Through the Interface

13 responses to “The millionth download from Autodesk Exchange Apps”

1. 

   James Maeding

   June 26, 2015 at 4:01 pm

   Kean, given that most users do not have admin rights on their machine, what is the distribution method Autodesk intends for these apps at a company? Maybe some do not need admin to download or run, but AutoCad and verticals are serious programs, and I feel like Autodesk wants us to think of them as phones or mobile devices. I generally obtain tools and then look at what they need to run, then move them to our company tools folder for everyone, so i also have control over versioning and security (since Autodesk is saying it is a concern...). I like the idea of the exchange apps as is for those that do want to experiment, just wondering how that fits with companies that take control and organization of tools seriously. thanks

   Reply
   1. 

      Kean Walmsley

      June 28, 2015 at 8:18 am

      James,

      The Exchange Apps team is looking at how best to meet the needs of CAD Managers & organizational distribution. Not sure what that means, exactly, but it's definitely on their radar.

      Regards,

      Kean

      Reply
      1. 

         james maeding

         June 29, 2015 at 4:13 pm

         Organized distribution would mean me putting tools in a folder on the server, or on the users local machine. Then the users always use the tools from that location. If done that way, the cad manager has control of updates and can lock down the files so no security issues. Then the only tools the users have as editable are some small lisps. You can see why security in that case is taken care of - and why lisp signing would be rediculous. But Autodesk seems to want to wipe cad managers from existance, as the app store and update tool imply. If you are seriously looking at how to allow an app to be run centrally, the tool should simply have instructions how to do that. What files are critical, and can the files be dumped into another tool folder, or should they be kept in their own folder. Does the folder need to be in the support paths of acad or not? things like that. Also, an option to "download files needed for central install" or "add to this users exchange apps". Those things seem obvious to me, but does autodesk worry users will choose wrong and get confused?

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         1. 

            Kean Walmsley

            June 29, 2015 at 4:45 pm

            > Autodesk seems to want to wipe cad managers from existance

            It's more accurate to say that we want to make your lives easier, so you can spend more time on the golf course. 🙂

            We knew from the beginning that Exchange Apps didn't meet the needs of some types of organisation: I've heard the options you've mentioned (among others) discussed a possibilities, but I'm not currently aware of the progress that's being made on this front.

            Kean

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            1. 

               james maeding

               June 29, 2015 at 5:04 pm

               If I only golfed... Why do you say autodesk is helping us though? From your viewpoint, what are those things? I would guess a good api is one of them, and indeed is, but many times we are using the api to defend against new acad features, like the security we turn off, and deleting items like regapps and civil3d styles that clutter drawings. We fight to just break even on many fronts. I'd still like to hear your viewpoint on this though, as we play different daily roles.

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               1. 

                  Kean Walmsley

                  June 29, 2015 at 5:22 pm

                  The requirements of the CAD Manager "persona" are taken very seriously by our various Engineering teams.

                  I know you're unhappy about certain aspects of what we're doing, but that doesn't mean there's malice involved.

                  Kean

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                  1. 

                     James Maeding

                     July 1, 2015 at 1:08 am

                     not malice, but there sure must be a lot of uncomfortable conversations with the higher ups when they ask if wealthy major clients can use the new features, and the answer is "no, the users do not have admin rights so cannot add anything, or apply any updates". I was just curious why that is so acceptable internally.

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                     1. 

                        Kean Walmsley

                        July 1, 2015 at 5:51 am

                        I'm not in the loop on all these discussions, of course, but I do know we do our best to respond to meaningful feedback. I've obviously heard a lot of feedback from you on this, James, and if we're hearing similar things from other CAD managers then I have no doubt we'll be iterating again.

                        Kean

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2. 

   Eric

   June 27, 2015 at 9:42 am

   I want the "search" come back.

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   1. 

      Kean Walmsley

      June 28, 2015 at 8:18 am

      Do you mean search among the various Exchange Apps, or somewhere else?

      Kean

      Reply
      1. 

         Eric

         June 29, 2015 at 9:25 am

         Sorry Kean, I didn't speak clearly. I mean the searching box on the homepage is missing.

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         1. 

            Kean Walmsley

            June 29, 2015 at 3:20 pm

            I see this one... or do you mean another homepage?

            Kean

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         2. 

            Kean Walmsley

            June 30, 2015 at 7:38 am

            OK, I think I found the problem... if you mean on this blog, then somehow the "Recent Comments" module in the right sash was causing it not to load properly.

            I've removed the module and opened a ticket with Typepad.

            Kean

            Reply