We have kept J602 on the download page as a stable system. Prior to J701, new versions were evolutionary, even where there were major enhancements, and typically little effort was needed to upgrade. Also, new versions were complete and polished.
The J701 release is revolutionary in replacing the entire user interface. There are obvious pros and cons to this. Also, unlike previous releases, we are aware that the system is incomplete, e.g. not fully documented, and missing some pieces like labs and debug. The reason why we felt it appropriate to make a release is that we feel the core J701 system is stable and usable, and the missing pieces can be added as and when available. A disproportionately large part of the teething problems are on the Mac. We ourselves do not use Macs and rely heavily on our users for code and feedback. That we have a Mac gtk product at all is due to Norman's efforts. As you find and fix problems, please update the wiki. I will move the corresponding beta pages to J701 installation pages now. On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 2:32 PM, Ian Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > Let's be careful exactly what we say... > > j602 is exceptionally stable. It's the most stable language > development system I've come across for cross-platform development -- > it was this that attracted me to J in the first place. But it makes it > a hard act to follow. > > The stability has been achieved by avoiding excessive facilities in > the gui (jwd). > > It's clearly been tempting to release a J version that embraces some > of the juiciest open-source opportunities for richer gui development: > html and gtk. I applaud that, and want to be part of it. > > It would be a shame and a disappointment if this bold initiative > stalls because of teething troubles with a small proportion of user's > very disparate platforms. More timid developers would have released on > one platform only (that having the most imaginative users), then > rolled it out six months later on another platform. > > Yes, let's keep j602 around as a fallback, with the emphasis on "fall". > But I urge the J community to assign 'j701 j602'=: (recommended ; deprecated) > . > Not: (none_but_the_brave ; the_rest_of_us). > This will require a pretty broad migration path j602-->j701 to be > hacked through the undergrowth, with the perfection of slightly > depressing crutches like wd-emulation and gtk survival-guides. Less so > with jhs because there's more experience in our community with html > and javascript. > > Björn has been saying something similar recently. He's been living the > part. I haven't. This is due to change shortly. Just so soon as I can > take a good look at Bill's start at a wd-emulator. > > On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 5:20 AM, J. Patrick Harrington <[email protected]> > wrote: >> >> Right, Chris, I can't say that isn't clear enough. >> Maybe put it in a larger font ... :-) >> >> On Sun, 6 Feb 2011, chris burke wrote: >>> On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 12:53 PM, J. Patrick Harrington >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> ... Maybe >>>> there should be a warning to anyone who is new to J to just use >>>> j602 -- at least on a Mac. >>> >>>> From the J download page: >>> >>> "... J701 introduces significant change and is for users, new or old, >>> who want the challenge of the bleeding edge..." >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm >>> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm >> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
