Hey guys! Thanks for the activity and discussion. I think it's time to catch you all up on where things stand.
First, thanks to Chris for fielding questions and disseminating what he could. And thanks for the coffee, Chris. I don't know if I actually thanked you that day.
There has been a group building up in the background of about a half-dozen guys to help move this thing along. Some of the guys who have been around since near the stone age, like Chris, have started chipping in where they can in design, implementation and, eventually, testing. I don't have a list in front of me, but from memory they include Michael Sallaway, Ben Yaroch, Anthony Marchini (I hope I got that right), Jonathon Reinhart, Tony Eberle, and my apologies to names I missed because I know there are at least a couple more. So this is a very active affair.
Since Chris and I met up, the group has been having daily discussions with this thread in mind (which is hard when you consider we span 15 hours in time zone differences altogether). There is an area of functionality that we think will be really helpful, but it would set us back a bit on the UI front. But, since we're no longer a single guy, we can multitask. Anyway, the daily back-and-forth has been about the details of this last-minute addition and whether or not to try to include it. We think it's important enough to include. On the plus side, it's not as invasive as it could be, so the impact is not a month-long setback.
With that in mind, the second question has been what you've been discussing here -- this year or not? We think we can do it, and there are at least a couple people in the group that really believe in that. I'll qualify that with our high-level hopes: our hope is to have a usable front-end by September and usable binaries for developers before that. However, don't expect a polished rock by September. Our first goal is stability and enough of a UI that it can be usable. Then as we get feedback from you, we adjust and polish. This will hopefully develop into a feedback and release cycle that demonstrates that we are moving in a positive direction. I know that September doesn't give much sequencing time, but if this version does for you what we hope it will, we think your sequencing times could be greatly reduced. We may be way off the mark and only you will be able to tell us.
Let me be as frank and as straight-forward as I can be with the next statement: This is our goal. This is not a promise. With that said, we're going to be busting our individual and collective butts to achieve that goal. You've been a pretty extraordinary group to have stuck around like you have and I, we, think pretty highly of you. Even the ones that have migrated elsewhere. On that note, let me also say this -- You do what you have to to take care of yourself. As awesome as it would be to have you put so much faith in our efforts as to hold off doing your show, do what you have to to make that show happen. After all, we are human, this is a volunteer effort, and life and work tend to interrupt even the best-laid plans. We're committed, but if you have to go to LSP, LOR, or anything else to make your awesomeness happen, no hard feelings. You are at the center of this, not us.
Man, do I talk a lot. Really, I'm quiet in person. Better wrap this up.
So that's the plan. We think we've ironed out the detail on this new bit of functionality and are starting to look into design and implementation tonight. UI is going to move forth now that this is settled, and we're going to do what we can to finally, FINALLY get you guys an update this year.
Thanks for your interest and thanks for...well, just a lot of things.
That’s about 3 or sequences for me.
