Sublime Forum

**cydia** · August 21, 2017, 1:38am

The latest ordinary user version is also September 23, 2016, build3126 version, when to update it?
But I see the development version of the update is very frequent, where the development version of the purchase? Or can you use it for free?

**OdatNurd** · August 21, 2017, 3:08am

The stable build (currently 3126 as you have outlined in your post) is a version that anyone can use/try for free. The development versions are only available to licensed users (they will not run unless you enter a license key first).

Generally speaking a development cycle consists of some number of development builds where features/fixes are implemented and tested. Once everything seems stable that build is promoted to the new stable build.

Only the developers know when that part happens though.

**cydia** · August 21, 2017, 3:42am

Meaning is the stability of the development version, when the time will be updated to the official version, is this mean？

**gj1118** · August 21, 2017, 5:50am

Sorry, but I will be blunt here. There are only two people (apart from other numerous other folks who spend their own personal time helping people with their ST issues) working full time on ST. If you think that ST needs continued development and that it should be the best editor on the planet, please consider buying a license. You see, it goes a long way .

FYI: I am in no way associated with that process and neither I am a member of the ST org.

Thank you

**kaiser101** · August 21, 2017, 6:58am

I agree that there are only 2 people working on this product. But its not a free product and people pay for the license. Also there are quite a few who have paid 70 quid for a beta license. They do have a right to know as to when they can expect a stable release. Communication has always been a pain point with Sublime HQ. “It will be ready when it is ready”. Imagine if you got that for an answer from a vendor whom you have already paid the money. @Cydia, I am with you on this one.

**frou** · August 21, 2017, 8:08am

From my perspective, the “dev” builds are unfinished in name only. It’s effectively been at the quality level of a finished product for a long time.

**braver** · August 21, 2017, 8:26am

Yes, especially the last one has been excellent, but the first dev builds directly after a new cycle tend to be a bit bumpy. My hunch is they’re polishing 3142 and stuff like the website to go out of beta before Christmas.

**dhbn** · August 21, 2017, 9:33am

Afaik you don’t have to pay additional for the beta. If the beta is the same than the dev builds than you can already use it with your already paid license.

Vague or no answers when a software product will be ready is very common. But what’s the alternative? To promise release dates and don’t release on that dates. That wouldn’t be better.

Maybe could be the access to dev builds an incentive for people to buy a ST 3 license.

**dhbn** · August 21, 2017, 10:40am

@cydia, if you look at the licensing terms than you will see that a continued use was never free.

Sublime Text may be downloaded and evaluated for free,
however a license must be purchased for continued use.

If you are a regular user than you should and legally have to buy a license. With that you can also access the dev builds. Pretty easy, isn’t it?

**chrisvio** · August 21, 2017, 2:03pm

I own a license and am very frustrated at the lack of regular stable channel releases. Once a year does not cut it. I like Sublime better than Atom but, I am considering moving to Atom partly because they have had 29 stable releases since Sublime last had a stable channel release. It must be nice to have regular bug fixes and feature additions.

**wbond** · August 21, 2017, 2:20pm

What would you like to know? I tend to answer questions when they are asked.

If the question is “When will 3142 become “beta”?”, well, we are working on getting 3.0 final ready to launch. Telling you a date would probably just lead to disappointment since there are all sorts of things involved in a launch, and I can’t with any sense of reliability tell you when it will all be done. If I tried, you would have been disappointed multiple times already.

If you want faster releases, then you can use a dev build. The dev builds early in the cycle tend to be less stable since we do more significant updates early (hence also the long period between 3126 and 3127). We are now late in the dev cycle, so the dev builds should be fairly stable. If you are saying you want us to make all of the dev changes but stabilize them more quickly, then I don’t really have an answer for you.

**kaiser101** · August 21, 2017, 5:34pm

Couple of points.

First of all development of Sublime 3 has started over 2 years ago. Sometimes there is a huge gap even in the development releases. People are being given no clue as to whats the roadmap for the beta or the stable release.
Second read JPS blog post when the last beta was released. It gives a false sense that we are close to a stable release.
Third read your own post, “we are working on getting 3.0 final ready to launch.”. So vague and ambiguous. If you had said, we are working on issues/features x, y and z. Thats what we want in release 3. And then people can get a real sense of when it will be ready, even more so when in the release dev/beta notes people can start ticking off the items mentioned above.

It would have made a lot of sense if JPS had released a roadmap on what he was targetting as part of release 3 and then ticking off items off that list in the dev/beta release notes. In that case even if the pace of the development is slow, people would not be so frustrated about whats going on with Sublime.

**wbond** · August 21, 2017, 6:33pm

Actually, the Sublime Text 3 beta started 4.5 years ago.

That is true. We do not publish roadmaps. Jon never has, and I don’t think we have plans in the near term.

I am sorry that you had a specific timeline in mind based on the blog. The last beta was the last one before we graduate out of beta, that hasn’t changed. Some of the work we decided to get done before calling 3.0 done has changed. Since we don’t publish our future development plans, we also don’t publish when our development plans change.

Well, this also ties into us not publishing the details of everything that happens behind the scenes. Most companies don’t operate as open companies where all details of what is going on are published for everyone to see.

Imagine running a software company, dealing with writing the software, maintaining infrastructure for distributing it, accepting payments, dealing with upgrades, updating web materials, designing interfaces, etc. You can probably think of other things also. We are doing those things. Hopefully that helps?

As I stated above, I could tell you a date, but if I had, you’d probably have been disappointed a few times already this spring. That is just part of the nature of being such a small company and trying to take the time to do things right.

That supposes that we are all-knowing and have exact insight into what combination of items will make for the best release, before any of the work is being done. The reality of it is that priorities shift on a somewhat regular basis and we change our minds about relative priorities.

I can tell you that when the last beta came out, I didn’t know I’d make nearly as many improvements and changes to the theming engine as I did. Part of this was as I designed and then implemented a new theme, I found various deficiencies that needed to be addressed, and while I was working on those it made sense to fix the majority of theme engine bugs. As we improved the implementation of the sidebar to be more efficient, bugs (and undocumented aspects) of the filesystem notification APIs provided by the operating systems were exposed and we had to find ways to work around those. These sort of follow-on issues seem to happen pretty regularly, and affect the pace at which development happens.

**braver** · August 21, 2017, 7:08pm

Although HQ isn’t doing the monthly blog posts a cool start up is expected to do these days, if you follow the dev releases and discussions on the forums it actually paints a pretty good picture of what’s going on. I really appreciate the approach of tackling a design change and then following through on all of the fallout. I plan for a software development team every day and you just don’t get any more accurate than “we’ll do that after we’ve done this and fixed the bugs we don’t know about yet”.

Although they’re not communicated beforehand (and I wouldn’t know why they’d be obliged to do that anyway), the focus and content of each cycle is actually pretty clear. It has already been stated a few times the current cycle is about getting the darn thing out the door. We can only imagine what’s involved and sit and wait till it’s here. It’s not like we have a right to know what’s going on or anything, every info we get is a bonus. That said, the communication and interaction on the forum the past two years have been exemplary.

Making software and waiting for software are both frustrating sometimes, but lets not take it out on each other.

**deathaxe** · August 21, 2017, 7:48pm

Each of such threads cause further delays in release!

@wbond mentioned a few things the two guys have to struggle with every day - and writing comprehensive justifications doesn’t help to get the job done.

I would like to see the one or the other feature being added, too, that’s sure. But as a developer I can imagine the amount of work and complexity the both have to deal with. Thy go the hard way to create a fast and customize-able editor instead of a better web browser for simple text.

I honestly hate the every day updates of apps on my phone which bring absolutely no value. Same with other programs. Some of the less used stuff requires update every time I need it. Or consider modern games and gaming consoles. Everytime you have some minutes to play you waste your time waiting for another 30GB update. I don’t know what people like with every day updated programs.

I want to get my job done but not struggle with updates everyday

**pax** · August 22, 2017, 4:35am

Is there something you’d expect ST to accomplish and doesn’t, any annoying bugs that you’re waiting to be fixed, or just want to have it updated for the excitement of novelty?

**kaiser101** · August 22, 2017, 8:27am

There are other reasons why someone needs a stable release. One reason and one which is relevant to me is that my organization does not allow me to use a software which is in BETA state.

Although @wbond answer does not make a lot of sense to me, especially from a product company which charges for its DEV/BETA releases and yet makes no guarantees about when people can expect a stable release, here’s the way I see it. And this is based on my past experience.

There have been numerous posts about when will Sublime be ready and the answer each time is “It will be ready when it is ready”. From the posts above I can see its not going to change.
So if you are wondering if you should buy a license, sure if you have 70 quid to throw away. IMHO, though, if you have 70 quid to throw away, give it to charity, it will be worth it.
If you have already bought a license, then if the software’s working as per your expectations, congratulations, you got your money’s worth. If not I got one word for you… SUCKER!

**braver** · August 22, 2017, 9:24am

Jeez dude, chill.

There have been numerous posts about when will Sublime be ready and the answer each time is “It will be ready when it is ready”. From the posts above I can see its not going to change.

Of course not. How is it going to be ready before it’s ready? If you’re angry about software development being hard to predict and plan, that’s understandable but at this point it’s about as useful as getting angry about getting wet in the rain.

You’re being unreasonable and perhaps should consider getting some time away from the keyboard rather than venting on this forum. It’s not productive.

**kaiser101** · August 22, 2017, 9:33am

Thank you “O Wise Zen”. There are few people whom I listen to, and you don’t make the cut.

The point I was trying to make is not knowing whats the definition of ready is frustrating, not that it will be ready before its ready. And I only put very bluntly what the folks at Sublime HQ have been trying to tell everyone in a very roundabout way.

**braver** · August 22, 2017, 7:36pm

Again, tone it down a bit man. Your frustration came across clearly the first time.

Is sublime no longer updated?