An Open Letter to All Growl Users,
>From what I'm reading in the complaints/problems about the latest
version of Growl, it appears that many (and probably even me!) don't
understand what Growl is and how it works. This is not your
grandfathers Growl! LOL!
I think the key to this understanding is realizing that Growl is not
an application that can work entirely alone. I think it was designed,
originally, as a service for *other* developers who wanted to let the
user now their app had something to tell them (the user). This info
was usually hidden by the OS if that app was not the active (front-
most) app.
The developers of Growl provided a centralized location and method
that other developers could use to "get the word out" to their users
while their apps were running in the background. It's something Apple
could have provided directly but didn't.
But this inter-app communications is becoming more challenging as the
OS matures (can we say "security?"). So Growl had to change how it
operated in order to be available with Apple's new rules
("suggestions"). This means that any developer that wants to let us
know something important might be happening in his app must now update
how that app communicates with Growl.
Unfortunately, some developers (namely Apple) don't build this
communication with Growl into their apps. That means there is a need
for things like GrowlSafari, GrowlMail, etc. With the changes in the
Lion version of Growl, all these extensions/add-ons/etc. may also need
updating.
The Growl developers have made many efforts to ease this transition,
but there are obviously many areas outside their control, mainly, the
speed at which other developers make the changes needed. But there are
also changes in Lion that seem to make matters harder for us users,
also.
The Mac App Store seems to very aggressive in determining whether or
not purchases can be re-downloaded.
And the new version of Growl means we need to be positive that there
are no other versions still running on our machines. That means we
need to not only clear those old versions (simply archiving them is my
usual method), but we must remember to remove references to them in
our Startup Items list.
Finally, since so many apps used the older version of Growl, we need
to review the Preferences of those apps to see if they are still
trying to access it.
The growl developers have provided several tools that can help in this
endeavor (see the General Downloads section at: http://growl.info/downloads).
Try the three downloads listed there before complaining about problem
and be sure to mention what you have tried if you do decide to post a
problem. Being as methodical and logical as possible will help get
your problems correct as fast as possible. It might help to use some
of those ancient tools of the past (paper and pencil) to record what
and when you did something and the results of those actions.
Lastly, I would encourage the Growl developers to post a description,
in as simple as possible terms, of course, of what and how Growl works
with different apps. Especially the differences between apps that use
the Growl Frameworks and apps that need additional add-ons (GrowlMail,
for example). It might also help to let other developers know we want
their apps to work with the new version of Growl.
BTW, I'm absolutely not part of the Growl team (not even a Beta
tester!), just a happy user and purchaser!
Jim Chaffin
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Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
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