Thread

Lately i wonder if the updates are not a bit too much. Many application i used over the years are updated to death, for instance winamp and everyones favorite OS 😉.

Where do you draw the line with the software you develop?

 
 
I was led to believe that if software is not being updated then it is obsolete 😊
 
 
 

I update when I think of a feature that is needed, but I make sure it isn’t beyond the original scope of the project.  Also, you’ve gotta fix bugs!

Of course you need to fix bugs but i was thinking more feature wise. For example you can do all sorts of things with a document in MS word but most people only use a minimal layout, even a layout you can do in wordpad.

I think firefox and foobar are great examples of apps that do what they are supposed to do and let you add on everything your heart desires. Other apps force features upon it’s users with the message if you don’t update your application isn’t safe.

Like John_Betong many more people believe if the software doesn’t get updates it becomes obsolete, maybe John meant it as a joke. But i read a while ago ubuntu has a 6 month development cycle because people expect updates.

Word is a perfect example of “my mate Bob said this feature might be handy, and some guy said we should add this… ohh and another customer said about that”. Instead of working out which ones to add they just jam everything in and get cluttered to hell.

In the example of MS Word thats a case of corporate over-pleasing. They just want to make everyone happy by adding in everything for everyone, and dont realise that too much pisses everyone off.

Another cause of bloatware is young developers which I have had problems with in the past. As people learn more and more about their language of choice, or discover more librarys, etc they just jam more and more in “because they can”. I have done this before and thankfully have now stopped.

My favourite projects right now such as Firefox and Mac OS X are all spot on. They are bringing out updates which fix bugs and add small useability fixes. My main reasons for upgradng to FF3 are less memory bloat and the new address bar. Mac OS X are getting it right with Snow Leopard too. No more features we dont really need, just making it fast as f**k.

Update culture is necessary, just depends how smart the developers are.

 
@Xero

>>> Like John_Betong many more people believe if the software doesn’t get updates it becomes obsolete,
>>> maybe John meant it as a joke.

I was unsure about specific applications and thought about:
1.  Customers requesting additional features and to resolve current bugs.
2.  Software houses wanting to capitalise on existing applications and not to research new projects.
3.  Software trying to keep up with the current fast technological progress.
4.  Software trying to outdo their competition.

 
 

>>> Where do you draw the line with the software you develop?

Personally, I like to first get it all working then to optimise the code or to discover new and better ways to achieve the same tasks.

 
 
Any news on the next CodeIgniter release?
 
 
 

I was unsure about specific applications and thought about:
1.  Customers requesting additional features and to resolve current bugs.
2.  Software houses wanting to capitalise on existing applications and not to research new projects.
3.  Software trying to keep up with the current fast technological progress.
4.  Software trying to outdo their competition.

1. Of course bugs need to be fixed but those should be minimal if you release your application to the customers/users.
Customers requests are a two sided sword. One customer can wants a feature to behave a certain way but an another customer wants the feature as it is. I think requests push you in the realm of personalized software where you can ask more money because it’s a niche of your global product.

2. i don’t see how capitalizing software could be a reason to create updates other then keeping it in the eye of the customer but i think that is the baddest reason to create updates.

3. The users have no message for technology updates if there is not something in it for them. If a software package works good with older technology why should you want to adapt it to the newest technology just because it’s available?

4. Personally i’m a bit turned off with the applications to try to look like each other.     
You outdo your competition by making an application the user is happy about working with. This could mean better support or more userfriendlyness instead of a race to add features the competition has or hasn’t.

Basically updates should be carefully planned instead of automatized.

 
1. Agreed.
 
>>> 2. i don’t see how capitalizing software could be a reason to create updates other then keeping it in the eye of the customer
>>>  but i think that is the baddest reason to create updates.
I was thinking more along the lines of creating an application for single customer and then adding features to cater for a broader global market.
 
>>> 3. The users have no message for technology updates if there is not something in it for them.
>>> If a software package works good with older technology
>>> why should you want to adapt it to the newest technology just because it’s available?
I was thinking of the technological advances in video quality and compression which is a leading field of research.
 
4. Agreed.
 
 

Any news on the next CodeIgniter update?
 
 

Updates doesn’t have to mean adding new features.  Refactoring is important.  Maintenance and security fixes is important.  If I see a project is no longer being actively supported then it is time for me to move on.  That does not mean new features have to be added though.

Most of the times updates are adding new features. I’m not against updates but if new features are added it should be the user that should make the decision to install them or not. This makes the underlying update process a bit harder because the update first needs to check which features are installed and then update those features.

FF3 has the awesome bar but if you don’t like it there is an extension that returns the old suggest dropdown behavior. Wouldn’t it be better if they let people choose which updates they would like to make? If you only want FF3 for it’s better memory management you have to install a whole new browser.

I think security updates shouldn’t be reflected in version numbers. But people are so trained to always want the newest version those minor version numbers have gotten a bigger meaning than it actually has.

By actively supported you mean by the developer or by a community? CI is a good example how the community kept the fire burning between versions. Developers got rid of it because the development cycle was too slow. And that is an example how the update culture is beginning to go haywire in my opinion.

Get the tool you want that gets the job done the way you like it best. As a developer you can add your own security patches and code cleaning and as a user you check for updates to see if there are security fixes.

winamp was far, far better IMO when it fired open like a crack of lightning! i mean, c’mon ... every winamp update causes the app to performs slower, adds in all kinds of features i could care less about, addresses ‘security’ issues (i thought this was an mp3 player) etc ...

but the way i use the app still reflects how i used it in 2000! add mp3s to playlist, shuffle, play, minimize ... then work.

the way i use PS is a perfect example ... if you gave me PS 7 back, i could still do everything i need to do. now other designers out there are scoffing, saying “no way”, but for me ... the updates have done nothing but cost $ and consume more memory. for others, it’s a must have ... all depends on what you’re doing, and i think it’s very easy to get caught up in “i have to have this ... i want this” ... but it might be better to ask ... “Do I have to have this? Do I need this?”

now regarding CI ... man, i’ll be all over any update the second a post if made to the ci feed that there’s a new one. because my codes getting better, and faster.