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Thoughts on when a new version is "released"?
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 7:23 am
by JohnTHaller
Hey all. I've noticed that sometimes PFC is updating a given app when it's available on a download server but not yet released by the publisher and was wondering if there was any sort of policy on that. We ran into some issues with PortableApps.com where folks wanted an update but the publisher hadn't yet posted it to their download page, auto-updater, etc. It happens rarely, but sometimes a publisher will post a new version on their download mirrors, SourceForge, etc but not link to it and later pull it. Even larger publishers like Mozilla have done this (though not in a long time). For example, VLC is listed as 3.0.17 on PFC and links directly to the base download server directory listing. The official release is still 3.0.16 on the VLC homepage, download page, news release page, etc and in VLC if you check for updates in 3.0.16 it says you have the latest version. Any thoughts on whether this should be addressed or a policy created?
Re: Thoughts on when a new version is "released"?
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 8:39 am
by SYSTEM
Personally, I'd prefer listing only versions the developer has officially released.
Some projects may upload the build ahead of time in order to get more testing for it before release. This gives them an option to fix last-minute bugs, and it turns awkward if TPFC has already listed the release before it was fixed.
Re: Thoughts on when a new version is "released"?
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 2:45 pm
by Andrew Lee
I would also prefer listing only official releases.
I have fixed the entry for VLC. If you can point to other problem entries, I will fix them too.
Being a community-maintained database, issues like this are bound to surface from time-to-time. But I am glad you brought it up so hopefully everyone can be more mindful when posting updates from now on.
Re: Thoughts on when a new version is "released"?
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 6:14 pm
by JohnTHaller
Good to know. I didn't want to edit it myself if policy was otherwise.
You could place a small note in the red feature text at the top of the page when editing an entry.
Re: Thoughts on when a new version is "released"?
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2022 1:56 am
by Andrew Lee
JohnTHaller wrote: ↑Wed Mar 09, 2022 6:14 pm
Good to know. I didn't want to edit it myself if policy was otherwise.
You could place a small note in the red feature text at the top of the page when editing an entry.
Done! Added to the edit page.