Thursday 9 August 2012

Two timelines: Railo vs ColdFusion

G'day
This is just a quick bouquet (for Railo) and brickbat (for ColdFusion).

Here's the timeline of a bug that was found in Railo:

TimeElapsed TimeMilestone
8 Aug 2012 15:10-Potential bug in int() function reported on the mailing list
8 Aug 2012 15:5040minBug confirmed by community member
8 Aug 2012 21:236hrsProbable cause of bug suggested by community member
9 Aug 2012 08:0317hrsTicket raised
9 Aug 2012 09:1118hrsExplanation of issue offered by Railo dev team member
9 Aug 2012 10:3919hrsBug fixed ready for next release
9 Aug 2012 10:3919hrsWorkaround 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):

TimeElapsed TimeMilestone
5 Jul 2012-Unidentified serious performance issue reported on the mailing list
9 July 20124 daysBug confirmed & probable cause identified by community member
9 July 20124 daysTicket raised
9 July 20124 daysEarlier ticket covering same problem located (dating from 6 June 2012)
9 Aug 20121 monthNo 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