Ubuntu's Usefullness

[pluMmet]

I'm part of a private Beta of a highly regarded animation package.

The folks involved with it's creation are making a Linux version.

I asked for Ubuntu support and was told:
"Ubuntu is a moving target; most developers of commercial apps stay away from it due to it's potential volatility."

How can such a GREAT OS have such a bad reputation with developers?

What can be done about it?

[Tibuda]

"Moving target"? "Potential volatility"? What that means?

[The Cog]

Some (lots maybe) commercial stuff is rather slow at keeping up to date. Not enough profit in it maybe. For slow developing software, a slow moving and stable distro like Debian is probably a better platform. Stability is one of Debians strengths. Right now, Ubuntu is developing rapidly and I'm not convinced that it is worth slowing down just so some commercial juggernauts can keep up.

[philinux]

I would ask your question here as well.

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+addquestion

[heindsight]

It sounds like laziness to me ;)

I suspect their problem is with the rapid release cycle of Ubuntu. If they specifically want to support Ubuntu, they'd have to spend at least a bit of effort every six months to make sure their code works with the new release (since library changes from one release to the next might just break their code) and build a new binary for the new release.

[pluMmet]

I would ask your question here as well.

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+addquestion

Done...

[pluMmet]

It sounds like laziness to me ;)

I suspect their problem is with the rapid release cycle of Ubuntu. If they specifically want to support Ubuntu, they'd have to spend at least a bit of effort every six months to make sure their code works with the new release (since library changes from one release to the next might just break their code) and build a new binary for the new release.

They say they will support Red Hat. Is their development very slow compared to Ubuntu?

[emarkay]

FWIW, it's not a secret to be a Beta Tester, what's the App?

I'll do some deep webbing and see if they are located in Redmond,WA... :)

Sounds like a lame excuse - and why don't you see if the Windows version works with WINE for fun...

[heindsight]

They say they will support Red Hat. Is their development very slow compared to Ubuntu?

I don't know the details of Red Hat's releases, but since Red Hat target the commercial market, it seems to make more sense for developer of commercial software to support Red Hat, rather than a free, home/desktop user oriented distro like Ubuntu.

Also, given that each distribution they support incurs extra cost for them, it makes sense to pick one distribution and only support that. They probably feel that their target market has more overlap with that of Red Hat than Ubuntu. Most likely, the vast majority of Ubuntu users would prefer to use a free animation package rather than paying for commercial software.

[neppakyo]

If I remember correctly, a new version Fedora Core is released twice a year.

Unless you're talking about the RH enterprise..

[philinux]

Done...

I would also ask here as developers occasionally post.
However i would phrase your question differently. Stating the problem.
This forum is the Jaunty aka 9.04 release, testing and discussion forum. More for experienced users.
http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=352

[pluMmet]

FWIW, it's not a secret to be a Beta Tester, what's the App?

I'll do some deep webbing and see if they are located in Redmond,WA... :)

Sounds like a lame excuse - and why don't you see if the Windows version works with WINE for fun...

We are not supposed to quote information from the private forums out in other forums. Seeings how I have done just that I think it's best to stay anymore info about it.

I'm just disappointed. I really like Ubuntu. I'm not a 20 OS per computer kind of guy. I use windows because every god forsaken program runs on it. I use Ubuntu for the love of it.

I'm just wishing that an effort on Canonicals part would be made so that developers would use it.

[pluMmet]

I would also ask here as developers occasionally post.
However i would phrase your question differently. Stating the problem.
This forum is the Jaunty aka 9.04 release, testing and discussion forum. More for experienced users.
http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=352

Ya "They (https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/63103)" told me to just make a thread here :(

Can't win for loosing :(

[simeon87]

Ya "They (https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/63103)" told me to just make a thread here :(

Can't win for loosing :(

It's okay ;) It's just that the Questions/Answers section isn't really the busiest place to open a discussion, it's mainly for questions anyway.

[philinux]

Ya "They (https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/63103)" told me to just make a thread here :(

Can't win for loosing :(

An old lancashire saying "if you dont ask you dont get". Might as well ask in many places. Good luck with your quest.

[heindsight]

I'm just wishing that an effort on Canonicals part would be made so that developers would use it.

I would take the opposite approach and say I wish those developers would have the sense to make their software available under a Free license.

EDIT:
I should add that my impression is that Canonical's primary aim is to make Free software accessible to ordinary people - Ubuntu is "Linux for human beings" after all (I wish they'd prefix that with a "GNU/"). Developers of commercial software will always rather support distributions that target the commercial/enterprise market, because that's where they're likely to make money...

[solitaire]

I asked for Ubuntu support and was told:
"Ubuntu is a moving target; most developers of commercial apps stay away from it due to it's potential volatility."

How can such a GREAT OS have such a bad reputation with developers?

What can be done about it?

I thought that's what the 'LTS' version was supposed to cater for? A long term supported stable platform for developers to use for their software.

[emarkay]

Still confused as to the point - is this a whine, a rant, o vague request for assistance or something else...reminds me of an old saying "Ignore Alien Disorder"

Somewhere inbetween "Klaatu Barada Nikto" and "WTF?"

Shazzbaat!

[sloggerkhan]

With red hat you get a stable version of the OS that gets security updates and patches until you're stuck with a server that's 5 years old and has so many patches you can't hope to maintain it or put anything new on it without causing problems. You can't take it down because someone's depending on its services, and you're sort of just stuck with it running frozen until it dies. In one place I worked the rule for red hat was install and don't install any updates and leave it running forever, the other they keep it patched and updated but its old versions of core stuff means that it's next to useless for adding anything to it but what it's already running. So waste of a server.