The Future of FileSieve

[BootBlock]

Why no updates?

Some users of FileSieve may have noticed that there hasn't been a new release since April, 2022; the reason for that is I began redesigning the interface to give it a more modern look with increased flexibility; the old UI wasn't resizable and became a bit too cramped and prevented the addition of new features.

I underestimated the redesign and it turned out to be quite a big undertaking; so big that I actually decided the time invested would be better spent on FileSieve 5.00 (see #82) instead as I've had various ideas over the years for greatly improving the application that would require a rewrite.

But, alas, things slowed down for no specific reason and then I started a new job towards the end of the year which became my focus.

What next?

I've been wondering over the past few months whether I should make FS free, but why stop at free when I could open source it? Its issue tracker is on GitHub, after all. Well, one good reason not to is something I've experienced in the past: it'll get ripped off as someone will take the code verbatim and slap their own name on it. Why would someone do that? Not a clue.

So, next up? I'm going to continue with the open sourcing of the software. I'm not entirely comfortable with that as it's extremely old code written in VB.NET (Framework 4.8) that has been developed for the past 11 years, or thereabouts? It's had features-upon-features added without enough thought about their integration; it's a spaghetti nightmare. I haven't even used VB for years - I'm all C# (plus TypeScript, etc) these days.

Still, why leave it to stagnate? I'm also not happy with the thought of people having bought it in the past and not getting any further updates - you've got to support the people that supported you, after all.

Issue #109 contains the progress required before it becomes open source.

What about the future?

Short term, it means completing all of the items on the #109 issue and then getting the whole lot uploaded to GitHub. Shouldn't take too long.

There is a dependency on the BiQubic.Framework (an application library I wrote in the mid-2000s) that I need to figure out; chances are I'll just upload that as well as I've long since started an entirely new and vastly improved framework which makes the BiQubic framework legacy at this point.

What now?

I'll soon update this comment to include a free license so that the current version can be used to its fullest.

The open sourced version will require quite a lot of work due to its UI being left in an incomplete state between its old, original design and its new modern style.

What about existing users?

Existing users can install the new FileSieve versions - when released - from this repository as normal and they'll gain all of the enhancements and changes.

There is no need to have the license installer; all features are free for all users. You may keep the installer for historical purposes, or if you're planning on using prior versions.

My heartfelt thanks goes out to every single person that purchased a license and supported me; you're a large part of the reason that FS is going open source so that it is maintained and updated.

[Tenome]

Is there some registration process for the current open source version of 4 in Releases?