NASLite Network Attached Storage

I know that allot of us would really like to see the release of the server but ask your self these simple questions.

Do I want to pay for a piece of software that is broken out of the box and promises to do what it doesn't in the future? Am I willing to trust my data to software that my not work the way it should and maybe even loose it?

M2 is in beta right now and the last few bugs are being worked out, it will be soon but it will not be wrong for the sake of a release. Such is the way Tony abd Ralph have worked in the past, personally I hope it continues this way in the future.

Mike

Well put Mike.

Uhhhh..mmmmm I once bought Windows 95

I honestly think that Mike is a little bit one sided. ServerElements can do whatever Tony and Ralph want but giving announcement on M2 being released in September and then fell in a total silence gives no good to the users.

I've done the choice to go with NasLite, I've built a server to run NasLite on and I was relying on M2 to distribute my Media content through the house. This choice was done because M2 was imminent, at least according to the messages Tony/Ralph left on this forum.

As today no news were given, just blaming Apple to have modified iTunes. So NasLite must be strong, this is a must for a small software vendor as ServerElements, but reliability of the announcement must be a must too.

Bottom line, do ServerElements have a possible quarter (not a specific date, this is probably asking too much) for the M2 release? More than 3500 views exist in the Welcome to M2 thread. Do all these people deserve to have some more informations?

As usual, is always ServerElements choice but, at least on the expectations and marketing point of view, all of this is just funny.

MB

Both Ralph and I would like nothing more than to release M2 today. That however would mean we'd be releasing software that does not fully satisfy our requirements. Since Ralph and I are also responsible for support, I think it would be irresponsible to release unless everything works as necessary.

We really are hoping to resolve all outstanding issues very soon.

Thanks for your patience.

I echo Tony's statement fully. And I would also like to point out, that software companies do announce products well in advance of release, for example Windows 7 and OS X Snow Tiger.




I would like a clarification on the above statement, I can't seem to find anywhere, where we blamed Apple for modifying iTunes?
I wasn't even aware there was a problem with DAAPD.

Version 8 of iTunes was just released and Mike gave the following statement answering an other user post:

---> Quote Start <---

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:51 pm

Tony informed me that he and Ralph are working on a few bugs and monkey wrenches Apple so kindly threw into the mix. They are close and we should see it really soon. Thank Apple for the latest holdup.

Mike

---> Quote End <---

It doesn't have any meaning continuing with this thread but only one question remains: Does ServerElements has a release month for M2?

Thanks.

May be my bad, I might have misunderstood something in the near past to mean that there were/was a possible problem with some part of the DAAPD export function. I guess I stand corrected?

As far as one sided, there have been a few times that I have sent rather pointed PMs to Tony and Ralph about issues I and others have had in the past. One thing to keep in mind about me is that I expect that software is broken or delivers the absolute least the writers/publishers can get away with upon release. Get it out there and get the money, then we can fix it over the next few months. This has not been the case with these two so I tend to give them a fair bit more leeway.

Do not doubt for a minute that I will not be all over their asses if they drag this out for month after month! I think they rather expect it from me.

Mike

Thanks for the clarification Mike.

In any case is still a mystery in which month M2 will be released.

Let's wait...

It will be worth the wait....

While it makes all the sense in the world to postpone a release until the software reaches the desired stability, it makes no sense to stop communicating with your customers. I'm not referring to the lack of an estimated release date as I'm sure you will give one when you have one. There was however a period of around five weeks (correct me if I'm wrong) pretty much without any communcation whatsoever regarding what was going on with M2. A simple "we're still working on some bugs with xxxx and we currently have no new estimated release date" would have been appriciated! Anyway.. good luck with quirking out those nasty bugs and hope to see M2 release soon!

Fair enough. I'll take the criticism.

However, I figured that if we had nothing new to say, simply saying "we're working on it" is redundant since we 've said that already. At any rate, we are working on it.

M2 is undergoing yet more changes primarily to accommodate UPnP and the PS3. The existing DLNA profile has proven unsuitable for full exploitation of the PS3 media playback capabilities. Although it's claimed to be DLNA compliant, the PS3 really is not, so we are implementing an additional UPnP profile targeting the PS3 specifically. NASLite-M2 will therefore offer a total of 4 UPnP profiles: Generic, DLNA, XBOX and PS3.

At any rate, Ralph will try and post some more details on the subject very soon. Thanks for your patience...

What about appleTV connectivity? Will the appleTV be able to play music / movies from NASLite or does this still require iTunes running on a mac?
I also have a Roku soundbridget hat I would like to use with NASLite M2. This should work right?

I do not know if this may be useful but there is source code available, even if written in java, for a PS3 mediaserver here: http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/

This may speed up the process.

Happy new year.

MB