PixInsight 1.7 ? Codename "Starbuck"

Juan Conejero

Juan Conejero

PixInsight Staff
Staff member
Starting from version 1.7, each new PixInsight Core version will have a code name.

So the next PI version is officially known as: PixInsight Core 1.7.0 "Starbuck"

Starbuck is the young first mate of the Pequod, the whaleship in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. This name has been suggested by Fernando Ballesteros of the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Valencia, Spain.
 

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My first thought as well, Carlos. A reference to the drink that fuels the PI development team. :D

Steve
 
"Not that there's anything wrong with that."


In business code names are generally used when the version number or actual product name hasn't been decided yet. We had products like orca, panda, blue whale etc. that eventually hit the market with boring names like DD580, DD600. Marketing was typically behind the curve and wouldn't decide on model numbers until the product was nearing completion. Generational shifts are also a good reason to introduce code names so you don't have to keep on saying 'the old one' and 'the new one'. We had Ren and Stimpy back in '94 to indicate such a change. Our customers were generally unaware of these code names unless they needed to know our roadmap in great detail.

I don't really see the use of introducing code names for PI releases that already have a numbered version but I guess it's in fashion. I don't see the need for Android 3 to be called Honey Comb for example. Either is 3.0 or it's Honey Comb. No need for both. In the case of Android it's actually confusing. Manufacturers can use a zexy code name instead of admitting they're only at 2.1 for example. Numeric versions have the great advantage of being able to tell which one is newer. Forget about that with code names.

In summary, I'm curious what the business reason is for calling 1.7 Starbuck. It's cute and I don't mind but I would like to understand the rationale.
 
The rationale behind PI code names is much simpler than that: I just want to add a higher level of 'warmness' and 'coolness' (yeah, sounds contradictory :)) to the PI project. In this sense code names are like 'faces' for PI. Nothing related to business, actually (not intentionally on my part, at least).
 
I think PI is plenty cool and warm without code names but hey, everyone is doing it so jump on the bandwagon :)
 
Seems bizarre to me. In a marketing sense it doesn't seem to make sense. You're trying to promote the name PixInsight and get that to be the word that people think of when they think of high end, top quality, highest performance astro imaging software (or whatever the desired descriptions are).

Now the message will be confused with a pile of short lived code words. If version 1.7 was going to be the latest version for the next 5 years then that would give time and space for a code name to take hold, and give a reason for a marketing splash (i.e. helped by a new code name) to be used at the release of version 1.8. But I hope version 1.8 is not 5 years away. And secondly, nobody needs to be told (in a marketing sense) when version 1.8 comes out, the software update tells them.

And it makes each code named version sound like a different product....."I use Starbuck"...."Oh I use StarChaser"....."Actually mate that's just the latest release of the same product called PixInsight and if you'd used it in the last month it would have told you."

And when someone on the forum talks about a feature in Starbuck vs a feature in StarChaser I will need to go to my wall chart that shows the code names vs Version Number history to work out which came first.

Sorry to be negative...just my two pennies worth.
 
Well, while others discuss this very important topic, I went to http://www.codenamegenerator.com/ to come up with some fancy code name, and the thing gave me this:

Yamoussoukro Rat Snake Phalarope

Wonderful!

PS: JC is not a person you'd hire for your marketing department, gents.
 
i got the release email, but no link... guess i'll just check the distribution area...

edit: w00t!! there it is!  O0  O0  O0
 
I got "Yellow Lead Duck". Much better but seriously off the point. A many, erh, a gigaton worth of thanks for this release. I know that I will save only in Project mode as my work is never ever finished.
 
Does one need to download the update from the dist site as opposed to enjoy the auto-update functionality?
 
That is interesting. Just downloaded the 1.7 (PixInsight 01.07.00.0695 Starbuck (x86) ? 2003-2011)  version for Mac 32-bit.
The creation date of the binary (after de-archiving) is: Dec 3, 2010. ????
 
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