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Tuesday, 24 Feb 2009
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Tuesday, 24 Feb 2009
Marcus Lange
We have build a new location for downloading unstable builds like Developer Builds, Release Candidates and Beta versions:
http://download.openoffice.org/next
Because I'm dealing with uploading OOo builds together with Joost Andrae, I've seen that we have to change much data in several files to make an upload public and downloadable. So I had the idea to simplify this much more.
When looking at the main download site (http://download.openoffice.org) it is quite simple to get the newest stable release. The platform and language will be taken from your browser and together with the version data a respective link will be offered for a one-click-download.
Now when you think how to download Dev Builds, then the current situation is really uncomfortable and needs to be improved.
So, I've started to think about this and have also written a proposal and some comments in the website-dev mailing list (http://website.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=dev&msgNo=10396) and releases (http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=releases&msgNo=13111). Ivan M. was that good with coloring the links and created appropriate arrows, so that the website is similar to the main download site and Kay Schenk is still helping with Javascript work. Frank Mau has helped to get the one-click-download technology behind it to work.
What are the advantages for all of us:
Thank you very much in advance for your support.
http://download.openoffice.org/next
Because I'm dealing with uploading OOo builds together with Joost Andrae, I've seen that we have to change much data in several files to make an upload public and downloadable. So I had the idea to simplify this much more.
When looking at the main download site (http://download.openoffice.org) it is quite simple to get the newest stable release. The platform and language will be taken from your browser and together with the version data a respective link will be offered for a one-click-download.
Now when you think how to download Dev Builds, then the current situation is really uncomfortable and needs to be improved.
So, I've started to think about this and have also written a proposal and some comments in the website-dev mailing list (http://website.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=dev&msgNo=10396) and releases (http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=releases&msgNo=13111). Ivan M. was that good with coloring the links and created appropriate arrows, so that the website is similar to the main download site and Kay Schenk is still helping with Javascript work. Frank Mau has helped to get the one-click-download technology behind it to work.
What are the advantages for all of us:
- You need to know only one location for getting unstable releases (Dev Builds, RCs, Beta).
- The Look & Feel is the same like the main download site, so you don't need to search for your link to download.
- Only one location needs to be updated to make the newest builds available.
- Only a few data needs to be changed instead of 1-3 websites completely.
- No longer any dependencies regarding version numbers in links and URLs.
Thank you very much in advance for your support.
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Comments
Really great, this is a huge improvement! Thanks a lot!
Posted by mod on February 24, 2009 at 07:20 PM CET #
This is a big improvement--nice work!
Could the download buttons be given distinctive appearances (colors/icons?), and simpler, clearer labels? E.g.
Developer build leading to OOo 3.1
Developer build leading to OOo 3.0.2
It's hard for /me/ to figure out which button to click on, and I'm familiar with the labeling.
Posted by Joe on February 26, 2009 at 06:48 PM CET #
Hi Joe, I think the things you want to have are already there. The buttons are colored while red means it's an unstable Dev Build and yellow will be the next more stable RC. It's a consistent continuation when looking on the main download page with its green button for the stable release . Furthermore, the labels are clear indicating what you can expect like codeline (OOO310 or DEV300), milestone build (OOO310_m2 or DEV300_m41) and which version the build is going (3.1 or the future 3.x).
Posted by Marcus Lange on February 27, 2009 at 10:28 AM CET #
A great improvement. The colours (I wouldn't describe them as clearly red and yellow) make more sense when <http://download.openoffice.org/next/> is viewed alongside <http://download.openoffice.org/>.
A suggestion: at <http://download.openoffice.org/other.html> wherever the user is limited to 2.x, it would be good to know which 3.x codeline/build/milestone is closest to the current 3.x release.
A current example: for PowerPC in the UK, I might aim for one of the following:
a) (14th January) OOo_3.0.1rc2_MacOSXPowerPC_install_en-GB.dmg
b) (18th January) OOo_Dev_DEV300_m39_MacOSXPowerPC_install_en-GB.dmg
c) (30th January) OOo_Dev_DEV300_m40_MacOSXPowerPC_install_en-GB.dmg
— all of which are close, in time, to the 29th January release of 3.0.1. But which one is closest to the QA'd version?
At <http://download.openoffice.org/> and/or <http://download.openoffice.org/next/> and/or <http://download.openoffice.org/other.html> and/or <http://download.openoffice.org/next/other.html> please equate the current release to its alternative descriptors.
Thanks
Posted by Graham Perrin on March 19, 2009 at 09:11 PM CET #
Hi Graham, I don't know if I've understood you correctly. Do you really want to mix stable versions with unstable? If so, we won't do this for sure. This separation was done to give the users the clear possibility to choose a stable release without to get by accident an unstable one. Otherwise there is a good chance to run into problems that could be prevented very easy.
I don't see the advantage to know that maybe build x is the closest build to OOo 3.0.1 when it is still an unstable build. I don't would look for these on a website with stable releases.
In your example, b) and c) have nothing to do with OOo 3.0.1. OOO300 is the codeline for the 3.0 and 3.0.1 releases and DEV300 is the codeline for future builds. But the OOo_3.0.1rc2 build can be seen as final version. It was the last RC and afterwards "promoted" to the released version.
Posted by Marcus Lange on March 20, 2009 at 09:58 AM CET #
@ Marcus
Thanks for the pointer, from the Good-Day.net site (presumably the best source in this situation) I have OOo_3.0.1rc2_MacOSXPowerPC_install_en-GB.dmg (for PowerPC, no English version was promoted).
I had to review http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/new_first_ooo_dev_3 then http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/branching_for_ooo_3_1 to remind myself the meaning of DEV300.
To the untrained eye, 300 is less than 310. It should be useful to make explicit that one of the two points to 3.2.
Posted by Graham Perrin on March 24, 2009 at 04:56 AM CET #
Hi Graham, thanks for your post, your wish was the goal and therefore already done on the new download website.
Posted by Marcus Lange on March 24, 2009 at 09:56 AM CET #