[Tux4kids-tuxtype-dev] Maintaining TuxType and any thoughts about modernizing?

[Steve Broskey]

Hello!
I stumbled upon TuxType tonight when looking for a linux-friendly
typing application that could be installed on Lubuntu for local use. I
tested it out and the target audience (children wanting to learn to
type) thought of it well enough that I hope to use it further!
There were a few things I thought might be small bugs, but I hoped I
could contribute back to the codebase and support the community.
However, I don't really write in C and I also noticed the repo was not
recently updated.
I thought about helping by contributing, but wanted to see if there
was an appetite for updating the code base, modernizing dependencies
and potentially addressing some of the issues in the queue. If not,
that's fine, I can fork and go from there, but I'd hate to get into
the forking hell of some open-source software ... I'd rather work with
maintainers to support their vision.
To be clear, I'm not a C developer, but if I were going to help,
here's how I would approach the challenge:
1. Use AI to assist with understanding the code base and making
changes. I don't trust AI carte-blanche, but it can perform
knowledge-based deterministic tasks well enough.
2. Start with testing. I have some full-stack development experience,
and while test-driven development isn't really going to apply here,
that's a great place to start. If tests can be written to increase
code coverage, then that should help others who want to contribute (in
the event that anyone does, or if the project goes back into a
less-active state).
3. Github CI/CD to help cover testing and maybe help other interested
parties contribute in alignment with the overall vision.

I'm *not* looking to take over maintenance. I don't want to usurp your
project or reduce anyone's impact on the application to date. I'm
simply another user who hopes that OSS is still a viable principle and
wants to work with those who've come before me to keep things working
for those who will come later.

If you're open to the idea of merging PRs into main and community
contributions, let me know. There are options where this can go from
here, and I don't assume anyone wants to reactivate old work - I'm
doing my best not to fork something useful and look like I'm taking
the work of others ... I'm 100% open to the input of the invested
community.

Look forward to hearing from you!
-Steve