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SMF 1.0 Beta 6 Released to Charter Members

Started by David, June 15, 2004, 01:13:33 AM

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Meriadoc

Quote from: dracomiconia on June 17, 2004, 01:02:08 PM
I insist in the possibility of seeing some screenshots of admin site...
oh you'll get more than that! like David said it's coming!

(just whetting appitites past the frenzy they are already at ;))
If I know the way home and am walking along it drunkenly, is it any less the right way because I am staggering from side to side? : Leo Tolstoy
Everything I know I learned from Calvin and Hobbes.
And patience is about the most useful thing you could ever have.  That and backups. : [Unknown]
If I choose to send thee, Tuor son of Huor, then believe not that thy one sword is not worth the sending. : Ulmo, Lord of the Waters - Unfinished Tales, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Knippy

i thought it was charter member only release?

Tristan Perry

Quote from: Knippy on June 21, 2004, 11:51:06 AM
i thought it was charter member only release?

No, it's available to the public, but Charter members get it a few days before everyone else

Daniel D.

??? As far as I know, Beta 6 will only b available for CM's. RC1 will be for all.
* Daniel D. thinks about it
::)

Grudge

Quote from: Knippy on June 21, 2004, 11:51:06 AM
i thought it was charter member only release?

If you know anyone using Beta 6 who is NOT a charter/team member please inform us. :)
I'm only a half geek really...

Mike Bobbitt

Quote from: Grudge on June 17, 2004, 07:21:51 AM
The point is - we already have more than enough beta testers in the charter members. Too many beta testers in closed testing can actually affect development in a negative way as you get duplicate bug reports, bugs that have already been fixed etc - and each time it's brought up it has to be answered. Everyone does get to see the betas when they are made public but I see no benefit in having 500+ "private" beta testers.

Does that mean there's a cap to the number of charter members? ;) Sorry, I couldn't resist.

For the record, I totally agree with this methodology. It makes sense and keeps things organized. If you *need* a feature that's in B6, scrape together the money, otherwise wait like the rest of us.  ;D

scottb

I'm sure money talks, so I doubt there will be a cap.

David

It is something that would be addressed when it becomes a problem.  Obviously, we care about the Charter Membership program for a multitude of reasons and wish it to be successful both for us and all of you.
This space for rent.

Fizzy

The Beta 6 version has been with the Charter Members for a couple of weeks now, I was just wondering how things are going with the testing?
I appreciate that specifics probably get discussed in depth in the Charter Members own board but I was just curious if there's any general feedback as we don't seem to be seeing many bug reports for this site (running 6) ... and that's a good sign, right?
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." - A.E.


Mike Bobbitt

Since most of the changes are on the admin side of things, it makes sense that there'd be few
"public" bug reports...

Burpee

Just an attempt to illustrate what this makes me feel like...
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                            VMMM

A little donkey with a carrot being held in front of it's nose... just out of reach...
Not SMF's fault though :D
The carrot is worth the wait :P

Oldiesmann

Nice... Did you make that or did you copy it from somewhere else? :)
Michael Eshom
Christian Metal Fans

Burpee

I copied it... I'm not about to spend two hours making some ascii drawing :D
Would've done it w/ a picture... except I wasn't on my own computer when posting that :P

ipggi

After you no longer have "secret betas" to release to charter members and the final package has been released, what incentive is there going to be for people to spend money to become members?

Additionally, I've made a couple betas in my time...  and I know from experience that a couple hundred beta testers is ok, but thousands is better.  For example, my board has over 10k users, which is a rare thing for many forums to have.  I stress tested several forum programs before using SMF.  Did you know that PHPBB doesn't handle 10k users very well?  :)  Anyway, the more people you have using the software, the more likely you are to find the bugs and glitches in the code.  The hassle of supporting so many people would be paid off in the long run, as you won't have to make SMF 2.1 to fix the bugs you found when 2.0 came out to the public.

Personally, I've made enough changes to SMF that I don't want to fiddle with it or try upgrading until the final comes out.  :)  I just don't think a paid membership for a free program is a very wise idea.  Instead, take donations, or charge for server-hosted forums or something.  Maybe I just don't see the value in your membership, and that's OK.  But I do see a flaw in your closed 6 reasoning.  Just thought I'd share with you.  :)

Overseer

#54
- priority support

and

- early future betasfor those who like to fiddle. you dont want to now, so wait :)

i'm installing b6 right now, i prob wont upgrade again for a while unless there are probs, or security fixes.


on the beta thing.. secondary betas will go to the wider group before release anyways.. so its not like its going to release without that wider testing like you seem to be suggesting.

Mike Bobbitt

Heheh, here we go again....

Beta 5 was sent out to the "thousands" because it was fairly stable. Beta 6 was sent to the smaller group because it's likely to have "obvious" feedback. I.E. most of the 1,000 beta testers would have reported the same bug, wasting a lot of time/resources.

And if you want to think of the charter program as donations, then that's cool too. :)

Most legit programs have a closed beta group to ferret out the big bugs, then a public beta group to find the harder/smaller ones...

Overseer

we have been through this a lot of times.

i've been a charter since day 1, my main point was for support. i wasnt really too fussed about the early beta's. (apart from the very first one to fiddle with..).

and only now am i upgrading my yse board to smf.. at b6..

[Unknown]

I'm sorry, ipggi, but I'm going to have to disagree.  The difference between 200 and 2000 beta testers is duplicate reports, and more work.  Especially if there is a section in the beta that I know needs polish (for example, it was changed to members could see their own IPs, but this wasn't totally done yet.) we would receive a comment about that once every other day with too many beta testers.

The next release won't be final.  And, the next release will be RC1 and it will be for everyone.  But, until that is ready this beta will not be for everyone.  It may find less glitches, but think of it this way: I want to find 90% of the glitches now, to reduce support, and then find the other 10% with the larger group of beta testers (which are needed to find that 10%) instead of finding all 100% with the full group.

In fact, before even Charter Memeber releases, there is of course a period in which the team only gets it.  With this, we hope to find the most important and noticable bugs so the Charter Members won't have to deal with them, and won't report them like mad.

This system does indeed lower the number of releases needed.

Read: http://unknown.network32.net/tutorial.simple-machines

And, yes, as Mike Bobbit says... all legit programs have some sort of testing period for their releases, including Microsoft, Mozilla, Norton, and even phpBB.

-[Unknown]

Snuffy

QuoteAnd, yes, as Mike Bobbit says... all legit programs have some sort of testing period for their releases, including Microsoft, Mozilla, Norton, and even phpBB.

And not to mention also that "PHP" also is coming out with new additions to itself as well all the time this is going on here at SMF, and those new things may need to be looked at along with any bugs found along the way.

So these new "PHP" softwear updates may need looked at by the SMF team befor releasing from within as well to make it a smoother transition as well for "US" the end users. And that is what the Team is working for is a better package for "US" the "END USERS", not just the beta members or charter members.

Rafon

off topic: Hey guys, is there gonna be a Russian version of SMF ? That's the only thing I really need... :o
For MathA Russia :)

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