New firmware

[kacir]

Originally Posted by kacir

And keep them fiercely independent. It obviously produces great results ;-)

Let me explain a little bit.
I wasn't joking when I wrote that.

Very often when higher management, end *especially* non-technical higher management (like financial department, or, God forbid, legal department) starts interfering with the work of programmers, technicians, engineers or designers it has disastrous consequences on the technical quality of results.

Programmers often have to hold back features:
- to "save" them for the next release (that has to be produced, to keep milking the money from customers forced to upgrade (I am looking at you, AutoDesk!))
- to keep customers buying "better" or "server" or "professional" version, or to keep customer buying another product from the same company for just that one feature they need
- to produce dumbed-down, bland version so users that mis-configure the product do not bother support stuff
- to keep out tinkerers and people that want to produce useful add-ons off, so the company can use exclusivity to pimp their add-ons and prevent improvements that would provide "undesired" features

Just look at the Sony readers.
Do you think that the [contracted] programmers that made firmware are inept and can't make folder support? I would bet the programmers were forced to adhere to strict specification put together by some committee where non-programmers and non-technicians vetoed LOTS of interesting suggestions.

Just look at Kindle.
Do you think that programmers working for Amazon are unable to make firmware that would read epub, or html, or FB2 format? Do you think they are unable to port FBReader to the Kindle? I do not think so. They have been told EXACTLY what they can do.

Just look at the iPad.
Users are prevented from running their own applications "for their own good". Phew!
Users are prevented from using their own fonts, or margins, or from setting the justification in iBooks.


So DO keep GiK as independent as possible. I am very, very serious about that!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kacir

I would bet the programmers were forced to adhere to strict specification put together by some committee where non-programmers and non-technicians vetoed LOTS of interesting suggestions.

There's an old story of the days when MS and IBM programmers were working on OS/2 code (circa 1990, before the big split) where the MS designers and coders would code modules for inclusion into the OS package and they would constantly get requests from the IBM mainframers asking them to *remove* features.

The most amusing (from the MS side) was a straight-faced request to remove the entire GDI printer subsystem with its support for typographical fonts (mostly bit-mapped in those pre-Truetype days) and replace it with a single lineprinter interface justified as "improvement; reduces system complexity, increases reliability, and will improve sales of lineprinter hardware". The request, of course, coming from the lineprinter sales dept who were finding their sales lagging those newfangled laser printers introduced six years earlier.

There were also requests that MS stop trying to graft a GUI on top of the "perfectly adequate" Character-based interface of OS/2 1.x.

It is no accident that MS had a campus-wide party when the split was announced a few months later nor that when it came time to design the NT kernel, David Cutler kept his team small and out of reach of marketing or support types.
http://www.microsoft.com/about/techn...id-Cutler.aspx

It is generally understood that a good programming team should be handled like a ballistic missile; you point it at a target and let it do its work without course corrections unless it gets seriously off course. A corollary says that if the team does go seriously off course, you should treat them like a mule and get their attention with a 2x4.

[bryanzs]

Originally Posted by Forkosigan

will be on Monday, I apologize....

Version 360.15.2 English language

Was this supposed to be the general release of the 15.2? On this past Monday?

I can't see anywhere that it's been posted as available. Is there another delay, or did you mean next Monday (2 August), or did I misunderstand?

Thanks!

[Roger108]

Message to everyone at Pocketbook

It might be good to relax a bit. There's some rough astrological weather from July 29-August 3. Mars and Saturn are on top of each other. It's referred to as a planetary war.
Since it involves Mars, anything to do with machines will be hampered. By Wednesday things will be better. So best to wait until then for final beta checking and release.

Good luck.

[Forkosigan]

Beta version 15.2 from 28.07.2010 PB360

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7921342/27.0...wg_ws_15_2.zip

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Forkosigan

Beta version 15.2 from 28.07.2010 PB360

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7921342/27.0...wg_ws_15_2.zip

Thank you.
I am going to flash it immediately.

[darkforce]

Originally Posted by Forkosigan

Beta version 15.2 from 28.07.2010 PB360

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7921342/27.0...wg_ws_15_2.zip

Thank you. I've updated my MM already. You will get feedback in a few days.

[Guns4Hire]

Originally Posted by Forkosigan

Beta version 15.2 from 28.07.2010 PB360

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7921342/27.0...wg_ws_15_2.zip

Thanks, trying it out now.

[Guns4Hire]

Originally Posted by Guns4Hire

Thanks, trying it out now.

Ive gotten a lot of freezes and a few reboots since doing the latest firmware. About 3 freezes and 2 reboots. Lot more than the last 15.2 version before the latest version.

[Dusan]

Originally Posted by Guns4Hire

Ive gotten a lot of freezes and a few reboots since doing the latest firmware. About 3 freezes and 2 reboots. Lot more than the last 15.2 version before the latest version.

Hmm, I have exactly the opposite experience. The device was almost unusable with the 16 July FW -- very frequent freezes requiring reset via the battery compartment switch.
The 28 July FW froze only 2 times so far and I could always clear it by a simple power off, power on.

Dusan

[darkforce]

I've got only once or twice reboots until now. I can't recognize the different between this version and 16 July version. (It got reboots 3-4 times a week, that's I've experienced on 15.2.)

[IndecisiveMe]

I updated a couple of days ago and it's behaving pretty much exactly the same as the previous version. Reboots and ignores bookmarks. I haven't had to use the reset button once yet, though. So that's a positive thing.

[Guns4Hire]

Originally Posted by Guns4Hire

Ive gotten a lot of freezes and a few reboots since doing the latest firmware. About 3 freezes and 2 reboots. Lot more than the last 15.2 version before the latest version.

Actually I thought about this a little bit more. And actually I have only had one freeze. Not too long after I updated the firmware. The other 4 issues were reboots. The freezes I mentioned were actually before I updated. So only 1 freeze and 4 reboots.

[Dulin's Books]

are all of you using customizations like different themes or the accelerometer page turn?

[IndecisiveMe]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

are all of you using customizations like different themes or the accelerometer page turn?

I'm using the Cleanlook theme and I do have the wrist page turn FBReader mod installed, but I don't use the wrist page turn function.

I've asked this same question before and people who are having zero problems also have those things installed.