Hi.
I visited the Gibbon development road map page to see some new and interesting features. I saw the list of features on the Google spreadsheet to-do list. Most of the features are complete and they are very interesting. One thing I however observed is that the to-do list didn’t indicate the backward compatibility of those features. I also observed that the links to the changed files were not available for all of the changes. I will like to use those features within the version 10 by directly copying the necessary files. Now, I want to know which of the features is backward compatible with version 10. Also, I want to know the appropriate link to the files in each of the changes made.
Thanks.
Daniel,
Thanks for the positive feedback, and your willingess to try new features.
The missing links are from earlier items: all items from the last two months should have links (I am making this a habit of this, so going forward all complete items should have links). To find our files that have been changed, the best bet is to look at the v11 commit list (https://github.com/GibbonEdu/core/commits/v11.0.00) for the feature you want.
In terms of backwards compatibility, I do not really want to promote a culture of people hacking the core to get new features in old versions. If this happens a lot, it makes it much harder for us to find and fix bugs for people. If someone requests a feature, I will let them know if it is backwards compatibility (and you can read this via the forum links in the todo list), but I don’t really want to add it to the todo list itself.
If you are interested in having the latest features, install the dev code (which is fairly stable): this dev code is installed in Cutting Edge mode, and can be updated at any time from the latest commit. This means you don’t need to wait for the next formal release to get all the new features. Obviously it is less stable than running the latest stable release, but it is most likely more stable than mixing in new features to the old version.
Hope this helps.
Ross
Hi Ross,
Thanks for the response. You mentioned the following in your reply
"In terms of backwards compatibility, I do not really want to promote a culture of people hacking the core to get new features in old versions. If this happens a lot, it makes it much harder for us to find and fix bugs for people."
Ross, Gibbon is open-source and so interested persons should be able to hack the core any way they want. The documentation on the Gibbon website is clear enough for any trained or experienced programmer to modify Gibbon. You don't have to bother yourself about whether people will make mistakes while mixing old and new features. Yours is to play the role of administrator or moderator who ensures the openness and betterment of Gibbon.
If you have added new features to version 11 and you know they are backwards compatible with previous version, then make it known. Anybody who knows what to do with the codes will do so at their own risk - they may fail, they may succeed.
I know that you are a very meticulous person who wants everything to be very well coordinated. But you must understand that open-source software are meant to give people the opportunity to TEST, TRY, EXPERIMENT, FAIL and IMPROVE.
Warm regards,
Daniel.
In the meantime, i will keep visiting the link you gave above to see the changed files and the added features.
Thanks.
Daniel,
Appreciate your feedback here…thanks for taking the time to share. I guess I did not express my self very well! I do want people to hack the core in the developer scene as that is where innovation is going to happen. As you say, test, try, experiment, fail, improve. But I don’t really want people running the stable version who want knew features breaking their installs and then asking for complex support, until we have the resources to deal with it effectively. It is a tough balance, with no fine line…and I am trying to work it out as we evolve. Hope this makes sense.
Thanks,
Ross
No problem!