Hello everybody,
first of all I must say, that my opinion isn't really worth that much, as I'm not a programmer and not working in a software company at all, but well I'm an architect ( the kind with the bricks and the concrete ) and I even sell some graphics design for a living...
Now my opinion: I think, that many people are slowly changing their mind and shifting to a point of view which goes clearly away from the old hassle of mandatory needing a stable release and better even if it is released at stable intervals of time. I think this is a very old fashion way of seeing it. It dates from times when production was rather cumbersome and large scale and depended on costly infrastructure and material that had to be stock-piled. never the less many decision-makers still think this way. In reality this image is already only a make believe... Even things like consumer goods as cameras for example look to the outside like a stable release, but inside every production lot is very different from the former, thus silently evolving without users even knowing it.
For all the "print" media which nowadays comes as file through internet things like schedules or time lines are also mere cosmetic. Already there are many publications which simply release a new version whenever there is something new to publish. "Younger users" don't have any problem with this. I think everybody could give a similar case from his field of work and experience.
It hasn't anything to do with age neither. A friend of mine is doing artwork in 3D with blender and is very fond of the fast rhythm of releases, even if they are not exactly what one would call "stable releases", they are always work in progress. This friend of mine is 68 years old.
All the crying for stable releases rally is for marketing reasons only. Big companies have to print manuals, do commercials on tv and internet and print media, and they need to present steps to sell them as big improvements of the product (it has to be discussed if they really are) over older version (so, buy the new) or competitive products (buy our product, it has these new cool features). And last but not least: they made us believe, that this is how it has to be, no matter what organisation or company you are. One reason today is clearly to give a disadvantage to small business and to a certain way of producing open source software. But all this is very often only a make believe, a tale...
As long as a software, no matter which revision number it has, complies with what the user needs and expects (the user, not the marketeer), does not introduce sever bugs, does not alter the input and output format with every release, and what ever nuisance we all know and have experienced by may a product ... well, then let it have some much nightlies as it may...
I believe even many marketing dorks will slowly change their mind about this point.
Now for what regards code::blocks:
It is already a very valuable and usable product take any of the last at least twenty nightly builds. It is already used in companies and for teaching and by many private users. It is capable of growing and evolving without great many difficulties, so it will go on like that and keep evolving.
And yes: they are all volunteers, no one gets any money paid for the c::b effort. C::b is done in their private time, but they have families to care for and friends and relatives.
If somebody complains, shall he himself get busy with c::b and contribute where he/she thinks it lack features and appearance. Or only suggest, modestly.
Maybe, as my suggestion, but see above, I'm not a very able programmer to contribute much myself (some of the icons of wxSmith are one of my small adding, when I have some time maybe I can do more), but maybe the c::b devs could consider this idea:
Release the nightlies as updates to whatever version the particular user has installed. Like changing the numbering of c::b from stable 8.02 and many XXXX nightlies to code::blocks VXXXX. A button in the toolbar gets enabled whenever update is available, but it doesn't hassel the user either, he doesn't have to upgrade if he doesn't want to. The nightlies would be like some sort of a diff actually upgrading the installation to the newest nightly. Maybe it would even be the same as now, just a changed number and that the user has the feeling he is only "one click upgrading" his product instead of downloading several files and putting them in some directory and even having to erase some older file ore something "obscure" like that ...
Well, I don't know, but maybe it would quite all these strange people crying for new stables.
But as I said, just a suggestion (ready to forget), and maybe doing so would give too much credit to the complainer style people out there...
Many thanks for your great work and the forum and all your efforts,
regards
nausea
