Free Flight, Free Speech

I will stick to my good ol' 3.4 and enjoy.

But it is weird that FG is without a stable official version for a long time.

That's really good to know. @IAHM-COL--Some time next week will you help walk me through it, please? Thanks!

So, how do we deal with that problem? We have here some users using pretty old versions, from long before 3.4 and every new user who just enters into the FlightGear world will download 3.4 because it's the official version and they don't know better. Which is the reason I am still on 3.4 because with my number of planes and emails about planes, I have to support the version that is "official" because I can't support all versions at once.

What problem? If users want to use 3.4, there's a page for official aircraft that use 3.4 If they want to go higher, they have other (as yet) unofficial options. There are no official aircraft on the official download page that are not compatible with 3.4. Therefore the only chaps affected are the ones who want to use new planes with old versions.

Yeah, and I have about 60 of my own planes out there and people think, they all can email me for another 150 planes. On all versions and all operating systems. It drives me nuts. And of course, we don't have a "nuts" emoticon when I need one!

AFAIK 3.4 is the last version that will run on WinXP pro, and before someone brings up that I should upgrade, they can pony up the cost of a new Windows 7 installation disc with shipping to me.

jwocky wrote:Yeah, and I have about 60 of my own planes out there and people think, they all can email me for another 150 planes. On all versions and all operating systems. It drives me nuts. And of course, we don't have a "nuts" emoticon when I need one!

What are you trying to say?

LesterBoffo wrote:AFAIK 3.4 is the last version that will run on WinXP pro, and before someone brings up that I should upgrade, they can pony up the cost of a new Windows 7 installation disc with shipping to me.

They didn't offer 10 to you?
And what is the problem with 3.7 and XP?

@Mig29pilot: I did over the last two years repairs, quickfixes and complete JSB refurbishes on planes in FG on more than 60 aircraft. There is a wake to that and in that wake, I got questions that weren't really aircraft related, but how would people know that in all cases. If for example a rudder is not working, people don't wonder in many cases whether it is connected to their joystick setup, they just blame the first plane they touch ad with more than 60, chances are good, it is one of my babies. And if I touch for example one Lockheed Model 10, I get at least a dozen emails about a Lockheed 188 ... which I didn't touch, but well, if something is wrong with a plane, ask JWocky. He touched a Lockheed, right? Or, if I make a plane flyable under 3.4 because it wasn't usabel since Anno Pocahontas due to changes in FG, chances are, in three days, someone gets to me on Mumble complaining that the plane isn't working on 2.whatthehell on an Apple ... not that I have an Apple here and when 2.whatthehell came out, I wasn't even on FG. Or someone else changes things on a plane I touched earlier. He is on a Windows machine, so there are capitalization problems and I get the email, something is wrong with the plane. Now, that's the latest hype, going on till some months now, I still get mails about the problems, FGRun has with includes and about functionalities of the new versions that aren't implemented in some planes. And to make it not too easy, I have most of the times several planes in my work list and everybody who has one in that list wants his to be done NOW! Right NOW! A lot of those planes are still unfinished works because for every USA Tour leg, I get new requests on the desk.

Get me right here, I love to tinker on planes, often more than actually flying them, but I am swamped and since ths year some other time eating activities from outside of FG came up, I am totally behind. The work load was just too much. And yes, I voluntarily try to help people out where I can, but in the meantime, things have reached a stage where I barely dare to go no Mumble because I know, if I go there, I will not be able to do what I planned to do. I plan plane X and end up to look at some "urgent" things on plane Y and, since I by that, touched the plane, just to make one verwion flyable, I end up with another package of four or five planes. Instead that someone helps to pull all the changes down on the other variants in the package, I get discussions what is wrong with an engine or the FDM in a variant of the same plane I didn't even touch. My compliments at this point to Berkut, who obviously tries to get some of this work done on the A310. However, since he does that on another branch, we have to get the stuff together again, which will be interesting, to say it at least.

I think, at some point, after we finish the USA Tour, I have to take a little time to hone my tools. At the moment, I try to learn git on the fly, worm my way into the 3D models (and I try since a while), developed from originally a pure system man into a FDM-systems-animations-sound-and-aerodynamics-man on the way to add 3D to the list and want to bring up the System9 autopilot (which is at the moment more bleeding than edge), maybe do more work on the Jabberwocky site (some things for tracking, the SkyNet project isn't forgotten and maybe some support for a username-based system so that you all can fly for virtual airlines with changing callsigns and still get the hours and miles on your main name). But till I get around to hone all those tools, I have to channel things somehow and work by priorities. I think, what bothers me most is, that a day has only 24 hours and I have only two hands and there is nothing, anyone can do about that.

If your point us "My development is getting left behind" then all I can say is life--and technology--and FlightGear--moves on and if one develops one ought to take that as an occupational hazard.

@Lester Even Microsoft doesn't even support XP any more; you can hardly blame FlightGear for not supporting it. And by the way @all of the ones who love old versions, what's the matter with new features?