Should We Move? - Forum Transfer Discussion

[Racemaniac]

Myself I am not in favour of moving, we just need to get this place fixed that's all.

i'm actually wondering wether this is a serious comment or not

seriously, the entire argument for moving was complete lack of will on hando's site to fix it, or let someone fix it. they're very right that this will one day end in catastrophe, and i've seen it happen on another community forum i often visit, and when it happens, everything gets ugly!
where i saw it, it resulted in a power struggle with random members setting up alternatives, trying to take power, with a big mess afterwards.... and even if that doesn't happen, everything was lost, all archives of old threads etc...

i really don't understand why people are against this idea... a move now, while we can try to find ways to copy as much needed data from here as possible, and with being able to notify everyone of a new forum that will be properly administraded and kept up to date, why not?

i'll also miss this place, but saying no because "we just need to get this place fixed", just seems so monumentally stupid to me -_-. if we could get this place fixed, this entire discussion would not be here, but we obviously can't, so we'd better start taking action now before it really goes wrong

 

[streak]

OK, i've sent an email to hando, with some questions that you want to be asked...

 

[x68000]

Good man Streak! Look forward to the response.

I personally hope that this community never has to be split, but many established and highly respected forum members seem adamant in their intentions to stay. So if chip wants to move, please be our guest.

 

[EvilDragon]

Oh, and I also didn't like how chip started this here. It's definately no news and definately not a "we're moving". It should have been a suggestion with discussion - but we all do some mistakes, don't we?

HAHAAHAHA! Now that's arrogance! Chip wasn't acting out on his own. You gave him the instructions knowing he had the Moderator status to carry it out! Now your blaming him and trying to wipe your hands clean. Thats insulting to him and this community! My apologies to you Chip.


No, actually it wasn't like that.
Craig asked me if I could enhance the quick solution I set up last time so we could move to a new board if those errors here don't get fixed.
Chip did a great job sorting the boards I setup and sorting out mods I should install.
I have never said he should make a news post about "We're moving" as that is something that you simply don't do without asking the mod.

My opinion was that I setup everything and then we can show the people here and ask if that would be good and move on, etc.

@streak: Can you persuade Hando to make a post on these forums about the situation? Even a small post would do a lot to reassure people, I think. Even something like "I don't have time now, but I'll come back and take care of this next week".



If he really would do that, that would be great.
I have no idea why he'd never want any help in administration. I offered it quite a few times. And guys, you know me - I never used any of my powers to do something bad.
I would've just fixed all the stuff, added or removed forums / subforums if need be, etc.
Nothing more.

The most important question to hando for me is:
If he doesn't have time, why doesn't he want somebody to help him?
It doesn't have to be me, just anybody who got some time to keep everything working here.

QUOTE

@EvilDragon: I understand the need to have an alternative ready if these forums crash, but don't think it's a good idea to split the community like this (and it's obvious that many established members have decided to stay here). What do you think of my idea of having those new forums up & ready, but locked, so that they can be instantly unlocked and serve as a home only if the GP32X forums ever do crash?



Well, the problem is: If it goes bust, how to tell all people there's a new one ready?
If we make a sticky about "there's a new one in case this go bust", new users would think "why not use the new one immediately if this one is going to bust soon?"

It's really some stupid situation we're in at the moment.

Everyone talks as if the OP forums are a safer alternative than GP32Xs. Well they are not. The OP forums will only exist as long as the Pandora project lives. If Pandora goes bust so does the OP boards. Why would they keep them going otherwise? I'd place my bets on these boards outliving OPs.

Why should they only exist as long as the Pandora project lives?
I created the gp32x File Archive even before having an idea I'll even sell the gp2x... back at the GP32 days, I've been a normal user and wanted to contribute the community the same as hando did. And I worked together with him. At first with newsposts, making this site one of the biggest GP32 news sites and after that, I created the archive...

And still, when I sold the gp2x, I had the gp2x File Archive. Did you ever have the feeling, some company is behind the archive restricting it somehow?

The only way the boards would disappear would be a complete failure of the Pandora. Which - in my opinion - is nearly impossible seeing how far we are already.

The new boards shall NOT be a company driven OpenHandhelds.org forum. It should've been a new home for everybody here... with the same guys, the same discussions... a place where everybody feels the same.

Hando giving a sign of life isn't good enough. There needs to be a confirmation that someone receives a back-up of the database periodically or even better, he should make someone co-administrator.

Yes. That's all we need. He can have as many backup space as he want from me, I could help out administrating or even someone else... I offered all this, I just have no idea why nothing happened.

QUOTE

I also can understand the concerns Craigix and Evil Dragon have. They are trying to run a professional business, and clearly as this forum is set up right now is not in their interest.



Well, for me, it's still no professional business... I have no idea why. For me, the Pandora is the most interesting project of my life, and my shop has never given me the money to live with... in fact, I did spend most of the money I earned with my shop to the community (archive, etc.).

And I wouldn't say it's not in our interest... it's fine, the only problem we have is that we can't add any devs to the internal Pandora Developer forum (only hando can, and he doesn't reply at all) and those forum bugs that have been here for weeks already.

Even that wouldn't be that big problem - but if even those bugs won't get fixed within weeks, what will happen, if something major breaks?

We've always stuck to these boards, after it came back after a few days downtime, we abandoned our new, quickly created boards and told everybody the old boards are back.

We, TOO, want to keep those boards. I want to work together with hando as closely as possible. But what to do if you don't get any replies...?

QUOTE

Hando, don't try to solve this on your own and let Evil Dragon help.



Or ANYBODY else, if you don't want me to help. But if you don't find the time yourself, PLEASE let anyone help.

There are so many members here on those boards, I'm sure there are more than one good coders willing to help you out...

 

[Rico]

While it's encouraging that hando has replied by e-mail, I don't understand why he can't post here directly, and provide a more authoritative response.

 

[PokeParadox]

Oh, and I also didn't like how chip started this here. It's definately no news and definately not a "we're moving". It should have been a suggestion with discussion - but we all do some mistakes, don't we?

HAHAAHAHA! Now that's arrogance! Chip wasn't acting out on his own. You gave him the instructions knowing he had the Moderator status to carry it out! Now your blaming him and trying to wipe your hands clean. Thats insulting to him and this community! My apologies to you Chip.


No, actually it wasn't like that.
Craig asked me if I could enhance the quick solution I set up last time so we could move to a new board if those errors here don't get fixed.
Chip did a great job sorting the boards I setup and sorting out mods I should install.
I have never said he should make a news post about "We're moving" as that is something that you simply don't do without asking the mod.

My opinion was that I setup everything and then we can show the people here and ask if that would be good and move on, etc.

@streak: Can you persuade Hando to make a post on these forums about the situation? Even a small post would do a lot to reassure people, I think. Even something like "I don't have time now, but I'll come back and take care of this next week".



If he really would do that, that would be great.
I have no idea why he'd never want any help in administration. I offered it quite a few times. And guys, you know me - I never used any of my powers to do something bad.
I would've just fixed all the stuff, added or removed forums / subforums if need be, etc.
Nothing more.

The most important question to hando for me is:
If he doesn't have time, why doesn't he want somebody to help him?
It doesn't have to be me, just anybody who got some time to keep everything working here.

QUOTE

@EvilDragon: I understand the need to have an alternative ready if these forums crash, but don't think it's a good idea to split the community like this (and it's obvious that many established members have decided to stay here). What do you think of my idea of having those new forums up & ready, but locked, so that they can be instantly unlocked and serve as a home only if the GP32X forums ever do crash?



Well, the problem is: If it goes bust, how to tell all people there's a new one ready?
If we make a sticky about "there's a new one in case this go bust", new users would think "why not use the new one immediately if this one is going to bust soon?"

It's really some stupid situation we're in at the moment.

Everyone talks as if the OP forums are a safer alternative than GP32Xs. Well they are not. The OP forums will only exist as long as the Pandora project lives. If Pandora goes bust so does the OP boards. Why would they keep them going otherwise? I'd place my bets on these boards outliving OPs.

Why should they only exist as long as the Pandora project lives?
I created the gp32x File Archive even before having an idea I'll even sell the gp2x... back at the GP32 days, I've been a normal user and wanted to contribute the community the same as hando did. And I worked together with him. At first with newsposts, making this site one of the biggest GP32 news sites and after that, I created the archive...

And still, when I sold the gp2x, I had the gp2x File Archive. Did you ever have the feeling, some company is behind the archive restricting it somehow?

The only way the boards would disappear would be a complete failure of the Pandora. Which - in my opinion - is nearly impossible seeing how far we are already.

The new boards shall NOT be a company driven OpenHandhelds.org forum. It should've been a new home for everybody here... with the same guys, the same discussions... a place where everybody feels the same.

Hando giving a sign of life isn't good enough. There needs to be a confirmation that someone receives a back-up of the database periodically or even better, he should make someone co-administrator.

Yes. That's all we need. He can have as many backup space as he want from me, I could help out administrating or even someone else... I offered all this, I just have no idea why nothing happened.

QUOTE

I also can understand the concerns Craigix and Evil Dragon have. They are trying to run a professional business, and clearly as this forum is set up right now is not in their interest.



Well, for me, it's still no professional business... I have no idea why. For me, the Pandora is the most interesting project of my life, and my shop has never given me the money to live with... in fact, I did spend most of the money I earned with my shop to the community (archive, etc.).

And I wouldn't say it's not in our interest... it's fine, the only problem we have is that we can't add any devs to the internal Pandora Developer forum (only hando can, and he doesn't reply at all) and those forum bugs that have been here for weeks already.

Even that wouldn't be that big problem - but if even those bugs won't get fixed within weeks, what will happen, if something major breaks?

We've always stuck to these boards, after it came back after a few days downtime, we abandoned our new, quickly created boards and told everybody the old boards are back.

We, TOO, want to keep those boards. I want to work together with hando as closely as possible. But what to do if you don't get any replies...?

QUOTE

Hando, don't try to solve this on your own and let Evil Dragon help.



Or ANYBODY else, if you don't want me to help. But if you don't find the time yourself, PLEASE let anyone help.

There are so many members here on those boards, I'm sure there are more than one good coders willing to help you out...

Thanks for posting this, all the scapegoating and finger pointing was getting annoying.

 

[Esn]

While it's encouraging that hando has replied by e-mail, I don't understand why he can't post here directly, and provide a more authoritative response.

Sometimes when I'm really late for something, and I'm quite embarrassed by it, I'm tempted to just disappear completely and save myself the stress of doing the right thing.

It may be nothing like that of course. But Hando, if you're reading this, it's not too late yet and you'll make a lot of people very happy if you get involved now.

(StreaK, you can pass on my message to Hando if you think it would be appropriate)

 

[parag0n]

Hando:

edit php.ini
turn magic_quotes_gpc off

FORUM BUGS DEFEATED

Seriously, this is literally all it would take, and we've been waiting 3 months.

 

[Kyo]

Well with handos message posted I'm against a move as well. He obviously doesn't want to give it up and that's good enough for me.

@parag0n

No. No it would not. IPB is programmed to deal with magic quotes gpc, and the double would ' come from magic quotes sybase, if anything (which escapes quotes with another quote), but I have my doubts about that as well, seeing as how [ and ] are backslashed after editing.

 

[hando]

Hello Guys and Girls


So you managed to drag me out of the shadow Impressive Anyway, here is quick info about current site/server status. As for today server is working and I can't see any reasons for anything that can change this situation. Backup of the database and the whole site is done in regular manner every 24h so there is no need to afraid of anything. Im not quiting the scene I just live in the shadow of it As far as I know I pay regularly for site hosting and domain so it rather wont end as a parked domain page soon. I agree Im not active on board but it doesnt mean I dont read post or visit site. When I see the store I care if its open and dont need to se the owner at the door For me gp32x.de is very important and I am not giving up on anything.

Problems:
Yeah like everywhere there are some problems. Doubled apostrophes can be fixed using this steps from gp2.eXe post: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showt...=47466&st=0

Mail problem. I admit its annoying. It's also the reason I missed many of mails (including from Chip/Ed). The problem is site generate thousend of mails/PMs monthly and all notifications which are send to notify about eg. ne PM in your inbox are sooner or later threated as a spam. That's the mark of times we are living. Can we change it ? Probably yes. I don't thing we are the only site using IPB and having this problems. Probably it is solved in actual version of the board as well as many other smaller bugs. Forum upgrade can probably fix things up.

My mistakes: well, I have to agree I should grant Administrator privileges to someone from Mod team but i didnt. My mistake hoever I actually was pretty sure I gave it to ED but as I just checked I was wrong. Mea culpa. Not responding to emails. Thats kind of my fault as well but from the other hand my email hando@gp32x.de is targeted by I think all spammers in the world so yeah I lost some emails beetwen all those nigerian scams and penis enlargement circa about 300-350 a day. however I managed to find those from Chip. I should have gave my private email to mod team but i didn't. I can give it now so it'll solve another problem.

Explanation: To tell the truth, ED indeed offered me money and place on openpandora.org server. So why are we here today?
Well, ED was always a great friend of gp32x.de and he is actually the main reason this site is still online. I owe him a lot. This is also why I didn't actually wanted him to pay from his private cash for something he shouldnt. I thouhgt that maybe some day I'll managed to buy forum upgrade myself but there was always something Anyway, as you probably noticed this site is not supported by any ads etc. Of course there were a few in the past but mostly done for free and strictly realated to gp32/gp2x. My experience with google ads ended in banning my google account . I don't want to say it won't be ads in future but for today we are ads free so there are no income from this site in any way. Well there is paypal button on the front page so if you want to donate to the site feel free to do it but I want you to know that you don't have to. This site was created with open spirit in mind. As with all open "stuff" there are some flaws but still its free and open. Nobody is forced to anything. The are no ads and anything, its flowing. There are no big investments in powerful server farm, up to date software etc. I am not related in anyway with any hardware makers/distributors etc. so I am free from influences and nobody pushes me to do stuff I wouldnt like. And those condition I think created one of the best opensource gaming communites around. Of course we can improve things. As I said there is Paypal button on the front. You can use it. It's free to use it And when the money will be enough I can upgrade forum, think about other important stuff to improve our being here. And of course spend the rest of the money on the beer So I think this long pargraph explain somehow why I didn't wanted ED to pay for anything on purpose.

Hosting on openpandora.org. Ok, this will be short. At the time we started preparation to move site (belive me transfering over 1,5 gb of database data can be painfull) there was some situations with ddos attack on openpandora.org. Of course ED again encouraged me to move everything but you know, everything here was back to normal. No more ddos attacs on gp32x.de. Plus if you add my lazyness well it finished in nowhere. But from the other hands. Openpandora.org is well opensource but still commercial project. I had my doubts if I should moved or not. A few years ago, guys from liksang.com also offered me place on their servers and I had my doubts. And thanks to them our site is still online and their not. Anyway, it is hard to explain what's on my mind but I hope you can get the view from this mumbo jumbo

I don't know how it'll end. I am pretty sure we should have forum upgrade, front page upgrade, new server but from the other hand I want to keep the spirit of the site free. I hope we will work something out with the team. We improve methods of communicatios. i'll grant administrators rights to a few people. Since the topic started I got plenty of emails with propositions of help and money offers. Thanks for all of them. Please forgive me I won't replay to all of them but please threat this post as an answer to any of you. As for money donations. I you feel you want to donate use Paypal. But think first before you do it If it was me I would like to buy myself a few beers than donate to the site with doubled apostrophes bug

Ok. Time to take a walk with my daughter (for those of you who are not with us since the begining (and this is the beginning of the beginning: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showt...=5&#entry5) she was born year after I started this site so if gp32x.de was a girl it would look like her I hope )

 

[parag0n]

@Kyosis:

Looks like you're right, the [] being backslashed would be explained if both magic_quotes_sybase and magic_quotes_runtime are turned on.

-edit-
awesome post hando, glad to hear you're ok!

 

[Vorporeal]

Perfect.

 

[kevcal]

Good .. topic/bitching closed..??

 

[quote]

Thanks for posting, Hando .

I guess we're all staying here then, can the posts Chip stikied be removed?

 

[Squidge]

I guess we're all staying here then, can the posts Chip stikied be removed?

I've edited Chips news post and included a link to Hando's reply. I'm thinking thats better than removing it entirely, so people know what is going on. I've also unstickied this topic.

 

[Iorgy77]

Thank you Hando.

 

[Guyfawkes]

Hando - I am not sure what version of Invision forum software you are using, i think its quite old as the newer member profile page isn't showing (unless you disabled it). The latest version will mostly fix problems with spam bots registering and mass sending private mails which is a big issue at the moment, before the fix I had some bots mass PM all my forum members which took an age to clear up.

I am also fairly sure doing a full upgrade to latest version will fix the problems with the \ being added. If you are unable to upgrade I can look into the problem, I have a few ideas where the problem is.

 

[x68000]

If a full upgrade is needed, a donations push sounds like the order of the day!

What kind of costs would we be looking at to get this site upto scratch?

 

[quote]

If a full upgrade is needed, a donations push sounds like the order of the day!

What kind of costs would we be looking at to get this site upto scratch?

I'd like to know as well, I'd be happy to contribute.

 

[Guyfawkes]

The Invision forum license is $25 every 6 months. This allows you to download updates, get support etc. It is probably the cheapest thing on the list, a server upgrade will be costly. I do not know prices off hand and it also depends if his current host allows own servers or you have to buy/rent from them.