I have decided that I will continue to post to the DatabaseManagement section of the UKB, on an occasional basis, on into the future (it is a day by day decision though).
Sooner or later, my other material will be duplicated and expanded on my own site. The site was founded, as a joint effort, by Tomasz, Herman/Al and myself. >From my point of view it was an outstanding combination, and partly built on friendships, that are still there. The fundamental problem for me is that while Herman and I retired early, and can basically suit ourselves, the UKB is only a very small part of Tomasz's empire and it is not in his overall interests to focus on it too much. If I am involved in a project I like it be going somewhere and getting there fast. Also the site is owned and operated by AB, so if I like, and want to network with someone who has conflicting commericial interests, or who Tomasz doesn't like, then my hands are tied (not a good thing for me). The reality of any joint venture is that if you want to make a change you have to negotiate it through the 'committee' - also not a good thing for me. Re my future posts to the UKB: I find the idea that individuals can 'copyright' AFL code rather strange - everybit of code is based on Tomasz's original work and we all learnt it from him. Basically, as far as I am concerned, my posts that contain AFL code and instructions on how to use AB, belong to Tomaz/AB and I will post my efforts, in that area, at the UKB. The resource material/statistics and my original work has generic interest and will be duplicated/expanded elsewhere (if at all). Re my future site: - there is no set date or format - it will be an opportunity, and motivation, for me to learn better net publishing skills - it will be somewhere in the range from a) brian's whiteboard (a no comments, no support, no permanency site, like a google blog) - I will just upload my files and examples, as I do now - there won't be any fanfare and the stuff or the site can disapear at any time). b) a fully fledged site for trading authors to collaborate and post their efforts - it will be open to others, but I am not concerned if no one comes to the party, I'll go it alone. - a democratic site - the nature of the site is up to the participants - my stuff will be not for profit - if I am on my own, and have to pay for the site, I might end up using some pay for clicks stuff somewhere (to cover costs) - possibly people with commercial interests might want to run their pages alongside the work of not for profit authors (I don't know - I will have to see what eventuates). - I reserve the right to sell some of my stuff at some point down the track (e.g. plugins, books, training, systems etc) - the liklihood of that is extremely low, at this stage, but I don't want to handcuff myself to an ideal if the site is working and I need to adapt or if I am putting in massive hours for free (there is a limit to what I will do for the community). c) or not post anything extra at all. I will continue as an active member of this group. Thanks to all who supported my efforts at the UKB - I made some mistakes and I had some successes but my view is "you can't learn to swim from the grandstands". brian_z --- In [email protected], "brian_z111" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I'm having a break from writing for the UKB. > > When Tomasz started it I told him I would write X amount in the period > up to the end of year 2007 - it was my payback to him for unbelievable > support. > > So, I went beyond that but now I am not certain that I want to continue. > > I like the coummunity spirit and internet compact, where we share free > stuff with each other, but I find that publishing requires ongoing > commitment to keeping up with additional software (if only I could > publish hassle free). > > Although I feel the UKB is a success it is a problem for me that more > authors haven't come forward to sustain the opening effort. > > IMO the WordPress software, structure of the site, need to sign a legal > for etc are holding the site back, and turning away authors, but AFAIK > Tomasz is unlikely to make any changes there. > > I am looking at other software/sites where I might set up a NFP site on > my own, or as a joint open effort with other AB users, as I do have > more stuff (some I have started). > > Anyway, I dropped a dictionary on my PC tower and killed it (some UKB > articles on it were not backed up - if it is a hard drive issue they > may not be recovered) so it will be a while before I publish anything > anywhere. > > Thanks to Tomasz, Herman, Fred and Dennis for UKB collaboration, > especially Herman, who is a one in a million guy. > > Thanks to the forum for seeing me through my forum/publishing > adoslescence. > > brian_z >
