Great things about Rev

[Sarah Reichelt]

Thanks Bernard. I was away for a while and came back to quite a shock.
After having read through such a mess of negative emails, it was great
to end up with yours.

Regards,
Sarah



On 11/8/06, Bernard Devlin <revolution at knowledgeworks.plus.com> wrote:
> I don't know what is the cause of so much negativity on the list.
> Sometimes those things just spiral by accident.
>
> Anyway, I just want to point out how things look to me - a long time
> lurker, and sometime user of Revolution.  I follow the list daily,
> but rarely have the time to contribute much (I'm always trying to do
> more than I'm really capable of doing!)  The people on this list are
> some of the most helpful and good-natured people on any list that I
> follow (and I get 200+ emails a day from various lists).
>
> I first looked at Metacard a few years before Revolution existed, and
> I thought it was a toy, and an overpriced toy at that.  More fool me
> - I couldn't see passed the (beautiful) simplicity of the concept,
> and was just focusing on the simplicty of the marketing.  RunRev have
> marketed Rev more effectively, and the IDE and documentation showed
> me what I couldn't see by myself when I'd looked at Metacard.
> Furthermore, they opened up pricing options (Studio, Dreamcard,
> Media) that make it far more feasible for many people to adopt it as
> a development platform.  If things had remained as they were
> (Metacard was approx $1000), I would never have adopted it as one of
> my tools, and would not have recommended it to others.
>
> But Runrev also  added lots of database access features (ODBC, MySql,
> Valentina, PostgreSQL, Oracle).  They added xml support.  They added
> improved look and feel on many platforms.
>
> They responded to repeated complaints about accessibility.  They
> changed the documentation to make it more accessible; and they
> structured it as XML, making it easier for others to build different
> interfaces into the docs (as I myself have done). They added video
> and PDF tutorials.   People nagged for a forum - others said they
> preferred the list... RunRev obliged and provided both.  There are
> benefits to both - I would like to see the forum being used in a more
> structured way to keep permanent searchable records of useful code,
> tips and gotchas.   There were complaints about the externals
> interface - they had that re-written in an attempt to improve it (I
> don't believe I'm adept enough to judge if it is better or not).
> People wanted SSL, that was provided.
>
> The scripting conferences were a great idea (and driven by Jacques).
> The RevCons are also fantastic (even though I have trouble attending
> them).  Making the videos available on DVD for so little money is
> unbelievable.  In fact, the current offer (along with a studio update
> pack) was just too good to pass by.
>
> I don't personally see the benefit of the U3 stuff or the new zip
> features, but that's not to say that others don't find these features
> useful.
>
> I'm sure there are loads of other things that have been added that
> I'm forgetting.  I would love it if others could add on the
> improvements they consider notable too.
>
> Even though they might have changed the purchase/updates options in a
> way that I might think is off-putting for new users, I have always
> found (since my first purchase 4 years ago) that the options
> available to me when it comes to upgrade/renewal are very
> reasonable.  In fact, in my experience they have bent over backwards
> to offer me enticing upgrade paths, and always without me asking for
> any special concession.
>
> I have no hesitation in recommending Rev to anyone who wants to pick
> up programming.
>
> I don't think Rev is suitable for every programming area, but I am
> often amazed at what I see being done by users of this list.  But it
> seems that the users of this list often have quite a diversity in the
> ways in which they want to see Rev improve.  Obviously, it is going
> to be hard for the tool to be all things to all women.  But at least
> with bugzilla being open and votable, and both bugs and improvements
> going into that, Runrev are open to influence by us users in ways
> that many other tools are not open.  And finally, there is always the
> option of being an 'enterprise' user and joining the improve list.  I
> think that laying out that kind of dosh is a good indication of one's
> commitment to the product and way of weeding out noise.  If things go
> according to plan with my current development, I will be happy to
> step up and join that group if it means I can support and have some
> direction on the tool that is still in a league of its own.
>
> In the light of all the things that they've done to enhance the tool,
> market it, provide pricing options, provide documentation and
> tutorial options, and discussion options, it doesn't surprise me that
> some bugs may have gone unresolved for longer than people might
> hope.  I still think they are doing a great job, and provide very
> good value and service.
>
> Bernard Devlin
>
>
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