| | 1 | There are different methods to develop and distribute software. |
| | 2 | |
| | 3 | * The method often used by commercial software is to have releases increasing version number. |
| | 4 | * In case major bugs are detected either minor updates or bug-fix releases are produced. |
| | 5 | * Between the big releases software is improved and sometimes restructured. |
| | 6 | |
| | 7 | JOSM uses another approach. |
| | 8 | |
| | 9 | * The JOSM editor is kept always in a releasable state. |
| | 10 | * Each night a new software is build (called latest) which can be used. |
| | 11 | * As nobody (especially not a developer) is perfect these latest builds may contain more or severe bugs. |
| | 12 | * To reduce troubles we release approximately every month a tested version. |
| | 13 | * Before the tested is release efforts are done to remove most of the known bugs and to complete translations. |
| | 14 | * JOSM does not have a version number really (it is 1.5 for some years now), but uses the always increasing version of source code repository. |
| | 15 | * The version watch line in JOSM startup page tells you what software version are current and also tell you when an update would be recommended. |
| | 16 | |
| | 17 | What does this mean to you. |
| | 18 | * When you use the tested version, you have a very stable version of the software. |
| | 19 | * When you use latest you have always the newest features, but also the newest bugs. |
| | 20 | * Translations are constantly improved. There may always be missing strings, but usually you wont encounter many of them for the good maintained languages. |
| | 21 | |
| | 22 | Please remember: The core team of JOSM usually consists of 2-3 active persons each time. Including translators probably less than 10 persons work for JOSM regularly. |
| | 23 | |
| | 24 | We appreciate your help. You must not be an programmer to do so. |
| | 25 | * The online help pages in English need improvement |
| | 26 | * The wiki pages need translations into different languages |
| | 27 | * The program texts need translations into different languages |
| | 28 | * We need many fancy icons for missing presets and program menus |
| | 29 | * bug reports must be reviewed and tested |
| | 30 | * ... |
| | 31 | |
| | 32 | See at the bottom of [wiki:WikiStart] where you can start helping. |
