> From: Stuart Brady <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> >>1. He's still working on it.
> >
> >He really should consider releasing the source code whilst he's working
> >on it, so that the Linux and DOS versions have a chance to catch up.
>
> So you're saying that people write bug-free code the first time they write
it?
> Dream on. Surely it's better that he gets everything he's working on
working and
> stable? (building castles on rocks instead of sand, and all that) Get the
bugs
> out of the way now rather than cause problems later.
THAT'S THE POINT!
> >>4. The only person who knows what he's doing on it is Simon himself.
> >
> >That's the problem. At least a todo list and some changelogs would be
> >better than nothing.
>
> Not an unreasonable request, although Si's under no obligation to do so.
And
> there's no reason why he shouldn't wait until he's done his bit before
doing
> that either.
If you want to document something, you cannot do it after 4 months of a
programming.
You can't remember what you did for that long time.
I think Si could (should?) do complete documentation thru his work.
Not after.
When I work on something, I simply must document everything, so I think it
is a normal in praxis. At least for programs which are supposed to be
improved in the future we need some (good) documentation.
I'm not talking about user's guide, I do talk about documentation.
> >I do, however, urge Si Owen to release the code, no matter how buggy or
> >incomplete it is.
>
> What use is that to any future programmer? It's bloody difficult to
develop
> someone else's alpha code because you don't know if any bugs discovered
were as
> a result of the original programmer's coding or any changes you did after
that.
> Getting Si to complete his bit first before releasing the code will save a
LOT
> of trouble and hassle in future.
SimCoupe is a modular program. So people can work parallely on it.
When I look what you wrote above, I think you probably haven't seen
any larger program. Or do you really think all programs have been made
by one single person??? (imagine space ships software...)
> Besides, say he DID release his code right now. You'd port some of the
changes
> (some of which probably won't be stable at this point). Si then finishes
his bit
> and releases the code. Chances are you'd have to port the same section of
code
> again as it's been changed. Why not wait? Where's the hurry? It's not as
if
> there's a deadline or anything.
This is "virtual reality". How often this can happen to SimCoupe?
(hint: How often did this happen in the past, when Allan Skillman released
his
alphas and betas?)
> >I was under the impression that he was waiting until
> >he'd got the basics working first, but he seems to be well past that
> >stage, if he's thinking about disk image formats. Have you got any good
> >reason not to release it, Si?
>
> It would make sense for a programming, when porting stuff and making
iprovements
> along the way, to add the improvements when he can, rather than wait until
the
> end of the project. That way, the details of the part of the program which
he's
> improving are still fresh in his memory. So, it's entirely possible that
Si's
> done a few improvements in one part of the program, yet hasn't done the
porting
> in another part of it, making it unreleaseable at this point.
You go into "possibilities". Get back into reality and stop talk abut
things you can't know.
Also, I don't want to make any ports of SimCoupe, I just want to add my code
to it.
I won't work on the same places as Si does, so where is the problem.
You are still talking about porting betas, but this is not the case.
Stuart Brady wants the sources for ?something?, but other people just
want to do a beta testing, and they possibly can find some bugs in the
source.
> You say you're a programmer, Stuart, yet here I am teaching you the very
basics
> of program development... If you just sat down and thought a little before
> flying off the handle, you'd have a reasonably good guess as to what's
really
> going on.
>
>
> Nick.
btw. Nick Humphries, Don't you make something for Sam in the past?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Aley [eili] Keprt - student, programmer (multimedia soft. etc.)
phone: +420-68-538 70 35
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** http://get.to/aley
----------------------------------------------------------------
