Whenever I do something that is not quite right, PD extended for Mac likes to just freeze and then at some-point close without any crash report, though generally I just force quit. Nevermind if you have a patch that isn't saved, it makes no crash save or anything, seriously I am quite sick of this software. It might be free but does it have to be so badly tested.

Most software lately seems to fall into ever increasing cycles of badly tested annoyance for the user.... I have only been using PureDate for about 2 months, and as much as it entices it is equally repelling me from it's glitched up workings... it's poor structuring and over complicating of simple tasks is not so bad when you get used to it, but the rest is really beginning to put me off it completely.

Now someone please tell me I am wrong!? ;p

I'm on Mac, and I don't really experience crashes much at all. In fact, I also use Max/MSP, and I've found Pd-extended to be considerably more stable. I can understand feeling put off when this is constantly happening, but given that I'm having no problems, and that this doesn't seem all that common, I'm wondering if it's actually Pd-extended's fault. Have you tried vanilla and had these problems?

Also, the users of Pd-extended (and vanilla) ARE its testers, and it does go through several release candidates before an official one comes out. If you experience problems like this, the best thing you can do is bring it up with the Pd-list and talk to the developers directly. They may just have you file a bug report, but they'll at least know about the problem. Just because it works for them obviously doesn't mean it will work for everybody, so there are certain things they just won't find out about unless you tell them.

Edit: I just remembered that you've been doing some video stuff. I have found that the pdp objects tend to cause crashes on my system. Do these crashes occur when not using them?

Antirty, Pd for Mac (except GEM and Pdp) IS stable, and even GEM and Pdp isn't that bad once you learn what triggers the crashes.

Your post is like that of a whiny child. I'd be offended if I spent as many hours creating this open source software for people like you to piss over it. I'd understand if there was some kind of agreement here or financial obligation for the developers to satisfy all your needs, but for what they have already created, show some flipping respect.

And about the crash-save feature... care to make it yourself?

@arif said:

Your post is like that of a whiny child. I'd be offended if I spent as many hours creating this open source software for people like you to piss over it. I'd understand if there was some kind of agreement here or financial obligation for the developers to satisfy all your needs, but for what they have already created, show some flipping respect.

Hey arif, i'd suggest to everybody to try to stay cool... When i first read the initial post I also found it quite unrespectful. But then I can also understand that when one's really trying to get this amazing piece of software working and it's not going as expected that one can get really frustrated to the point where he/she loses his/her temper and maybe post something which they're a little ashamed about afterwards.

I hope antirty finds some new courage to tackle his/her problem and maybe posts some guilty patches so we can all start looking to solve those nasty evil bits of code...

haha, lol... well I expected a response like Arif's pretty much word for word, some what predictable... and besides which if no-one ever lets off steam and says how they see it from time to time then no-one takes note, you become lost in the sea of more agreeable comments, and I also think it's the sort of thing developers might actually find useful, it's called feedback (though noted "direct to the developers" is probably best). I recall last time I read this that Arif also said something about the software developers being offended by my comments, not sure what happened to that part of your comment... I think they should care little about the momentary episodic fury of a newbie PD programmer, they're clearly bigger than that!

Thanks for all considered comments btw, better late than never (my thanks I mean).... I do find PD very prone to freezing up though in general, and used it on many different computers in and out of University. It's my liking of it that fuels the frustration when you are held back from the creative process by glitches, creative states are so killed by hiccups. It's one of the main problems with trying to work on both sides of the process, technical and creative, the two flow so much better when they are separate....

As for "video causing the problem", maybe it was, I forget what I was working on at the time now... I am trying to get my head into Supercollider a bit more at the moment but also using MAX/MSP a little. I'll be sure to be more positively productive in my posting when I return to PD

@Antirty said:

if no-one ever lets off steam and says how they see it from time to time then no-one takes note, you become lost in the sea of more agreeable comments, and I also think it's the sort of thing developers might actually find useful, it's called feedback (though noted "direct to the developers" is probably best).

If you're trying to get a free meal at a restaurant, then maybe being a dick about it will get the manager to try and make you happy and stop making a scene. But people who work for free aren't interested. They don't have to worry about being fired or losing income. It is not common for free software developers to bend over backwards for someone who acts unappreciative of their work. They are much more appreciative of constructive criticism.

I recall last time I read this that Arif also said something about the software developers being offended by my comments, not sure what happened to that part of your comment...

Since it does not say at the bottom of his post that he edited it, then it didn't exist.

Honestly, I don't understand why you'd come back after all this time and still use the harsh language you just used.

I'll be sure to be more positively productive in my posting when I return to PD

Please do. I'm not interested in letting a flamewar persist.