedback on the
> interface design, so if anyone has a few moments to spare, your
> testing experience would be much appreciated.
>
> You can download the current source at
>
> http://bitbucket.org/jzxu/merp/downloads
>
> You'll need python 2.6 to run it. It should work in both windows and
> linux, and probably anything else that runs python. Please look at
> the readme.txt file, as otherwise merp might be a little confusing
> to use at first.
>

It works on OS X too, except middle and right buttons are swapped. I'm
not asking for it to be fixed, just surprised Tk doesn't make it
consistent across platforms. Scrollbar down arrow is also hidden by
the window resize handle. *shrug*

I may keep using it, I IRC from an old laptop now & Colloquy's a bit
too memory-hungry, surprisingly. Also, search actually works in
merp.. :D I'll miss Colloquy's logging and automatic nickserv
management, but I should really be using a bouncer anyway.

I'm not sure what I think of the interface yet. Oh; one possible bug I
keep forgetting: when I tried to connect to freenode the cursor
wouldn't go to the bottom line. I have no idea if my join request was
sent and freenode ignored it or if it wasn't sent. Speaking of
freenode, how do you respond to a version request? I think freenode
ignores everything until you respond. Another thing which could be
worked around by using a bouncer. hmm.
Received on Mon Jul 12 2010 - 14:50:14 CEST