YABTAT (Yet another beta testing argument thread)

devbobo · September 23, 2005

it's a shame that no such incentive was offered for beta testing the API

Not that I am alluding to monetary incentives, i'm sure a life-time pro membership would have got things moving.

{JT} · September 23, 2005

I would think that the opportunity to charge for a really well written piece of software would have been incentive enough? I mean, look at Nikolai, he did not seem to have a problem testing the API ...

devbobo wrote:

it's a shame that no such incentive was offered for beta testing the API

Not that I am alluding to monetary incentives, i'm sure a life-time pro membership would have got things moving.

devbobo · September 23, 2005

{JT} wrote:

I would think that the opportunity to charge for a really well written piece of software would have been incentive enough? I mean, look at Nikolai, he did not seem to have a problem testing the API ...

who said that every 3rd party developer was going to charge for what they were developing ? I had never planned to.

Nikolai · September 24, 2005

Since you mention it..

{JT} wrote:

I would think that the opportunity to charge for a really well written piece of software would have been incentive enough? I mean, look at Nikolai, he did not seem to have a problem testing the API ...

I still don't.. :-)

I mean - I don't test it. Not anymore. No feedback. Immediate or postponed. I had it the same with Borland - reporting the gargantuan, 100% reproduceable bugs, confirmed by numerous people on the newsgroups - only to hear that "they" can't duplicate it.. Eventually I lost the interest and stopped reporting. Or even, if I could, stopped using the buggy parts or worked around them..

I still have a number of outstanding API issues since March. confirmed by the others. None of them were resolved, new came out (like no previous stats URLs recently).:cry

So I'm using whatever part of the API works - and praying that Luke will get more luck that I had feedback-wise..

Sorry to break the mood..

Mike Lane · September 24, 2005

Nikolai wrote:

I still don't.. :-)

I mean - I don't test it. Not anymore. No feedback. Immediate or postponed. I had it the same with Borland - reporting the gargantuan, 100% reproduceable bugs, confirmed by numerous people on the newsgroups - only to hear that "they" can't duplicate it.. Eventually I lost the interest and stopped reporting. Or even, if I could, stopped using the buggy parts or worked around them..

I still have a number of outstanding API issues since March. confirmed by the others. None of them were resolved, new came out (like no previous stats URLs recently).:cry

So I'm using whatever part of the API works - and praying that Luke will get more luck that I had feedback-wise..

Sorry to break the mood..

Ummm, hopefully this doesn't turn into a battle thread like the other one on this topic. I mean, I'm not opposed to this discussion, I'm sure there is a place for it, but I would respectfully suggest that this particular thread isn't the place.

Just trying to keep on topic is all :uhoh

Nikolai · September 24, 2005

No worries, mate!

Mike Lane wrote:

Ummm, hopefully this doesn't turn into a battle thread like the other one on this topic. I mean, I'm not opposed to this discussion, I'm sure there is a place for it, but I would respectfully suggest that this particular thread isn't the place.

Just trying to keep on topic is all :uhoh

A mouse can't fight an elephant. It can only hope to be able to follow:-)

Mike Lane · September 24, 2005

Nikolai wrote:

A mouse can't fight an elephant. It can only hope to be able to follow:-)

onethumb · September 24, 2005

devbobo wrote:

it's a shame that no such incentive was offered for beta testing the API

Not that I am alluding to monetary incentives, i'm sure a life-time pro membership would have got things moving.

We haven't publicized it, but smugmug's been slipping cash to worthy projects all along.

We actually have a list of things we'd like to see from the API, so if the Themes Bounty works well, I think we'll have an Application Bounty too.

Don

onethumb · September 24, 2005

Nikolai wrote:

I still don't.. :-)

I mean - I don't test it. Not anymore. No feedback. Immediate or postponed. I had it the same with Borland - reporting the gargantuan, 100% reproduceable bugs, confirmed by numerous people on the newsgroups - only to hear that "they" can't duplicate it.. Eventually I lost the interest and stopped reporting. Or even, if I could, stopped using the buggy parts or worked around them..

I still have a number of outstanding API issues since March. confirmed by the others. None of them were resolved, new came out (like no previous stats URLs recently).:cry

So I'm using whatever part of the API works - and praying that Luke will get more luck that I had feedback-wise..

Sorry to break the mood..

I hate to rehash this subject yet again, but here we go: I have limited resources and limited time.

Getting anyone to methodically test the API or even to test specific functionality when I'd ask for it point blank was a huge pain. It actually felt like people weren't interested in the API progressing at all, at one point.

Luke's approach is looking like it'll be perfect, and I think you'll see a lot of movement on both fixes and enhancements to the API as a result. He's being methodical, detailed, and precise. Just what we need in an effective tester.

The API is a work of love, and I haven't felt much love from our community on it for many moons. As a result, my time has been spent elsewhere - why work on something that isn't appreciated when I can do other things, like smugMaps, that are?

I'm so stoked that Luke is in the game and helping us out, now. I really love the API and want it to succeed. I was fairly upset and depressed about the turn it had taken and the apparent apathy from our community.

Now, since I've said all of this before, can we maybe stop whining and arguing about it and get back to fixing the problem?

Thanks.

Don

Nikolai · September 24, 2005

Don, you did say it before:-)
And I heard you:-). You don't have much time for this. It's totally understandable. Not many people do. I have spent whatever time cap I had testing and reporting. And just as you had switched to obviously more pressing issues with SM, I had to switch to a more pressing issues with S*E, using what is available and working around what's not. Especially since none of us 3d party guys could actually *fix* any of the server-side problems.

Now I guess we are all lucky that Luke's carrying the torch. And I feel even more lucky that he's getting the proper attention now.

It's all for the greater good! And as you have just said, we all want the API to succeed.

So let's *fix* the problems, shall we?

Cheers!

YABTAT (Yet another beta testing argument thread)

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