Slow releases: What's been going on.

[perry-mitchell]

It's been a while since I've had some serious time to devote to Buttercup.. but I've managed to sort out some things in my life that've resulted in both a new boost of motivation as well as having more time for my passion.. this project. It's important to note a few things about myself and my relationship to this project.. especially if you're new here:

• I'm the sole maintainer right now - Definitely not a boast.. I'd really need the help in maintaining such a project. But it is what it is and I'm somewhat stretched thin over Buttercup at the moment.
• I have a young child, and a full time job - Buttercup comes after those things. It's more than a pet project.. but I still have to time manage it to fit in with my more demanding aspects. Finding a balance between my OSS work and my life is something I'm working on all the time, and I'm getting closer to perfection (in my eyes).
• My co-founder has moved on from the project, some time ago. Sallar is one of my best friends, and easily one of the best developers I've ever met. I've been incredibly fortunate to have worked with him on Buttercup for so long. He left to chase other interests, and due to this there's been 2 fewer hands working on the project at such an involved level. This has impacted both my motivation and the amount of work getting done.. but I'm still learning how to keep it all going on my own. We're getting there!
• I am looking for help, at a similarly dedicated level. I work better with company.. and finding a new team mate / owner / founder for Buttercup is something I'd like to resolve in the near future. It'd be better for me and far better for this project. I'm looking for someone local (Finland), but am open to all kinds of arrangements providing we get along and feel it fits.

I've also been stuck in maintenance-mode for a long time, due to these:

• Changes to the core library have resulted in some fundamental changes to the mobile and desktop applications, to get it to work.
• The mobile app desperately needs maintenance updates.
• The desktop app has several pending changes to go out.
• I've had to rebuild the entire browser extension due to Chrome's manifest v3 update.

These have prevented me from spending time on new features and even bugfixes. It's not ideal, and I want to get out of this groove as soon as possible. I plan to hopefully start work on a server for Buttercup hosting again soon.. that's probably next in the works.

[perry-mitchell]

There's also a discussion on the browser extension repo regarding the upcoming migration, in case you'd like to participate in the planning or read more on the topic.