An update (Page 4 of 5)

Wow, talk about drama. Both Rickard and Smartys have made it clear they will fork it if necessary. What else do you need to hear? I'm glad to hear the developers have gotten some monetary compensation for their hardwork. Seems like a win win to me.

A comment on this would be aprreciated... Its a pretty simple question. You was very vague on what this new holder wants to do.

At first i got worried and betrayed in some way. Like, it might be within the 20% of the code developed by the 80% of the ppl involved, but i proudly contributed with some small mods/plugins and i actually have some more on it's way. It felt like there was money involved in something i participated actively because i believed it was a free open source project in all its sense.
I felt like this this was going the same way mambo did.
Don't nail me for having this reaction, i wouldn't be honest if i wouldn't mention it when i say my opinion about this.

Now as i red the thread though i changed my opinion.
Punbb has been build up for free, the code is there, available for everybody at cost zero. Rickard, the dev team and all other code contributers have put their time/work without asking anything in return. I don't think anybody has the right to complain. OK, one has the right to feel sad or disappointed about this. But hey, Rickard even said himself that he would fork punbb if necessary.

This might be a good opportunity for everybody to think about how valuable this software is and how cool is to have it for free.

If the dev team would give up of this project today we would have to accept, there's no responsibility by anybody twards nobody.
Besides that, the code would still be as free as it is today, and somebody else could assume the development, that's what open source is... i guess.

On the other hand, i haven't really understood why did the company needed to buy the copyright in order to do whatever they want to do.
I think the worst scenario would be a fork, but punbb has it's license precisely to protect itself whenever necessary.

Keep up

Rickard, I'm sorry if this question has been answered anywhere else (I couldn't find the answer though), but would you release security patches for the 1.2.x versions after 1.3 is released? It seems that I won't need the functionality of 1.3 and it would be too hard to upgrade to 1.3 for me (a lot of self-written code, many changes to CSS etc).

Thanks for your work, I'm glad it's paid now.

Damnit people, learn to read. If it stops being free, which I sincerely doubt, Rickard (or anyone else on this forum I dare say) will fork it.

Smarty concern is very simple. people have been happy the way Rick and team handled and supported users and development. With limited information of ownership change, people are bit worried about its future path. While there are assurances from the original team, the way acquisition was communicated is probably  causing a panic. Remember similar issues with UBB was acquired, incidentally name of the guy behind ubb was also Rick additionally committing that Rick will pork out if necessary adds the uncertainty.

If as a user, I am using punbb, today I don't know, if next versions will be available for free? will it become a paid software? will developers really continue with same dedication? (while assurances are there), and Qs like these are not answered. Like if I am starting a new board today, I will have a hesitation to use punbb, as I do not know whether "future versions" will remain free? or it will take route of minibb....its bit of a risk for my forum if I don't know the future impact of these changes

May be some one from the new company coming to these forums and announcing their vision would have helped to clear many of these concerns. Keeping everything under wraps is what creating these ripples, confusion and slowly loosing confidence.

To give an excellent way of communicating sudden changes I suggest you go thro http://thevbgeek.com If Rick would have communicated in similar fashion taking the community in full confidence, people would have welcomed it with open mind.

just my few cents

You see though pingme, I think we've addressed all of your concerns multiple times. And if you can't accept what Rickard and I and the rest of the developers say, then I don't know how much this is about the sale as it is about you not trusting us
Now then:

I wouldn't say there's limited information, I'd say there's quite a bit. We're certainly not hiding anything from you guys.

If I'm understanding you correctly, you're saying that Rickard making clear that he will fork the code if it's, for example, taken non-free is a BAD thing? You'll have to explain that one to me

Yes, they are. Unless, of course, you choose to not trust our word, which as I said is an issue entirely separate from the sale
But, to clarify for anyone reading:
- PunBB will remain free thanks to the GPL.
- In the words of Rickard, "If push comes to shove, I'll fork it myself!"
- We're still developing with even more dedication than before (excluding periods of real life peeking through, which I had for the past couple weeks).

I don't know that they have fully decided what their ultimate, final plans are for PunBB. However, as we keep pointing out, it doesn't really matter what they decide. PunBB is still PunBB. It is released under the GPL. The code can not be retroactively closed. The code can be forked. Thus, if they make a decision like "abolish free PunBB," the code will be forked.

If I'm reading what you linked properly, I have to disagree with you. I think we've been at least as open as that (and the outcome has been more positive)
At the site you linked, the person explained that he would be stopping development and support to focus on a family business in crisis.
The first post was August 5th and explained the very basics, saying rather unclearly "As such, I will be absent from the site for the unforeseeable future, leaving me unable to support and develop. This crisis could potentially be rectified by as soon as the end of next week, however it could also take substantially longer."
The next post was August 19th, two weeks later, and provided little information other than "there's still a problem, and I don't know how exactly you guys will be supported, but I'm thinking about it, and I'll refund some money to some people who I can't support"
The NEXT post is a month later and simply says "the problem is fixed but I can't support you guys anymore, I still haven't decided exactly how you will be supported"

I should note, I do think the issue was handled well on the site given the circumstances the person was working under, I just don't think it stands as a shining example of what to do. Ideally, he would have found someone else to support the code for him much quicker: in fact, he probably could have paid someone to do it. I also find it interesting that you compared the sale to a crisis when in reality it's just the opposite.

Hurrah

No concern. Create a fork, migrate the community. If the need ever arose, that is.

When??? Whenn??

Thank you