Re: [BitPim-devel] Continuation

[Sean P. B. <sea...@gm...>]

Timothy,
I'm not sure why I am still subscribed to this list, but I imagine sentimental reasons probably have something to do with it.  I used to be in charge of the Mac builds for the bitpim project, so I suppose I am qualified to answer your question.

I joined the project some time in 2005 for the exclusive (and self-serving) reason to get my crappy LG phone supported by bitpim. It was a derivative of a supported phone, so after a Saturday's worth of reading posts on Howard's forums (which will lower your IQ significantly) I mashed together an ugly patch and fired it off to Joe Pham - the main developer. After their Mac builder dropped out I offered my services and just like that, we were up and running. 

There was a time when our project was hot - really hot. We would routinely get posts from forensics experts inside and outside government.  There were also paid offers to develop the package for certain phone models and even "rush orders." (We need it for a warrant, etc.). These, as Kurt Vonnegut might have said, were the salad days. 

Eventually three things happened that brought development to a screeching halt.  First, there was a major version change of python (the underlying platform in which bitpim is written). This doesn't seem like it should have been a major problem, but the project had been designed so long ago that some of the tools we relied upon to build the executable were getting abandoned. Every time python jumped up a version, found ourselves having to patch and rebuild another python module. It was worse on the Mac side since our python build is, ahem, "centrally planned."

Do you remember the scene in the Simpsons where they travel to the future and Smithers is talking to the frozen head of Montgomery Burns? Smithers says to the head, "Don't worry sir, we'll have you up and running just as soon as our scientists find a cure for....37 stab wounds in the back." In the background, a researcher shouts "We just got 24!" and everyone rejoices. Bitpim development sometimes felt a lot like that.  

The second reason was that there was a sea change from the traditional clam-shell phone to the smartphone. I don't want to say that the iPhone or Blackberry killed our project, but it made it less and less relevant. I can't prove it, but I would hazard the guess that the number one reason we lost developers (and users!) was that they would switch to a smartphone. Speaking from personal experience, it was a lot harder for me to do the work on bitpim when my shiny new iPhone was already syncing my music, calendar, and contacts. In at least one sense, bitpim has gone the way of the horse and buggy for most users, save luddites like my brother - a 29 year old nuclear physicist with a Jitterbug.

The third reason is more common to a lot of open source projects; we all grew up and got jobs. In 2008 I started law school full time, in addition to work, and that left little time for bitpim. Alan Cox, one of the original Linux developers, said it best when he said something to the effect of "I'm now less concerned about race conditions and more concerned about repotting the plants in my apartment." Open source development is fun, but it's a young man's game - filled with Mountain Dew, artificial deadlines, and *many* late nights spent bug tracking.

I don't mind saying that my involvement with bitpim was a highlight in my time as a developer. There was a time when our project was hot - Verizon and AT&T customer service would recommend us to customers! I could post snarky things on Howard's forums and people would listen! Those days are gone. I haven't heard from Joe in several years, although I'd be interested in knowing what he has been up to all this time. 

Thus, I suppose the long answer to your question is: "The follow-up version to 1.0.7 is not being actively developed."

Best,

Sean Burke
Former bitpim developer, now lawyer and potted-plant owner.

On Sep 15, 2012, at 4:37 AM, Timothy Seders <ts...@gm...> wrote:

> is there going to be a continuation of bitpim or was 1.0.7 the last one?
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