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Stable releases!?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 5:29 pm
by simonbcn
Hi,
This is my third attempt to use Deluge. I think it's a good program and it has potential, especially now.
But the problem is that whenever I try to use it I find something wrong that should not fail, something basic.
I think the versions are released without being sufficiently tested and this causes many nuisance.
For example, in this last attempt I found, in less than one day, major bugs in different releases: Should not they extract better tested versions?
When they correct one bug in a version, sometimes, it reappeared in later versions.
I hope that the developers take this message as a constructive critique in order that they think and release better versions of this program.
Deluge can be a very good program, but the number and severity of their errors cause the program to be abandoned by new users shortly after they start using it.
Greetings.

Re: Stable releases!?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 10:18 pm
by loki
1.2.0 is not a stable release... I'm pretty sure it's just available for those to see the work in progress.

And, as for bugs that come along in releases, at least they get fixed fairly quickly after all isn't this what makes open source such a great thing?

Re: Stable releases!?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 11:38 pm
by simonbcn
But is logic that I've tried 4 versions of this program (1.1.5, 1.1.6, 1.1.7 and 1.2.0svn) and i have found serious bugs using it the first time?
In the case of the stable versions share almost the same bugs.
Well, my thinking on this is that perhaps the developers should do more to release versions less frequently but better tested.

Re: Stable releases!?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 1:46 am
by slumbergod
I have to agree, a version needs to be stabilised and left as a download option even if the developers plough ahead with new versions.

After trying most of the other bittorrent clients available for Ubuntu, i settled Deluge and have been using it through several Ubuntu releases. Most recently was 0.5.9.3 from the Intrepid repos. This was very stable for me and more or less bug-free. When I upgraded to Jaunty it meant upgrading to 1.1.7 and ever since then the experience has been a bit frustrating because of performance issues and annoying bugs. I really like the extra features but after the stability of the older version, the new one has definitely been a mission in patience.

I don't want to sound ungrateful because Deluge is my bittorrent client of choice and I can't see that changing. I just think that when the most distracting bugs are finally squashed, that version should be left online and identified as a "long-term stable" release. That way people who are not interested in living on the bleeding edge can just opt for the tried and tested version.

Re: Stable releases!?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 2:14 pm
by uncertain
slumbergod wrote:I don't want to sound ungrateful because Deluge is my bittorrent client of choice and I can't see that changing. I just think that when the most distracting bugs are finally squashed, that version should be left online and identified as a "long-term stable" release. That way people who are not interested in living on the bleeding edge can just opt for the tried and tested version.
Couldn't have said it better myself.

I'm about to downgrade from 1.1.7 to the Ubuntu Hardy repo version of (I think) 0.5.3 because of bugs - one of which just caused me to lose around 20 or 25 in-progress torrents, and left no trace of any .torrent files anywhere in my computer. Naturally, they can't be re-added from restore files in ~/.config/deluge/state, so I'll have to spend an hour or two digging around for my downloads and re-adding them.

Again - a stable version of Deluge is my #1 choice for a torrent client. I just don't have the time or motivation to be tinkering with this, that, and the other to make the newest version work as reliably as the old one did.

Re: Stable releases!?

Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 3:12 pm
by simonbcn
I give up myself.
The 1.1.x versions are too unstable. When I believe that it is working well, a new bug appears. :(
Now I understand that this program is banned in several private trackers.
Probably in a few months, when the versions 1.1.x are sufficiently tested, I return to try it.
It is a shame because the functionalities of remote management of this program are very good.
Bye!

Re: Stable releases!?

Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 8:27 pm
by slumbergod
Do you think 0.5.9.4 would work well on Jaunty? Jaunty has Python 2.6 so does that present problems?

The force-recheck bug is frustrating me big time as well as having to start deluge 3-4 times before it starts. I tried Transmission but it lacks the functionality and interface of Deluge. Qbittorrent wouldn't even start for me. So Deluge remains the best solution. I would like to try 0.5.9.4 on Jaunty but I couldn't find a Jaunty .deb and I really don't have time to try and get it working myself. Also, I discovered that many of my torrents downloaded using 0.5.9.3 from Intrepid seemed to be 99.99% complete... often a tiny piece was missing. Reloading them in 1.1.7 allowed them to complete correctly so I have reservations about rolling back to the older version.

If anyone does manage to try 0.5.9.x successfully please post some feedback here. In the meantime, I will persevere with 1.1.7 and hope that 1.1.8 is not far away and solves the bugs that are bugging me :) I don't want to abandon Deluge because I think it is the best bittorrent project for Linux. I understand open source development so I know it often takes longer for an application to achieve maturity and stability. I just hope that the developers are able to use the feedback from the "testers" so they can deliver that longterm-stable release I mentioned above.