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[rdonnay]

I know that there are those of you out there who are frustrated that the eXpress++ forums no longer support a newsgroup. I think that it is time for you all to realize that this kind of forum is much more powerful and that it also opens our community to a much larger audience. How long have we been frustrated that the larger programming community has never heard of Xbase++? How is this possible in the modern world of the internet? Well, IMO, I believe it is because we have been operating under the radar for many years. NG's are very closed communities. Look at the number of postings on Alaska's NG versus the number of postings on the eXpress++ phpBB. Alaska Software claims to have sold over 20,000 copies of Xbase++. eXpress++ sales are only about 5% of that amount and eXpress++ regular subscribers amount to even much less, so why then is this board nearly as active as Alaska's NG?

I believe it is because Alaska has never made an attempt to try to build a community in which they are an active participant. Why? I cannot answer this. Maybe it is because they are satisfied with their market share. They are a technology-driven company, not a market-driven company and, IMO, this is why they have survived longer than any other Xbase-dialect language. They have never added features to the product for the sole purpose of making more sales. I too have tried to follow this philosophy with eXpress++. I believe that added features must be supportable and so I tend to move slowly with development and only respond to the needs of the community.

However, there are also times that I would like to see a little more growth in the community because it is good for all of us. This board shows promise of providing some of that growth because developers who have not yet heard of eXpress++ or Xbase++ are starting to find us here because of their Google searches. I wish that Alaska would provide the same kind of forum instead of just an NG and that they would have regular moderators. If you feel the same as I do then I suggest that you petition Alaska to provide this kind of community experience.