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Apple Updates Panther Via Software Update

Posted by pudge on from the and-it-softens-butter-without-melting-it dept.

arobase writes "Apple releases update to Panther thru Software Update. The build number changes from 7A179 to 7A202. Updates Mail, Exposé and iChat."

13 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. updates to closed developer betas make news now? by RalphBNumbers · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So they've updated a closed developer beta that only a few thousand people have legally, and this is news?

    If you want to talk about closed betas of Apple's upcoming updates, at least talk about the recent one that fixes the screensaver character buffer bug that got plastered all over /. a few days ago. It isn't all that important either, but at least it serves as a good followup.

    --
    "The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
  2. Re:updates to closed developer betas make news now by profet · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are you implying that files off bittorrent aren't legal?

  3. Re:One step closer to Linux by acidrain · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know I miss the good old days of having to get under the hood when you install a new distro. I installed a recent version a month ago, and everything just worked!?!? I was like WTF is this? Clicked on the little "test sound" installer diologue and sat there in shock listening to the thing. After a few minutes of poking around checking all of my devices and successfully launching major apps I walked away in disgust. That was no fun at all! How can I feel intellectually superior about knowing how to configure packages from a dos partition after booting off a linux floppy? Mabey in a few years I'll bring out an old copy of Slackware and start evangelising it.

    --
    -- http://thegirlorthecar.com funny dating game for guys
  4. Re:One step closer to Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
    Excuse me, but I'm missing your point. How the hell is
    • apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade
    • up2date
    • emerge -u world
    easier/better than clicking "Install" when the notification window comes up?
  5. Re:One step closer to Linux by FredFnord · · Score: 3, Interesting

    > (BTW, I resent your usage of "you", since I'm merely playing devil's advocate)

    If you are given to resenting being called stupid, you should learn not to play devil's advocate.

    This is not a slur... I play devil's advocate all the time, and I get called stupid all the time. But then, I have a thick skin.

    -fred

    --
    Sign #11 of Slashdot overdose: You see the phrase 'moderate Republican' and you wonder if that would be a +1 or a -1.
  6. What? by lnoble · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't have Panther you insensitive-clod.

  7. This just in! Exclusive news story! Stop presses! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Other related breaking stories brought to you by the newshounds at Slashdot:
  8. new update nice... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have the new Panther and the new update was very welcome. The changes made that I have noticed are a bit more stable (hasn't unexpectedly quit anything since, versus a couple of times before). Also, one cool feature is that in mail when you type in an email that matches someone in your Addr. Book or someone in your email list then it creates a button like image (like the new icon text with bgcolors). It makes it really simple and clean!

    Panther rocks. If you don't have it, please don't be bitter. Be patient, it will come.

  9. the reason why they'd do this by goodchef · · Score: 5, Insightful
    There would seem to be no compelling reason to use software update for a patch that's for a still-developers-only product. 1) It does make it easier for those developers to get it. But the bigger reason I see is that since pretty much everyone who has Panther will install this, Apple would get a decent count of the number of installed copies of Panther, and from that a fairly decent estimate of the amount of piracy.

    Personally, I could download it, but I'll just wait until August when they release it. One of the big reasons I like Macs so much is that they just work, and installing a prerelease version of an OS while they're still tweaking it and fixing bugs means goodbye to that.

    --

    "Inflammable means flammable? What a strange country!" -Dr. Nick, The Simpsons

    1. Re:the reason why they'd do this by soullessbastard · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Well, there may be more people who have Panther legally then just WWDC attendees. Apple does have a Software Seeding Program which has been around for years. While I don't have a seeding key to be a member of the program any longer, I expect Panther builds are part of it.

      Not all WWDC attendees are necessarily in the seeding program to download updates to prelrelease software, so there is a valid reason aside from piracy tracking to put the update in Software Update instead of just in the seeding site.

      Still, even if you are tempted to download and install illegally, or if you have it legally and are thinking of installing it on your main machine, there's a good reason not to use it except on test machines. Read the license carefully...one of the sections of the license implies that the OS and dev tools are time limited and will stop functioning after a certain date.

      The only folks I can see this hurting are those who don't heed the recommendations of putting seed software only on test machines, or those who got Panther betas illegally and didn't bother to read the fine print.

      There are also rumors that you will not be able to install 10.3 GM on a machine running one of the prereleases. A friend at a large company told me that their company recommended that their employees be very careful about where they install Panther previews and to not put it on their main work machines.

      I'd conjecture that the workaround is to go back, reinstall a clean copy of 10.2, then put GM on there (or other OS when the preview expires). But no one can be certain until the day 10.3 GM comes.

      Remember, Panther is beta software for testing purposes. Given what I've learned, I'd caution everyone to treat it as such.

    2. Re:the reason why they'd do this by phillymjs · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There would seem to be no compelling reason to use software update for a patch that's for a still-developers-only product.

      How about this reason: To test the new Software Update control panel?

      I have only given my downloaded copy of Panther a cursory playing-with on my spare G4, but I can tell you that Software Update is quite different from the one in Jaguar-- you can opt to have the computer automatically install "important" updates, and there are a few other changes that have been made.

      ~Philly

    3. Re:the reason why they'd do this by Shishio · · Score: 3, Informative

      But no one can be certain until the day 10.3 GM comes.

      Well, the license agreement and the instructions in the installer specifically state that the developer release will not be upgradeable to the full release. So, we can definitely expect not being able to upgrade. I still have it installed, of course, but on separate partitions on work machines and on the main partition only on a test machine.
      --
      Twelve fingers or one, its how you play. ~Gattaca (Vincent)
  10. Re:One step closer to Linux by Mikey-San · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah, that's what a lot of people just don't understand. It may be easy to type a short command in a shell window, but most end-user/average consumer types are deathly afraid of the command-line. (I'd like to blame DOS's shitty CLI for this, as bash and the C shells are nice.)

    Geeks will use a CLI; Mom and Dad won't.

    --
    Mikey-San
    Karma: +Eleventy billion (mostly affected by watching Celebrity Jeopardy)