Re: Apple X11 Beta 3
Re: Apple X11 Beta 3
- Subject: Re: Apple X11 Beta 3
- From: Jerry Callen <email@hidden>
- Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 11:52:25 -0500
On Saturday, November 8, 2003, at 08:53 AM, Scott Thompson wrote:
X11 for Mac OS X had a successful beta program. Along the way Apple
learned where the
problems were and made improvements to both the OS and the X11
software to improve both.
When the software was ready they took down the beta software... just
like every other
software beta program in the universe. Why is that so surprising for
everyone?
Several reasons:
- The software in question is open source software. It's not at all
unusual in the
open source world for many, many back versions to be available.
- There's no real COST associated with leaving the beta around for
10.2.8 users. It's
just disk space and download bandwidth. No one expects support.
- That "successful beta program" happened because of feedback from
real-world users.
It's worth something to Apple to maintain good relations with those
users, and
removing the beta cuts against that.
Apple's trying to have their cake and eat it, too. On the one hand,
they are selling
non-open-source software (Quartz), and they want developers to target
that proprietary environment.
On the other hand, they heavy promote the fact that OS X is UNIX and
"offers a unique
combination of technical elements to the discerning geek" (their words,
not mine), including
"a complete X11R6.6 implementation corresponding to XFree86 4.3, the
same open source
project used for X11 on Linux, BSD,and other UNIX-based systems."
For these reasons, this *isn't* just ike every other software beta
program in the universe.
To suggest that Apple should have put in more work to support X11.app
on Jaguar is ludicrous.
No one's asking for more work. All they want is for the ALREADY
COMPLETED work to continue
to be made available, with the usual limitation on beta software: you
use it at your own
risk. That's all.
Why not suggest that they put in the effort to make the X11 software
work with Mac OS 9.2.2
or System 6 for that matter?
Oh, come now - that's an absurd suggestion, and no one has asked for
that.
This is a normal software development cycle, not some manipulistic
plot to force people
to upgrade to Panther.
I'm sorry, but that's EXACTLY what it is. Of COURSE Apple wants people
to move to Panther.
They wouldn't have released it if they didn't want people to buy it and
use it, and there
are some compelling reasons for users to WANT to upgrade. The argument
being made here is
that the decision to upgrade should be driven by the needs of the
particular user, not
by Apple marketing decisions. That's all.
OS X is a strange and wonderful hybrid of open source and proprietary
software,
and Apple's marketing really plays that up (see the quotes above). To
continue
to appeal to "the discerning geek", they will have to play by the rules
that
geeks expect, and that includes not pulling the rug (of older versions)
out from
under people.
C'mon, Apple - do the right thing here, and put the X11 Beta back for
OS X 10.2.8 users.
-- Jerry Callen
email@hidden
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