Why do they force updates on 2.5.x?

[Fmeh Tagore]

I'm not talking about the auto-update option which I'm already aware can be bypassed, I'm simply talking about FORCING people to download a newer version.  If someone can use a 2.2.x viewer without being forced to update, why are they forcing people who use 2.5.x viewers to download a new update before they can log in?

My big complaint about this is that every time it updates, it writes over the exisiting floater_im_container.xml file, so I have to go in and edit it by hand to have tabs on the left every time.  Tabs on the bottom are practically unusable once you have more than 5 people in tabs--it's bad enough they don't give a "tabs on left" option to begin with, but to have to go in and change it every time they force an update sucks.  

Why force people to update to begin with?  If people with older viewers don't HAVE to update, why force it on the newer viewers?

[Dante Tucker]

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Viewer_parameters

See "channel". Setting it differently stops forced updates.

[Fmeh Tagore]

Setting it differently than what?  I see examples "Test 123"--but what does it actually do?

And still--it doesn't answer why people who use 2.2.x aren't met with a "mandatory update", why should people using a 2.5.x viewer be met with mandatory updates?

[Hitomi Tiponi]

The idea is that it makes it easier to support and also some users like to have it done automatically for them.  Personally I do think that it should be more a matter of choice as long as you are within the last 'xx' number of releases, and it does cause more problems for anyone using a third-party or own produced skin for the viewer.

A reminder for those that don't know, that you can affect the way you recieve updates by changing the bottom setting in the 'Setup' preferences panel.

[Luc Starsider]

I agree that people should not be forced to download and use the newest viewer. The latest version - 2.5.x - is more buggy that the last one, which was slightly less buggy than the one before that, which in turn was more buggy still than the one preceding it. (Or something like that).

The best thing would be to let people use the version they feel works best for them. They could still say that 'support is given and development is done only for viewer version 2.x or newer'.

- Luc -

[Torley Linden]

 

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Fmeh Tagore wrote:

My big complaint about this is that every time it updates, it writes over the exisiting floater_im_container.xml file, so I have to go in and edit it by hand to have tabs on the left every time.  Tabs on the bottom are practically unusable once you have more than 5 people in tabs--it's bad enough they don't give a "tabs on left" option to begin with, but to have to go in and change it every time they force an update sucks.  

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Fmeh, while I don't know precisely why these latest updates have been mandatory (in the past, Linden Lab has enforced them to plug security holes), I'm in a similar situation: I have XML hacks to various Viewer files myself, such as modifying the postcards one to auto-insert email addresses for me. So I go a little AGRHRHRHHH every time my tweaks are replaced. Including that time I made the files read-only but that didn't work as expected.

There are a number of ways to approach this quicker: you create a custom installer with a tool like http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page that you'd run after you installed the Viewer. If that's too elaborate, you could keep a folder handy with shortcuts to the sub-folders within "SecondLife", and safe copies of the files you need to replace each time. Then, copy-and-paste them (or Ctrl-drag to copy, and replace). It's manual but saves time digging into those hierarchies, as I've felt after doing this since Viewer 1.2x.

Sidenote: I'm also a fan of vertical tabs, I advocated for them to be an easy option in SL during the days I chatted a lot inworld — I don't do so much anymore due to work, but  wish more web browsers supported verti-tabs off the bat. Here's an old article I wrote in another life.

[Oddprofessor Snoodle]

Forcing updates for any current viewer is making my life difficult.  I use SL in teaching, including homework and exams.  It frosts me when my students log in on my lab computers to take an exam, try to open SL only to be informed that they can't until they update.  However, since they are lab computers, the students don't have admin privileges.  So, I get to postpone the exam for a day and spend a few hours updating each computer.  Not to mention the other computer labs around here; I have to apply through channels to get them updated, and they normally only grant one request per 10-week quarter.

Upshot: using SL in a university/corporate setting becomes very frustrating.