FreeGuide SVN now useableWhy not try the latest SVN version of FreeGuide, which contains lots of bug fixes over 0.10.4? There are detailed instructions on how to Build FreeGuide from SVN, and do ask on the developers’ list if you have problems.
I’ve fixed the horrible bug that deleted all your preferences, and I think the code’s in pretty good shape, with all the recording code gone, but lots of nice additions put in over the last year.
Try it out, and let us know on the developers’ list how you get on – good or bad.
Heartfelt apologies for the feed URL changeSorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I decided to change to wordpress’ pretty-URLs mode, and it changed the feed URL, which I was not expecting, and which I think is fundamentally borken.
FreeGuide – putting recording on holdFreeGuide has been stalled for about a year because the basic code for recording programmes has been sitting in SVN, but it contained far too many bugs to be useable, even by the developers. This kind of situation completely takes the wind out of development, since any little bug fixes or features people want to send it are either against very old code, or never get written because when they download the latest code it doesn’t work.
I am more and more of the opinion that the code in your trunk (or HEAD, in CVS terminology) should ALWAYS by _better_ than the latest release. I.e. it should only contain bug fixes and properly tested new features. Anything else (i.e. code that is still being knocked into shape) should live in a branch. Branches are pain, but not as much pain as your project dying because new developers who try and do the right thing (download the latest code) are confronted by non-working code and move on to something more fun.
So, I’ve reverted the recording code. If we want to resurrect it, we can branch from just before where I reverted, and then merge from the trunk into that branch any other fixes that apply.
The next release of FreeGuide will be from the trunk, and will contain bug fixes and small new features submitted by a couple of people who have stepped up to do the work. I hope, when my life settles slightly, that I might even be one of them.
New baby resolution: never allow non-completely-working code in trunk. Without new developers, your project will die.
Small hypocritical extra note: I completely broke the code in trunk by reverting the recording code, so now it loses all your settings when you exit. Use with extreme caution. This, of course, completely breaks the above resolution. I will fix it when I can, and in the meantime, Rick is looking into it, so hopefully it will be fixed soon.
New Baby arrived safelyI won’t waste too much of your time, but here she is:
She’s excellent, and mum is doing really well. Big brother appears to be a little bothered, but presumably that will pass.
(Badly wrong) usage statistics for FreeGuideA long time ago I added functionality to FreeGuide so people could opt to report their use of FreeGuide to under a username, or anonymously. This all happens as part of the latest version check, and you can turn it off, obviously.
Quite a long time ago, Alex broke this functionality, and I haven’t yet made a release that fixes it. Stupid, really, because the usage statistics we’ve got are all-but useless:
Hopefully I’ll get a release out soon that fixes it, and these graphs will become more sensible.
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