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Arduino IDE 1.8.0 - Yay?

1/2/2017

 
ICYMI - The "Arduinos" have begun to resolve their differences, and have attempted to start the process of merging the unnecessarily fractured software platform by releasing a new version of the Arduino IDE software - namely Arduino IDE 1.8.0.

arduino.org announcement: New IDE for all Arduino boards!

arduino.cc announcement: NEW IDE FOR ALL ARDUINO BOARDS!

​It is a minor step in the right direction to removing some of the confusion surrounding all of the strangeness that both parties have exhibited over the last couple of years.  However, there is a long way to go.

Anyway, on December 23rd, 2016, the "Arduinos" released a somewhat-merged IDE.  (OK, so instead they compromised on a few things, and kept the ".CC" repository as the main repo.)

They bumped the version from 1.6.x (on the ".CC" side), and 1.7.x (on the ".ORG" side), to 1.8.0 -- This should end the confusion about the software versions.  They also added support for both the ".CC" and ".ORG" hardware.

While this has been an interesting development in the Arduino ecosphere, there is still very little information on what is happening with the rest of the supposed merger.  Since the news of the settlement, there has been no other news, as far as I could find.  My only comment on this is that the involved parties need to be more open about what is happening with what was, at one time, an open source software project.

(Link to the Hackaday article on the settlement announcement)

Because of my involvement with the software and hardware with the "Arduinos" and Wiring, I sincerely  hope that 2017 will be a significantly better year than the previous ones.

So, happy new year!  Is this a step in the right direction? 

Paul Stoffregen link
1/2/2017 04:04:07 pm

You're frustrated. I get that. I too have wondered what's up. But really, what do you expect?

It's pretty standard practice not to make public statements about ongoing litigation. They did make a very public announcement in September, and now this in December. I'm pretty sure both had their legal teams involved in scrutinizing every word. Before this ugly conflict, the norm was 2 major announcement each year, at the San Mateo and New York Maker Faire events in May and September.

But if even they've failed to communicate well, where does "...what was, at one time, an open source software project" come from? There's been plenty of daily activity, in code commits and tech discussion on their issue tracker. A few official releases have been published in these months, with full source, as have the nightly builds. They even responded recently to feedback a couple versions weren't properly tagged (by going back in the commit history and adding the version tags). How is that not open source?

I believe they also deserve more credit than "a somewhat-merged IDE". What specifically isn't merged? I've personally the .org software a few times and the .cc software extensively. I'm not aware of anything missing from 1.8.0. Arduino.org's SAMD boards were supported via the board's manager (same way Arduino.cc's are) a few days after release. If they left anything out of the merge, I'd really like to hear the details.

Yeah, the silence can be frustrating, but that's no excuse to throw around accusations not solidly supported by facts. Seems to me they're making progress and putting forth a genuine effort, even if they're not publicly speaking of the ongoing internal details.

Brett Hagman link
1/2/2017 08:27:52 pm

Thanks Paul -- you're right, my wording came across as frustration.

Just first off - I'm not throwing any accusations around (I'm still trying to see what accusations I made...). I'm actually genuinely happy that they are sorting this shit show out. Of course, my frustration, and stumbling words, may come across wrong to the right sort of people (such as yourself). You have played a critical role in the entire story of Arduino (anyone arguing otherwise has a screw loose).

The comment about "what was, at one time, an open source project" was poorly worded, as you are very correct. And I am very aware of how well the software repository is performing these days. I think it had more to do with other frustrations regarding the origins of Arduino. Meh.

Regarding the recent "merge" -- it couldn't really be a proper merge for many reasons. Since there weren't any significant changes to the .org to warrant a full merge, and the additional hardware was relatively easy to add, bringing the work in from .org was somewhat trivial for the seasoned veterans of the .cc repo (e.g. Cristian, and Martino, among others).

Again, Paul, I know I've come across frustrated, but hey, that's why I have this blog, right? I need to vent sometimes - I think we all do.

The bottom line, despite how I worded it above, is that it is a good thing that the two groups have sorted out the IDE versioning fiasco, as that was a significant problem for many users, I think. This software merge puts one of the bigger problems for the software project behind them, and allows everyone to move on from some of the crud in the past.


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