From: Andrew Beals (bandy_at_beals.org)
Date: Tue Aug 09 2005 - 19:01:03 PDT
On 2005-a=C5=ADg-09, at 17:45, okto wrote:
> Escale doesn't seem to be able to sync yet, and NewtSync works only on
> the third Tuesday when there's a new moon.
That's because it was only started, not even close to finished. The =20
only part that seems to work reliably is the time/date setting and =20
frankly, given the rest of the code, I won't swear by that...and that =20=
part is slow as molasses in January. I mean, WTF dudes? I suppose =20
it could be the poor Newtie's fault. I hope it isn't the Mac's =20
fault. The part where a secondary pipe is started then the output of =20=
ps is parsed is a complete and utter crock. Yu-hu-huck. But, it =20
does work. It's just sl-low.
I just printed out all 22 pages of SyncAddressBook.m to read through, =20=
mark up, and see to fixing. There are clearly some major bugs in =20
there, given what it did to my Address Book the last time I turned it =20=
loose on "All". It has some absolutist ideas about what an AB card =20
should look like and enforces them rather than trying to merge in the =20=
data from the Newt like it should. I don't know what it's doing to =20
the data on the Newton, as I really haven't taken a gander to see =20
what havoc it wreaked on the poor old thing the last time I ran =20
newtsync.
> I've tried serial through
> Keyspan and TCP/IP via 802.11b card to an 802.11g WAP. Installing
> packages works flawlessly over any connection with Escale, and with
> NewTen.
As well they should. They're well-written programs doing the tasks =20
they were designed to do. My hat is off to their authors. Besides =20
which, I am a gentleman, and gentlemen never wear hats indoors.
> NewtSync continually hangs on either SoupLadle, which isn't
> set to sync at all, or Notes, which it says it is synchronizing, but
> really it is busy crashing the MessagePad.
The textsync plugin says (and I quote): "This is beta quality =20
software. Backup any important data before you begin."
Alpha generally means "it works in-house for what we designed it for =20
and what we've tested it on".
Beta means "we've given it to our customers", and generally, you =20
expect it to work for them. See the Hacker's Dictionary entry: =20
http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/B/beta.html
beta: /bay=C2=B4t@/, /be=C2=B4t@/, /bee=C2=B4t@/, n.
1. Mostly working, but still under test; usu. used with =E2=80=9Cin=E2=80=9D=
: in =20
beta. In the Real World, hardware or software systems often go =20
through two stages of release testing: Alpha (in-house) and Beta (out-=20=
house?). Beta releases are generally made to a group of lucky (or =20
unlucky) trusted customers.
Normally, one would expect at least one or two Beta releases of =20
something as the bugs were quickly found by the customers and just as =20=
quickly fixed by the development team. However, given that we're =20
talking a development team of One unpaid hacker, working in his spare =20=
time, it just might take a wee bit longer for him to get around to =20
fixing things. Having isolated repeat-by cases tends to bump up the =20
priority on your bugs.
For actual syncing that works, the Mac folks use this: NCU + Claris =20
Organizer. There is no other real alternative on the Mac. Yes, it's =20=
old. Yes, you must run Classic. Yes, it's painful. Yes, the fact =20
that Classic still works with the latest OS on the latest Hardware is =20=
pretty cool. But it's still crufty.
Bring your Newton into the Apple Store, show it to them, let them =20
tell you how they think it's cool, then ask them when Steve will let =20
you buy a new model. I do it every time I visit. I'm lucky enough =20
to have three Apple Stores in my "stomping grounds" (between work and =20=
home), as well as the Company Store in Cupertino.
-- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Tue Aug 09 2005 - 19:30:00 PDT