• How many XG versions are out there and why?

    From MK@21:1/5 to All on Sat Sep 3 16:29:11 2022
    On September 3, 2022 at 4:42:55 PM UTC-6, MK wrote:

    On September 3, 2022 at 11:28:03 AM UTC-6, Nasti Chestikov wrote:

    The only available version of XG I can find is 2.10 how
    do you guys manage to run with a version of 2.19 beta?
    It was announced in some forums over 7 years ago.

    http://www.bgonline.org/forums/webbbs_config.pl?read=174103
    It provided a direct link to download 2.19.208 beta.

    I read a few comments in that thread and saw that
    Chow had participated with many posts but his XG
    rollouts still indicate he has "2.19.207.pre-release".

    How can this be??

    The version I have says "2.19.211.2671.pre-release".

    How can this be??

    Are anyone using versions newer than "2.19.208 beta"
    (or at least newer than Chow's "2.19.207.pre-release"
    or even newer than my "2.19.211.2671.pre-release")?

    The help file says "©2009-2012 GameSite 2000 Ltd."

    The about info says "©2009-2015 GameSite 2000 Ltd."

    The last installation EXE's file version is: 2.29.0.0 and
    it's detail info says "©2009-2015 GameSite 2000 Ltd."
    and it's digital signature date is ‎‎"September ‎8, ‎2015".

    Has anyone any idea about why and how there are so
    many unannounced, undocumented releases?

    MK

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  • From Simon Woodhead@21:1/5 to All on Sun Sep 4 09:42:58 2022
    On 4/09/2022 9:29 am, MK wrote:

    Has anyone any idea about why and how there are so
    many unannounced, undocumented releases?

    Pre-release versions are usually supplied to trusted testers and
    contributors. Some of these inevitably find their way into the
    public domain before being rolled into the new/current official
    release. Normal practise.

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  • From Nasti Chestikov@21:1/5 to Simon Woodhead on Sun Sep 4 07:49:50 2022
    On Sunday, 4 September 2022 at 00:43:02 UTC+1, Simon Woodhead wrote:
    On 4/09/2022 9:29 am, MK wrote:

    Has anyone any idea about why and how there are so
    many unannounced, undocumented releases?
    Pre-release versions are usually supplied to trusted testers and contributors. Some of these inevitably find their way into the
    public domain before being rolled into the new/current official
    release. Normal practise.

    So trusted <> trusted?

    :-)

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  • From Simon Woodhead@21:1/5 to All on Mon Sep 5 20:34:34 2022
    On 5/09/2022 8:28 pm, MK wrote:

    I guess I was one of those lucky "XG's trusted testers and
    contributors" who received special updates... :)

    Or maybe you found one of those escaped releases.

    I've seen screenshots of V3.X Beta. Doesn't mean anything.
    Xavier goes at whatever pace suits him. But I understand that
    conspiracy theorists see a conspiracy behind every tree.

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to Simon Woodhead on Mon Sep 5 03:28:18 2022
    On September 3, 2022 at 5:43:02 PM UTC-6, Simon Woodhead wrote:

    On 4/09/2022 9:29 am, MK wrote:

    Has anyone any idea about why and how there are
    so many unannounced, undocumented releases?

    Pre-release versions are usually supplied to trusted
    testers and contributors. Some of these inevitably
    find their way into the public domain before being
    rolled into the new/current official release. Normal
    practise.

    Perhaps you mean it's normal practice among shady
    software developers but trusted, respected ones keep
    a bug log and a change log. In fact, even XG's web site
    had those from version 2.01 to 2.10 during a span of
    one year and a half.

    The fact that there hasn't been any such documentation
    from 2.19.208 beta over seven and a half years ago to
    latest one that I know about 2.19.211.2671.pre-release
    of an unknown date also about seven years ago may be
    a good indication that XG is now an abandonware...

    What I still don't understand and you all still skirt is this:
    did Chow reverted to 2.19.207.pre-release after he had
    commented on his experiences with the 2.19.208 beta?
    And how come nobody here seems to be using 2.19.208
    beta, let alone the 2.19.207.pre-release that I have or even
    possibly a later version than that?

    I guess I was one of those lucky "XG's trusted testers and
    contributors" who received special updates... :)

    MK

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to Simon Woodhead on Mon Sep 5 04:20:50 2022
    On September 5, 2022 at 4:34:40 AM UTC-6, Simon Woodhead wrote:

    On 5/09/2022 8:28 pm, MK wrote:

    I guess I was one of those lucky "XG's trusted testers
    and contributors" who received special updates... :)

    Or maybe you found one of those escaped releases.

    What do you mean by "escaped release"? Cat out of
    the basket? Why was it being kept secret? How come
    none of you found the same "escaped release" as I did?

    I've seen screenshots of V3.X Beta.

    Really? Wow! where? I would like to see too...

    Doesn't mean anything.

    What do you mean? Was it a hoax by trollers??

    Xavier goes at whatever pace suits him.

    If I had to guess, I would have said that he is wairing
    for the next release of Gnubg so that he can copy the
    code... ;)

    But I understand that conspiracy theorists see a
    conspiracy behind every tree.

    Do you consider any of my questions a conspiracy
    just because XG's shit lickers like you can't answer
    them!? Just answer the fucking questions asshole!

    MK

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  • From ah...Clem@21:1/5 to Simon Woodhead on Mon Sep 5 09:37:04 2022
    On 9/5/2022 6:34 AM, Simon Woodhead wrote:
    On 5/09/2022 8:28 pm, MK wrote:

    I guess I was one of those lucky "XG's trusted testers and
    contributors" who received special updates... :)

    Or maybe you found one of those escaped releases.

    I've seen screenshots of V3.X Beta. Doesn't mean anything.
    Xavier goes at whatever pace suits him. But I understand that
    conspiracy theorists see a conspiracy behind every tree.


    As Tim says "Sixes don't grow on trees."

    But conspiracy theories do. And there are plenty of them that are ripe
    for the picking.

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to All on Mon Sep 5 10:05:06 2022
    On 9/5/2022 6:28 AM, MK wrote:
    What I still don't understand and you all still skirt is this:
    did Chow reverted to 2.19.207.pre-release after he had
    commented on his experiences with the 2.19.208 beta?
    And how come nobody here seems to be using 2.19.208
    beta, let alone the 2.19.207.pre-release that I have or even
    possibly a later version than that?

    I've never reverted to a previous version. I'm aware there's
    a slightly more recent version but I haven't bothered to upgrade
    because I'm satisfied with the current version, and "if it ain't
    broke, don't fix it." There's always a small chance that something
    breaks when I try to upgrade a piece of software, no matter what
    software it is.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to ah...Clem on Mon Sep 5 19:20:17 2022
    On September 5, 2022 at 7:37:08 AM UTC-6, ah...Clem wrote:

    As Tim says "Sixes don't grow on trees."
    But conspiracy theories do. And there are
    plenty of them that are ripe for the picking.

    Generic garbage. :( Sounds like someone's
    daily horoscope. Was it yours today..? :)

    MK

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to Tim Chow on Mon Sep 5 19:50:49 2022
    On September 5, 2022 at 8:05:10 AM UTC-6, Tim Chow wrote:

    On 9/5/2022 6:28 AM, MK wrote:

    What I still don't understand and you all still skirt is this:
    did Chow reverted to 2.19.207.pre-release after he had
    commented on his experiences with the 2.19.208 beta?

    I've never reverted to a previous version. I'm aware there's
    a slightly more recent version but I haven't bothered to
    upgrade because I'm satisfied with the current version,

    Thanks for giving some answer to the part of the question
    concerning you but it doesn't really answer it.

    http://www.bgonline.org/forums/webbbs_config.pl?read=174187

    was a thread to announce XG's "XG 2.19.208 beta" (which was
    the thread's title) and the questions and comments (including
    yours) were about that.

    For example, when some Ray Kershaw asked: "I have installed
    2.19.208. How do I see the "added statistics on rollout"?, you
    responded: "First perform a rollout. Select a move or moves, and
    then right-click on it to get a menu. Select "Display Rollout Stats."

    If you had never installed XG 2.19.208, how did you know to tell
    him that?

    Then when Jason Lee asked: "Is this the feature that Timothy
    Chow has had on his wish list?", you excitedly responded: (by
    even changing the thread title to "Yes!!"), "It is precisely what I
    wanted! There is much rejoicing in my corner of the world."

    And now you are saying that you never "bothered to install XG
    2.19.208"...? Come on, make an effort to be credible.

    Don't worry. I won't fry you. I enjoy catch and release fishing.
    After sadistically waching you all thrash around to unhook
    yourselves, I will set all of you "Peanutbutterfish" free... ;)

    MK

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to All on Tue Sep 6 08:47:41 2022
    On 9/5/2022 10:50 PM, MK wrote:
    http://www.bgonline.org/forums/webbbs_config.pl?read=174187

    was a thread to announce XG's "XG 2.19.208 beta" (which was
    the thread's title) and the questions and comments (including
    yours) were about that.

    For example, when some Ray Kershaw asked: "I have installed
    2.19.208. How do I see the "added statistics on rollout"?, you
    responded: "First perform a rollout. Select a move or moves, and
    then right-click on it to get a menu. Select "Display Rollout Stats."

    If you had never installed XG 2.19.208, how did you know to tell
    him that?

    Then when Jason Lee asked: "Is this the feature that Timothy
    Chow has had on his wish list?", you excitedly responded: (by
    even changing the thread title to "Yes!!"), "It is precisely what I
    wanted! There is much rejoicing in my corner of the world."

    And now you are saying that you never "bothered to install XG
    2.19.208"...? Come on, make an effort to be credible.

    The feature you're talking about is already in 2.19.207.pre-release.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From pepstein5@gmail.com@21:1/5 to ah...Clem on Tue Sep 6 15:43:07 2022
    On Monday, September 5, 2022 at 2:37:08 PM UTC+1, ah...Clem wrote:
    On 9/5/2022 6:34 AM, Simon Woodhead wrote:
    On 5/09/2022 8:28 pm, MK wrote:

    I guess I was one of those lucky "XG's trusted testers and
    contributors" who received special updates... :)

    Or maybe you found one of those escaped releases.

    I've seen screenshots of V3.X Beta. Doesn't mean anything.
    Xavier goes at whatever pace suits him. But I understand that
    conspiracy theorists see a conspiracy behind every tree.

    As Tim says "Sixes don't grow on trees."

    Tim might be wrong about that, though.
    Suppose there are exactly six apples on my apple tree.
    Have I not then grown a six on my tree?

    Paul

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to Tim Chow on Tue Sep 6 17:17:06 2022
    On September 5, 2022 at 8:05:10 AM UTC-6, Tim Chow wrote:

    On 9/5/2022 6:28 AM, MK wrote:

    did Chow reverted to 2.19.207.pre-release after he had
    commented on his experiences with the 2.19.208 beta?

    I've never reverted to a previous version. .....

    I think you are lying... ;)

    On September 6, 2022 at 6:47:42 AM UTC-6, Tim Chow wrote:

    On 9/5/2022 10:50 PM, MK wrote:

    For example, when some Ray Kershaw asked: "I have .....

    If you had never installed XG 2.19.208, how did you know
    to tell him that?

    Then when Jason Lee asked: "Is this the feature that
    Timothy Chow has had on his wish list?", you excitedly
    responded: (by even changing the thread title to "Yes!!"),
    "It is precisely what I wanted! There is much rejoicing in
    my corner of the world."

    And now you are saying that you never "bothered to install
    XG 2.19.208"...? Come on, make an effort to be credible.

    The feature you're talking about is already in 2.19.207.pre-release.

    If true, why didn't you say so in your answer to Jason Lee
    instead of emoting "Yes!!" and pretenting that you had just
    discovered that feature!?

    Regardless, whether it was already in 2.19.207 or not doesn't
    answer my question whether you installed 2.19.208 and then
    reverted to 2.19.207?

    I already knew the answer but just wanted to watch you thrash
    around like a Peanutbutterfish on a hook... :)

    It only takes a few minutes to search BGonline with your name
    and XG version numbers. Let's see:

    Until December 29, 2014 you were using 2.10

    http://www.bgonline.org/forums/webbbs_config.pl?read=171197

    Before 2.19.208 was announced on February 13, 2015 (see link
    in previous post), you were already using it by January 30, 2015

    http://www.bgonline.org/forums/webbbs_config.pl?read=173034

    And also on February 16, 2015 right after it had been announced.

    http://www.bgonline.org/forums/webbbs_config.pl?read=174333

    And you kept using it until June 17, 2017

    http://www.bgonline.org/forums/webbbs_config.pl?read=201120

    Your next post on BGonline, after about a year, shows that you had
    reverted to 2.19.207

    http://www.bgonline.org/forums/webbbs_config.pl?read=207263

    Doing the same search in RGB shows that you were using 2.19.208
    up until October 31, 2017

    https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.backgammon/c/F3W3JM2xnxk/m/aoC6gPusBQAJ

    Now, let me guess your next slick answer. You were doing rollouts
    on and posting from your boyfrien's computer...? :)

    You may be a slippery Peanutbutterfish but you are on my hook. :)

    MK

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to All on Tue Sep 6 22:55:44 2022
    On 9/6/2022 8:17 PM, MK wrote:
    Before 2.19.208 was announced on February 13, 2015 (see link
    in previous post), you were already using it by January 30, 2015

    http://www.bgonline.org/forums/webbbs_config.pl?read=173034

    That's interesting. I know I've never reverted, but here's a possible explanation. I had specifically requested the feature in question from
    Xavier, so for a brief period of time, I was getting versions directly
    from Xavier rather than downloading them from the website. From my perspective, I was just getting newer and newer versions, but I never
    bothered checking the version numbers, so it's possible that at some
    point he sent me something that had a lower version number than what
    he had previously sent me.

    Another possibility, though less likely, is that it was around that time
    that my old laptop was dying and I bought a new laptop. For a short
    time I had two computers that both had XG on them. I threw the old
    computer away so I can't check, but maybe what I did was that I
    transferred my purchased license to my new computer, but I still wanted
    to use XG on my old computer for a little while before it died
    completely, so I put a trial version on the old computer. So the old
    computer may have had a slightly newer version on it. I don't have any recollection of doing this, though.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From Nasti Chestikov@21:1/5 to Tim Chow on Wed Sep 7 09:26:33 2022
    On Wednesday, 7 September 2022 at 03:55:48 UTC+1, Tim Chow wrote:

    That's interesting. I know I've never reverted, but here's a possible explanation. I had specifically requested the feature in question from Xavier, so for a brief period of time, I was getting versions directly
    from Xavier rather than downloading them from the website. From my perspective, I was just getting newer and newer versions, but I never bothered checking the version numbers, so it's possible that at some
    point he sent me something that had a lower version number than what
    he had previously sent me.

    Another possibility, though less likely, is that it was around that time
    that my old laptop was dying and I bought a new laptop. For a short
    time I had two computers that both had XG on them. I threw the old
    computer away so I can't check, but maybe what I did was that I
    transferred my purchased license to my new computer, but I still wanted
    to use XG on my old computer for a little while before it died
    completely, so I put a trial version on the old computer. So the old
    computer may have had a slightly newer version on it. I don't have any recollection of doing this, though.

    ---
    Tim Chow

    Embarrassing. Murat has caught you with your pants down and you're floundering around like someone who has fallen into a barrel full of tits and comes up sucking his thumb.

    Please try harder. A little less time with the flashy cars on YouTube and a bit more time improving your backgammon game.

    Now, I want to make sure you've paid attention to my post so I'll be asking you a bunch of questions later and I will want them answered immediately.

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to Nasti Chestikov on Wed Sep 7 21:08:38 2022
    On 9/7/2022 12:26 PM, Nasti Chestikov wrote:
    Please try harder. A little less time with the flashy cars on YouTube and a bit more time improving your backgammon game.

    I'm too busy working on Eraser.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to Tim Chow on Tue Sep 13 01:58:24 2022
    On September 6, 2022 at 8:55:48 PM UTC-6, Tim Chow wrote:

    On 9/6/2022 8:17 PM, MK wrote:

    Before 2.19.208 was announced on February 13, 2015
    ..... you were already using it by January 30, 2015

    That's interesting. I know I've never reverted, but here's a
    possible explanation. ..... I was getting versions directly
    from Xavier ..... it's possible that at some point he sent
    me something that had a lower version number .....

    Another possibility, though less likely, is that it was .....

    Like I said, I'm not going to fry you over this. I caught you
    and I'm releasing you without even having to give you the
    benefit of the doubt because how you explain it doesn't
    matter much, next to how bad it looks on you regardless.

    It must have been embarrassing enough for you to not be
    aware of what versions of XG you were using for so many
    years... :(

    Don't you think either that I'm looking for opportunities to
    get you or others here. Whether I had a natural ability or I
    acquired it by studying and experience, I have a keen eye
    for seing even impertinent looking details and constantly
    analysing anything and everything I observe around me. I
    also have a decent memory to remember details later on
    to put them together in unexpected situations like this.

    One thing you all can learn from this is that having so many
    public/private versions of XG leads to stupid arguments like
    "your XG does this", "my XG doesn't do that", etc... :(

    The other thing you all may learn from these is to not accuse
    me or others of "conspiracists" as first reaction of your own
    denial of realities. Being suspectful of the suspicious is not
    conspiracy. Considering possibilities (without making direct
    suggestions) is not conspiracy.

    For example, there may be many more versions of XG out
    there than the numbered versions. The same installer may
    install slightly different components on different computers,
    for various reasons and based on various conditions. Thus
    different users may experience different XG behaviour even
    if they all see the same version number in the about info...

    If you are not capable of considering such possibilities, you
    can't be a good analyst. And if you are not a good analyst,
    you can not analyse backgammon positions either and you
    can not be a good backgammon player (even though you can
    still be a word-class gamblegammon giant;)...

    Try to overcome your aversions towards me. It may do you
    good to try learning something from me instead.

    MK

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