Subj : Re: Net2BBS
To : NICK ANDRE
From : Marceline Jones
Date : Sun Apr 04 2021 09:05 am
NA> On 27 Mar 21 10:14:00, Marceline Jones said the following to T.J.
NA> Mcmillen:
MJ> The information is cited from the program documentation.
NA> Can I politely ask what version documentation you are citing this
NA> from?
D'Bridge EMAIL System Single-line v1.58 (5 April 1994).
05/04/1994 01:00p 10,856 DB-USA.TXT
NA> When I obtained the code in 2005-ish, the first thing I did was make
NA> it freeware. Word of mouth quickly spread and this echo exploded in
NA> traffic, everyone being excited to see it being worked on again. There
NA> have been many releases since then. The most recent was... yesterday.
By 1999 the BBS scene was dead. By 2005 we are looking at fossilised remains. By that time people already moved on to Argus. It would have been noble if open-sourced earlier, but instead it was done at a time when it was useless.
NA> I've had Sysops offer to pay me for adding BinkD and TIC processing,
NA> offers to pay me for support which I've very politely declined. I've
NA> answered international phone calls for troubleshooting, replied to
NA> countless emails and Netmails... and never took a dime.
Were those offers made before or after you added those features ?
Did you decline because you did not want the obligation and/or accountability of supporting D'Bridge ?
NA> Ward will tell you enthusiastically... "Best pizza I ever bought".
That is because he is a true believer.
I on the other hand take a dim view of crippleware.
MJ> D'Bridge was not free and Nick Andre was not the original author.
NA> Everyone knows this... I'm sensing some hostility or a need to split
NA> hairs.
NA> A famous Canuck band sang We're here for a good time, not a long time.
There is also the saying "Forgive but don't forget". People act as though D'Bridge is the best thing ever, and readily praise and come to its defense. But I remember a time when people were incentivised to snitch on SysOps that violated evaluation agreements. My view is snitches get stitches.
