Why is the 2015.03 kept as the "official" release?
Hello everyone.
I use the latest snapshot regularly so, when I pass an .scad file to
someone else, I've had to warn (either pre- or post-sending the file) to
use a development snapshop instead of the 2015.03 "normal" release quite a
few times.
I've been asked about it, and I don't know the answer, so here I am passing
the question forward :-)
Why is the 2015.03 kept as the "official" release?
--
Regards,
Antonio B.
My guess is that it's just that the package maintainers haven't bothered to
update it.
--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/
NateTG wrote
My guess is that it's just that the package maintainers haven't bothered
to
update it.
This is factually wrong.
The issue is, that there is no newer release.
The release planning is somewhat managed via
https://github.com/openscad/openscad/projects/1
https://github.com/openscad/openscad/projects/1 and
https://github.com/openscad/openscad/milestone/4
https://github.com/openscad/openscad/milestone/4 .
The issue is somewhat general development resources and project management.
But even simple documentation can hold back a feature from becoming
considered stable:
https://github.com/openscad/openscad/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3ADocumentation
https://github.com/openscad/openscad/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3ADocumentation
Do my knowledge, all developers here work on OpenSCAD as just a hobby.
As a developer my self, I have to say: We tend to fix issues that are most
relevant to us personally.
Having a bug fixed or a feature implemented and merged with "master", is
enough to solve the issue for us personally.
Then there is also the code/functional quality and stability of interfaces,
which is higher in priority then cutting edge features.
I my self wonder, why Inputdriver5 (gamepad and 3D mice support) is (still)
a development branch and not a regular experimental feature. (I understand
the historical reason(s), but not the current ones) But add the same time: I
can simply merge it locally, install it and be happy with an OpenSCAD build
with recent Customizer and Inputdriver. Not a big deal for a developer - but
something normal user are unable to do, but at the same time not my issue.
An other issue we have is Windows and MacOS X. Cross-building from Linux to
Windows is "regularly" broken, native building under Windows is a pain (not
helped by the fact, that you need experience in the Linux build chain to
debug the building process under windows). OS X also lacks developers and
has build/test issues - but I do not know the specifics. (which is not a
good thing - any code can cause issue on a different platform)
Most developers are using Linux/Ubuntu. There, you can simply build
OpenSCAD. As many devs do just that, we also maintain the scripts for
various Ubuntu versions (the ones happening to be used by developers) and
can guess when there is an issue is with a newer or older version, what
could be the cause. The more you leave current or LTS Ubuntu standard, the
more issues a user and/or developer will face. Either-way: The typical
OpenSCAD developer uses mainly Ubuntu, but a significant number of users
only use Windows.
A release would mean to seriously go trough compatibility issue of various
operating systems.
Guess how hard and painful that work is.
--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/
I get what you say, and I don't disagree with it, as such.
However, the official release is 3 years old. Many important improvements
(for me, customization and several bug fixes) has been made. At some point,
it makes sense to "wrap up the package".
There also is one thing I've learned as a developer: Doing a release will
expose many errors. Regular releases helps keeping things tidy. Exaclty what
constitutes regular, one might discuss, but I think one is due now.
I haven't been using the official version since I found customizations. Many
others also use non-official versions. The once who do use the official
version frequently gets told to update to other versions when things don't
work. Linux packet managers have way outdated versions. All these are also
signs that it's time to "wrap up the package".
I get your reasons. I really do. But, sometimes, one still needs to do a
release.
--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/
I'm pretty sure everyone agrees that a new release is overdue.
That does not change the fact that there is obviously nobody
at this point who has the time to drive the efforts to do it.
What I sometimes try telling people in commercial projects for
slightly different reasons "Releases don't happen by wishing"
applies here too ;-).
I'm happy that there is still progress regardless of that,
maybe things are a bit slow lately, but OpenSCAD is far from
dead as can be seen in the github activities thanks to quite
a number of people.
On 08/20/2018 08:55 AM, Troberg wrote:
Many others also use non-official versions.
However, I do want to point out that the snapshot versions are
very much official versions too, just not official releases.
Having those ready for easy installation on as much platforms
and systems as possible with limited resources is IMHO one of
the plus points of OpenSCAD. We try to not just do the "oh,
there's the source code, you should compile it yourself".
Linux packet managers have way outdated versions.
True, and I don't like that at all, but that is nothing we can
control. They have the option to use snapshots too, but I do
understand the reasons distros do that only in rare cases.
Latest Ubuntu does not ship with OpenSCAD at all, which is even
worse. We provide 3 ways to get the snapshots running easily
on Ubuntu (well 2 until the AppImages are fixed).
ciao,
Torsten.
I would wager the latest snapshot has more features and less bugs that the
last release, so why not make it a release?
On 20 August 2018 at 11:31, Torsten Paul Torsten.Paul@gmx.de wrote:
I'm pretty sure everyone agrees that a new release is overdue.
That does not change the fact that there is obviously nobody
at this point who has the time to drive the efforts to do it.
What I sometimes try telling people in commercial projects for
slightly different reasons "Releases don't happen by wishing"
applies here too ;-).
I'm happy that there is still progress regardless of that,
maybe things are a bit slow lately, but OpenSCAD is far from
dead as can be seen in the github activities thanks to quite
a number of people.
On 08/20/2018 08:55 AM, Troberg wrote:
Many others also use non-official versions.
However, I do want to point out that the snapshot versions are
very much official versions too, just not official releases.
Having those ready for easy installation on as much platforms
and systems as possible with limited resources is IMHO one of
the plus points of OpenSCAD. We try to not just do the "oh,
there's the source code, you should compile it yourself".
Linux packet managers have way outdated versions.
True, and I don't like that at all, but that is nothing we can
control. They have the option to use snapshots too, but I do
understand the reasons distros do that only in rare cases.
Latest Ubuntu does not ship with OpenSCAD at all, which is even
worse. We provide 3 ways to get the snapshots running easily
on Ubuntu (well 2 until the AppImages are fixed).
ciao,
Torsten.
OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org
nophead wrote
I would wager the latest snapshot has more features and less bugs that the
last release, so why not make it a release?
Well, just like when working with a car, you need to make sure you have all
the parts in and all the nuts and bolts tightened before you let it out on
the road.
Same thing here, a lot of work being done, and it must be verified that
everything is in place and works together as intended.
--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/
Ideally yes, but when the last release was three years ago and everybody is
using snapshots it seems we are waiting for this release to be perfect when
it is already substantially better than the last one.
On 21 August 2018 at 07:38, Troberg troberg.anders@gmail.com wrote:
nophead wrote
I would wager the latest snapshot has more features and less bugs that
the
last release, so why not make it a release?
Well, just like when working with a car, you need to make sure you have all
the parts in and all the nuts and bolts tightened before you let it out on
the road.
Same thing here, a lot of work being done, and it must be verified that
everything is in place and works together as intended.
--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/
OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org
It would be very cool to have a new version, i'd be curious if the
community could help the maintainers release it?
On Tue, 21 Aug 2018, at 4:44 PM, nop head wrote:
Ideally yes, but when the last release was three years ago and
everybody is using snapshots it seems we are waiting for this
release to be perfect when it is already substantially better than
the last one.>
On 21 August 2018 at 07:38, Troberg troberg.anders@gmail.com wrote:>> nophead wrote
I would wager the latest snapshot has more features and less bugs
that the>> > last release, so why not make it a release?
Well, just like when working with a car, you need to make sure you
have all>> the parts in and all the nuts and bolts tightened before you let it
out on>> the road.
Same thing here, a lot of work being done, and it must be
verified that>> everything is in place and works together as intended.
--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/
OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org> _________________________________________________
I will put in a vote, a nudge, a sentiment on behalf of the (probably)
large number of users who, like myself, make heavy use of OpenSCAD but are
not in the developer community. We download it, thank our stars that it
exists, scratch our head a bit about the 2015.03 stamp, and put it to use.
Somewhere down the road, after lots of code (11,000 lines, in my case) and
results (the open-source www.BreathFlute.com, in my case), we begin to
wonder what we might be missing. Are there useful features out there? Are
there lurking bugs that have been fixed? Is there a reasonably accessible
list of these items since 2015.03??
Yes, I do realize how daunting an official release can be, especially if it
has not been done in 3+ years.
However, I'm guessing that the developers may not always be aware of the
value of OpenSCAD to a wide and largely un-heard user community out there
...
-- Clint Goss, Ph.D.
Goss.com http://www.goss.com/ ... index of all our web sites
On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 2:44 AM, nop head nop.head@gmail.com wrote:
Ideally yes, but when the last release was three years ago and everybody
is using snapshots it seems we are waiting for this release to be perfect
when it is already substantially better than the last one.
On 21 August 2018 at 07:38, Troberg troberg.anders@gmail.com wrote:
nophead wrote
I would wager the latest snapshot has more features and less bugs that
the
last release, so why not make it a release?
Well, just like when working with a car, you need to make sure you have
all
the parts in and all the nuts and bolts tightened before you let it out on
the road.
Same thing here, a lot of work being done, and it must be verified that
everything is in place and works together as intended.
--
Sent from: http://forum.openscad.org/
OpenSCAD mailing list
Discuss@lists.openscad.org
http://lists.openscad.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.openscad.org