Gerald, An online forum called DBStalk and DirecTV have a program called "Cutting Edge" that allows ordinary DirecTV customers to download Beta versions of software for DirecTV satellite receivers and DVRs. Most of these customers are far less technical than hams but yet this program is working well. They have worked out a set of rules that warn users of the dangers and procedures required. Releases are rated as to there risk which is often "very high risk". Users are warned that they may loss all their content and scheduling and this does happen. Still users accept the risk and there is very little complaining. Customers provide feedback through the forum and an updated release is made almost every week.
The link below can provide more details but I copied the basic rules below if the link does not work for you (you may have to join DBStalk for the link to work): http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=159293 Thanks for creating a great product and its continued improvements. 73, Mark N6SF ======================================================================= Cutting Edge: Rules ________________________________ The Cutting Edge program was founded by former DBSTalk moderator Earl Bonovich in cooperation with DIRECTV. The Program is a way for you to give valuable feedback to DIRECTV by downloading pre-release versions of firmware to your DIRECTV receivers. A set of risks are outlined here so that you can understand what it means to be a part of the Cutting Edge program. What you should not do Do not contact DIRECTV You agree that all support for this software will be through DBSTalk.com. Contacting DIRECTV about your receivers while they are running pre-release software is grounds for immediate removal from the group. Do not download just to get a new feature Cutting edge versions are typically not "customer ready" which means that there is an increased chance that a major bug may exist. Do not download if you are unwilling to risk it all If you are not willing to accept these risks, then do not download a cutting edge version to your receiver. Do not create polls right after a download All polls created on the first day a cutting edge release is available or on the two (2) days following the day a cutting edge release is available will be deleted without discussion. The reason for this is to give people a chance to see the changes in action before passing judgment. What you should do Understand a cutting edge version may not be stable This is the cutting edge. There is a chance that your receiver may stop working. There is a chance that you may lose all of your programming. Understand that there are no guarantees of anything. Understand there is a chance of decreased performance A cutting edge version often includes new pieces of code as enhancements are added and bugs are fixed. As a result, there are times when the performance will decrease. Report issues at DBSTalk You should report issues whenever appropriate, so as to improve the software in future releases. All reports should be made @ DBSTalk.com in the Cutting Edge forum. Do not contact DIRECTV or post issues in the general forum area. Inform all members of your household Make sure folks who use this receiver understand that everything could be lost. Downloading a cutting edge version could lead to unsatisfactory results. Understand that participation is voluntary No one is forcing you to participate in the Cutting Edge program. If you are dissatisfied with your receivers while running pre-release software, you have one and only one recourse: revert to the national release. Have the right equipment In order to participate in the Cutting Edge Program, you must have the right receiver. This list includes an HR, H, D or R series receiver from DIRECTV. While the Cutting Edge Program is a cooperative effort, DirecTV and DBSTalk are not affiliated. DBSTalk is ultimately not responsible for any issues related to DIRECTV hardware, software and programming. These rules are subject to change at anytime without notice. ----- Original Message ---- From: Peter Spader <pspa...@comcast.net> To: ger...@flex-radio.com Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 7:34:30 AM Subject: Re: [Flexradio] All using SVN 3166 or higher Gerald, Sounds great to me. This makes clear the difference bwteen the experimental SVN and the Offical Release, and allows support to focus on where it is most needed---to get people up and running on their Flex radios. Also, as has been pointed out, the experimental versions are, by their nature, incomlpetely vetted, they are by their very nature, buggy. Correcting them is of concern to the experimenters who are developing them. They have little to do with routine raqdio operation, other than showing promise for the future if and when they get debugged and stable. People sometimes forget that even the early Offical Releases were head and shoulders above what anyone had ever had before. I would still be happy with my original release, I think around the 1.12.0 version, I started with. I like the improvements, but I have always realize the SVN versions I use are still in development, a development I can help by responsibly reporting bugs and making suggestions. Complaing that an SVN version does not work makes no sense, really, once you understand they are experimental. Hope this helps clarify things for future Flexers. I see no reason anyone with a minimally acceptable computer and skills, and the help of Dudley et. al. with the few initally glitches some of us may have in getting set up, should not join us. Suggesting otherwise is bordering on the unfair, and there are always peole who will complain and blame others, but this will help to remove one source of such grumps. Best, Pete (K2HGO) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gerald Youngblood" <ger...@flex-radio.com> To: "'Howard S. White'" <drpa...@kleega.com>; <mnar...@comcast.net>; "'Dave Gomberg'" <da...@wcf.com> Cc: <flexradio@flex-radio.biz> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 9:54 AM Subject: Re: [Flexradio] All using SVN 3166 or higher > Membership in the "Experimental Group" will be open to all FlexRadio > customers who are willing to follow the rules associated with the > privilege. > We reserve the right to restrict access to certain highly experimental SVN > branches until they are stable enough for testing outside the developer > group itself. One important rule that comes with the privilege: Do not > expect technical support from FlexRadio when running any software other > than > the then current Official Release. > > Let me note that virtually all public and private comments on this topic > have been extremely supportive of making the split in the reflector. We > will put a lot of thought into how we proceed before we pull the trigger > on > the change. > > 73, > Gerald > > Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR > President > FlexRadio Systems > 13091 Pond Springs Rd. #250 > Austin, TX 78729 > Phone: 512-535-4713 > www.flex-radio.com > > "Tune in excitement!" (TM) > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Howard S. White [mailto:drpa...@kleega.com] > Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 6:25 PM > To: ger...@flex-radio.com; mnar...@comcast.net; Dave Gomberg > Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz > Subject: RE: [Flexradio] All using SVN 3166 or higher > > I do agree that for marketing purposes you need to separate the Support > Reflector from the Experimental Group. > > There are a lot of people who do not understand the difference between > Support and Experimentaion and it is pretty obvious that your > competitors are pointing to the bugs incurred in Experimentation as > being symptomatic of product defects. > > Please do not limit membership to the Experimental Group. > > A lot of people lurk in the background reading the issues about the > latest developments and occasionally we may actually have something > useful to contribute. > > By restricting membership in the Experimental Group, you will be > cutting yourself off from a very valuable resource and ultimately > slowing your developmental progress. > > So please do not cut your nose off to spite your face. > > __________________________________________________________ > Howard S. White Ph.D. P. Eng., VE3GFW/K6 ex-AE6SM KY6LA > Website: www.ky6la.com > "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" > "Ham Antennas Save Lives - Katrina, 2003 & 2007 San Diego Fires, 911" > > > -----Original Message----- > From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz > [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Gerald Youngblood > Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 1:50 PM > To: mnar...@comcast.net; 'Dave Gomberg' > Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz > Subject: Re: [Flexradio] All using SVN 3166 or higher > > Mike, > > I am sure we can find a happy medium that meets the interests of both > groups. We will put a lot of thought into it, taking into account all > of the comments we are getting on the subject. Foremost, there needs to > be some qualification of who fits in which group and where they > communicate. I also agree that it should be called, > "experimental/prototype." > > Regards, > Gerald > > Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR > President > FlexRadio Systems > 13091 Pond Springs Rd. #250 > Austin, TX 78729 > Phone: 512-535-4713 > www.flex-radio.com > > "Tune in excitement!" (TM) > > > -----Original Message----- > From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz > [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Mike Naruta > Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:21 PM > To: Dave Gomberg > Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz > Subject: Re: [Flexradio] All using SVN 3166 or higher > > > That sort of models the modern amateur radio transceiver manufacturers. > You may get an upgrade infrequently, after it has been tested many > times. We are familiar with that process. > > > One group of hams are attracted to the > Flex-Radio products because of the > performance and features. > > Another group enjoys the dynamics of a > Software-Defined Radio and thrives on the improvements and new features. > > Do we limit the second group's access > to placate the first group's fears of a > software problem? Had the development > been closed, we would have missed the > excellent contributions from those not > in the original developer group. > > What if instead of talking about SVN or > alpha versions, we called it experimental or prototype versions? It > implies the possibility of problems and the unsupported nature of the > software. A kind word off- reflector to those who talk about issues > with the experimental versions here should be adequate. > > > Mike - AA8K > > > Dave Gomberg wrote: > >> >> IBM developed this fork in the 1970's when an operating system might >> support thousands of concurrent users on one CPU and cost millions per > >> day to be down (like the principal Merril-Lynch machine that did about > >> 40% of the NYSEs volume). >> >> Development started out experimentally, when the developer was sure it > >> was right, he ran it on his own work machine in production. When he >> survived, he ran it on a machine shared with a few development >> buddies. When it passed that test, it ran on a shared machine for > the >> whole development lab, in a version that might contain several changes > >> all slotted for the same release schedule. >> >> When it was believed stable, it was shipped to the research labs for >> use in their environments (this was called alpha testing, since it was > the >> first non-development test). When it passed alpha test, it was >> released to volunteer real users in the real world (this was called > beta >> test, nobody risked big money on a beta test). Beta testers got > direct >> to level 3 support so that problems could be quickly described and >> resolved. >> >> Finally a "general availability" release was announced, prepared, and > >> delivered (in that order). Usually 60% of installations were on the >> latest release, 30% one release back, and sprinklings of others (who >> got tired of hearing that the fix to their problem was to upgrade). >> > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flex-radio.com/ > > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flex-radio.com/ > > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flex-radio.com/ > _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
