= ChimeraX Developer Meeting =

Attendance: Greg, Zach, Tom, Eric

July 7, 2025

= Agenda =

* Trac not responding due to bots
* ChimeraX 1.10.1 patch release
  - Segmentations toolbar bad import #17662
  - Windows 1.10 build has 640 MB of unused Nvidia drivers #17970
  - 1.10 still asking to re-register, #18133
  - Session restore error #18140
* Updating prereqs.
* Switch from PyQt to PySide?
* Should we update Python from 3.11?
* ViewDockX port to Qt
* Inside ribbon color?
* Work in progress reports
* Make Chimera end-of-life bug report and registration changes.
* Back up the Chimera build machine to a solid state drive, Windows 7.
* Linux ARM64 release and download page

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= Discussion =

* Trac hit by bots
  - Greg password protected top level Trac entry points for ChimeraX and Chimera Trac instances.
  - Individual tickets can still be viewed without login.
  - Greg got just one web server not responding email in last 24 hours versus one every 10 minutes before.  So Trac login seems to fixed bot problem.
  - Tom suggests that requiring login just on Trac search queries may solve bot problem and allow ChimeraX users to access the rest of Trac (Roadmap, developer links, ...).
  - We will stick with password protection for this week and see how well it works.

* ChimeraX 1.10.1 patch release
  - Current 4 issues (listed above) are not urgent.
  - Greg and Zach will investigate solutions for 3 of the 4 issues so we know if they can be fixed easily.
  - Wait a little to see if additional serious 1.10 bug reports come in so they can also be fixed in a 1.10.1 release.
  - Want to avoid a 1.10.2 release since all users get notified of the new release and don't know if it will help them.  So it is a drawback to show users to multiple patch releases.

* Prereq update
  - Update prereqs after a few more weeks, giving ChimeraX 1.10 time to settle.
  - Do we need to close the many dependabot pull requests?
  - Greg interested in new Cython supporting generic Python 3 API.

* PySide
  - Should we switch from PyQt to PySide?
  - Possible advantages: Don't have to get PyQt from plato for builds (often the cause of failed builds), don't have to pay for PyQt license, PyQt support could disappear since it is a 1 person effort, maybe some Qt crashes are caused by PyQt reference count or other problems.
  - Possible disadvantages: PySide may have difficult to fix incompatibilities with our Qt shim, PySide could disappear or cost money if Qt project decides it is not economical, PySide could introduce new crashes.
  - Need to consider whether we have time for this switch given other ChimeraX 1.11 priorities.

* Update Python
  - Current Python is 3.13 and ChimeraX uses 3.11.
  - Greg says Python project no longer provides 3.11 binary releases for patch versions.  We have not been updating ChimeraX to use newer 3.11 patch versions.
  - Tom says Boltz 2 does not work with Python 3.13, but does work with Python 3.12.
  - Tom suggests Python 3.13 is too new given the hundred PyPi dependencies ChimeraX uses all need to work with it.
  - Greg says Python 3.13 has speed improvements.
  - Does not seem there is a strong reason to update from Python 3.11 for the next ChimeraX release.

* New Qt ViewDock
  - Piet has finished ChimeraX work.
  - New ViewDock is in the daily build.
  - Eric is adding some missing ViewDock features.
  - Have not yet engaged John Irwin to test new ViewDock.
  - Will notify outside testers when Eric finishes adding features.

* Group meeting schedule
  - Should we cancel group meeting this week since Tom Ferrin and Scooter are out?
  - Tom Ferrin is out the next 3 weeks.  Should we cancel next 3 group meetings?
  - We will cancel this Thursdays and decide later whether the following ones should be cancelled.

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= Action Items =