Hi Robert et al For the record, I don't work for or have any commercial involvement with either Triadis or Swift. That said, I have some information which may help.
On 17/10/2010, at 2:46 PM, Robert Hart wrote: > Hi Folks > > Version 6 or XCSoar is now in testing and a release of the new version should > be occurring soon - but if you have an Altair in your glider you will be > stuck with version 5.2 as no-one is supporting this platform - not even the > manufacturer. Perhaps not communicated, but I know that Triadis has been working on a new version for quite some time. In fact that has been part of the problem, development has diverged quite a lot. There is work going on to try and resolve this, but may be some time... > I am seriously underwhelmed with the support I am receiving from Triadis and > its local reseller Swift Avionics here in Australia. There has been no update > to XCSoar on the Altair platform now for ages and nothing is being done to > ensure the Altair hardware is supported in the XCSoar development tree. I don't own an Altair, yet... but I want one, if I get one, I will help support the development. My big issue right now is getting 1, preferably 2 (one for my glider, one for desk machine, which we may be able to share between developers). However I have just learnt this is being resolved by Triadis now. > I have written to Triadis and to Swift and received no answer to the question > about updated versions of XCSoar for the Altair. I have also written to > Johnny Wharrington (who I believe first ported XCSoar to the Altair) - but > have received no reply. JW and myself actually maintained/developed the open source version of XCSoar (originally it was a commercial app), and JW and Triadis built the version and hardware for Altair. However, after 4 years, JW is taking a bit of a break from XCSoar development. It is well deserved. Up till the last 12 months (where we have some excellent new developers) 90% of the development was done by John, all open source and free. > I spent - like many of you - several thousand dollars on this hardware (I > purchased the Altair/Vega combo) and am now beginning to bitterly regret this > decision as it appears that both the manufacturer and and the Australian > reseller have abandoned this hardware and its users. > > All Triadis need to do is to write the parts of the software that supports > its hardware. The XCSoar community do everything else (it is open source > software), but it appears they are not even prepared to do this (or pay > someone to do it. I should explain, that one of the reasons the divergence happened, is that XCSoar went through a year of instability (probably necessary to leap it forward to 6.0), where new releases could not be done for Altair, so versions were worked on. In hindsight this was probably the wrong approach from Triadis - although I may be unfair saying so, forgive me if that is the case. Triadis has also done a lot of work over the years putting code into XCSoar, not just the hardware support for Altair but a LOT LOT more than that. They have been a key driver to making sure XCSoar has got to where it is. Well at least up to the last 12 months. My own opinion is that really it has been the last 12 months that has been a problem - now I am not saying that is right, or good/bad - just that, up till the last 12 months, everything has gone smoothly on releasing all versions. > Now - if I am wrong about this (I don't think I am) please point me at the > info that shows Altair is being supported in the latest version of XCSoar. > > Alternatively, if you are using the Altair hardware I strongly urge you to > write to Triadis and Swift Avionics expressing your concern and asking them > to provide a definitive answer as to WHEN they are going to update XCSoar for > the Altair. A quick summary, and recommendations: * Triadis and John Wharington have done a stellar job in the past maintaining the code. But now we need new helpers. Our new developers are not Altair users. * Triadis have promised a development unit to one of the primary developers. This is a major step forward. * All code I believe is now released for XCSoar all branches. This doesn't help with complete port of 6 to Altair, but it means we have everything available * The work to port XCSoar 6 to Altair is not that difficult (see below) but is time consuming, but can be done by non-C++ Experts. Altair is a Win CE based device, and therefore is mostly compatible with the current build. That said however, it has some special requirements. As a basic requirement, the interface must all be driven completely with buttons - no touch screen. Therefore the largest job(s) to do, is make sure that every part of XCSoar, especially the new waypoint / task editor, can be managed with buttons alone. One of the mains reasons I mention this, is that anyone who can compile the Linux X11 versions can start working on this problem, they don't even need an Altair. Finally my conclusion is: Yes there has been a period of no releases; there is work going on; you can help. Thanks Scott ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download new Adobe(R) Flash(R) Builder(TM) 4 The new Adobe(R) Flex(R) 4 and Flash(R) Builder(TM) 4 (formerly Flex(R) Builder(TM)) enable the development of rich applications that run across multiple browsers and platforms. Download your free trials today! http://p.sf.net/sfu/adobe-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Xcsoar-user mailing list Xcsoar-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xcsoar-user
