Hello all Solaris owners,
I have now returned from Germany, and can tell you the results of our discussions regarding OS bug fixes and updates.
The code is written in C++, and from the beginning of this project, has been written by Julian Schmidt. Last June we had several meetings about the next OS release, as previously Julian had worked on the v1.2 to have it ready for Christmas 2012. At that time, he was working on the Solaris code in his 'off hours' at home, in addition to his regular work for Sonic Core during the day. This meant for a longer development time, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances.
In June, he told me he would be leaving Sonic Core to work on his own projects, mainly a DIY drum kit called LXR (many of you may be familiar with this - it's been getting great reviews!). He also expected that, once free of the daily work for Sonic Core, there would be more free time to also work on the Solaris. And naturally, I hope to have him continue as well, since he was the original author, and obviously knew it better than anyone else.
Several months went by before I heard from Julian again. It was late October, and he apologized for taking so long to get back to me, but the amount of time required to set up his LXR production and start a business took him by surprise. However, he expressed interest in starting back on the Solaris the first part of November, and so I hope to have something ready again by the time Christmas came around.
Unfortunately, nothing came following that, and by mid-December, I discussed things with him via Skype. It was apparent the he was really not going to be able to finish anything more for the Solaris OS, and so agreed to provide me with the files needed so that I could contact someone else to do the work.
Things going at their own pace, it wasn't until this trip in March that all of this was resolved, and I started to look for someone else. By chance, an unplanned meeting in Vienna brought to my attention a very talented coder named Hermann, who has expressed his willingness to take on the job. At this point, he has seen the 'Top Ten' bug list, but we need to prepare a Solaris development system for him, and this will take a bit of time (the work will be more than adressing the 'Top 10' bugs, just so you know). Also, there are some documents that Sonic Core needs him to sign, etc., so I'm not exactly sure when Hermann will be able to start, but I am confident that once he does, we will see progress in a relatively short time.
There's also a possibility with one of our own Solaris owners who has offered to help. Many of you are familiar with galaxiesmerge, who posted about a possible Open Source project to help with development (see the thread here:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16123&p=19567&hilit ... rge#p19567 ) . At this point, I've had a couple of emails back and forth with him, but for now my agreement with Sonic Core means I cannot offer an Open Source option for the Solaris.
I am grateful to Julian for the good work and effort that he did contribute to the Solaris, and regret that he was not able to do any more past the v1.2 update. I hope those of you who have been anxiously waiting for a new OS release will understand better now why so much time has gone by with no news. For me it's frustrating, as I know most people are used to larger synth companies who have regular full-time staff working on these things, and expect to have had one or more bug fix updates by now. I hope that we can move forward soon with more development as planned for Solaris, and I want to thank all of you who have been such great customers!
Cheers,
John B.