I would hope a software project like slingshot is managed in a professional way and has a strict planning.
Monthly updates are fine for hardware, but for software this just is not enough.
Where is the roadmap for Slingshot ?
Where is the weekly (not daily, we don’t want that much overhead) planning for the software ?
Please be transparent to us backers, we invested (a lot) in this project, that is hardware and software.
Show us that Slingshot is not just an “event driven” development but has a clear vision and strict planning.
Delays are a fixed part of software development, so I don’t care plannings are shifted regularly.
Hello Pelgrim, If we haven’t given you any feedback yet, it’s not because we’ve ignored your request, but because these have been very busy months: we’ve organized and participated in several demo events and our technical department has been and still is busy solving known bugs and implementing features that can improve the customer experience.
The second reason is that we want to do it right, if we have to provide detailed information about what we have done and what we are planning to do on software and firmware side, we need to involve the whole team (which has not been possible until now) in order to establish how to set it up to communicate technical details in a way that is understandable to everyone and with what frequency compared to the regularly shared updates.
So what we are asking for is time, and we will do our best to work on it by the end of the year.
We absolutely want to fulfill your request and it is important for us to do this in the best way possible.
so you ask me to be patient for another 2 months.
I give notice in jan. 2022.
And another reminder: until then a few of us being linux users are still unable to test or use Goliath.
The longer a release for linux is posponed, the worse it can and will get to get it working on that platform.
There is a lot of learning and the sooner you do the better you get. I would buy a pc and start working with it. It would be fantastic if slingshot available in linux.
I have sympathy to the developers as there is continuous upgrades.
I do have my own problems and frustrations and hopefully perseverance will pay off.
It is to address us as backers, if you are not able to use goliath I sincerely ask you to try windows pc.
I found wifi is a sticky business though.
When goliath works it works very well.
Please ignore if did not get me.
Regards
Bhim.
Why would I buy a windows license if I can do all my work in linux, for free, over the last 20 years ?
Even worse, buy me a new pc, because I will certainly not delete my software installation.
Certainly when it is explicitly promised by springa company that they will deliver their software on all platforms.
Your statement does not make any sence.
You may feel sympathy for the development team, but I have the feeling you don’t really have experience with software development.
I have on the other hand, since I’m a professional programmer for the last 25 years.
And as a professional programmer I know there must be a clear plan on the goals that need to be achieved, preferably with clear delivery dates, and yes, that includes a clear plan on HOW and WHEN to deliver a working linux version.
Without this, it’s like with every commercial business: you start something with no clue when it will end and how much it will cost. Rather disastrous if you want to be profitable.
Hey! I am not a software/hardware person but just a hobbyist.
Just getting bored if the forum is quiet.
Appologies if I hurt your feelings.
I am trying to perform few tasks with some success.
Good luck
Bhim.
My “feelings” are irrelevant in this discussion, don’t worry about it.
The fact that springa company is not willing to provide decent information is something to worry about.
A promise is made “by the end of the year” to deliver this.
I’ll wait and see, after all the messaging on kickstarter I’m very sceptical at this point.
Hi Pelgrim, as promised we are sharing changes and updates, we have already made to the software and which we plan to develop in the coming months. It is not possible for us to provide a weekly plan as the interventions we are making require at least one month to be implemented.
November
Rework of connection management.
Start of UI graphics rendering library migration from Windows only to a newer and cross-platform one.
December
Start of migration of .NET UI framework to an updated and cross-platform version.
Various bugfixes, check changelog for details.
January-February
Merge and test of new Slingshot version using new graphics library and UI framework on Windows and MacOS environments.
Wireless firmware update using Slingshot to connect to Goliath.
Precision and performance improvements for track calculations.
March
New UI for Slingshot.
New logic and UX for creating tabs.
April
Management of paths, grouping of tracks, customization of cutting order.
User settings in Slingshot, to enable improved customer support, saving user profiles and sharing of projects.
May
New file import, improving load of svg files and adding support for other formats like dxf.
If you have any doubts about any of the above points, we will be happy to give you more details
And now what I was saying since version 1 of slingshot (and that is already long ago)
If you had developed the UI from the start for multi-platform, you would not waste resources doing your development all over again. .NET was among the worst choices that was possible to make in that regard.
Your plans look, together with your track record of your software developers, look more like a vague wish list rather then solid planning with fixed deliverables and dates.
Nothing you show here hints in the direction of professional software management.
Pilgrim.
When your buying cutting edge tech you should expect delays. It’s silly and pretinious to do otherwise. What we have here is the future of cnc and as I just made my first cuts successfully on my first try using windows, I think its pretty terrific for being cutting edge machine! No doubt you bought it for just that reason.
As for Linux! Give me a break ! Its not main stream for business ( I’m a 25 year sys admin so I have some experience to comment) and it’s certainly not consumer main stream. So just chill out! If you can’t then sell your machine and move on. But I’d rather every member of Springa work on bettering the system than respond to you complaining about how new tech isn’t mature enough for you.
your 25 year of sys admin clearly didn’t teach you much about software development.
I have more or less the same amount of experience in software development, and that is exactly what we talk about here.
Please go check the kickstarter comments I made: never did I complain about the delays or was I doubting this project. Not until bad decisions were made about the software. I detected them, put them up in the comment for discussion and was ignored.
Now that the software is facing the issues that I warned about I’m the one who is not “mature” enough to “embrace cutting edge technology”.
Think this over again please and don’t give me a personal attack. I made valid points based on facts, not oppinions.
Hi Pelgrim,
Sorry for the delay in giving you feedback, the company has been closed for the summer holidays.
Regarding the Linux version, we are still working on the MAC version at the moment, so we hope to be able to give you news as soon as possible. The new roadmap, on the other hand, will be shared in the near future, we need to discuss it with the developers.
The major problem with Slingshot is that it’s written by the wrong Springa partner…
Reading back the project history (“news”) one can read that the initial intention was to write Slingshot as a webapplication. This would have made it cross-platform from the beginning…
But looking at all those big and small shortcomings in the G-code generated by Slingshot, one can only conclude that this software partner has no clue in what it is actually doing.
The best path forward for us users would be a different CAM-partner for Springa I’m affraid…
Bringing a new electrical tool on the European market is a great endeavor (CE-marking, safety issues, EMC, WiFi, manual, personal liabilities, etc.).
Besides that, Goliath must be able to keep working in a dusty environment.
The machine itself is a very solid and clever design, all kudos to the designers!
(Altough there is still some room for improvement ).
Let’s wait and see what Slingshot 2.0 will bring, but Springa must be sure that the G-code generated is bug-free… Bells and whistles are nice to have, but firstly I need good solid G-code!
Sadly enough you’re right on the money …
And by now money (and time) is a major problem I suppose.
I hate that all I can do here is complaining of what is not delivered instead of being constructive,
but I stayed constructive on this kickstarter campaign as long as I could.
Make the “hard call” and save what is indeed a great piece of hardware.
Everyone, including your product and company reputation, will gain from it in the long run, even when it’s painfull now.
I didn’t unpack, but I never hear any complaints worth mentioning about hardware, so it must be good.
).