slyphnier
8 discussion posts
beta version been releasing like once in a month
but no update for stable release since late january
do dev. recommend using beta version ?
if yes, then dev. think beta version is stable enough for normal usage
then why not release it as stable version ?
sorry if i sound rude, but looking at those change log on beta
seems quite many fixed bugs but again all in beta state
hoping dev. can release stable build more frequent
more like patch/update that include only fixes not including new feature
Jcee
205 discussion posts
basically yes, beta version is ok for most people, however there may still be bugs (which are unlikely to cause issue, outside of breaking a specific feature or so)
It works like this, beta 1 they throw a few features in, beta 2, they throw a few more, and fix the errors reported with the features from beta 1, beta 3 they throw even more features, and fix the features from beta 2, and possibly some more from beta 1, in beta 4, there really shouldn't be any issues with the features added by beta 1, but they still have to fix the issues from beta 2,3,and if they add any features, they need smoothed over too...
In order to make a 'stable' release they have to stop adding features, and smooth out the bugs for all the previously added beta features... This 'waiting' for bugs to crop up, really cuts down on the development cycle, so the less often they release a stable build, the faster they can pump features into the product overall.
Would you rather have 1 feature every other month, or 15~ features at the end of the year?
One of the pushing factors for a stable release is a large scale system incompatibility (like the release of windows 10), that forces an update on the stable channel (along with a host of annoying new bugs) so stable users, don't get left out completely..
The other issue with a stable release is its features SHOULD be 'set in stone' That means any feature that 'works' but is a little wonky, likely wont receive any more attention, except to fix compatibility issues.. (How would you like it if a feature you were using, and possibly bought display fusion for, was changed in a way that broke your use-case (even if it improved the feature overall) With the beta there are no promises.. on whats going to change.. and users need to be a little more pro-active and pay attention to the change-log to see if it may have affected any features they are taking advantage of, in a positive, or negative way..
Also what you are referring to with 'adding compatibility patches to the stable' is called forking, and it can cause alot of confusion ("Did I fix that feature in the beta, stable, or both?") (not to mention coding the fix twice, even if it is mostly copy/paste work
Though It could be done if a big enough issue arises quickly (like a program breaking windows patch/update)
May 23, 2016 (modified May 23, 2016)
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