Release schedule

[SMcCandlish]

It would be nice if youse guys would adopt a long-range release schedule. Every other time I fire up MacUpdate, there's yet another random, trivial release of Calibre, and it is not a trivial-size download (plus, the server from which it is downloaded is slow, so it holds up the entire update-all-the-apps process). Except for "emergency" fixes, once per four weeks is probably sufficient.

[PeterT]

Nothing is forcing you to update. Ignore the updates and download if and when you want.

[PeterT]

Or see http://support.macupdate.com/support...pdate-desktop- and set calibre to Ignore Forever

[BetterRed]

Know what dude - you should be complaining to the MacUpdate guys because they don't provide their users with wherewithal to exclude certain apps - the equivalent software I use on my system has that. Or maybe they do and you lack the wherewithal to use it.

Current development/deployment techniques enable software developers to release updates for bugs and improvements soon after the source code changes are made - Google, Mozilla, even Microsoft use them.

The changes in the most recent release result from folks reporting defects or suggesting improvements - are you suggesting should they should have to wait a month to suit your last century mindset.

Added:

Originally Posted by PeterT

Or see http://support.macupdate.com/support...pdate-desktop- and set calibre to Ignore Forever

I tried to see it, but Malwarebytes says its a possible attack site, so I gave it a miss

BR

Moderator Notice
@SMcCandlish - I moved your post from the Development forum, seems you even lack the wherewithal to read the stickies at the top of subforums - even tho' they be in UPPER case.

[jackie_w]

Maybe it's because I'm a Windows 10 user (Domesday Anniversary Update version) but if I had a non-configurable feature or button labelled 'Update All' I'd be frantically googling for a way to disable it permanently so that I'd never be able to launch it by accident.

[JSWolf]

I don't find downloading Calibre to take too long or the file to be too big. I think it's an issue with MacUpdate and the way they serve Calibre to you. Don't complain about the frequent updates. Complain to the MacUpdate crew how they botched the Calibre download.

[svenlind]

Originally Posted by SMcCandlish

(...)(plus, the server from which it is downloaded is slow, so it holds up the entire update-all-the-apps process). Except for "emergency" fixes, once per four weeks is probably sufficient.

I have a very decent internet connection and I assure the server that handles the downloads is not slow. I get at least 50 Mbs when I download an update.

[HarryT]

I don't have a particularly fast Internet connection, and it downloads in considerably less than a minute for me.

[SMcCandlish]

For whatever reason, it's consistently the slowest download-and-install in MacUpdate Desktop; maybe it pulls from a specific URL that is slower than the one presently advised, I dunno. Specific symptoms are that the connection and DL are very slow to start (often several minutes), then slow to complete. I have a 200Mb/sec connection, so it's not that. Anyway, MacUpdate doesn't serve files from its servers, but from the developers'. If it's not using the best URL for this, then someone from the dev team should inform them of a better one to use. A frequent problem with sites like MacUpdate, Download.com, etc., is using outdated URLs from which to retrieve the packages to deliver.

Anyway, the point was simply to suggest a regular release schedule, since many development projects use them, and many people appreciate them. If you don't want to, then don't. <shrug>

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by SMcCandlish

For whatever reason, it's consistently the slowest download-and-install in MacUpdate Desktop; maybe it pulls from a specific URL that is slower than the one presently advised, I dunno. Specific symptoms are that the connection and DL are very slow to start (often several minutes), then slow to complete. I have a 200Mb/sec connection, so it's not that. Anyway, MacUpdate doesn't serve files from its servers, but from the developers'. If it's not using the best URL for this, then someone from the dev team should inform them of a better one to use. A frequent problem with sites like MacUpdate, Download.com, etc., is using outdated URLs from which to retrieve the packages to deliver.

The download link is on the calibre website. Maybe the MacUpdate people should look at that to check they have the correct URL. Or maybe they should come here and ask if what the best URL to use is.

Anyway, the point was simply to suggest a regular release schedule, since many development projects use them, and many people appreciate them. If you don't want to, then don't. <shrug>

For as long as I have been using calibre, there has been a regular release schedule: Every Friday. I'm very happy with that. I get something new to play with. And it means that if Kobo slips out an unexpected firmware update, there is at most a week until I get support out for it. If I don't feel like updating, I just skip a week.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by davidfor

For as long as I have been using calibre, there has been a regular release schedule: Every Friday. I'm very happy with that. I get something new to play with. And it means that if Kobo slips out an unexpected firmware update, there is at most a week until I get support out for it. If I don't feel like updating, I just skip a week.

It's every other week nowadays, but your point is still valid

[fidvo]

Originally Posted by SMcCandlish

For whatever reason, it's consistently the slowest download-and-install in MacUpdate Desktop; maybe it pulls from a specific URL that is slower than the one presently advised, I dunno. Specific symptoms are that the connection and DL are very slow to start (often several minutes), then slow to complete. I have a 200Mb/sec connection, so it's not that. Anyway, MacUpdate doesn't serve files from its servers, but from the developers'. If it's not using the best URL for this, then someone from the dev team should inform them of a better one to use. A frequent problem with sites like MacUpdate, Download.com, etc., is using outdated URLs from which to retrieve the packages to deliver.

I've noticed the same slowdown on Linux. I can download the Windows installer in under a minute, but the download part of the Linux install takes 10+ minutes, even on the same computer. And yes, I'm using the "Binary Install" command on the Linux download page of Calibre's website, so I'm not even going through a third party like MacUpdate.

I've never complained about it because I don't update Calibre very often and never when I'm pressed for time, but that does lend credence to your theory that there's a slow connection somewhere on Calibre's end.

[JSWolf]

I've possibly found the problem for Linux and MacUpdate. For the OS X version, there are three links. One of them links to Github. Of the three, Github is the slowest. The Linux version only downloads from Github.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Maybe it's because I'm a Windows 10 user (Domesday Anniversary Update version) but if I had a non-configurable feature or button labelled 'Update All' I'd be frantically googling for a way to disable it permanently so that I'd never be able to launch it by accident.

You absolutely don't have to press the "Update All" button. Just click the button beside each update you want. Even when I want them all, I click the button beside each one, to get them separately. Makes it more obvious if any one is huge and going to give me problems downloading.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've possibly found the problem for Linux and MacUpdate. For the OS X version, there are three links. One of them links to Github. Of the three, Github is the slowest. The Linux version only downloads from Github.

The linux version is not downloaded from GitHub, only the initial script is downloaded from GitHub which is tiny. The actual calibre installers are downloaded from the same server as the windows ones. And I just tried it on my linux box and the entire process including download and installation took under a minute

time wget -nv -O- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kovidgoyal/calibre/master/setup/linux-installer.py | python -c "import sys; main=lambda x,y:sys.stderr.write('Download failed\n'); exec(sys.stdin.read()); main('~/calibre-bin', True)"         *
2016-12-03 08:38:47 URL:https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kovidgoyal/calibre/master/setup/linux-installer.py [26007/26007] -> "-" [1]
Installing to /home/kovid/calibre-bin/calibre
Downloading tarball signature securely...
Using proxies: {'auto': 'file:///home/kovid/work/env/private/proxy.pac'} 
Will download and install calibre-2.73.0-x86_64.txz 
                                                                                                             Downloading calibre-2.73.0-x86_64.txz                                                                                                             
100% [=====================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================]
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Downloaded 62040608 bytes 
Checking downloaded file integrity... 
Extracting files to /home/kovid/calibre-bin/calibre ...
Extracting application files... 
Run "/home/kovid/calibre-bin/calibre/calibre" to start calibre 
wget -nv -O-   0.04s user 0.01s system 6% cpu 0.820 total
python -c   4.81s user 1.76s system 13% cpu 50.192 total