Quality

[Bill Marriott]

Hi everyone,

I had something of a quandary deciding how to title/post this note:

- I could have made a final post to my now-famous "Open Letter to Rev: 
Quality is Job #1" thread
- I could have responded to the recent "Rev_rant" discussion (which I've 
been itching to do for a week or so, now)
- I could have titled this "FREE REV UPDATE! AWESOME!"
- or simply, "Hooray!!"

The bottom line is... I think this is is a red-letter day for us as Rev 
users and Runrev as a company.

       ~  ~  ~

Let me first highlight something that could have been missed in all the 
exciting headlines:

* * * * * * * * * *
Revolution 2.7.5 will be a FREE UPDATE. If you had an active Revolution 
maintenance plan as of February 1, 2006, or if you purchased any version of 
Revolution 2.7, you will receive Revolution 2.7.5 AT NO CHARGE.
* * * * * * * * * *

What an important move on the part of Runrev. It shows not only that they've 
been reading and listening to the feedback on the list, but also that they 
have a lot of integrity and pride about the product. Not to mention the 
highest regard for their customers. All of us who've been waiting for Linux 
support, everyone who's had a crash, everyone who's scratched their heads 
with weird behavior now gets the version of Rev we've been waiting and 
hoping for, no matter whether their license expired in the last 9 months.

It's a big deal. It was one of the things I asked for in my posts, and I'm 
delighted they agreed.

       ~  ~  ~

The second thing I want to point out is that this is a no-features release 
TOTALLY driven by our feedback and bug reports. I can't think of many (if 
any) other companies that have taken quite this approach before.

If you, like me, felt you were "wandering in the desert" or frustrated by 
the impression that an esoteric feature was taking priority over some 
aggravating problem... come in out of the cold and fret no more. I've had 
every assurance -- and I believe them -- that Bugzilla will be what drives 
this update.

So now is the time for everyone to make friends with Bugzilla:

http://support.runrev.com/bugdatabase

Dust off your old bugs, file new reports, and vote for the ones filed by 
others that affect you most. We ESPECIALLY need to transform all the 
"anybody else see this happening?" chat on the list into actual, 
full-fledged bug reports that can be tracked and resolved. So I hope you'll 
go through your prior posts right now and begin transforming them into 
Bugzilla bugs as appropriate.

You'll remember that I was pretty skeptical about the value of Bugzilla, 
given its Byzantine interface, the time investment it took to file a decent 
report, and the assumption the reports didn't "go" anywhere. Well, Bugzilla 
still is an ugly, drooling beast, but I *AM* now convinced that filing 
reports will be worth every minute of effort. I am confident the reports 
will be read and acted upon. So, let's take Runrev up on their pledge and 
channel our energies into documenting the problems we've found.

       ~  ~  ~

Finally, those of you who've been around a while know I've been something of 
a gadfly on the list. I "tell it like it is" and I don't pull any punches.

I'm hoping that Runrev's selection of me to lead the community in defining 
this release demonstrates to everyone Runrev's credibility. When they say 
they intend to make 2.7.5 the best-ever version of Rev, eliminate the bugs, 
and make it a joy to use... I believe them.

       ~  ~  ~

The "Open Community Beta" won't last forever. We need to pound on it "early 
and often." So please don't delay. Go to

http://support.runrev.com/beta_test.php

right away and sign up for the beta RIGHT NOW. When your key code and 
download links arrive (very likely, Monday) please download and throw your 
best punches.

And please feel free to send me your comments... either at my personal 
address or my new email: bill.marriott (at) runrev.com