@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ image = "https://media.urbit.org/site/posts/essays/metaphase.jpg"
17+*Previous versions of this essay specified the stream deploy date as December 11, 2020; then December 18, 2020. This has been amended to the actual date of release, with our sincere apologies. For new readers, you can opt into the dev stream by running `|ota ~lomlyx-lopsem-nidsut-tomdun %kids` (you may have to resolve a merge conflict using `|merge %home ~lomlyx-lopsem-nidsut-tomdun %kids, =gem %take-that`). We will surface this option more broadly in a future settings overhaul.*
17A few weeks ago, the Landscape team — those of us building Tlon’s suite of userspace applications on top of Urbit— deployed our first over-the-air update for notifications. This is a big leap forward for us. Of course, getting notifications inside Landscape itself is a big deal, but getting a push notification on your phone, or an email digest based on activity inside Urbit is now just one step away, a weekend project for a hobby developer, not an indeterminate number of steps away.
19A few weeks ago, the Landscape team — those of us building Tlon’s suite of userspace applications on top of Urbit— deployed our first over-the-air update for notifications. This is a big leap forward for us. Of course, getting notifications inside Landscape itself is a big deal, but getting a push notification on your phone, or an email digest based on activity inside Urbit is now just one step away, a weekend project for a hobby developer, not an indeterminate number of steps away.
19After release, we received some feedback from users on the behaviour and design of this feature; beyond the obvious kinks that come from an initial release, it seemed to some like a minimum viable affordance pitched as a fully designed feature. This “bottom-up” development approach was, to us, fairly straightforward; to some of our users, it seemed that we had closed the door on the feature without even beginning to expose all its possibilities.
21After release, we received some feedback from users on the behaviour and design of this feature; beyond the obvious kinks that come from an initial release, it seemed to some like a minimum viable affordance pitched as a fully designed feature. This “bottom-up” development approach was, to us, fairly straightforward; to some of our users, it seemed that we had closed the door on the feature without even beginning to expose all its possibilities.
@@ -53,7 +55,7 @@ So now, before we could launch a stable stream, we had some things to do first:
53- **We wanted to release the notification-store**. After the October 2020 groups release, Landscape simply wouldn’t be complete without it.
55- **We wanted to release the notification-store**. After the October 2020 groups release, Landscape simply wouldn’t be complete without it.
54- Finally, **we wanted all of Landscape to use the [Indigo component library](https://github.com/urbit/indigo-react).** Landscape shipped with each application using its own build with handwritten, bespoke DOM components. Once we moved to a single-page application architecture in June 2020, we wanted the same guaranteed consistency for both back-end and front-end code.
56- Finally, **we wanted all of Landscape to use the [Indigo component library](https://github.com/urbit/indigo-react).** Landscape shipped with each application using its own build with handwritten, bespoke DOM components. Once we moved to a single-page application architecture in June 2020, we wanted the same guaranteed consistency for both back-end and front-end code.
56−Most of these are now accomplished; the remaining tasks are awaiting some final tests and UX work. We’re aiming for a stable stream of Landscape to deploy by **December 18, 2020**.
58+Most of these are now accomplished; the remaining tasks are awaiting some final tests and UX work. We’re aiming for a stable stream of Landscape to deploy by **January 5, 2021**.
58What does this mean? For everyday users, you can expect Landscape releases every six weeks; the slate of features and any breaking changes will be flagged well in advance for third-party developers; and you can expect a more thoroughly considered user experience with notes and copy for each new release.
60What does this mean? For everyday users, you can expect Landscape releases every six weeks; the slate of features and any breaking changes will be flagged well in advance for third-party developers; and you can expect a more thoroughly considered user experience with notes and copy for each new release.
@@ -70,5 +72,3 @@ Now, each day, we stray a little closer to these entities splitting apart, a ste
70The same has occurred with Landscape. Previously Landscape was “*the* interface to Urbit,” the proof that there was more to the project than a Unix executable. And slowly to those of us at Tlon, it became obvious what it was destined to become: a flagship client for an entire network, a tree branch rooting a world beneath clearnet, the first cell by which other clients might be born. Mitosis can be clumsy to watch; it can be nauseating to experience; it can be difficult to make out what will arrive where.
72The same has occurred with Landscape. Previously Landscape was “*the* interface to Urbit,” the proof that there was more to the project than a Unix executable. And slowly to those of us at Tlon, it became obvious what it was destined to become: a flagship client for an entire network, a tree branch rooting a world beneath clearnet, the first cell by which other clients might be born. Mitosis can be clumsy to watch; it can be nauseating to experience; it can be difficult to make out what will arrive where.
72But this is, after all, how a body forms.
74But this is, after all, how a body forms.
74−*A previous version of this essay specified the stream deploy date as December 11, 2020. We appreciate your patience as we wrap up the final pieces of the logistics...*