06MAY14 - PMDG 777 SP1/300ER Updates

[DarrenLiewWY 2]

Hey Kyle. Thank you for your nice long explaination. However does it indicate the readiness of the SP1? Well anyway the meeting today went "give me target date" over and over again. As without a target date the release or ready date will drag on like PMDG. Aiming for SP1 release to coincide with the first anniversary of the initial B777X release? It is now heading to 8 months or so and without a target date of release by PMDG it might as well be 8 years after the initial release. Well that is what I just faced in the real working world which is unlike the virtual world here." It will be released when it is ready", etc. I really wish I could have said that to the client just now though.

Cuz we paid for it and are just sick of hearing "work still goes on"? Simple answer? No need to go on with your long winded defensive explanation though!

[Samkman 1]

Wow some of the people on here really need to get out more instead of visiting avsim every 5 minutes and finding it the same as when they last visited it. Other things in life, i think people should focus on other things. Time will go by faster, and then one day we will be pleasantly surprised when we get that beloved email from pmdg saying the SP1/300ER is out. Just MHO.

[Don t moderate me this way 882]

There will never be that beloved email from PMDG ...  

 

(Think about my statement, before you jump at me!)

[martin-w 3,235]

As without a target date the release or ready date will drag on like PMDG. Aiming for SP1 release to coincide with the first anniversary of the initial B777X release? It is now heading to 8 months or so and without a target date of release by PMDG it might as well be 8 years after the initial release.

 

 

Honestly, some people.

 

What is the point in PMDG giving you a target date, when that target date is almost certainly going to be wrong?

 

You say "without a target date it will drag on and on"...  Do you not see that if it is destined to drag on and on due to unforeseen issues, that it will do so regardless of any "guess" PMDG make at a target date.

 

This is simple logic!

 

They can't give you a target date because they have no idea themselves when it will be ready.

 

They have no idea if the fix they are about to incorporate will break something else, or if a beta tester will spot a new issue...

 

You are subjecting the developer to unreasonable standards. PMDG have already given you the best estimate they can in the opening post, what more do you want?

[JRBarrett 3,070]

Hey Kyle. Thank you for your nice long explaination. However does it indicate the readiness of the SP1? Well anyway the meeting today went "give me target date" over and over again. As without a target date the release or ready date will drag on like PMDG. Aiming for SP1 release to coincide with the first anniversary of the initial B777X release? It is now heading to 8 months or so and without a target date of release by PMDG it might as well be 8 years after the initial release. Well that is what I just faced in the real working world which is unlike the virtual world here." It will be released when it is ready", etc. I really wish I could have said that to the client just now though.

 

Cuz we paid for it and are just sick of hearing "work still goes on"? Simple answer? No need to go on with your long winded defensive explanation though!

You may have experience in some facet of IT, but you obviously have never done debugging of complex real-time software, or you would NOT find the "work goes on" explanation to be unacceptable.

 

Getting serious bugs out of a complex software-based system can take as long, or longer than the initial build of the system in the first place - especially where correcting a bug in one part of the program may break functionality somewhere else. In these cases it is often impossible to say at any given moment when the process will be done - because each bug fix has to be extensively tested, and if one fix induces a new bug, the process has to start over again.

 

It's not (for example) like asking a building contractor to set a target date for the completion of a new house. That is relatively easy to do, because an experienced builder will know through long experience just about how long each phase will take: "x" number of days for carpenters to build the frame, "y" number of days to install plumbing and wiring, "z" number of days to finish the interior walls and paint etc. Barring unforeseen delays in getting supplies, or unpredictable delays due to bad weather, a builder should be able to set a target date for completion, and stick to it.

 

The same holds true for building websites. A competent graphic artist should be able to tell you, in advance, how long it will take to make a certain number of images, and if one artist can't finish by the required deadline, then you simply put more workers on the job.

 

But, fixing software bugs in a highly complex existing program, is, by it's very nature, an open-ended process.

 

It would be like insisting that the people searching for MH370 set a cast-in-stone "target date" to find and recover the aircraft. How can they? At present, they're not even sure where it is, and when (or if) it is eventually found, the searchers will face a whole new set of unpredictable obstacles in determine exactly how to go about recovering the wreckage.

 

Whatever obstacles PMDG faces in completing the SP do not directly compare to the search for MH370 of course, (other than the fact that both situations are open-ended processes), but the point is this: You do not work for PMDG, do not have any real notion of what specific problems they may be facing in getting the FBW working properly (without breaking something else) so how can you possibly determine that it is "taking too long"?

 

You may be "sick" of hearing it Darren, but the simple fact is that there truly are some situations in life where the only accurate and truthful answer to the question "When will the work be done?" is: "When it's done"

[Tabs 2,790]

Ok I think this one has run its course.