prepare a release candidate for 2.1

[daschuer]

This can be merged if we have a release candidate.

We need to pull the translations and we need to merge the skin preview PR #1525 and integrate the manual
What else do we need?

I think we can relay proud to the final result.Thank very much to all contributors.

[Be-ing]

We still have several Critical and High priority bugs on Launchpad which we have not reached a conclusion about as well as a handful of open PRs. There are also a few last minute polishing touches I want to do for Deere (like fixing the alignment of the headphone buttons in the 4 deck mixer). So I am not okay with rushing a release candidate right now.

[Be-ing]

We should also double check the 2.0 to 2.1 upgrade process on every OS and check the default 2.1 settings with a fresh install (without upgrading).

[Be-ing]

Remember we have no managers telling us we must meet a certain date. It is no problem to take a few more days to make a truly polished release.

[daschuer]

We are in the middle of:
https://devrant.com/rants/37055/im-nearly-done-just-one-last-bug-to-fix-time-passes-coding-happens-no-not-quite
or

Think from what we are coming, from a point were we where almost ready and started the beta phase to hunt some bugs. Now it feels like it has nothing changed, we are still almost done and hunt for some bugs.

We have already a delay from around the weak from the original 2018-03-31 schedule.
It is OK to delay the release even more, but only for named critical bugs with a responsible person and a clear target date. I am curious to see the results of @Be-ing MacOs test, but all that can go to a point release. Looking at the long list of bugs, it would be unfair to delay these fixes, because of a single bug effecting only a minority of users.

How about issue the release candidate tomorrow and age it for a week and then release it.
Critical bugs fixes with a low code impact can be added, but nothing else.

[foss-]

Another complex decision to be made. On the one hand it would be great to get 2.1 RC out the door. And then again Mixxx isn't exactly known for it's RERO software philosophy.

The last days had some really important fixes which I would not wanna miss in 2.1 (think disabling metadata editing option preventing mixxx becoming unusable on macOS, or Tango performance improvements like #1573).

Considering the time it took to get to 2.1 it doesn't even really matter at this point if a few more days pass without 2.1RC1. The work that's still happening does not at all feel like the comic strip posted. 8 open PRs are tagged w 2.1 milestone and it's not like a ton of bugs is hunted.

All that being said, no objections against a quicker release cycle and getting stuff fixed in point releases.

2 cent (of mine)

[JohnnyC1951]

Sanity check guys. I have been playing this game a very long time. (yawn.. old-dude talking).
I just installed the very latest beta on Ubuntu Xenial. Been here since Mixxx 1.x

Objective: to stream Mixxx to freeconferencecall.com conference as a virtual radio studio audio source
I am on Ubuntu Xenial and I just want to send the output of Mixxx as an input to Webrtc. I am not a noobie.
Sounds simple eh?
So, following the docs.. It's so called simple,: run mixxx from terminal not menu and it will all be peachy. Result: mic and othe USB inputs disappeared from the input picking list.

What I do no want to hear (again): works on mac, pulse is crap, works here etc.

What is needed before 2.1 RC: basically works in basic functions on all basic platforms - out of the box.
If it doesn't it is not worthy to be called a RC.
I will get my coat...

[Be-ing]

basically works in basic functions on all basic platforms - out of the box.
If it doesn't it is not worthy to be called a RC.

I agree. However the particular UX issue with the various sound APIs you are referring to is a broader problem on the GNU/Linux and Windows platforms which is outside of our control. The best we can do is document how to work with the mess of sound APIs on each platform. I agree that we are sorely lacking documentation on how to route software input to Mixxx on Windows. That is because we have few Windows developers and AFAIK none of them use Mixxx that way. If you would like to contribute to the manual, that would be great.

[Be-ing]

Add to the list of controllers (keep *s indicating mapping for 2.1 effects and put in alphabetical order):
Allen & Heath Xone K2/K1*
Behringer CMD MM1*
Denon MC6000 Mk2*
Hercules DJ Console 4-Mx*
Korg KAOSS DJ
Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 Mk2*
Novation Launchpad Mk1 & Mk2

[Be-ing]

update date

[Be-ing]

Changelog updates: daschuer#31

Would you like to do the honor of making the Git tag? (Be sure to sign it with git tag -s.)

[Be-ing]

Also don't forget to merge the latest translations first.

[daschuer]

It is done! Great! THANK YOU all!

[JohnnyC1951]

@Be-ing I have now sorted it for Xenial. The problem with Ubuntu sound is nobody seems to think it is THEIR problem. So the answers are strewn around and not all on one place. I have now got a simple procedure that seems to fix the Lion's share of reported issues in just a few lines. I would be happy to write it down and post it somewhere or email it for someone to put in the Manual. It seems a bit silly to set up the whole Git thingy just to insert a paragraph? It is so simple it could be put in the Mixxx
installer in minutes.The main problem is not having the user in the audio group by default, that solves the Jack cannot allocate memory issue and failing to start

[daschuer]

Great, just post a patch here.

[JohnnyC1951]

This enables Mixxx to be used better especially from the command line if you want to use 'pulse only' devices, like my USB microphone, Pulse Virtual Devices or advanced audio routing. Tested on Xenial.

1/ sudo apt-get install qjackctl pulseaudio-module-jack
2/ IMPORTANT
sudo usermod -a -G audio username
Pointa 1 & 2 stop the 'Jack could not allocate memory' and 'Cannot start D-Bus - file not found' (permissions) issues during (even normal) Mixxx startup. Group membership is only updated on login, so you need to re-login or reboot.

3a/ Open qjackctl > Setup > Options and into the box marked "Execute script after Startup" paste this:
pactl set-default-sink jack_out

3b/ Make sure you tick the adjacent checkbox to enable it.
Explanation: This just makes everything 'play nicely' together. Pulseaudio will recognize (through D-Bus) that JACK has started and automatically routes audio to it. When JACK is stopped, Pulseaudio reverts to normal routing and sends audio directly to the card again.

Note to Devs: If you want to put this in the installer you need to edit: $home/.config/rncbc.org/QjackCtl.conf

From
[Options]
..
PostStartupScript=
PostStartupScriptShell=
..
To:
PostStartupScript=true
PostStartupScriptShell=pactl set-default-sink jack_out

[JohnnyC1951]

I tried posting the above in the forum in Firefox & Chrome. It wipes my message, tells me I have too few characters and a phpBB warning at the very top.