On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 18:12:16 -0500, MikeB wrote: >Further, I am reminded of a time, in the not distant past, when this >forum was used for other than its' stated purpose, that of casting >aspersions and how it seemed to make everyone, well, Less. So I >would not want this thread to get legs. I have a great deal of respect >for people on both sides of this issue and I would like to see this >worked out through the proper channels. >With that, I would hope the list moderator would step in here with a >refresher of what is / is not proper lines of discussion permitted.
Er, uhm, I guess that would be me? Everyone can review those principles at any time. Every single message tells you how to: at the bottom, starting with "TO SEE MESSAGE POSTING GUIDELINES." This isn't really a "moderated" list, my volunteer title is "list manager." Most of the time, we do an awfully good job as a group of self-moderation. Nevertheless, I do have a couple things to say on these topics. First and foremost, I am anxious, excited, thrilled at the prospect of having the full fledged R:Base 7.0 finished. If anything, RBTI has spent too long on the "old" R:Base, working to make everyone happy by not only fixing every documented and replicable "bug," but adding features to please many people who wanted a particular thing changed or added. Those programmers adding more things to 6.5++p3 were not helping us get toward 7.0, but in fact may have been slowing us down on the push to 7.0. And 6.5++p2 already worked very well. In my opinion, it is time to "close the door." If there is something more to change, it should be changed for version 7.0 Secondly, Razzak and RBTI have made it very clear, time and time again, that, if we show them exactly what the problem is, and can help them recreate it, RBTI fixes it. Tom, send them your application and enough data and step-by-step instructions, so that they can see the problem. Your problem will probably go away totally in version 7.0. Either that, or a programming change might be suggested to you, that also could help your problem go away, even in version 6.5++p3. Either way, you win. RBTI has a web site to report problems, and an email address in addition. Thirdly, I have often been as creative as Tom Grimshaw in pushing the R:Base products to their limits, and doing things that seemed nearly impossible or ill-advised. Sometimes in upgrades, I have had to rework or abandon those clever tricks. But I've always gained more than I lost by upgrading (except maybe going to RBW version 5). Sometimes RBTI can help with my problem, sometimes they can't. Having two forms open at the same time, updating the same data, seems to me to be asking for problems. It doesn't look like this problem has affected a lot of other developers. But Mike W. still asked for samples that illustrate the problem. And finally, as for philosophy, I never use the word "bug," not with my clients, and not with my vendors. Bugs are little things that crawl into places. Use of computer software always leads to problems. None of these problems are little things that crawled into the software. There are defects, both in my applications, and in my vendors' applications. There are times when someone misunderstands or misuse products. And there are times when someone wants the product to do something other than it does, or differently than it does. It doesn't matter which one is "right" description of the problem. What matters is getting our applications to work for our customers. Most developers, have a relationship with RBTI that gets problems documented and solved. Most of us should also have that kind of a relationship with our own customers. The RBTI process works, better than with almost any other software company I know of. Bill ================================================ TO SEE MESSAGE POSTING GUIDELINES: Send a plain text email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message body, put just two words: INTRO rbase-l ================================================ TO UNSUBSCRIBE: send a plain text email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message body, put just two words: UNSUBSCRIBE rbase-l ================================================ TO SEARCH ARCHIVES: http://www.mail-archive.com/rbase-l%40sonetmail.com/
