Re: Circle 3.0 Patch Level 3

From: Mr. Wizard (jsbarrow@husc.harvard.edu)
Date: 09/03/94


On Sat, 3 Sep 1994, Patrick Stecker wrote:

> >Not to criticize, but I never understood this logic of making releases
> >to limited numbers of people.  If people are anxious to try the code,
> >and they understand it comes with bugs and such, why not just make
> >every release public?  Its not _that_ much more troublesome to do. 
> >People can upgrade as more versions are released.  *shrug*  Maybe I'm
> >missing something.
> 
> 	Reason is (Correct me if I'm wrong), that no matter how many
> times you say "This is a BETA release, there are bugs" etc etc, you're
> email will ALWAYS get flooded with "This doesn't work!!  This doesn't
> work!!  Why are there bugs?  I found a bug, why is it there" etc etc.  I
> used to run a bbs and I'd release beta versions of a game I made with
> the understanding that it was buggy, I stated it in the program itself,
> in a text "readme" file, and the post/file_id.diz etc etc.  But I stil
> get a bunch of complaints rather than constructive bug reports etc.
> Jeremy seems to be a busy man and I don't blame him for doing it
> (Although I would LIKE for it to be publically released so I can modify
> the living daylights out of this vanilla code :), but I understand where
> he's coming from).  It may not be troublesome to do so at first, but
> when you get 10000 mail in one day about some silly question that
> could've been answered by reading the readme file, etc, it becomes a
> burden and nothing gets done because he's busy answering mail or reading
> mail.  Jeremy, if this is not the reason, then tell me to shut up ;).  

So its an e-mail issue then.  I guess I could buy that reasoning 
(maybe).  Although numbers like 10,000 sound like an exaggeration to me.  :)

Perhaps releasing versions without Jeremy's address attached to them 
would solve that problem (if it exists).  All I know is that a lot of 
people have been waiting to use, debug and get involved with circle 3.0 
(or any other circle improvements) for a _long_ time now.  

You may say "let them wait", but I just have to wonder why?

> Patrick
> --
> "A poem: a story in meter or rhyme."
> 'Ahh.  "There once was a man from Nantucket..."'
> "You've been talking to Garibaldi again, haven't you?"
>   -- Delenn and Sinclair, "The Gathering"

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