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Dasher Source Code And Documentation Available

Posted by Hemos on from the making-it-free dept.

Matthew Garrett writes "You've covered dasher before, but the source code is now available for download under the GPL. There's also now documentation for developers who want to port Dasher to other platforms - there's currently Windows and GTK front ends, plus experimental GTK2 code and ports to the GPE and Opie Linux PDA environments being worked on, and optional integration with the Gnome accessibilty framework is on the cards. Anyone fancy a MacOS port?"

13 comments

  1. What Dasher is by andfarm · · Score: 2, Informative

    Dasher is apparently a mouse-based input method that does a sort of wierd zooming thing -- described as "Attack of the Killer Alphabets". Could be useful for hands-free use, like for a quadraplegic, but not especially good for general use. Keyboard is still faster if you've still got full use of your hands.

    --

    TANSTAAFI: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free iPod.

    1. Re:What Dasher is by the+aviator · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It depends what you define by "general use". While a QWERTY keyboard may be much faster for an experienced typist on a large machine, Dasher is perfect for PDAs and cellphones where space is at a premium.

    2. Re:What Dasher is by Prowl · · Score: 3, Informative

      i thought it was more like predictive text for pda type devices.

      --
      That man tried to kill mah Daddy
    3. Re:What Dasher is by p3d0 · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Keyboard is still better"? If only there were a "-1: Obvious" moderation...

      --
      Patrick Doyle
      I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
  2. Wow by Apreche · · Score: 2, Informative

    wow, this dasher is really innovative and awesome. It's an especially fun toy as well. I like to put the mouse in one plae and see what words come out, its really neat.

    --
    The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
    1. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Quoting yourself in your sig is NOT the right thing to do.

      You moron.

  3. embiggered targets by Hubert_Shrump · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Looking at the demo, it's pretty neat -- though I wonder if you could target phonemes rather than words -- might give you a speed increase.

    The idea that as the letters become more probable, the bigger they get - that would be a great UI feature.

    I'd like to have the close box on a program that's pissing me off start to grow. I know the power switch does.

    --
    Keep your packets off my GNU/Girlfriend!
  4. Submission guidelines? by Thing+1 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    You've covered dasher before, but the source code is now available for download under the GPL. [...]

    I'm probably going to get modded down for this, but it would really help if you describe the thing you're talking about. I have no idea what dasher is or whether I'd want it based on your submission.

    Perhaps this is a neat trick to get click-throughs, and I should be impressed, but c'mon -- if the submitter's not going to say what it is then at least the "editor" should.

    --
    I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    1. Re:Submission guidelines? by Clith · · Score: 1
      You might have been moderated as "informative" if you had found out what it is for yourself and mentioned it in your reply. Seems kind of hypocritical, really.

      Here's some text from the "What is Dasher For?" web page:

      Dasher is an information-efficient text-entry interface, driven by natural continuous pointing gestures. Dasher is a competitive text-entry system wherever a full-size keyboard cannot be used
      Oooh, ahhh..
      --
      [ReidNews]
  5. Hedious website by zaqattack911 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Call me troll, or offtopic if you wish.

    But I think at this point a well designed, nice website is as important as the product it is selling/about.

    Dasher's website is really ugly. Great software idea though!

    --Zuchini

  6. Talk about abandonware. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When they post Jetta or New Beetle source I'll be more interested.

  7. Hideous website by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Call me troll, or offtopic if you wish.

    But I think at this point a well spelled headline is as important as the post it is headlining.

    Zuchini's post is really ugly so far as spelling goes. Great post though!

  8. It's hard... by CheesyMoo · · Score: 1

    I still can't figure out how to write an 's'.