rec.autos.simulators

by **Andre Warrin** » Fri, 13 Aug 1999 04:00:00

WARNING:

In this message, I'm gonna ask Jack in a nicely but honest way what
the status of GPaL is, since we haven't heard for a long time from
Jack.
Everytime someone asks this, he's gonna get flamed like hell.
Sometimes this was well deserved, if someone said something like 'WE
HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET GPAL NOW!'.
I don't mind waiting, but GPaL has been postponed several times now,
and since the last announced date (17-7) we haven't heard anything.
I think that after all the waiting and delays, it's not to much asked
to keep us informed about GPaL.

-----------------------------------------------

Ok, on the Apex HQ I read this message:

And I answered this:

Gpal was to be released, after a couple of delays, on 15-7 (I was very
happy when I read the GPaL Tonight! message from Jack). Jack didn't
make it in time, he had a problem with the installer of GPal, and
postponed it to 17-7. Then we got a message that his system broke
down, he had to reinstall all his software. And we haven't heard from
him since then. Doesn't post messages on R.A.S. and doesn't answer his
email.

Some possibilities:

- Jack's system really broke down and he can't reinstall his software
for some reason, and has no other possibility to keep in touch with
us, even though he posted a message about his crash AFTER his crash,
- or he's too busy with his new job,
- or he encountered more problems with GPaL,
- or he's waiting for the new patch. (or perhaps waiting for GPL 2 ? )

In either case, Jack, if you're reading this, I really think you
should let us know what the status of GPaL is. Yes, you're doing this
in your own time, you don't get any money for it, we all appreciate
your hard work very much, but we haven't heard from you for about a
month now, we're all curious what the deal with GPaL is.

I think everybody will understand if you say you're having not enough
spare time since you got your new job, but to be honest, I don't
really believe that system crash story anymore. How much time does it
take to reinstall windows and your software? Certainly not a month?

You made lots of promises and raised our expectations very high, I
think it's not more than polite to keep us informed now.

Will GPaL and GPL ever be best friends Jack?

Ok flamers, hit me. I'm sure many of you feel about this situation the
same way I do.

Andre

by **Joachim Blu** » Fri, 13 Aug 1999 04:00:00

by **reape** » Fri, 13 Aug 1999 04:00:00

O.k. I was one of the first to ask questions about GPal. I was somewhat
flamed, but not too heavily. No problem. But as the weeks go by, there is
one question deep in my mind: Could it be, that my fear was right and GPal
was about to be a giant hoax? I am not sure, because there are many reasons
for Jack to get GPal onto a somewhat secondary priority (or whatever you
call it in english ;-)). I've seen lots of people in University stating
"Hey, I've got a great new theory. I've got a concept, I've got the methods,
I'm gonna write a doct***thesis of historical dimensions. Shoot Kant, here
I am!" Mostly - to be honest: all - of the times nothing happened but a lot
of hot air. Sadly, GPaL reminds me of those projects. And with all of those
projects I was hoping to proved wrong. Same with GPaL. But my own history
teaches me to expect not too much, but in fact : *nothing*.
Yours-
Reaperle

by **Kirk Lan** » Fri, 13 Aug 1999 04:00:00

--
Kirk Lane

ICQ: 28171652
BRT #187

"I read dead Russian authors volumes at a time
I write everything down except what's on my mind
'Cause my greatest fear is the sucking sound
And then I know I'll never get back out"
-'Narcolepsy', Third Eye Blind

by **Ruud van Ga** » Mon, 16 Aug 1999 04:00:00

Jack could prove us wrong. At one time, he mentioned 'GPal will not be
ready before tonight', so it must have been that GPal was at least
partially functional. So if that program is released as a beta
release, that would still be fine. Leaving out a lot of features is
not that bad. Surely there seemed to be so many features that the task
list seemed to continuously stay bigger than the project itself.

But unfortunately I must say this is beginning to smell fishy, and
Jack is emitting bad vibes.

Ruud van Gaal
MarketGraph / MachTech: http://www.racesimcentral.net/
Art: http://www.racesimcentral.net/

by **Andre Warrin** » Mon, 16 Aug 1999 04:00:00

Here's a message from Jack, sent to me on 14 july:

----------------------------
I hate to do it to you guys, but I've just rediscovered the meaning of
the old phrase:

All work and no sleep,
Makes Jack an ineffective GPaL programmer.

Just stretched out on the couch to grab just a couple of winks, only
to wakeup and realize that I'm still fried. Last week when I promised
to have GPaLto you by the 14th, I was expecting to start my new job on
the 15th. No sooner had I made the commitment to you then my new boss
calls and says that he'd like for me to start on the 14th. Suddenly my
development effort lost 24 hours, and the no-sleep phase ensued.

So the reality is my current state of exhaustion indicates that we
better call the 14th the 17th, which will give me all day Saturday to
get the install bugs exterminated.

Thanks to all the GPaL faithful and to all the generous souls that
have come forward to help me test. We'll pick up again on Saturday!

Jack Rambo
----------------------------

I don't think that GPaL is fake as some people stated, but I do think
that the 'I have to reinstall my software' reason was not the truth.
I can't imagine that Jack can't find any way to keep us informed about
the status of GPaL. Surely he must have an internet connection at work
or at a friend to keep us informed about GPaL.
After all these delays I can imagine that he doesn't want to give a
new release date, but that Jack doesn't let us hear anything from him
after the message above is IMHO not very polite.

Ok, shoot me.

Andre

>>O.k. I was one of the first to ask questions about GPal. I was somewhat
>>flamed, but not too heavily. No problem. But as the weeks go by, there is
>>one question deep in my mind: Could it be, that my fear was right and GPal
>>was about to be a giant hoax? I am not sure, because there are many reasons
>>for Jack to get GPal onto a somewhat secondary priority (or whatever you
>>call it in english ;-)). I've seen lots of people in University stating
>>"Hey, I've got a great new theory. I've got a concept, I've got the methods,
>>I'm gonna write a doct***thesis of historical dimensions. Shoot Kant, here
>>I am!" Mostly - to be honest: all - of the times nothing happened but a lot
>>of hot air. Sadly, GPaL reminds me of those projects. And with all of those
>>projects I was hoping to proved wrong. Same with GPaL. But my own history
>>teaches me to expect not too much, but in fact : *nothing*.

>Jack could prove us wrong. At one time, he mentioned 'GPal will not be
>ready before tonight', so it must have been that GPal was at least
>partially functional. So if that program is released as a beta
>release, that would still be fine. Leaving out a lot of features is
>not that bad. Surely there seemed to be so many features that the task
>list seemed to continuously stay bigger than the project itself.

>But unfortunately I must say this is beginning to smell fishy, and
>Jack is emitting bad vibes.

>Ruud van Gaal
>MarketGraph / MachTech: http://www.racesimcentral.net/
>Art: http://www.racesimcentral.net/

by **Andrew MacPhers** » Tue, 17 Aug 1999 04:00:00

To paraphrase Monty Python: "you come from nothin', end up as nothin'.
What have you lost? Nothin'!"

Andrew McP

by **Gaul** » Tue, 17 Aug 1999 04:00:00

Maybe so, but I have lost some respect.

by **dav..** » Tue, 17 Aug 1999 04:00:00

> > > But unfortunately I must say this is beginning to smell
> > > fishy, and Jack is emitting bad vibes.

> > To paraphrase Monty Python: "you come from nothin', end up as
nothin'.
> > What have you lost? Nothin'!"

> Maybe so, but I have lost some respect.

On the other hand maybe he just has a life outside of RAS, unlike some
other saddo's in here.
It seems to me that Jack started this project when he was in a bit of
slack period, then he starts a new job which is mentally demanding. Low
and behold, GPal goes on a back burner, and quite right too.

He was doing this as a favour to everyone out there. But unfortunately
real life has to take precedent over RAS. Developing a piece of
software is not trivial work, certainly not getting to a bug free level
ready to release to the bug-hunting hyenas on RAS.
If I was doing GPal, hadn't had time to finish it, and was unlikely to
get time in the next few months, the last thing I would want to do is to
open myself abuse from RAS.
For every genuine, appreciative, helpful member of RAS, there is an
equally pedantic, nit-picking, abusive one.

IMHO.
Dave

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

by **Terry Welc** » Tue, 17 Aug 1999 04:00:00

True, but all we are hoping for is an ounce of common courtesy from
Jack, regardless of his situation. After the long silence of the last
four weeks, it is starting to look like things were not as they seemed,
unless he has been ***ped by aliens or marooned on a desert isle or
was required by his new boss to take a long canoe trip across the
Pacific or some such.....

> On the other hand maybe he just has a life outside of RAS, unlike some
> other saddo's in here.
> It seems to me that Jack started this project when he was in a bit of
> slack period, then he starts a new job which is mentally demanding.
Low
> and behold, GPal goes on a back burner, and quite right too.

> He was doing this as a favour to everyone out there. But
unfortunately
> real life has to take precedent over RAS. Developing a piece of
> software is not trivial work, certainly not getting to a bug free
level
> ready to release to the bug-hunting hyenas on RAS.
> If I was doing GPal, hadn't had time to finish it, and was unlikely to
> get time in the next few months, the last thing I would want to do is
to
> open myself abuse from RAS.
> For every genuine, appreciative, helpful member of RAS, there is an
> equally pedantic, nit-picking, abusive one.

> IMHO.
> Dave

> Sent via Deja.com http://www.racesimcentral.net/
> Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

Sent via Deja.com http://www.racesimcentral.net/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

by **Bruce Kennewel** » Tue, 17 Aug 1999 04:00:00

So you *respected* Jack when he announced GPaL, did you?

> > > But unfortunately I must say this is beginning to smell
> > > fishy, and Jack is emitting bad vibes.

> > To paraphrase Monty Python: "you come from nothin', end up as nothin'.
> > What have you lost? Nothin'!"

> Maybe so, but I have lost some respect.

by **Bruce Kennewel** » Tue, 17 Aug 1999 04:00:00

Come off it!
If Jack popped a message up here before GPaL is ready to "publish" he'd be
burnt to a crisp!!
And as far as "common courtesy" goes, he didn't receive 100% of that when he
fell behind in his schedule, now did he?

> True, but all we are hoping for is an ounce of common courtesy from
> Jack, regardless of his situation. After the long silence of the last
> four weeks, it is starting to look like things were not as they seemed,
> unless he has been ***ped by aliens or marooned on a desert isle or
> was required by his new boss to take a long canoe trip across the
> Pacific or some such.....

> > On the other hand maybe he just has a life outside of RAS, unlike some
> > other saddo's in here.
> > It seems to me that Jack started this project when he was in a bit of
> > slack period, then he starts a new job which is mentally demanding.
> Low
> > and behold, GPal goes on a back burner, and quite right too.

> > He was doing this as a favour to everyone out there. But
> unfortunately
> > real life has to take precedent over RAS. Developing a piece of
> > software is not trivial work, certainly not getting to a bug free
> level
> > ready to release to the bug-hunting hyenas on RAS.
> > If I was doing GPal, hadn't had time to finish it, and was unlikely to
> > get time in the next few months, the last thing I would want to do is
> to
> > open myself abuse from RAS.
> > For every genuine, appreciative, helpful member of RAS, there is an
> > equally pedantic, nit-picking, abusive one.

> > IMHO.
> > Dave

> > Sent via Deja.com http://www.racesimcentral.net/
> > Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

> Sent via Deja.com http://www.racesimcentral.net/
> Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

by **Terry Welc** » Tue, 17 Aug 1999 04:00:00

Jack certainly did not receive much decent treatment on ras when he
missed the release dates he had broadcast, but the what civil response
he did receive then was rather overshadowed by the hordes of flamers.
There is probably nothing to prevent Jack from doing a "hit-and-run"
post that says "soon" or "someday" or "never", since he started the
whole GPal thing himself. He doesn't have to respond to the inevitable
toasting. Of course, he doesn't really have to say anything. If he
does not, though, it will be tough for him to show up on any sim or
*** newsgroup without getting singed. Let's just hope he tells us
something, then runs for cover.....

Sent via Deja.com http://www.racesimcentral.net/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

by **Neil Rain** » Tue, 17 Aug 1999 04:00:00

> Jack certainly did not receive much decent treatment on ras when he
> missed the release dates he had broadcast, but the what civil response
> he did receive then was rather overshadowed by the hordes of flamers.
> There is probably nothing to prevent Jack from doing a "hit-and-run"
> post that says "soon" or "someday" or "never", since he started the
> whole GPal thing himself. He doesn't have to respond to the inevitable
> toasting. Of course, he doesn't really have to say anything. If he
> does not, though, it will be tough for him to show up on any sim or
> *** newsgroup without getting singed. Let's just hope he tells us
> something, then runs for cover.....

Didn't someone say he'd just got a job or something?

He probably doesn't have time to read ras anymore, let alone write GPal!

The Real World is out there ... somewhere ... it comes to us all in the
end! ;-)

> > Come off it!
> > If Jack popped a message up here before GPaL is ready to "publish"
> he'd be
> > burnt to a crisp!!
> > And as far as "common courtesy" goes, he didn't receive 100% of that
> when he
> > fell behind in his schedule, now did he?

> Sent via Deja.com http://www.racesimcentral.net/
> Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

by **Goy Larse** » Tue, 17 Aug 1999 04:00:00

> Come off it!
> If Jack popped a message up here before GPaL is ready to "publish" he'd be
> burnt to a crisp!!
> And as far as "common courtesy" goes, he didn't receive 100% of that when he
> fell behind in his schedule, now did he?

Maybe Jack has taken a lesson from David Noonan :-), just keep quiet and
release stuff when you're good and ready, seems like a sound approach to
me

--

Beers and cheers
(uncle) Goy

"Team Mirage" http://www.teammirage.com/
"The Pits" http://www.theuspits.com/