P3D Re: Stereoscope Applet

[Larry Berlin <lberlin@xxxxxxxxx>]

>Date: Tue, 4 May 1999
>From: "Greg Wageman" <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
>............. And while I understand that "you get what you paid
>for" with free software, I think this kind of misbehavior harkens back
>to the dark ages of software development, where the general public
>functioned as alpha testers for second-rate software.  Linux, too, is
>free software, and generally exhibits a much higher degree of robustness
>than Stereoscope did on my system.
>
>I really don't think it's extreme to ask for at least a modicum of error
>checking from an applet.  But maybe the general public has been lulled
>into accepting sub-standard software by Microsoft and its ilk.  I know
>we don't accept this in the UNIX domain, but I freely admit I'm
>relatively new to the Windows environment, and generally haven't liked
>what I've found, insofar as support, compatibility and quality are
>concerned.  But then, it's hard to beat the prices.
>
>     -Greg W. (gjw@xxxxxxxxxx)
>

*****  Well Greg, a little understanding is in order. Andreas, a single
young individual and talented human, wrote the applet for himself, in his
own time, with his own energies, and for his own non-commercial purposes.
(For me that counts as first rate!) It works better than a number of other
programs and applications that I have encountered, some of which actually
dare to request money in payment. He was nice enough to allow the entire
world to use the applet because of his own love for stereoscopic images. He
is VERY OPEN to suggestions for improvement and has made quite a few
improvements already in the very short time the applet has existed. Between
his busy schedule of attending school, studying for a thesis, and working,
he sometimes gets to sit down at his computer and do updates on this applet.

Recently his computer hard drive failed several times in succession, wiping
out not only some of his programming efforts, but much of his other
important stuff too. All this impedes the effort to improve the applet (not
to mention the frustration it adds to daily life), yet he is very much
interested in and actively pursuing improvement. 

I've relayed your suggestion to him and he felt it is a very good idea. The
next time he is able to follow through on a programming session he will
implement a better error checking routine along with one or two other good
suggestions that others have provided in their feedback. That's the process
of software development in action at the nitty gritty level. Happy now? 

Larry Berlin

Email: lberlin@xxxxxxxxx
http://3dzine.simplenet.com/


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