Re: Win9x support (was RE: 7.5 release? - How you can help)

[Eric McDonald <mcdonald at phy dot cmich dot edu>]

Hello Charlie,

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003, Charles Goodwin wrote:

> If support for Windows 95 and Windows 98 is what holds back the 7.5 
> release and there is nobody stepping forward to fix the problem, why not 
> release 7.5 without support for these two OSes.

Juergen has provided a diagnostic of the problem, and Hans is 
certainly working on it. So people are stepping forward to fix the 
problem. I would try to help Hans fix it, but I am using it to 
buy time to complete my projects before the 7.5 release.

> If there is enough momentum for them, somebody will provide a fix or 
> request the fix and this can be a 7.5.x release.  If nobody complains, 
> then nobody minds.

If nobody complains, it usually because the following has 
occurred: "Oh, this Xconq garbage crashes. Typical 'shareware' 
crap. Waste of a download. I'll just go find something else to 
amuse me."  (Yes, I know that Xconq is not shareware.)

IOW, it is not a good way to grow one's user base. Xconq's user 
base seems small enough as it is, why shrink it further? I know 
that we are not a commercial endeavor, so it doesn't really matter 
how many "customers" we have, but is certainly good for developer 
morale and the health of the project.

> with using Win9x as their standard OS.  Don't hold back the 7.5 release 
> because of it, when the support can be added at a later date anyway.

But, how important is it that a 7.5 release occurs in an 
'imminent' time frame? Hans provides a post-7.4 Xconq binary for 
Windows, and I also provide a recent Xconq package for Windows. If 
people want to play "7.5", then they can download these (if they 
are uncomfortable with building it from CVS).

Eric