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NeoOffice :: View topic - NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access Program postponed
NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access Program postponed
 
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pluby
The Architect
The Architect


Joined: Jun 16, 2003
Posts: 11949

PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 11:26 am    Post subject:

FYI. We finally found the cause of the PowerPC library loading slowness and the PowerPC toolbar icon rendering issues.

Both are now fixed so after we fix a few more of the remaining known issues, we will be able set a new start date for the NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access Program.

Patrick
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human
Pure-blooded Human


Joined: Jan 04, 2005
Posts: 36
Location: Planet Earth

PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 7:39 pm    Post subject:

Hey, glad the problems turned out to be less formidable than originally expected. Your hard work is greatly appreciated.
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pluby
The Architect
The Architect


Joined: Jun 16, 2003
Posts: 11949

PostPosted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:59 am    Post subject:

Now that we have fixed the PowerPC library loading slowness and the PowerPC toolbar icon rendering issues and OpenOffice.org 3.0 has been out for nearly a month, Ed and I now feel that we can set a new start date for the NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access Program.

We have set the new start date for 15 January 2009 and, just to be safe, the end date to 31 March 2009. While we probably could put it out earlier than 15 January if we worked uninterrupted, the end of November and December both have large holidays where Ed and I stop work and visit our extended families so we did not think it would be realistic to release something right in the middle of the U.S.'s "Christmas through New Year's Day" holiday season.

Ending the program on 31 March 2009 makes this Early Access Program several weeks longer than normal. Given the level of stability that NeoOffice users have become accustomed to and the problems that we have found so far in the OpenOffice.org 3.0 code, our gut feeling is that program member's will need more time to find (and for us to fix) all of the critical bugs in this release. So, to be safe, we will have a longer than usual Early Access Program for NeoOffice 3.0.

Edit: Changed all "2008" dates to "2009" as my original post was referring to the past.

Patrick


Last edited by pluby on Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
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yoxi
Cipher


Joined: Sep 07, 2004
Posts: 1799
Location: Dawlish, Devon

PostPosted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:24 am    Post subject:

Sounds wise to me, given the weird junk that's still turning up in OOo v3 Confused. Incidentally, another point where NeoOffice scores over OOo v3 is that OOo doesn't cooperate with Default Folder - and it's the only app I have among loads and loads that doesn't. It makes OOo just that little bit more tedious to use (once you get used to Default Folder's added functionailty, it's hard to be without it...)

- padmavyuha
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James3359
The Merovingian


Joined: Jul 05, 2005
Posts: 685
Location: North West England

PostPosted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:53 pm    Post subject:

Patrick, I've just checked the Early Access page to check that you had put 2009 there, by contrast with your post where you refer to 2008!
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Samwise
Captain Naiobi


Joined: Apr 25, 2006
Posts: 2315
Location: Montpellier, France

PostPosted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:20 pm    Post subject:

James3359 wrote:
Patrick, I've just checked the Early Access page to check that you had put 2009 there, by contrast with your post where you refer to 2008!


Very Happy
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pluby
The Architect
The Architect


Joined: Jun 16, 2003
Posts: 11949

PostPosted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:46 pm    Post subject:

James3359 wrote:
Patrick, I've just checked the Early Access page to check that you had put 2009 there, by contrast with your post where you refer to 2008!


Oops. Embarassed

Thanks for catching this. I have corrected the years in my post.

Patrick
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Gandalf99
Blue Pill


Joined: Dec 28, 2008
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:46 pm    Post subject: Early Access vs. Beta

Is the early access program really a beta program for which you pay for the privilege? Or have you really finished testing by the early access launch & the same version is then released to the public a couple of months later? Sorry that I'm a little skeptical.
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OPENSTEP
The One
The One


Joined: May 25, 2003
Posts: 4752
Location: Santa Barbara, CA

PostPosted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:17 pm    Post subject:

The Early Access Program is one of the ways that Patrick and I try to say thank you to all the donors who have helped keep NeoOffice running and able to be continually improved. It is not a beta program; it represents our best effort to deliver software that is ready for release. If it is not quality software, we do not release it...this is the primary reason why we postponed from our initial date. EAP is also a period in which we try to thank these donors by focusing our support on addressing any problems they have which may complicate deployment of 3.0 in their specific work environments.

During EAP, bugs in the software are fixed with software patches, just as with our shipping software. Unlike other projects, we do frequent hotfixes called "patches". When EAP ends and we make the public download, we simply post a version that already contains all the patches from during the EAP period, so new users only need to download the main disk image.

Usually, people with EAP releases just need the final EAP patch to get all of the fixes included in the public version. Sometimes if we need to recompile everything this may not be possible, however, but we try our best.

ed
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pluby
The Architect
The Architect


Joined: Jun 16, 2003
Posts: 11949

PostPosted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:20 pm    Post subject: Re: Early Access vs. Beta

Gandalf99 wrote:
Is the early access program really a beta program for which you pay for the privilege? Or have you really finished testing by the early access launch & the same version is then released to the public a couple of months later? Sorry that I'm a little skeptical.


To answer your quetion, I think that I need to explain how the NeoOffice project is run. NeoOffice exists solely on user donations. Since only a tiny percentage of users actually donate funds, our operations fund only two people to do all NeoOffice development. bug fixing, and user support.

With such a tiny number of people running the project, there is no dedicated testing staff so as our important warnings for users says, all releases (both Early Access Release and free releases) are tested by users.

If you do not want to invest any effort in helping to test NeoOffice, then I strongly recommend that you do not participate in the Early Access Program. Since NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access includes the big changes that OpenOffice.org made to NeoOffice's underlying OpenOffice.org code, we expect that many changes and new bugs will appear.

Because of these OpenOffice.org changes, providing our rapid user support would be quickly overwhelmed if we skipped the Early Access Program. So, instead, we limit the Early Access Program to our large donors so that we can provide rapid investigation and fixing of bugs found by these donors.

The large donors provide over half of our donations come so it only seems fair that they should get the first opportunity to try out our new code and, in return for there donations and testing effort, they should get priority for the bugs that they find and the support requests that they post.

Patrick
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Gandalf99
Blue Pill


Joined: Dec 28, 2008
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 6:54 pm    Post subject: Early Access

Patrick--

Thanks for the quick & thorough response. Here's what I understand from what you said; please tell me if this correct:

Early Access users are beta testers who, in appreciation for their willingness to make larger donations & test the program, have the opportunity to use the program sooner, provide more input into what still needs addressing in terms of bugs, & receive more timely help.

Assuming that's accurate, I feel like I can now make an informed decision about whether I want to participate. And thanks for making NeoOffice available for free.
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pluby
The Architect
The Architect


Joined: Jun 16, 2003
Posts: 11949

PostPosted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 7:01 pm    Post subject: Re: Early Access

Gandalf99 wrote:
Early Access users are beta testers who, in appreciation for their willingness to make larger donations & test the program, have the opportunity to use the program sooner, provide more input into what still needs addressing in terms of bugs, & receive more timely help.


Yes, I think your description pretty much sums it up.

Patrick
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vida18
Agent


Joined: Sep 13, 2008
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:23 am    Post subject:

Can you show NeoOffice 3.0's screenshots ?
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pluby
The Architect
The Architect


Joined: Jun 16, 2003
Posts: 11949

PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:27 am    Post subject:

vida18 wrote:
Can you show NeoOffice 3.0's screenshots ?


We have not posted any screen snapshots on our main website because there really is hardly any difference in what NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access and NeoOffice 2.2.5 look like

To be honest, I have to look closely to determine whether I have launched NeoOffice 2.2.5 or NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access.

Patrick
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sardisson
Town Crier
Town Crier


Joined: Feb 01, 2004
Posts: 4588

PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:43 pm    Post subject:

pluby wrote:
To be honest, I have to look closely to determine whether I have launched NeoOffice 2.2.5 or NeoOffice 3.0 Early Access.

The progress bar in the splash screen is thinner in 3.0EA...but then again, 3.0EA seems to launch much faster for me, so I hardly even get to see that difference Wink

Smokey

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"[...] whether the duck drinks hot chocolate or coffee is irrelevant." -- ovvldc and sardisson in the NeoWiki
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