As a long-time Declude Junkmail/Virus user I feel the need to chime in: FIRST -- many thanks to the list folks for explaining this new thing. Thankfully, I read the list for a few days and decided to not install this beast at all rather than being yet another guina pig.
SECOND -- I too am very disappointed by this whole scenario. The biggest attaction to Declude has been the "transparency" of the product and it's support. An official slogan for Declude might have been "of the tech, for the tech, by the tech". It's the only product that was 100% on the same philosophy and thinking that most of us have as techs/admins versus the suits/marketing types at Imail and other vendors. With this new feature, it is clear the "new owners" (suits) are calling the shots. That's ok, afterall, one can expect Declude to remain a one-man show for ever and still be in business, but it is, of course, disappointing to see Declude slide and decline to the same level as most other vendors. What is MOST ANNOYING, is the lack of transparency with this new feature. It comes with a turnkey auto-installer that mucks with our crucial config files rather than telling us what to do, it doesn't explain what it did, and the test itself was obscure without any good technical background on what it does, how it works, etc. Only after Scott's explanation that Declude is essentially running a DNSBL service, not just a test, and thus the rationale for having paid-up SA (which we have) does seem reasonable, but it was sliped in under backdoor instead of being up-front and explaining this in the rollout. Quite honestly, this seemed like "phone home" vendor SpyWare and the fact that it was rolled out to us so nonchalently seems to indicate a new arrogance for Declude which most of us, unfortunately, have the pleasure of experiencing daily with many of our other software vendors but never expected Declude to join the fray. My personal assessment is this was intentionally a "dry run" of a mediocure new feature (witness all the reports of huge false positives) and the real thing here was Declude testing a new methodology for them to roll-out optional services tied to current customer SA's. I assume the next step would be to have some of these new features sold as options and require additonal payment. (The mechanism to verify customer SA's could easily extend to verifying purchase of optional components). This new strategy of slicing the baloney thinly and starting to charge for every new piece is exactly the traditional vendor approach that we hate and loved Declude for avoiding. ------------ ________________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Scott MacLean Sent: Saturday, July 10, 2004 1:06 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Re[2]: [Declude.JunkMail] Fw: New Multiple Threat Lookup Database test for Declude JunkMail And there is one other thing that seems to be missed... Declude is not a simple thing to implement and configure. Those of us running it are more than capable of adding a line to our config files and deciding how to weight it/configure it/otherwise implement it. We don't NEED a "click OK to install" GUI that does something to our configurations that we're going to have to go change anyway. At 09:19 PM 07/09/2004, Todd Holt wrote: I have a message more for management more than Scott (and I hope they are listening!): Don't fix what aint broken! Declude has a solid following because of the way that Scott has treated IMail users in the past with feature upgrades, release methods and great support. If the new management is going to "restrict" or "force" Scott's efforts then the result will be a loss of customers. We are a rather finicky group!! And we know how to latch onto a good product or dump a bad one. I know that Scott is not in "complete" control any more, but I hope that corporate bureaucracy is not introduced into an otherwise smooth running product. Todd Holt Xidix Technologies, Inc Las Vegas, NV USA 702.319.4349 www.xidix.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of R. Scott Perry Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 4:39 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Re[2]: [Declude.JunkMail] Fw: New Multiple Threat Lookup Database test for Declude JunkMail >We know the Computer Horizons was sold, how much control do you have over >Declude these days? That depends on how you define "control" (no, I'm not a politician!). In this case, the level of control isn't clearly defined. The transition of management can be tricky, and needs to be handled carefully. If the new owners wanted nearly 100% control, they could have it (I definitely would not support that decision, though, and on the other hand, I'm sure they wouldn't try to do that). But it is important for the new owners to have as much control as possible, within reason. Put another way, while the new owners do some things differently than I would have (as is always the case with a transition in management), I haven't seen them do anything that I would really disapprove of. If I did, though, I am sure that they would listen to me and give serious thought to what I said. They are well aware that I got the company where it is now, and that if I am telling them they made a serious mistake, they would pay attention. >One of the best things I liked about Declude was your constant collaboration >on IMail and this group. How often do we see and IMail developer in the >IMail forum. :) Honestly, that's one of the best things that *I* like about Declude too. That's why I'm still participating in the IMail Forum and the Declude mailing lists. >Do have any say as to what is going to happen in the future or does the >management just taking suggestions? I definitely do have a lot of input about what is going to happen in the future. :) The final decisions, of course, will be up to the new management -- but they will definitely listen carefully to what I say. -Scott --- Declude JunkMail: The advanced anti-spam solution for IMail mailservers since 2000. Declude Virus: Ultra reliable virus detection and the leader in mailserver vulnerability detection. Find out what you've been missing: Ask for a free 30-day evaluation. --- [This E-mail was scanned for viruses by Declude Virus (http://www.declude.com)] --- This E-mail came from the Declude.JunkMail mailing list. To unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], and type "unsubscribe Declude.JunkMail". The archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com. --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus (http://www.declude.com)] --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus (http://www.declude.com)] --- [This E-mail was scanned for viruses by Declude Virus (http://www.declude.com)] --- This E-mail came from the Declude.JunkMail mailing list. To unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], and type "unsubscribe Declude.JunkMail". The archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com. --- [This E-mail was scanned for viruses by Declude Virus (http://www.declude.com)] --- This E-mail came from the Declude.JunkMail mailing list. To unsubscribe, just send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], and type "unsubscribe Declude.JunkMail". The archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com.
