Here's how it is:
After R7 I hit a wall with compatibility; couldn't figure out what to do in order to make more stuff run properly. So I started working on low-level stuff.
First I made a CPU core testing program, which ran both on real hardware and the emulator, to help find bugs. It was succesful, but didn't seem to increase compatibility.
Next I resumed work on the DSP, intending to make a similar low-level testing program for that too. However, it quickly became obvious that the amount of data that would need to be transferred between hardware and emulator required a direct connection.
Thus I started fixing up the BBA emulation. I am using a virtual network adapter from the OpenVPN project. Right now, it's working well, except when the emulator is recieving data too fast; then it will randomly freeze.
Testing continues as Real Life(tm) permits; my job takes most of my time.
When the BBA emulation is complete, I intend to make a new release. Because all OpenVPN code is licenced under the GNU GPL, WhineCube R8 will also be open source.
I'm not very interested in the Gekko-Dolphin battle; I have begun to see WhineCube as more of a testing platform for advanced emulation technologies rather than an end-user application that would be able to compete.
I still have great respect for both emulators. I'll probably be using one of them when they become playable.
