Next version 0.8.3?

I was wondering when the next version of Xonotic will be released, seeing how the current one (0.8.2) is from 2017.
Out of curiosity I compiled the latest code a while ago and there were many improvements. The average player though will either use their distro's package or download the latest binary and never see those new things.
So are there plans for a new version?

I've heard its almost ready but it lacks a legal document stating how the collected data of each user is being used. That's also new info from a year ago or something. But that's how a project on hobby basis works i guess. Also there is autobuild with more regular updates. At least to get the latest fixes and improvements committed.

There is a post from December of 2020 explaining the state of things: https://xonotic.org/posts/2020/happy-ann...y-xonotic/
While there are many huge improvements from the previous release, a lot of players will have already been playing with them! Most servers tend to run the latest autobuild, providing players with the newest improvements to the game (outside of visual updates and such, of course).


A release is planned as soon as it is feasible to do so again, and as always with free and open source software, contributions are always welcomed!

I think the best way to deal with this GDPR junk is to ignore it. The code is based in the USA, right? Ignore that ridiculous law. It doesn't apply to us.

Imagine, the idea that you will be able to prevent anyone from tracking you on the internet if they really want to. It's ludicrous. 
Furthermore, these people and their ilk seem hell bent on sucking the life out of the internet. Because of these idiots we now have a stupid popup at the bottom of every page with a cookie warning. What, this website uses cookies? You're kidding! It's not like those have been used since the 90s or anything. So now you not only get tracked the same way you always did, you have to explicitly agree to it in order to get the nag to go away. Idiocy. 

Please don't enable these idiots to destroy the world any further.

I would very much like to see a new release of Xonotic some time this century, please. 0.8.2 has an annoying bug which causes me to enter the game even if the map isn't fully downloaded yet. This only happens because my connection is slow. Not sure if this is fixed in git. Needless to say, downloading the 12GB xonotic repository isn't going to happen on my 18k/sec GSM connection, lol.

The GDPR is an EU law that affects a majority of the internet, including FOSS projects like Xonotic. It is not something we can simply ignore, and as a project based on freedom, regardless of laws we should strive to maintain openness when it comes to how player data is tracked.

Patience is a virtue that is especially important in the open source community, where the developers are hobbyists who dedicate their spare time to working on the game. If you wish to speed up the releasing process, the best way of course is to instead help out and contribute to the project.

GDPR only applies to Europe. Does not apply to USA at all, or to Xonotic. Actually, it applies to noone who does not allow it to apply to them. (i.e. those who have any dignity.)

As explained above, GDPR does absolutely nothing to stop tracking. Nothing. Zero. In reality, all it does it add an annoying popup on the screen, thus requiring the client to explicitly agree to being tracked in order to make the nag go away. As whats-his-name on Big Bang Theory would say, "Less than useless." It's only yet another example of how the internet is going to hell in a handbasket. 

Not sure how I can help in any way with the release process, given the constraints of my 1G GSM connection (also explained above), and also given that there's actually nothing stopping this release from happening, other than this GDPR nonsense.

I can however offer some more useful advice--please take your code off the flaming pile of garbage that is Gitlab. That site is pretty much the dictionary definition of how a web site should not be designed, starting from the very beginning with the hCaptcha which is indisputably the world's worst CAPTCHA. It is completely unusable on a slow internet connection, which means I can't even get in the site to even THINK about contributing anything, let alone actually downloading the code.

Thanks for sharing your opinion - I'm afraid the Xonotic team doesn't share your views on a law that affects a majority of the playerbase. Nor do we intend to leave GitLab; all I can suggest for the meantime is to try the autobuilds and hope for the best. They are developer snapshot releases of the Git builds produced daily for testers.

Autobuilds can be accessed by running the script in Xonotic/misc/tools/rsync-updater. Do note, it will erase anything custom in the Xonotic folder (your home directory will remain untouched).

I think the best way to deal with this GDPR junk is to ignore it.

Feel free to ignore the law if you please, but we're not going to.

So now you not only get tracked the same way you always did

This massively understates the surveillance apparatus in use today. IMHO it is downright scary. 

It is completely unusable on a slow internet connection, which means I can't even get in the site to even THINK about contributing anything, let alone actually downloading the code.

Unusable for you? I guess we might consider that a feature in this narrow scenario If you want to download the code, simply take the main repo and use good-old git clone if you want, then use the "all" script. Or like Mario said, use the autobuild. It's only been available for the past nine years.

I think the best way to deal with this GDPR junk is to ignore it. The code is based in the USA, right? Ignore that ridiculous law. It doesn't apply to us.

Imagine, the idea that you will be able to prevent anyone from tracking you on the internet if they really want to. It's ludicrous. 
Furthermore, these people and their ilk seem hell bent on sucking the life out of the internet. Because of these idiots we now have a stupid popup at the bottom of every page with a cookie warning. What, this website uses cookies? You're kidding! It's not like those have been used since the 90s or anything. So now you not only get tracked the same way you always did, you have to explicitly agree to it in order to get the nag to go away. Idiocy. 

Please don't enable these idiots to destroy the world any further.

GDPR only applies to Europe. Does not apply to USA at all, or to Xonotic. Actually, it applies to noone who does not allow it to apply to them. (i.e. those who have any dignity.)

As explained above, GDPR does absolutely nothing to stop tracking. Nothing. Zero. In reality, all it does it add an annoying popup on the screen, thus requiring the client to explicitly agree to being tracked in order to make the nag go away. As whats-his-name on Big Bang Theory would say, "Less than useless." It's only yet another example of how the internet is going to hell in a handbasket. 

Not sure how I can help in any way with the release process, given the constraints of my 1G GSM connection (also explained above), and also given that there's actually nothing stopping this release from happening, other than this GDPR nonsense.

I can however offer some more useful advice--please take your code off the flaming pile of garbage that is Gitlab. That site is pretty much the dictionary definition of how a web site should not be designed, starting from the very beginning with the hCaptcha which is indisputably the world's worst CAPTCHA. It is completely unusable on a slow internet connection, which means I can't even get in the site to even THINK about contributing anything, let alone actually downloading the code.

Wrong. The code is not "based" in the USA. The USA is not the center of the world and doesn't automatically own everything. The internet is international. I'm not a lawyer, but I know for certain that any information on the internet has been exported from its country of origin and everytime it's viewed or downloaded, it's imported.
The GDPR not only applies to all european services, but to all services that have european users. If you don't want to comply with GDPR, simply block all european IP addresses (and lose all the revenue that european users create).

You clearly have no clue what the GDPR is about. The only thing you see is a cookie warning. The GDPR is about privacy by default. There are people like you who don't care about their privacy. They will simply click "allow all" thinking that a little bit of tracking is not that bad. They will never click "more information" and see that many sites don't only do a little bit of tracking, but instead share your data with several third parties. Sometimes you have to scroll for minutes. And you had no way of knowing or even disagreeing before the GDPR was introduced. Good thing that the GDPR also enforces that those have to be off by default.
Sure, cookies have also existed in the 90s, but their usage has changed. Same with JS. It was intended to add features for users, now it's used for tracking.
The GDPR is also about transparency. Services have to more transparent on how they use your data. People can then decide whether the service is worth the privacy invasion.
There are more aspects to the GDPR, but you clearly don't care.

The GDPR clearly is not perfect. There is a lot that I would like to see changed. But it's the first real attempt at protecting privacy on the internet.

Your complaint that these "idiots" "destroy the world" shows a lot about how much time you spent thinking before you posted your opinion. The internet is not the world and they are not destroying it. The web was already destroyed by personalized ads, tracking and "data science". Try to install a webbrowser plugin like uMatrix and you will see how many websites run JS from tracking services.

In reality, all it [GDPR] does it add an annoying popup on the screen, thus requiring the client to explicitly agree to being tracked in order to make the nag go away.

Wrong.
Little known fact - if your site only uses functional cookies, you don't need a cookie banner. Only tracking and "analytics" cookies require consent.
You're being angry at the wrong guy. The GDPR is only the messenger who tells you about all the insidious tracking companies do.
If cookie banners annoy you, you should complain to the person or company hosting the site and ask why they want to slurp so much data.
I host a few sites myself and none of them need banners, because I'm not some arsehole who tracks their users.