So what is my biggest aggravation with Sametime?
Category Sametime aggravation backwards compatibility
Yesterday I promised to post my biggest Sametime aggravation. To be honest, most end users will never experience this issue, but if you're developing exciting new plug-ins for Sametime you will experience this all the time until IBM decides to sort it out. The issue is backwards compatibility, whoa I hear you say, IBM prides itself on backwards compatibility. That is very true, but sadly that backwards compatibility doesn't yet exist for Sametime plug-ins (or Notes plug-ins come to that).
So far every Sametime point release since 7.5 has required the plug-ins to be updated, so that has meant, 7.5. needed updated plug-ins, 8.0 needed updated plug-ins and then 8.0.1 needed updates. We've also found that a Sametime plug-in running in the Notes Sametime embedded client doesn't always work the same way as it does within Sametime. For the ISV large or small this introduces expense, for Sametime customers it introduces management nightmares, trying to ensure that people get the right plug-in for their version, pulling out old versions and replacing with new etc.
I look forward to the day that Sametime and Notes have the same backwards compatibility for plug-ins as it does for regular Notes apps, and the day they make it easy for an eclipse update site to say something like, this plug-in should only be availble to sametime version X users.
Yesterday I promised to post my biggest Sametime aggravation. To be honest, most end users will never experience this issue, but if you're developing exciting new plug-ins for Sametime you will experience this all the time until IBM decides to sort it out. The issue is backwards compatibility, whoa I hear you say, IBM prides itself on backwards compatibility. That is very true, but sadly that backwards compatibility doesn't yet exist for Sametime plug-ins (or Notes plug-ins come to that).
So far every Sametime point release since 7.5 has required the plug-ins to be updated, so that has meant, 7.5. needed updated plug-ins, 8.0 needed updated plug-ins and then 8.0.1 needed updates. We've also found that a Sametime plug-in running in the Notes Sametime embedded client doesn't always work the same way as it does within Sametime. For the ISV large or small this introduces expense, for Sametime customers it introduces management nightmares, trying to ensure that people get the right plug-in for their version, pulling out old versions and replacing with new etc.
I look forward to the day that Sametime and Notes have the same backwards compatibility for plug-ins as it does for regular Notes apps, and the day they make it easy for an eclipse update site to say something like, this plug-in should only be availble to sametime version X users.
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Comments
Posted by Jeff Gilfelt At 10:49:23 AM On 07/23/2008 | - Website - |
IBM should:
1. Publish a technote of which plugin/feature can be used to identify a specific Sametime/Notes version.
2. Make it easier in the first place, the same way I can pick an OS requirement I should be able to pick an application version requirement.
Posted by Carl Tyler At 12:08:36 AM On 07/24/2008 | - Website - |
This is the brave new world of WS, Java, Eclipse, Portal etc. It's a rapidly evolving world that has little use for backward compatiblility.
The "I wrote that app 15 years ago and it still works today." approach is SO preWeb 1.0.
Posted by Craig Wiseman At 09:52:13 AM On 07/24/2008 | - Website - |