ddaedalus wrote:This whole discussion emphasizes the User being responsible for something that the Software Developer is responsible for.
Public Beta 17 is not a beta, it's a sandbox version without permissions
The whole reason for a beta is it's inherent downgrade-ability. It's not the fact there are bugs, bc these days THERE ARE ALWAYS BUGS IN EVERY VERSION OF EVERY MUDBALL SOFTWARE.
As a software developer, I would disagree with your point above, which I've put in bold.
First off, you're correct that all software has bugs so there is an element of risk in both production / mainstream releases and beta releases.
However, beta software always has a far higher risk as not all features have been completed, not all upgrade paths have been verified and not all testing has been implemented. In addition, the software will typically ship with known issues that have failed testing.
You cannot rely on beta software being inherently stable, and most vendors offer no warranty on beta software. In particular, while an upgrade path is normally included to help the beta testing (so that beta testers - which is what we are in this scenario - can try it on known workflows), it is extremely unlikely that many software houses give much thought to downgrading back to previous versions.
There are just too many unknowns, and too many (very fast) moving parts in the beta cycle to consider downgrade paths.
You mention "the whole reason for a beta..." but, with respect, I'm not sure you've picked out the correct reason. The main reason for beta releases is to extend
testing to a wider audience, and include additional real-world scenarios.
Betas are exciting for tinkerers like me, but it's not a service to professional users - it's an optional service
from users back to the software manufacturer to help test the solution.
Inherent in all of this is that if you depend on a software tool for your living, it would be very brave to depend on beta software. Better to have a separate machine (or virtual machine) for beta testing.
I did say that I'm a software developer, but I don't work for BMD so the above is my opinion and experience - BMD's approach
may be different, although I've seen nothing that suggests that it is!