Announcing the Open Boomer

The First Tested 3D Printed 1911 Frame

Open Boomer live on Odysee: https://odysee.com/@JRoux1793:4/Open-Boomer-1911:f

WARNING:

While this design is functional and can fire successfully, you will most likely break it when attempting to build or modify it, making it nonfunctional. The original documentation and beta process make no mention of this. While no injuries are recorded over two years of broken builds, you should still use sound judgment when attempting to build this design.

Overview:

“OK, Boomer” as a catchphrase is used to dismiss the opinions of the old and out of touch.

“OK, Boomer” as a meme gun had the same meaning in 2022, but it is now 2024, and the developer shows his own age and exhaustion.

Background:

The OK Boomer was publicly announced two years ago, with the suggestion that it had been in development for some time prior. One year ago, the developer provided access to his work for the first time via an open beta. After info and photos of failed builds were made public, the beta was closed, where it remains today.

The project is effectively dead. In the last six months only five people have joined (or rejoined) the beta room. Only a single person in this time frame reports a successful build.

Looking back to January, across all build reports I calculate 72% of build attempts have failed. Despite the common problems being identified, there has not been a single edit or revision produced as a result of these failures. While the developer does occasionally post in the beta room, he is doing nothing to drive it forward.

Why is the Beta Dead?

I don’t think the design is fundamentally flawed, but it still has a lot of problems.

Why is the developer not fixing these problems?

My best guess is that, having hyped the project for years now, the developer is trapped by his own advertising and social pressure. He is likely exhausted and has run out of ideas, but admitting this is difficult. Like all vaporware projects, the OK Boomer reached a point where even if it worked it would not live up to its own hype. The only option became a "forever beta."

This outcome is a product of the popular beta process. Devs prioritize reputation over release, creating situations where the most rational move is to never release at all. And the OK Boomer is not the only “forever beta” being run like this.

What I Am Doing:

The OK Boomer can only be freed by direct action. So I present to the world this design in its current, humble form as the Open Boomer.

I do this as a beta tester, fully knowing the design is flawed. Of the OK Boomers I built, only one was never cracked or in some way broken before its first test fire. It’s likely this is not a project that can succeed with the current materials and technology available. In any case, these problems will not be fixed with the current community approach to beta testing.

I have not attempted to change the release files, but I have changed the indulgent documentation, condensing 80 pages of distraction and rambling to 27. If the guide proves useful, I may replace the images.

This is the first “opening” I have undertaken. But there should be more.

When I thought of how to do this, I dreamed of an open red hand: