[APBeta] Expiration dates

Michael Portuesi portuesi at jotabout.com
Mon Jun 15 22:10:29 PDT 2009


Robin,

I agree with you.

I'd also point add two things to Robin's well-reasoned message:

1) If you're a beta tester, you should always be on the latest version  
unless there's a good reason otherwise.  If you're not running the  
latest, you're not in a good position to submit bug reports - which is  
what being a beta tester is all about.

If the original poster had followed that rule, AP would not have  
crapped out for him in the field, because Paul releases a new beta  
almost every week.

2) You shouldn't be depending solely upon beta software to do "real"  
work in the field.  Even if the expiration hadn't kicked in, a  
critical bug could also have brought an end to the evening's  
observing.  It's quite easy to have AP 1.x (stable) and 2.x (beta) on  
the same machine.

I'm another person who thinks Paul should leave the hard expiry limit  
in.

Michael Portuesi


On Jun 15, 2009, at 9:50 PM, RPEHLM wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> I know this is going to annoy folks but I really feel this needs to  
> be said:
>
>     Betas are for TESTING and should never ever be used or relied on  
> for 'real' work.  Features and come and go or be completly  
> redesigned as the developer (in our case Paul) requires.  The  
> developer needs this freedom to move the product in whatever  
> direction they feel is "right".  The developer cannot and must not  
> feel constrained to produce a completly functional and backwards  
> compatible Beta release if this is not warrented for the development  
> process.
>
> Removing the hard expiry limit is extremely dangerous in terms of  
> having a mixed Beta environment (and is a god-send to warez sites).   
> Users can build-up an auotmated response to nag screens that  
> eventually makes them a minor irritation.  In our particular case v1  
> works just fine alongside v2 and should be used for all 'real world'  
> work.  Having said that it is quite OK to use v2 in a real working  
> environment, in fact it is probably a good idea for several reasons,  
> however it must not be relied on.
>
> Right, now where is my Kevlar vest and fireproof underpants!
>
> Robin
>
>
>
> Paul Rodman wrote:
>> As I've mentioned before, the principal reason for this is to make  
>> sure you don't report errors that have long since been fixed. Also,  
>> upon release, I want all betas to disappear so that when someone  
>> tells me the app does something wrong, I can be sure it's not an  
>> old beta.
>>
>> I have changed the app so that it continues after displaying the  
>> "expired" message.
>>
>> Paul R.
>>
>> On Jun 15, 2009, at 5:42 PM, CER wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Paul,
>>> I too would appreciate this.
>>>
>>> Be as annoying as you like. [is it really necessary at all if one  
>>> is registered?]
>>> Thanks,
>>> Chris
>>>
>>>
>>> Paul Rodman wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Yeh, I can do that. As long as it's reasonably irritating, it will
>>>> eventually have the desired effect...
>>>> Paul R.
>>>>
>>>> On Jun 15, 2009, at 4:00 PM, Michael Conte wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > Would it be too much of an issue to have AP just not quit running
>>>> > when the
>>>> > expiration date for the beta version is reached? Just leave a nag
>>>> > message
>>>> > running for x number of seconds and then let AP continue to load?
>>>> >
>>>> > Reason for asking is we had our first nearly clear night in  
>>>> awhile
>>>> > and I
>>>> > hauled the laptop out to the telescope, got everything fired up  
>>>> and
>>>> > went to
>>>> > load AP and got the message. Luckily I did have a very weak but
>>>> > connectable
>>>> > wifi connection so I was able to download the latest beta version
>>>> > but I
>>>> > could see where if I was REALLY out in the field and if I had  
>>>> failed
>>>> > to
>>>> > check the expiration date for that version prior to leaving, it
>>>> > could cause
>>>> > me a fair amount of grief.
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>> _______________________________________________
>> APBeta mailing list
>> APBeta at lists.astroplanner.net
>> http://lists.astroplanner.net/listinfo.cgi/apbeta-astroplanner.net
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> APBeta mailing list
> APBeta at lists.astroplanner.net
> http://lists.astroplanner.net/listinfo.cgi/apbeta-astroplanner.net




More information about the APBeta mailing list