Why is 1.x still being developed

djdrey

Joined: 2005-02-02
Posts: 6

Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 01:24

Hi All,

I have a question which has been confusing me for some time.. With the concurrent development of G2 having been in progress now for 2 years (correct me if I am wrong, but it's close to that) - why is there still development effort going into G1 ?

I would have though it would make more sense to pile development resources into G2, feature freeze G1 (bug fixes only).. As it stands, it seems with every new G1 release, new features are added which only puts the final release date of G2 further into the future!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining - the software is free, what rights do I have (even though I have donated in the 'early' days). But G2 has been 'coming' for so long now, I wonder if it will ever get released if G1 continues as it is currently doing.

Is it just me?

fryfrog

Joined: 2002-10-30
Posts: 3236

Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 01:29

There are only about 3 devs that work on G1. All the other ones work on G2. It is really up to the developers what they work on, and there are still a few who enjoy working with G1, adding improvements and creating fixes.

The main devs of G2 don't touch G1, except maybe to approve or disapprove of a major change or feature. G1 is pretty much left to the few guys who maintain it and since they don't really work on G2, they do all their work on G1.

G2 has always been an "It will come out when it comes out" thing.

djdrey

Joined: 2005-02-02
Posts: 6

Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 01:37

I understand that.. but the project maintainers do have the ability to say ' no more feature for G1, bug fixes only '..

As it is, I can only see the goal posts moving continually for G2. I'm not trying to hurry G2 up (though that'd be nice).. It just seems to me that it gets increasingly difficult to complete something like G2, when the previous version keeps getting upgraded.

fryfrog

Joined: 2002-10-30
Posts: 3236

Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 01:44

Maybe you don't understand. Its very likely that if Bharat said "okay, you three don't put any more features in G1" they would just fix bugs and G1. If they wanted to work on G2, they would be already. So aparantly, they would rather work on G1 and if they were not allowed to they probably wouldn't do anything in G2.

So its not a case of divided resources, its a case of all the resources that wish to do G1 are working on G1 and all those that wish to be working on G2 are working on G2. Its an open source project, all the devs and support staff work for free. While they can certainly say "no new features" for G1, it doesn't in any way translate to more people working on G2 or even if it did, it doesn't mean G2 would come out any faster.

If you want G2 to come out sooner, pick up some of the tasks that need working on, hang out in #gallery on irc.freenode.net and help em get the work done

signe

Joined: 2003-07-27
Posts: 2322

Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 02:08

Hey, now.

I'm the development lead for G1. bharat's the all-seeing-eye of Gallery, but unless something critical comes down, I 'rule' G1.

The only people who do any development on G1 at this time are Tim_j, and myself. Tim_j does much of the language maintenance in G2, and I also do a good bit of development in G2, having fixed many issues and added several features. One or two other people pop their heads into G1-land occasionally, but it's very rare.

G1 is nearing its end of life, but that time isn't yet. Even if I spent 100% of my time on G2, it wouldn't speed development up that significantly, and Jens (Tim_j) isn't currently interested in developing on G2. (Or so he's said previously, at least.)

G1 will probably be around long after G2 is released. They're completely separate products at this point, and the requirements are completely different. Some people will be able to run G2, and some won't. Some won't even want to. Some people haven't upgraded past Gallery 1.3.

fryfrog

Joined: 2002-10-30
Posts: 3236

Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 02:13

There, ya go... something far more accurate straight from the horses mouth

djdrey

Joined: 2005-02-02
Posts: 6

Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 22:49

Fair enough.. If the intention is to fork the product into 2 seperate offerings then it makes sense.. I'm not complaining about G2 being slow - I appreciate it's open source and it'll be here when it gets here.

My point was that no matter how many resources you put into G2, if G1 continues to have features added, it's increasingly difficult for G2 to be feature equal, extending it's development time.

Anyhoo..

fryfrog

Joined: 2002-10-30
Posts: 3236

Posted: Wed, 2005-03-23 00:40

Ahhh, and that is actually the miracle that is G2!

Since almost all of G2s functionality is in modules, they can release a final version when ever they feel they have the neccessary basics. Then, they can create and release modules as they develop and create them. Neato!

djdrey Joined: 2005-02-02 Posts: 6	Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 01:24
	Hi All, I have a question which has been confusing me for some time.. With the concurrent development of G2 having been in progress now for 2 years (correct me if I am wrong, but it's close to that) - why is there still development effort going into G1 ? I would have though it would make more sense to pile development resources into G2, feature freeze G1 (bug fixes only).. As it stands, it seems with every new G1 release, new features are added which only puts the final release date of G2 further into the future! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining - the software is free, what rights do I have (even though I have donated in the 'early' days). But G2 has been 'coming' for so long now, I wonder if it will ever get released if G1 continues as it is currently doing. Is it just me?
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fryfrog Joined: 2002-10-30 Posts: 3236	Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 01:29
	There are only about 3 devs that work on G1. All the other ones work on G2. It is really up to the developers what they work on, and there are still a few who enjoy working with G1, adding improvements and creating fixes. The main devs of G2 don't touch G1, except maybe to approve or disapprove of a major change or feature. G1 is pretty much left to the few guys who maintain it and since they don't really work on G2, they do all their work on G1. G2 has always been an "It will come out when it comes out" thing.

djdrey Joined: 2005-02-02 Posts: 6	Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 01:37
	I understand that.. but the project maintainers do have the ability to say ' no more feature for G1, bug fixes only '.. As it is, I can only see the goal posts moving continually for G2. I'm not trying to hurry G2 up (though that'd be nice).. It just seems to me that it gets increasingly difficult to complete something like G2, when the previous version keeps getting upgraded.

fryfrog Joined: 2002-10-30 Posts: 3236	Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 01:44
	Maybe you don't understand. Its very likely that if Bharat said "okay, you three don't put any more features in G1" they would just fix bugs and G1. If they wanted to work on G2, they would be already. So aparantly, they would rather work on G1 and if they were not allowed to they probably wouldn't do anything in G2. So its not a case of divided resources, its a case of all the resources that wish to do G1 are working on G1 and all those that wish to be working on G2 are working on G2. Its an open source project, all the devs and support staff work for free. While they can certainly say "no new features" for G1, it doesn't in any way translate to more people working on G2 or even if it did, it doesn't mean G2 would come out any faster. If you want G2 to come out sooner, pick up some of the tasks that need working on, hang out in #gallery on irc.freenode.net and help em get the work done

signe Joined: 2003-07-27 Posts: 2322	Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 02:08
	Hey, now. I'm the development lead for G1. bharat's the all-seeing-eye of Gallery, but unless something critical comes down, I 'rule' G1. The only people who do any development on G1 at this time are Tim_j, and myself. Tim_j does much of the language maintenance in G2, and I also do a good bit of development in G2, having fixed many issues and added several features. One or two other people pop their heads into G1-land occasionally, but it's very rare. G1 is nearing its end of life, but that time isn't yet. Even if I spent 100% of my time on G2, it wouldn't speed development up that significantly, and Jens (Tim_j) isn't currently interested in developing on G2. (Or so he's said previously, at least.) G1 will probably be around long after G2 is released. They're completely separate products at this point, and the requirements are completely different. Some people will be able to run G2, and some won't. Some won't even want to. Some people haven't upgraded past Gallery 1.3.

fryfrog Joined: 2002-10-30 Posts: 3236	Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 02:13
	There, ya go... something far more accurate straight from the horses mouth

djdrey Joined: 2005-02-02 Posts: 6	Posted: Tue, 2005-03-22 22:49
	Fair enough.. If the intention is to fork the product into 2 seperate offerings then it makes sense.. I'm not complaining about G2 being slow - I appreciate it's open source and it'll be here when it gets here. My point was that no matter how many resources you put into G2, if G1 continues to have features added, it's increasingly difficult for G2 to be feature equal, extending it's development time. Anyhoo..

fryfrog Joined: 2002-10-30 Posts: 3236	Posted: Wed, 2005-03-23 00:40
	Ahhh, and that is actually the miracle that is G2! Since almost all of G2s functionality is in modules, they can release a final version when ever they feel they have the neccessary basics. Then, they can create and release modules as they develop and create them. Neato!

Why is 1.x still being developed

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