Confused newbie: Release Versions?

[Bob.Crifasi]

I have no interest in getting involved in development, but I am confused about the release versions and thought this would be an appropriate place to ask this question. I have been (retired) a programmer and database administrator. If memory serves me correctly (not always the case anymore) when a new version was released a new number was assigned and all moved forward from there. Older versions were eventually, not supported and all users were expected to continually upgrade to the new release. Is that the case here? I'm asking because it seems from the posts that older versions of Flight Gear Flight Simulator are still under development and fully supported when possible. I know this is a very diverse group and many people from all over the world are involved in various aspects of the project at all times. Do the version figures indicate the program as a whole or is each piece of the project given a version number as well? I'm also curious because I don't need the latest and greatest, but I'm interested in something that will run on my machine well and give me some reasonable feeling of piloting an airplane. I won't be disappointed if every cloud, reflection or ray of light is not fully realistic. You folks seem well on the way to making all that happen but I'm sure my current machine can handle that!
I'm working on getting the free download of 2019.1.1 functioning on my computer and having a tough time getting it working reliably. But that's probably more a function of my installation rather than the program. I've posted elsewhere on the forum asking for help with that. I wanted to understand the version structure as well because I have an FG DVD set on the way which is a "later" version. Just wondering if I'm banging my head with this one for nothing. I AM learning a lot about it in the meantime.

[wkitty42]

IIRC: the core team supports the following versions of FG...

• next - the next branch of the project repository which will become the next release when it is ready
• latest release - currently this is 2019.1 with 2019.2 being worked on in "next"
• last release - currently this is 2018.3

if there's a major bug found in 2018.3, then it is possible that 2018.4 will be released... older 2018 versions (.1 and .2) are no longer supported and everyone is requested to update to the latest 2018 or 2019 release...

i'm sure i'll be corrected if i have something in the above incorrect, though

[Bob.Crifasi]

OK. That fits the memory of my experience, with much better resolution. Thank you for clarifying. I really have to commend you folks for such a professional approach, organization and attitude. I expect its extremely difficult in a volunteer environment. I can see from some of the historical posts it has been hard at times to maintain that. Herding cats comes to mind, though this seems to be very well organized and professional. I hope I can get my equipment and installation of the software to do it justice.

[enrogue]

I think the terminology used for the releases may be described as:

Stable Release: 2018.3 (currently at 2018.3.4 point release) - no new features from the 1st release of 2018 onwards - only bug fixes, everything should be better tested

Feature Release: 2019.1 (currently at 2019.1.2 point release (although there have been issues with updating the web page & downloads on sourceforge for various reasons) - has newer features that haven't been tested as widely

Next: currently sitting at 2019.2, contains untested new features, possibly not stable, definitely a moving target

2018.3 releases can be found here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/flight ... se-2018.3/

So FlightGear-2018.3.4.exe should be your most stable target on Windows, but if you're having issues...

2019.1 releases can be found here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/flight ... se-2019.1/

And here we have FlightGear-2019.1.2.exe

If you let us know your system specs (hardware, OS) & the kind of error you're seeing (flightgear spits out a crashdump the next time it starts usually), the people on here will usually help - the more info the better

[Bob.Crifasi]

Thank you. I didn't expect anyone to try to help me with my installation in a response to this post. I posted under another topic with all the other info. It is crashing at random (seemingly) points. Given the information you just gave me perhaps I should go back to a more stable version (2018.3)?