When is the next stable er9x release scheduled?

pgregg88 · Post by **pgregg88** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:26 pm

Hello,

I'm curious what the typical release schedule is for er9x. I always use r708 because it is the latest stable build. It seems like I'm falling behind the majority of folks on this board. Is there a new stable build in the works? Is it safe to use the most recent?

Thanks,
Preston

Post by **cre8tiveleo** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:35 am

So you donating to erazz and others for every radio you sell. Flyer9x...

flashbang · Post by **flashbang** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:07 pm

This is bad.

pgregg88 · Post by **pgregg88** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:50 pm

cre8tiveleo - Great question. Financial support for the community is really important. I'm hopefully we can make more of an impact than just donating a nominal amount per radio. Our first attempt at this is a free LiFe battery cable package to any 9xforums member that makes a donation. We announced this today in the Scratchpad area. I wasn't sure where the appropriate place to post was, so I'll let Rob put where he thinks is appropriate. It will be interesting to see if we can produce a good number of donations. The cables work great.

Best,
Preston

Post by **cre8tiveleo** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:55 pm

So, you are Not, donating anything.
You're asking everyone to donate if they buy from you.
That's not right. You are gaining from the firmware, you specifically should donate from each install.
What you are doing goes against what this and other firmwares represents.

A snake is a snake. No matter what you call it.

---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?hcplj2

Post by **Rob Thomson** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:27 pm

To be honest... What is being done is in my opinion not very different to what many of us already do. Put the box together - and sell it on to people who want them.

As long as you don't claim the firmware is your own - no issue.

Preston... My only concern with your venture is the risk to yourself.

I know in Europe.. Modding and selling it on effectively wipes any CE compliancy for the box. That makes you directly responsible for any issues that occur; and any potential legal issue.

No idea how that works in your part of the world

.

Rob

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

dvogonen · Post by **dvogonen** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:37 pm

I actually think that what they are intending to do is a very good thing. By supplying modded radios to the less electronically inclined, they will widen the software community user base. Open source communities with a large user base thrive, while the more closed communities often fail when one or a couple of the original developers move on to new projects.

Linux is a good example. The reason that it has worked out when so many other open source unixes have failed has been the ability to continually build an increasing user base. As an example FreeBSD might have been technically superior, but the powers behind it failed to generate the loyal following Linux has. And the rest is history...

pgregg88 · Post by **pgregg88** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:07 pm

Thanks Rob and dvogonen.

cre8itiveleo - I'm sorry you feel this way. Our full intent is to be a strong contributor to this community. It is important to us. Please know that we've been fully transparent about our plans and made sure we had the full support of erazz before starting down this path. On donations -- we've donated personally and fully intend to keep donating. You aren't correct in your statement that we are only asking people to donate after they buy from us. We are asking people to donate if they accept a free 9x battery cable set that we've developed specifically for the 9x. We're happy to make a donation for each radio we sell. However, we think we can drive more value to the community by investing in other areas - like the free cable promotion and increasing the user base to non-technical people. We could be wrong and are certainly open to input from you and others.

Post by **MikeB** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:38 pm

A stable release will be when it is. As you seem to be aware, er9x is written by people who are unpaid and give their own time to develop it. We don't have a schedule of releases.

Anyone who makes use of er9x is invited to donate to help encourage the developers to find more time for the development. Erazz is not the only person doing development on er9x, indeed, over the last few months I think Rob and myself have done far more (check the changelog.txt file on the er9x web site). I have made a significant effort to reduce the code size, thus allowing others to add functions that otherwise just would not fit. I don't appear to have received any donation from you, not that I expect donations, it's just nice when someone feels my efforts deserve recognition.

Er9x is constantly evolving. I note your product is installed with a specific version, and DOES NOT, as standard, come modified to allow the user to upgrade the software or make use of the simulator, eepe, to load and save the model memory. Instead you offer the Smartieparts board, at additional cost, which is available direct from the manufacturer.

Er9x is also available in several TELEMETRY versions. To use these requires modification to the electronic circuitry. I note you do not appear to have done these modifications, yet these are the very modifications some people find difficult to do, and might expect them to be done.
Er9x also supports enhanced audio, again the hardware mods to allow this do not appear to have been carried out on your product.

If you really want to increase the user base to non-technical people, these are the sort of upgrades that are required. Simply re-flashing to a copy of er9x, as far as technical changes are concerned, may well leave your (non-technical) customers feeling 'short changed' as they are missing out on many of the extras er9x supports. Also, er9x is NOT the only software available for this Tx. Once you have the programming facility you can also try other software to see if you like it better.

I would suggest, that EVERY occurance of er9x on your web site should be a link to http://code.google.com/p/er9x/.

Is the er9x you install a built copy as released on the er9x site, or have you modified it?

Oh yes, why does anyone need an adjustable RECEIVER neckstrap?

Mike.

Post by **Kilrah** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:59 pm

MikeB wrote: Oh yes, why does anyone need an adjustable RECEIVER neckstrap?

If it allowed me to fly myself I'd love one!

Post by **bertrand35** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 7:25 pm

Erez, how are the donations shared between contributors of er9x? I have received some small donations for companion9x and open9x and I would like to find a fair solution for sharing between all main commiters and contributors as Mike, that seems normal to me!
Bertrand.

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