This is just a quick bouquet (for Railo) and brickbat (for ColdFusion).
Here's the timeline of a bug that was found in Railo:
| Time | Elapsed Time | Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Aug 2012 15:10 | - | Potential bug in int() function reported on the mailing list |
| 8 Aug 2012 15:50 | 40min | Bug confirmed by community member |
| 8 Aug 2012 21:23 | 6hrs | Probable cause of bug suggested by community member |
| 9 Aug 2012 08:03 | 17hrs | Ticket raised |
| 9 Aug 2012 09:11 | 18hrs | Explanation of issue offered by Railo dev team member |
| 9 Aug 2012 10:39 | 19hrs | Bug fixed ready for next release |
| 9 Aug 2012 10:39 | 19hrs | Workaround offered by Railo dev team member |
Note that this is a fairly trivial issue, and the workaround is fine. But it's now fixed, and will be released shortly.
Now here's my experience with a severe problem with ColdFusion 10 (one that would prevent me using it):
| Time | Elapsed Time | Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Jul 2012 | - | Unidentified serious performance issue reported on the mailing list |
| 9 July 2012 | 4 days | Bug confirmed & probable cause identified by community member |
| 9 July 2012 | 4 days | Ticket raised |
| 9 July 2012 | 4 days | Earlier ticket covering same problem located (dating from 6 June 2012) |
| 9 Aug 2012 | 1 month | No further activity on this ticket (*). Not a jot of feedback from Adobe (**) |
(*) It's not even changed status from "unverified" to "verified". Basically no-one's looked at it.
(**) There was one instance of feedback from Adobe on the earlier issue, on 18 June 2012.
Please note, I did not cherry pick these particular instances, they are merely two tickets that - for one reason or another - found their way onto my radar in the last 24hrs. They are, however, representative of my experiences with both products / organisations.
I have to take my hat off to Railo, especially micha, who really jumped on this issue.
On the other hand - thinking about Adobe - I'm kinda wondering "WTH are you lot up to?" CF10 now has this auto updater thing, which seems really good. How many updates have been released so far? None.
I hasten to add that if I was to pick a "camp" that I belonged to, it'd be ColdFusion rather than Railo, so it's not like I'm one of these Railo fanboys who are happy to denigrate ColdFusion and Adobe whenever they can. But I know proof when I see it in the pudding.
Adobe, you need to get your act together.
--
Adam
