3.7 On Production Sites
 

Am I the only user here that thinks running 3.7 BETA on a production site is at the very least an idiotic move? I have a few hacks/mods that that seem to be somewhat popular and they constantly get this question "Does this work for 3.7B?". Umm, there isn't even a release candidate for it yet, and Jelsoft clearly states:

"THIS IS BETA SOFTWARE. IT IS UNSUPPORTED. Some minor bugs remain unresolved at this time, so beta software should not be on production sites."

I basically have just started with replying something to the effect "I would not release this plugin/product for a version of VB that is unsupported". Yet, there are even some out there who have replied that they have it running on their production site. I mean, this is reckless at best. I just find it amazing that so many people are ignorant to the concept of BETA software.

this is not a good way to have clients if you constantly call them stupid... i would recommand you stop serving them if you do... not good for the image.

Who said I was looking for clients?

all licensed members of this site are clients of Jelsoft... if you say that they are stupid when they put the beta on their prod site, you say that Jelsoft clients are stupid...

Sometimes bugs are only found on live, active sites. If no one put 3.7 up on their production site, then some of the bugs that have been found would have not been found so quickly.

I have 3.7 up on my test site and have not found any major problems (just some problems with some hacks I had written or downloaded). If I did put it up on my live site, I would not anticipate any major problems that would take my site down. I don't think people are 'stupid' to put the beta software up on their live sites, it's just not something I want to do - not so much because it's beta, but because since it is 'beta' and not 'gold', new versions are coming out every couple weeks with a fix and I don't feel like upgrading that often.

Well, just for the record, I never said 'stupid'.

Whether a bug would be found or not isn't really relevant. Most of us did not pay Jelsoft to be beta testers. I have no problem with people willfully testing it, but putting it into production just because you don't see any problems in this particular beta is not logical, neither is supporting that behavior.

It is really just a matter of risk management. If you're running a large, active forum and are relying on that forum being highly available (for revenue or other reasons), then I would agree that running beta software would be an unwise move.

Many (most?) forums are smaller endeavors and if there's a problem, it's an inconvenience, but not a disaster. So for them, the risk of running the beta is minimal.

Each person's tolerance for risk is also different, as is their desire to take advantage of the new features offered in the beta.

No, you did not say stupid, but I would consider "idiotic and "ignorant" in the same ballpark, wouldn't you?

I am running the latest beta 5 on my production site but I have a small site that is still new and has very few members. And the ones I do have know things could get sticky. I was running 3.5.4 on the site this last time and I do know how to find the bug fixes on the com and incorporate them, if necessary, so I was willing to take the chance so I could start learning all the new ways of vb since 3.5.4. But, truthfully, until you mentioned it, I never thought of being an idiot. I can use that to my advantage, thank you. ;)

I guess it is a semantic argument you wish to engage in rather than dealing with the true topic. But ok, I can play that. Idiot and ignorant are synonymous; they are not related to the definition of stupid. Stupidity refers to the lacking of intelligence, whereas ignorance and idiocy refers to a lacking of knowledge.

However, having to explain this makes me more understand why I see 3.7B popping up on major production sites.. :rolleyes:

I'm going to leave semantics out of it now since you seem to have the mind set that you do.

In my case, even a buggy beta 3 was way better than what I was using. And as far as running it on a production site, what better way to find and fix what bugs it does have? Jelsoft won't release something that hasn't been tested to some point. I heard beta 1 was never released to the public. I started out on beta 3 this time and have not run into any problems with it whatsoever. Granted, I don't have the traffic to find alot of things wrong with it, but I have been more than happy with its performance so far.

It started as Beta 2.

I'm sure there was a beta 1 but only released to a select few. They did that when I was MOD here one time, too.

The select few were all vBulletin staff. :)

I knew that, I just wasn't going to announce it openly and start the feud. ;)

I don't know if I have moved in a way which can be called idiotic simply for using the beta products.

I'm not ignorant, I just don't care.

Yes it is unsupported, doesn't bother me in the least. I have some fun finding broken code, fixing, breaking again, fixing again, forgetting to have the fix backed up, having to redo on next release... it's all very educational you know.

Just because you don't understand why people would use a beta product does not mean those who do are oblivious to the fact that it is unsupported. Nor are we idiots, or the types of people whom wish to be referred to as moving in ways that, to you, seem idiotic in nature.

Jafo232, please understand that many people who use vBulletin, myself included, have hobby sites or sites of a non-commercial nature. The admins of these sites have no one to answer to but themselves. If a beta breaks, it just gets re-installed. No big deal. No customers and businesses are angry because there are no customers or businesses... 'tis just a bit of fun, afterall.

Nobody is arguing the test use of beta products. I fully understand people wanting to test drive beta software. I do that myself.