I like feedback on something, I'm not sure it belongs in beta testing
section but I really want some feedback also from potential users so
I'm posting it here.
I've sometimes thought that beta testing on Windows gets problematic
because:
1. You have to replace an existing working setup unless you have an
extra computer, most people are afraid to do this as it might make
their music system unusable when they really want to use it.
2. All the users running Windows can't help to test patches because
they use binary nightly builds which can't easily be patched.
So my initial idea was to create a VirtualBox image which:
- Is based on a Ubuntu operating system requiring about 256MB memory
- Using music folder from main Windows computer (or OSX/Linux)
- Automatic scripts that gets the latest svn version of Squeezebox
Server or the specific revision you have specified that you want.
- Automatic apply of patch files put in a Windows share, making it
possible for beta testers to help testing patches before Logitech
incorporates them in the official version.
- Exposed SBS source code, preferences files, cache, log directories as
a WIndows share so it's easy to read and modify from Windows.
It would make it fairly easy for a user to participate in beta testing
since they one the same computer as their main 7.5 setup can:
1. Install VirtualBox in their Windows computer
2. Import the above mentioned VirtualBox image using 7.6 beta
3. Use the same music library both in their stable setup and in the
beta testing setup
4. Easily be able to switch a player between the stable setup and the
beta testing setup by just switching which Squeezebox Server to use.
5. They'd basically don't have to touch Linux itself, just start/stop
the VirtualBox machine and change settings through the normal SBS web
interface using a web browser. Restarting VirtualBox would result in
that SBS also is updated to the desired svn version and patches are
applied.
The disadvantage is that it might decrease the number of beta testers
that do native tests on Windows and find Windows related problems. But
it also means that people which aren't currently willing to run 7.6
could participate in beta testing without destroying there existing
stable 7.5 setup.
So my questions are:
1.
Is this something people running beta testing would be interested in ?
2.
Is there better/easier ways to accomplish this ?
3.
Anyone willing to help to set it up ?
(I did a quick test yesterday and produced an image, so we have
something to start with if someone is interested to help)
My personal interest is that I'm sometime willing to do patches but I
really don't have the time to test them throughly myself and most of
the people willing to help either use Windows nighly builds which can't
easily be patched or don't know how to apply a patch file.
--
erland
Erland Isaksson ('My homepage' (http://erland.isaksson.info))
(Developer of 'many plugins/applets'
(http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/User:Erland). If my answer
helped you and you like to encourage future presence on this forum
and/or third party plugin/applet development, 'donations are always
appreciated' (http://erland.isaksson.info/donate))
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View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=88615
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