KDELirc is back in kdeutils

Get out your infrared remote control, wipe the dust from it and grap for some fresh batteries! (Hm, are there solardriven infrared remotecontrols?) With KDE 4.3 you will be able to command the programs on your computer from your armchair again. KDELirc (homepage, code) has returned to KDE, is back in the kdeutils module.

It was almost six years ago, the 27th of May 2003, when Gav Wood moved KDELirc into the KDE repository:

“Initial import of kdelirc, an advanced KDE LIRC system;
Code mostly works on my system and is being uploaded here in order to ease collaboration and testing.”

Following it made its first public release on the 3rd of February 2004, as part of KDE 3.2, sharing a debut with such programs as Kontact, Kopete, KGpg, and KWallet (which may be the reason why it is missing in the changelog then, oh well).

It was not until the great porting to KDE4 that KDELirc then had to be dropped from the main branch of the kdeutils module, as the old maintainers had lost time (or their remote controls?), so noone finished the little but important details in the port to the KDE4 platform (The KDE3 version of course is still available).

Then Michael Zanetti and Frank Scheffold, who obviously still own some remote controls and armchairs, but also like to run KDE4, took over and have been giving the code their love and care, that finally KDELirc is able to enjoy the KDE4 platform, too. So there it is, back at home. Now that the initial port is completed, Michael and Frank have quite some ideas how to evolve KDELirc from here.

So, armchair riders, be prepared to get more. By getting out of your armchair and helping 😉 And if is only by finding out the data for your remote control, so it can be added to LIRC or KDELirc. Check out the KDE 4.3 Beta1, soon coming to a mirror near you, and open the System Settings, look for “Remote Control” and see yourself. Even better would be to make sure LIRC also works on *BSD and OpenSolaris. If you are ambitious, you could try to write a backend for ReactOS. Perhaps even Windows or OS X, if you really need to.