[Resolved] ...Bryce 5.5 .

[dirkmitt]

Just a few weeks ago, I reported a regression according to which Bryce 5.5 would at least display its application window correctly, until WINE v0.9.56 came along. Next, I posted here hoping that WINE developers would at least test Bryce themselves, to try working on this bug. And to that end, I had given a URL here, from which the application can be downloaded for free.

It was due to my own error, that I had failed to pick up quickly the fact, that the DAZ Web-site requires people to register first, before getting a product key, even though the application finally is free. This hurdle probably deterred WINE developers from getting their own Bryce 5.5 copy, either because it's a time hassle, or because it may even produce a conflict with the license, that may not cover the use of the free version for software development.

So even as WINE 0.9.60 came out, it was left to chance whether Bryce 5.5 would run again on it. And when I saw that the regression had not been fixed, I saw no real reason to complain, because of the oversight on my part.

But now I just thought, that I should point out this unfortunate fact after all. When launching Bryce, WINE displays the GUI briefly for a fraction of a second, and then the various windows, which don't have normal borders as a course of how this app is designed, turn black.

I would hope that WINE's RC3 and v1.0 won't be designed, so that it will mainly run the 4 testing-criteria apps, but won't run many other programs, such as Bryce. I have a lot of paid-for graphics software, which I still hope will one day run under WINE, because in fact many of them won't under Vista, which I refuse ever to buy. {:-)}

Dirk

[Timeout]

Maybe this may disappoint you...

but with the code freeze starting from today if the release comes, there won't probably be any fixes until 1.0.0 for applications not platinum before.

Chances for a fix increase if this affects other applications, otherwise your chance of being fixed is under normal circumstances something like less than 1:12000 (when it's nor a bug worrying one of the developpers).

Even if getting fixes, my own (personal) estimate between a bug you report and it's fix (when your are lucky and it's not urgent) is about 2 month and (without code freeze) maybe earlier with a good description of the problem and a regression test.

[Dan Kegel]

On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 8:46 AM, Timeout <[email protected]> wrote:

but with the code freeze starting from today if the release comes,
there won't probably be any fixes until 1.0.0 for applications not platinum before.

It's not that frozen. We'd like to fix regressions even in non-platinum apps.

That said, timeout is right, fixes are less likely now for bugs
that don't already have a preliminary patch or analysis.

[austin987]

On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 10:23 AM, dirkmitt <[email protected]> wrote:

Just a few weeks ago, I reported a regression according to which Bryce 5.5 would at least display its application window correctly, until WINE v0.9.56 came along. Next, I posted here hoping that WINE developers would at least test Bryce themselves, to try working on this bug. And to that end, I had given a URL here, from which the application can be downloaded for free.

It was due to my own error, that I had failed to pick up quickly the fact, that the DAZ Web-site requires people to register first, before getting a product key, even though the application finally is free. This hurdle probably deterred WINE developers from getting their own Bryce 5.5 copy, either because it's a time hassle, or because it may even produce a conflict with the license, that may not cover the use of the free version for software development.

So even as WINE 0.9.60 came out, it was left to chance whether Bryce 5.5 would run again on it. And when I saw that the regression had not been fixed, I saw no real reason to complain, because of the oversight on my part.

But now I just thought, that I should point out this unfortunate fact after all. When launching Bryce, WINE displays the GUI briefly for a fraction of a second, and then the various windows, which don't have normal borders as a course of how this app is designed, turn black.

I would hope that WINE's RC3 and v1.0 won't be designed, so that it will mainly run the 4 testing-criteria apps, but won't run many other programs, such as Bryce. I have a lot of paid-for graphics software, which I still hope will one day run under WINE, because in fact many of them won't under Vista, which I refuse ever to buy. {:-)}

Dirk

What bug report is this?

[vitamin]

Maybe this may disappoint you...

but with the code freeze starting from today if the release comes, there won't probably be any fixes until 1.0.0 for applications not platinum before.

There better be fixes only! Or what's the point of the freeze?

[vitamin]

Just a few weeks ago, I reported a regression according to which Bryce 5.5 would at least display its application window correctly, until WINE v0.9.56 came along.

What's the bug number of that problem in bugzilla? You surely submitted a bug report for this if you hopping for this to be fixed?

Note to anyone reading - forum is NOT bugzilla. Most developers don't read it because it's a waste of time. If you think you found a bug - file the bug report in bugzilla.

[Dan Kegel]

On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 10:32 AM, vitamin <[email protected]> wrote:

Timeout wrote:

with the code freeze starting from today if the release comes, there won't probably be any fixes until 1.0.0 for applications not platinum before.

There better be fixes only! Or what's the point of the freeze?

She was trying to say "my impression is that only regressions in
apps that were working quite well will be fixed".

And she's half-right; those would be higher priority than regressions
in apps that were just barely working...

[Timeout]

There better be fixes only! Or what's the point of the freeze?

A freeze is to stabilize what one hat or to disregard any bug concerning older versions (so far the user is not reporting that the bug is still there).


This excludes all regressions for which the cause was the introduction of a new feature (feature not fully implemented yet). Many regressions are just because something that worked well in the past due to something being skipped is now broken because the new function is not skipped but not 100% implemented.

It's also like one of my late regressions. The regression is there because something that installed properly in 0.9.59 is not installing properly for any reason in 0.9.60. Is it a regression or indirectly caused by the work being done on assembly or storage??

I am not a programmer and I know how programmer hate to be told by people not knowing the basics telling them what to do but here my purely simple view of a freeze:

*finish the work that is in process so that a release does not come out with half implemented functions (if possible).
*make a key group of softwares be working well enough to show the world about how great Wine is.
*fix regressions due to an incorrect patch, means correcting the patch or the parts tied with it but no unnecessary functions.
*polish the work to pass tests by 1000's journalists across the world so that they don't conclude their articles with what is still broken, but what is working.

Of course I may be wrong, but Trados or Crysis are both softwares going to bronze on their good days. This is probably not the scope of a freeze so much that I am sorry for it.

This is not a time for wondering what's gone wrong. If the user can't describe it so that the developers immediately knows it, that's the wrong patch for a freeze.

[dirkmitt]

I have to admit, that instead of filing a bug report, I just placed an entry in the application database describing my problem.

But now I've discovered a major error in how I've been using WINE in general. I've always set it to emulate a virtual desktop. Just trying out to change the settings, to 'allow windows manager to control windows, plus NOT to emulate a virtual desktop,' I've found that

The Bryce GUI error has gone away!!

Dirk

P.S. This can also explain why some people did not notice this bug at all.

P.S.S. Also, this would suggest that a layer-counting problems exists, not within the application windows, but in the implementation of the virtual desktop itself. This can make a bug more elusive, yet can also affect other applications. I got the idea to try using the full Linux desktop instead of a virtual WINE desktop, after I noticed that the icon resulting from minimizing Bryce, also vanished after half a second or so.