[PLEASE VOTE] so what should we be working on

[Dietrich Meyer]

Dear Dirk and all other contributors,

Preface: I am not sure how much you all are interested in my opinion, since I 
am merely an open-source  "parasite" (i.e. user, who, until now did not even 
report any bugs, nor contribute any useful input or code)

I have been using subsurface since 2012, and I followed your developer list 
regularely. I think you all created an excellent piece of software: Thank you!

I do find the current dive site management UI not perfect, but definitely 
usable.

I am also using subsurface-mobile on my android phone (works on Galaxy S5 and 
Galaxy W). Subsurface-mobile as it is now, although lacking some functionality 
when compared to desktop version, is still quite useful. E.g. when dive shops 
want to see your diving experience, or for reference when revisiting a site I 
was diving some time ago. So please do not shut down subsurface -mobile, even 
if there are no active contributors for further development.

In order for mobile and desktop to work hand-in-hand, the remote git saving 
ability would also be essential. If I understand correctly, Dirk is paying for 
all that from private pocket. Thank you for that. But please be reminded that 
people (me, e.g.) would be willing to also pay for such a service!
(Yes, this is clearly not a path to  enourmous wealth, but it should not be a 
burden for someone who has already delivered so much to us all.)

So in summary, I would like to vote (4), but since I don't see how I would be 
able to contribute in any significant way, I'll have to downgrade that to (2) 
minus the "abandon ssrf-mobile" bit....
No idea why you are thinking of option (5), current ssrf is too good to be 
abandoned. Same for option (1)!

Thanks again for all the effort spent on making subsurface what it is today!

Dietrich

> I have been focused on other things for a while (and the why and the what
> will become public fairly soon) and decided to use that chance to figure
> out what would happen if I just stopped paying attention here for a while.
> 
> Here's what I think I learned (correct me if I'm wrong)
> 
> a) no one cares about Subsurface-mobile. No bug reports, no code, no
> suggestions, nothing. So I guess we should call this a failed attempt and
> abandon it - screw the 500 or so people who use it.
> 
> b) Miika continues to deal with any import bug that shows up. Awesome. Your
> patches have been pushed
> 
> c) there continues to be a slow crawl of features, ideas, patches for the
> planner. Those have also been pushed (someone poke me if I got something
> wrong there)
> 
> d) no one cares about the dive site mess that we have. The current version
> in Subsurface 4.5.x is pretty much unusable and makes no bleeping sense. 
> No patches, some suggestions for improvement, no discussion, nothing.
> 
> 
> In summary, this project is pretty much dead. I guess it does everything the
> formerly active developers wanted? Or everyone has moved on to more fun
> things? Or had children, changed jobs, built a house, lost their job, or
> one of a number of other life events?
> 
> 
> So what should we be working on...? Should we...
> 
> (1) just shut this down and move on?
> (2) move things to maintenance mode, abandon Subsurface-mobile, fix bugs in
> Subsurface whenever we find time but otherwise declare victory? It won't be
> too painful to track libdicecomputer and keep making 4.5.x releases for a
> while, I guess... (3) focus on Subsurface-mobile, release the iOS version,
> update the Android version and see if there is a single person besides me
> who is willing to invest time into that? (4) focus on Subsurface 4.6, fix
> the dive site management and create a list of prioritized features that we
> want to get in place? (5) focus on Subsurface 5.0, write a completely new
> UI and abandon what we have in 4.5?
> 
> If your vote is for 3, 4, or 5 I assume that you are volunteering to carry
> some of the work that is needed to get there. If you don't vote, I will
> count that as a vote for 1.
> 
> /D