Trimble Connect — WHY?

[JimD]

I want to know why I have to live with the Trimble Connect extension loaded onto my system.

This is by far the most nagging piece of ■■■■ I have installed on my machine… Everytime I start up SU there’s some problem with it’s signatures or update status.

I’ve reinstalled it per @Box’s instructions from another thread… THANK YOU @Box!!

… and it’s currently behaving.

However, given the previous problems I’ve had with it. I now want some answers.

I don’t use this service, So why do I have to put up with maintaining the Problems it’s caused.

If you wish to push that ■■■■ off on me… then why not just hard code into the software and maintain it on your End… SketchUp Dev’s WHY???

And Don’t tell me about how your sorry for any inconviencies… The Question here is WHY do I have to babysit an extension which I don’t want to use?

As far I’m concerned, If Trimble needs to push something onto my machine then it should be hard coded into the main program file.

I thought that the extensions options where just that, supplementary programs that I can add (or avoid) as I see fit. . . Since when does it now become a requirement?

Is it maybe because it’s not very good,… and if you don’t force it upon folks then they’ll never actually get around to trying it out?

How about you just let word of mouth of shared personal experiences determine whether or not a plugin becomes an adopted classic.

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As a secondary question… If there’s to be discussions about how plugin developers promote their work, and witch hunts take place accusing @indie3d of SPAMing.

Then what can I call this?.. The forced installation of an extension I don’t want to have installed.

Does it’s acronym reduce down to something which closely resembles BS?

[DanRathbun]

First of all, I am not a total fan of all that has happened with the Extension Warehouse and the “distributed” set of extensions.

@JimD

I don’t use this service, So why do I have to put up with maintaining the Problems that it’s has caused.

As I said in that “other thread”, You don’t.
Once it is updated, switch it off. I don’t use it either, and it does not bother me at all.

But I also have “Unrestricted” set as my Extension Load Policy.
(This “signature” feature has no practical benefit for users, IMO, … IF the users exercise good judgement and only install extensions from EW, SketchUcation PluginStore, direct from reputable company websites, or those they write themselves.)

If it is switched off it will not load, and if the policy set to “Unrestricted” you should not get the “signature out of date” message.

@JimD

If you wish to push that ■■■■ off on me… then why not just hard code into the software and maintain it on your End… SketchUp Dev’s WHY???

Because if it was part of the SketchUp core, it could only be fixed once or twice a year, when full installers are released. As an extension, a fix can be released whenever possible, … many more times or not coincident with full installer releases.

And, most of it is on their end. It is a server-side (cloud) collaboration app, … which also under goes constant development “on their side”.

[Box]

Why so angry?

ummm…but then again

@JimD

But of course, far be it for me to talk a guy down from the glorious heights of a soap box rant—where the air is clean, and visibility runs far.

[eneroth3]

I think it is good to enclose functionality in extension that can be enabled/disabled, be easily distinguishable as a distinctive set of features and be learned one at a time, instead of having the features in the core, even i it is shipped with SU. However I agree that shipped extensions should be possible to uninstall just like any other extensions.

I don’t want Dynamic Components because of how badly designed it is and because of how many bugs it has. I I don’t want Advanced Camera Tools because of how weird its interface is. I haven’t yet experimented with Trimble Connect but if i do and don’t like it I want to be able to uninstall it too. Shipped extension should be treated as any other extensions and be possible to uninstall IMO.

And the nagging notifications that disappear before some users have had the time to fully read them need to be fixed. I’d prefer having them disabled completely and never see the message to being nagged by a message I can’t react to. This is an accessibility issue that should never have been accepted into SU.

EDIT:

I’d also reccomend all extension develoeprs to disable the shipped extensions so you don’t accidentally use their monkey patches to the API, thinking it is actual API methods (e.g. Transformation#xscale).

I’d also like to see Solar north shipped because of how simplistic it is (doesn’t add the the overall complexity) and because how indispensable it is for architectural design. It used to be shipped but I think it was removed in an attempt to forced users to explore Extension Warehouse. Users don’t want to be forced into doing things! Users want to get on with their work!

[mario_chabo]

@eneroth3

I’d also like to see Solar north shipped because of how simplistic it is (doesn’t add the the overall complexity) and because how indispensable it is for architectural design. It used to be shipped but I think it was removed in an attempt to forced users to explore Extension Warehouse. Users don’t want to be forced into doing things! Users want to get on with their work!

Boy!! Do I second that !!