I’m always calm. I was just filling in some reasoning (as I see it) why they’d choose to go the route that they did.
I’m sure there were several reasons. They decided to open up a Beta to end-users. That requires that they have the necessary software in place to do so. They could have kept that just to the Beta users. That would have been a valid approach too.
However, I’m sure at the same time, they wanted to get something new into peoples’ hands. So, by making it an option, the people who aren’t going to use OB, or participate in the Beta, can at least try out some of the new functions that they’ve been working on.
I’m sure there will be plenty of bug-fix releases. There always are, especially when larger-scale new features are introduced.
I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from waiting another version or two before jumping, if stability is the absolute most important thing. I also wouldn’t dissuade Elektron from putting the new features out in the public either. The brave people will install the updates and try the new features, while the people who’d rather not jump right away, can hang back a bit.
I’m only arguing for the choice. Not how you personally choose to approach it.
What I don’t think a lot of people understand is that Elektron (from my perspective) is a bit of a different sort of instrument company. They’ve been around a while, but they’re relatively new in the scheme of things. (they’re not DSI, they’re not Waldorf, they’re not Yamaha, etc.) They’re also smaller. They also started out as a small group of enthusiasts. They didn’t launch as a corporation.
They’re bigger now, and they have a lot of instruments under their belt. I’m not saying you can’t view this differently. I’m sure most of the people chomping for flawless OB support “right now” probably think I’m crazy. Even though they’ve evolved, I still see this group of enthusiastic people, doing something because they love it. I’m not saying this to excuse any perceived wrong-doing by people who feel things should have played out differently. I’m saying it because I think you approach things differently if you’re that sort of company. You have lofty “this will be so cool” goals. You’re excited to build something cool for your customers. However, maybe your scope and schedule go out the window due to something unforeseen.
If you’re Yamaha or Roland, you slap a bunch more engineers on the project, draw from experience in another division of your company, etc. If you’re Elektron, maybe your only option is to apologize for the delay, tell your users that you’re working on it, and keep plugging away until it’s resolved.
I just see too many people that think the OB situation is some malicious act, where Elektron is evil, and trying to cheat them out of their money and features. I can be reasonably certain (as I’ve said from time to time) that this is not the case.
Anyway, enough of that, it’s been argued to death already. As someone that occasionally ships projects late because I’m only one guy, I just view this a bit differently I think.