How Long Until Software Dev Forum Closes ?

[Enforcer]

I've browsed through many of the posts. So what's not "discussed openly"?

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But I suppose I could be wrong... (haven't actually witnessed the deletions)

Exactly.


BTW I , at the moment am not on one side or the other (that is if there are sides to take) , I'm just playing devils advocate.

[gnomad]

Seems there is quite a bit of confusion about "Open Source Software" (OSS) and "Free Software" (Freeware) here, and I'd like to clarify things as the two are *very* different. The key elements here are "Free" and "Freedom"

Freeware is software that is free to use. And that's about the only thing free about it. You do not have the freedom to make changes tot he software or to add new features.

Ope, Source Software is not only free to use, but you have the freedom to do anything you want with it. You have the freedom to alter it, and in many cases, you even have the freedom to sell your modified versions.

For example, while Centrafuse and Frodoplayer are free software, they are NOT open source software. RoadRunner and PyCar, onthe other hand, are a good example of open source software.

-g.

[edit: examples fixed]

[b8bboi]

uh, Road Runner IS an open source software. That's what makes it so popular. Get the facts straight next time.

[ElKeeed]

Just because something is open source doesn't give you the right to do anything you want with it at all! The point of a lot of open source projects is that you are supposed to contribute your ideas to the project to make a better product for everyone, not that you should rip off the code, make your own commercial copy and sell it!

My personal opinion is that its all very well for mp3car to take everyone's ideas and put them in a finished product but they don't seem to be giving anything back and that will stifle development and we will end up not progressing as quickly as we might otherwise. There are reasons why super-do-everything programs fail and end up either never coming out or doing everything poorly. People are good at their own areas and have their own preferences which is why the plugins system tends to work best. I think they will have a hard time making streetdeck beat these problems.

Aside from the pros and cons of streetdeck...

The whole point of this thread seems to have been missed by several people, including rcdash. The point is not that mp3car shouldnt promote streetdeck but that they already remove unfavourable posts rather than just offensive ones from all over the forum, not just the street deck threads.

Mp3car has in the past been a place where we could openly discuss our opinions and say something like 'I prefer x software over streetdeck because...' but now those sorts of posts are being censored. It doesnt make good business to have free competing software in the same forum but at the same time they want to keep the userbase who want free discussion. It is a huge conflict of interest which could be managed well but the balance seems to be tipping against free discussion. That is all we are worried about.

It is funny that it seems to be the Brits who mainly see this when it's Americans who value their free speech the most.

[gnomad]

Just because something is open source doesn't give you the right to do anything you want with it at all! The point of a lot of open source projects is that you are supposed to contribute your ideas to the project to make a better product for everyone, not that you should rip off the code, make your own commercial copy and sell it!

Of course. Every author has the right to release their code under whatever terms they so desire. Neither of the two most common licenses (the GPL and BSD licenses) have any restrictions on commercial use. The GPL merely states that if you make additions to a project and then release that modified version commercially, you must make your changes available.

BTW, I released my first my first "open source" project way back in 1991 under the BSD license, well before the term "open source" even existed. I know a thing or two about open source licenses and licensing. ;-)

My personal opinion is that its all very well for mp3car to take everyone's ideas and put them in a finished product but they don't seem to be giving anything back and that will stifle development and we will end up not progressing as quickly as we might otherwise.

Hey, it's not like MP3Car has any monopoly on reading the forums and implementing features based on that.

The whole point of this thread seems to have been missed by several people, including rcdash. The point is not that mp3car shouldnt promote streetdeck but that they already remove unfavourable posts rather than just offensive ones from all over the forum, not just the street deck threads.

I certainly agree that this could be an issue, but I'm not aware that it has actually happened yet. Granted, the moderators on the StreetDeck forums are far less tolerant of Off-Topic content, but then again, that's their perogative.

Mp3car has in the past been a place where we could openly discuss our opinions and say something like 'I prefer x software over streetdeck because...' but now those sorts of posts are being censored. It doesnt make good business to have free competing software in the same forum but at the same time they want to keep the userbase who want free discussion. It is a huge conflict of interest which could be managed well but the balance seems to be tipping against free discussion. That is all we are worried about.

Personally, I agree with you on this. In fact, I recomended that all the StreetDeck forums live on StreetDeck.com. Not only does it make sense to put them there, but I warned the powers-that-be that people would ***** about exactly what you are *****ing about.

But the the reality of the situation is that this is nothing more than a classic example of Hanlon's Razor. The powers-that-be aren't evil, and there is no hanky-panky involved, they are just simply too busy to think all these things through.

-g.

[ccsnet]

I certainly agree that this could be an issue, but I'm not aware that it has actually happened yet.

Yes it has unfortuntly... to my self, gobby, 2fast and scouse etc.. A small example after about 1hr of having posts deleted & a big one..

Personally, I agree with you on this. In fact, I recomended that all the StreetDeck forums live on StreetDeck.com. Not only does it make sense to put them there, but I warned the powers-that-be that people would ***** about exactly what you are *****ing about.

I dont think people are looking for that ... more SD to be treated ( and moderated ) independantly as the community and business are two seprate things that conflict as has been said before.... and some of the comments from certain 'mods' ( in this thred as an example ( post 31 onwards ) or this one ) really dont do much more than show a bad impresion and open it / them up to ridicule..

But the the reality of the situation is that this is nothing more than a classic example of Hanlon's Razor. The powers-that-be aren't evil, and there is no hanky-panky involved, they are just simply too busy to think all these things through.

Some are more profesional than others I have to say....

Use the MP3car brand but keep the forums indipendant ( that is not the same as seprate ) or you risk harming both and alienating lots of people.

Terran

[Gobby]

Yes it has unfortuntly... to my self, gooby, 2fast and scouse etc..

Who the ^%££ is Gooby???

[ccsnet]

Who the ^%££ is Gooby???

Sorry - had baby in hand when I was typing... sorted now.

Terran

[Gobby]

Sorry - had baby in hand when I was typing... sorted now.

Terran

Don't want to know ur hobbies!

[roadhog]

.... and some of the comments from certain 'mods' ( in this thred as an example ...
Terran

Since when did I become a mod!

Still a Newbie

must be the old newbie in town.