I'm glad I didn't wait around for anything WF for the past year. I've been using XF sections and it works great. I'm grateful others have produced some of the mods we needed instead of waiting for a final version of anything WF.

It seems funny to me that when things drag-on as beta, beta, beta there is usually a good reason.

All that grandiose verbiage telling us about WF Sections replacing the news module, etc.,etc. What a bunch of tripe.

I've learned a lesson, which I was pretty well tuned into over a year ago. If something stays beta too long, find something else.

So, I guess now the php community will get another elitest who'll start another CMS and call it WF-xoops, similar to the you know what Xoops.

I could care less, we've got a great community and a heck of a lot of good stuff that works.

---------------------------------

First of all, I would like to give my apologies to everyone for what seems my sudden and rather harsh decision to depart
from Xoops, but the truth be known, this has been on the cards for the last few months now and I feel it is now time
for me to depart and move away now.

I have come to a stage where I do not believe in the direction that XOOPS is taking now and I cannot ignore this
anymore. What was once in my eyes a clear path forward as become nothing but a farce and I have become disillusioned in its
purpose and I do not see this changing.

Just over a year ago, Herko, Neon and I started X-Mode with the aim of taking module development a bit further and
giving developers a central point to develop and distribute their modules. The idea was adopted by XOOPS and at
that time I believed I was apart of something constructive and that would in the end be a benefit to the whole of the
Xoops Community.

These ideas have changed the face of XOOPS over the last six months, in whole, they are essential to the development,
growth and long term stability of what is a an excellent piece of software and I hope that XOOPS gains the stature
that it deserves with the rest of the CMS world.

The initial aim of the module development team was to take the current core module and bring these up to the standards
of the core, in such a way that they used many of the core functions and classes and then, to build those modules on
from there. I personally, believe that just a handful of very talented developers would have sufficed for this
purpose and thus lead by example for other module developers to follow. Well, this has not happened.

I feel that many of the issues regarding module development, which should have been discussed and settled many months
ago, have still not been resolved and it seems to me that there is still a long way off actually being put into place.
To me every stage needs strong foundations to help support the next stage of development and this is clearly not the
case here.

Personally, I feel that a lot more should have been produced than there already has been in the last six months.
I have to give credit to Predator and his team for the excellent progress and development they are making with the
forum (I always said that this would keep you busy). But, apart from that, I have seen nothing to write home about
regarding the rest of the core modules. Personally, I believe if some developers spent as much time writing code as
they did answering non-descript posts in the forums, then things may have been different.

I just feel now that the module development team is setting itself up to fail, and I can no longer just stand there
and watch this happen.

I just think that it is so FUCKING ironic that it takes a non-developer like Hsalazar ( No disrespect meant here) to
show everyone how it's done! Well done m8 I think what you have done is utterly fantastic, keep it up.

So on that note, I would like to say a big thank-you to all those people who have in one way or another have contributed
towards all the WF modules, the list is long and you will know who you are.

To the XOOPS Community for making me feel at home with their warmth and sincerity.

To those in the development world core/modules/themes, who have helped me and taught me a lot over the last two years.

Many Thanks

ATB

Catz

dom, you are a bit behind on the current events.

Catzwolf has returned just as fast as he left, now in a more active role to ensure that the module development progress towards a common good for XOOPS.

Beat me to the reply!

Maybe Catz should replace it for now with something like this site is under construction at least.

Would perhaps save any confusion.

Quote:

Hi Dom,

I am really sorry that you feel like this towards myself and the modules that I have contributed to the XOOPS Community, all in my own time and with nothing asked or nothing taken.

I can assure you that I am no 'elitest' with any thoughts of starting up another CMS Called WF - Whatemiever. (Hmmmm Thinks again).

How many years have I been with XOOPS now? I would really like to think that I have contributed something here and helped many people at the same time and I am only human and I will get things wrong or my private life gets in the way.

The only Modules that I have in beta are the new downloads module and WF-Sections, both which where only released as beta over two weeks ago. Yes I grant that WF-Sections took its time in coming and took longer than it should have, but I think that the end resulkts speak for itself here. And if you can do better? Then by all means go ahead and do so.

If you want to use XF-Sections then that is your choice, I don't force people to use my software or support it. Its about choice here at Xoops, but remember this, XF-Sections is as much my works as the current authors and wouldn't be there if I had not worked on WF-Sections in the first place.

Dom, I don't wish or want to fall out with you or anyone else, its not my nature but I don't come into a puplic forum slagging anyone off for any reason (or at least I try not to).

I know your angry with me and I can accept that, I know that at first I promised a new release of WF-Sections nearly every week but I have learn't my lesson with this. But you ask any of the beta testers who have helped me recently they know the speed I am working on to get WF-Sections out as a full release ASAP and I am trying my best.

Anyway.

Love and light

Catzwolf

Right on Catz! I can understand being frustrated at a module(s) being delayed for extended periods of time, but that DOES NOT give you the right to slag off at the author. Especially in an opens source environment such as Xoops. Everyone contributing to XOOPS does so by their own free will, in their own spare time. This kind of "give me, give me, give me" attitude really cheezes me off. If YOU don't like the pace at which the development of a paritular module(s) is moving, then why don't YOU do something about it. I can't code PHP to save myself, but I'll do all I can as far as answering other peoples questions and testing beta versions of modules released by authors.

Hmmm,

How to respond here. First let me introduce myself. I'm the webmaster over at Gameinatrix.com. I am the guinea pig that Catz tests all the lovely modules he develops, on.
Now while all the testing does drive me to drink on occassion, I'd kiss Catz feet if he were in the same country as I, because my site is the s*%$ (I'm censoring myself :) ).

For someone to get on a public forum and gripe because they didn't get a software FOR FREE No less has got the be the most selfish, idiotic, and childish display I've ever seen. If you are an American, I'm sad to say I'm from the same country as you and if you're not, I'm sad to live on the same planet as you.
When the day should come that you can spend hours looking at code and dealing with the likes of me bitching that it's just not right, THEN you gripe about the modules. Until then, just eat your Cannoli's and make sure you mouth stays full so no one can hear the stupid things you're saying.

Sorry everyone. I am a lady, but I had to step down from my pedistal for this one. ::wraps her out of season Texas fur around her neck and saunters off::
CARRY ON people!

laja bless aka GX Cori

I'm not mad at you Catzwolf. Quite the contrary. Maybe there is a lesson in this for us all.

Your document was not misquoted or altered in any way.

You weren't fair to this community with that kind of verbiage.

Honestly, I don't have any of your modules on my sites. I do think the potential is there at some point for you to produce the them. I've just learned if anything is beta too long, don't use it.

Personally, I don't care to alienate you, but I think you shouldn't rag on this community with long winded diatribes about everything that's wrong here.

In fact...we should all cut each other some slack.

I'll be the first to applaud you for a final competent WFSections. I have followed your efforts and regularly dropped by your site looking forward to using your work. Then today I get to read a verbal abuse of our little community and I felt like something should be said. It certainly doesn't surprise me "you're back". I know all about UADD...Ultra Attention Deficit Disorder. I've been plagued with it all my life. I've got a bunch of projects going all the time...half finished. Occassionally, I do get them done. LOL

To the future

I applaud Catzwolf and his efforts with the "WF" family of software. GPL development is largely a thankless job with few tangible rewards. However, I do think Catzwolf needs to back and have a read of the GPL and reflect on what true community development means. With respect to this topic, I would echo a core principle of GPL development:

"Release Early, Release Public, and Release Often."

Closed betas to select people and GPL is almost an Oxymoron. Call it alpha and pre-alpha if you want.... Who cares if it doesn't work right, it's a dev version. Point is, it's more important to get it out than to say you are going to get it out or to talk about all of the new bells and whistles you are going to add.

Good reference:

http://www.ics.uci.edu/~jrobbins/ics121f03/lesson-oss.html

Further, I've read several posts over past months, as a XOOPS lurker, where Catz tells people not to "hack" his code, etc. Again, this goes against the spirit of GPL development. Don't discourage people from jumping in and helping, encourage them!!! If develpers took this approach when Linux was an infant, I doubt we'd be here talking about this right now.

Just a few thoughts for Catz to chew on. I certainly don't mean any disrespect to Catz or what he's doing.

G. Zartman