[openbeos] call for production-level components

Hello Haiku Developers,

As Stefano Ceccherini (aka Jack Burton) mentioned a few weeks back, we have a 
new static 
library for testing components that will be in our libbe.so.  Right now the 
only component that 
we have in there is BString.  I need developers to email me directly if you 
have a production 
level component that should be in our static library.

Production level component means: equal to or superior to the version in 
libbe.so.  If you have a 
fuzzy feeling that your component is, it probably isn't.  If on the other hand 
you have tests to 
prove it (like BString) then you're more than welcome.  If you don't have tests 
but you've used the 
component in your own app or extensively, then please submit it for inclusion 
on a probationary 
as well.  Roughly speaking you should submit if your component is feature 
complete. (implements 
the entire API with no TODO)

The purpose of this library is to bring implemented components into more 
general use to 
discover hidden bugs.  As such, the library will be statically linked to some 
of our applications 
(such as StyledEdit) to create new variants of those apps which will serve as 
testbeds.  They will 
not replace the current builds of those applications.  So, if you run a build 
now you will notice 
that you get two StyledEdit.  One of these uses the new library.

If you want an application to also build a version that statically links to the 
library, please let me 
know and I will help you to do so.  I denoted the statically linked StyledEdit 
with a dagger, and 
I would like us to be consistent on denoting the library versions.  External 
developers are also 
welcome to build with the static library if they want their application to 
serve as a testbed, or 
just to take advantage of the less-buggy Haiku components.

For end users, you should expect that the statically linked versions will be 
larger than their 
dynamically linked counterparts.  When we move to our own platform, these 
applications will 
utilize the high-quality Haiku components without having to incur the size 
penalty.  In fact, all of 
your existing beos applications will also utilize those same high-quality Haiku 
components at 
that time.

Last note for Haiku libbe component developers: if you want to be able to build 
a _local_ version 
of the library that includes your component while you are still working on 
developing the 
feature set, please let me know.

Andrew

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