I read the announcement that Gramps 6.0.3 was released. I‘m a Windows user. So I visited the download page at gramps-project.org. There are 3 versions 6.0.1, 6.0.2, and 6.0.3 available. They are designed for Windows (6.0.1), macOS (6.0.2), and Linux (6.0.3). So my Windows version 6.0.1 seems to be the actual one.
It would be helpful if a release announcement like „6.0.3 released“ would mention that that release is only for Linux users available.
Oh! Now I found a Windows version 6.0.3 at GitHub! Where is the official download page for Gramps Desktop? I‘m comfortable with everything. GitHub is ok. But then shutdown the inconsistent page at gramps-project.org, please.
Best regards
Hermann
GitHub is where the compile-from-source, Mac and Windows downloads are first made available. FlatHub for the Flatpak. The wiki download page just has links to where the downloads live. The various linux repos and PortableApps downloads are created and linked as volunteers find time.
Granted, it is a raggedly staggered release process. But that is the nature of open source volunteer projects.
Users become familiar (although impatient) with the process after the first few update rounds.
Generally speaking, we are not TOO anxious to update the wiki. Since it is nice to have a few days to shake out installation oddities before the less technically adept users notice the new version.
The release of 6.0.3 only a few days after 6.0.2 being a good example.
I remember in my Windows 95 and XP days that I would get nervous about whether an app was genuine or not. Having both a gramps-project github and webpage that don’t always match is something that would have made me nervous in those days. Just to make it clear in case anyone is unsure, both gramps-project.org and Gramps Project · GitHub are legitimate websites used by the Gramps Project for different purposes. A long time ago, I remember using Gramps download | SourceForge.net to get updated versions of Gramps. I just noticed that the Gramps sourceforge is still maintained too.
Perhaps a different way of explaining the different websites and inconsistent syncing between them could be helpful. Not all browsers do this, but on the Firefox for Linux if you hold the cursor over a link, then the address for the link appears on the bottom left.
As for why some projects have their own download pages linking to their github pages, it is a compromise between security, user-friendliness, and bandwidth for hosting downloads. Github is a great and relatively secure place on the internet for developers to do their thing, but it is not as user friendly as a webpage like gramps-project.org dedicated to distributing an app as well as providing a wiki for multiple versions, download links with more detailed explanations, links to places to get help, etc. Github is not just a place for developers to share code, but it also has the ability to compile the code and adds a layer of security for users. Since Github is owned by Microsoft, wouldn’t you prefer that a reputable company compile the apps you download off the internet rather than have some unknown stranger compile the apps on their own computers at home before uploading to some website for people to find? Theoretically, a malicious user could still find a way to sneak malware into Github-compiled code, but a reputable third-party compiled app is still much less ikely to have malware than freeware compiled without oversight on someone’s PC.
Just to let others know, the same actually goes for the gramps flatpak, Gramps for Mac, and the linux source code for Gramps. It is all done at Github. Even Flathub compiles at its own Github repo from submitted scripts now.
For another reason why sometimes the gramps-project page doesn’t get updated immediately is that guiding a linux project is like herding cats. Everybody is a volunteer who has their own interests and timeline. We are also in different time zones on different schedules with different circumstances, and even conversations can take a day or more between responses. The intent for Gramps is on stability and safety instead of timelines and profit, so there are some quirks that you won’t see in for-profit projects with employers and employees. Theoretically, something could be done about streamlining the process of syncing pages between websites, but as mentioned earlier the delay sometimes catches bugs that got missed in testing. Catching bugs isn’t the purpose for the delay in syncing, but rather an explanation for why it doesn’t get streamlined.
