Bluefish

From openSUSE

Description

Bluefish is an open-source web editing software package aimed at programmers and advanced web designers. It is writen in GTK+ for linux and other POSIX compatible operating systems, and is released under a GPL license. It supports most programming and markup languages relevant for web sites.

Most web editing software uses a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface style, whereas Bluefish uses what its developers call "What You See is What You Need" interface. That is, what you type is what you see. You do not necessarily need to know markup codes to use Bluefish, as it employs customizable toolbars, as well as tags and dialogs menus and wizards. It also features line numbering, bookmarking, spell checking, and excellent find and replace tools to assist in editing existing pages. Bluefish interacts with external programs like web browsers and checkers (e.g., tidy HTML validator) to quickly allow you to judge the results of your work. Further, it allows you to organize pages by project and quickly opens projects with many, many web and CSS pages.

To learn more about specific features, see screenshots, and access documentation, go to the developers' website.

How to Get Bluefish

Bluefish is available in the Education repositories. You can add the repository or you can install just Bluefish, using 1-click install.

Which Version?

There are two versions available in the Education repositories: Stable (1.07) and Unstable (>= 1.3.2). The stable version is the most tested, but lags a bit on features. The unstable version in the Education repositories is often a few steps behind the unstable verions available directly from Bluefish. How unstable is it? Many users have worked with unstable without issue, but obviously you will have to make a judgment yourself. You can find more on Bluefish's development and unstable version here.

Installation Method #1: Add the Repositories via Yast2

The openSUSE-Education update repository is fully integrated into the KDE and GNOME update applet on your desktop. The openSUSE-Education updates are presented in the applets like the official openSUSE updates. As we've no duplicated packages in our openSUSE-Education repository, this is not a problem - but a big feature for endusers!

The following should work for openSUSE 10.3, 11.0, & 11.1:

• Start Yast2
  • Enter your root password

• Go to the "Software" section, then click on "Software Repositories."

• Click the "Add" button.

• Now select the "Community Repositories," and click the "Next" button.

• Check the box next to the "openSUSE Education" repository, and click the "OK" button.
  • A license window will pop up, and you will need to accept the license to install the repository.
  • An "Import the GPG-Key" window will pop up, and you will need to add the key to install the repository.

• Close "Software Repositories, by clicking the "OK" button.

You should not be able to add Bluefish as you would any other software package included with openSUSE by opening the "Software Management" selection in Yast2.

Installation Method 2: 1-Click Install

The follow assumes you are familiar with 1-Click Install, however, if you are not, you can read more on this feature here. You need to select the version of openSUSE you are using, and the version of Bluefish you desire.

Why isn't it in the regular repositories?

Bluefish was removed from openSUSE 10.3, and picked up by the Education project. There have been efforts to have it reintroduced into the main repositories for several versions. There is currently a bug (#377779) filed to have it reconsidered for inclusion in openSUSE 11.2 in the Web Developer pattern.

With Quanta Plus, Screem, and nVU available and all being actively developed at the time, Bluefish was likely seen as unnecessary. The situation has changed more recently, with Bluefish and Quanta Plus, along with nVU successor KompoZer, remaining as the main web editor software for Linux being actively developed.

Alternative Web Editors available in openSUSE

Besides using text editors, here is a partial list of some additional web editors. The are grouped as "Available in openSUSE" and "Available from another source".

Available in openSUSE

• KompoZer: an easy to use open source WYSIWYG web editor that picks up where nVU (see below) left off. nVU development stagnated several years ago, but new developers have picked up the project and begun releasing new versions under the new name.
• nVU: an open source WYSIWYG web editor derived from Mozilla Composor, and was developed to be easy to use replacement for the Windows editor, Front Page. nVU's status is uncertain, as the original sponsor has abandoned the project. The 1.0 version was developed in June 2005, and has only received minor updating (openSUSE 11.1 includes version 1.0-146.20). However, the project was picked up and is currently being developed as KompoZer (see above), which is also available in openSUSE.
• OpenOffice.org Writer/Web: a component of OpenOffice Writer that is accessed when you attempt to import a web page in Writer, but you can also launch the Web editor directly by using the command ooweb from an application launcher, a terminal, or by adding it by editing the menu. It is fairly basic, but easy.
• Quanta Plus: a highly extensible open source web editor writen for KDE. It is more advanced and complicated, but also more feature rich than KompoZer and nVU, and stands out for both its integration into the KDE desktop and its support for those making extensive use of PHP in their web design. Quanta Plus is probably the closest competitor to Bluefish in terms of features and capacity.

Available from another source

• Amaya: a fairly easy to use WYSIWYG open source web editor developed by the W3C folks. It is more limited in that it supports HTML, XHTML, CSS, SVG, and little else. If you want a fairly simple WYSIWYG editor and KompoZer is not to your liking, then it is an option.
• Screem: an open souce web editor written for Gnome that aims at more advanced web developers, and like Bluefish, does not employ a WYSIWYG editor. It is not clear how much development, if any, is occuring in the last several years.