time to say goodbye

[jj2007]

I don't know D.J.Peters but I do know that he has made a heck of a lot posts and from the comments here it looks like they have been quality contributions so it is sad to see someone of his calibre leave.

I can echo that.

Perhaps I shouldn't say this but I do not think that this forum would be any the less if the threads 'Making FreeBasic appealing to a wider audience' and 'Making Freebasic "easier" for new users' were ripped out in their entirety.

I've read these threads with interest. Quite naturally, opinions are clashing. There is a bigger underlying problem: The mood is not forward-looking. As D.J. puts it, the captain has left the ship, the crew is confused and wondering whether to stay on the ship or go looking for a job elsewhere. While I have my own baby (not in competition with FB because never intended to be opened to a wider audience), I like FreeBasic because it seems the best active BASIC dialect around, and FB can compete speed-wise and size-wise with members of the C family. There seem to be some minor bugs, not a big deal.

What is missing imho is a simpler access to the language. My very subjective impression (and somebody will beat me up saying "RTM"*) is that an editor with a properly working F1 key and a collection of directly accessible and searchable templates would be a good idea. Wading through thousands of posts in the Forum, or asking Google for help on FB, is not the best solution.

* the forum software eliminates the "F" - nice ;-)

[lizard]

What is missing imho is a simpler access to the language. My very subjective impression (and somebody will beat me up saying "RTM"*) is that an editor with a properly working F1 key and a collection of directly accessible and searchable templates would be a good idea. Wading through thousands of posts in the Forum, or asking Google for help on FB, is not the best solution.

Agree.

[JohnK]

If you code on windows /WINE, Freeq IDE can be setup for fb to do that without modification. If there is enough interest then i could release a version that does this.

http://rapidq.phatcode.net/FreeQ/

Jk

[BasicCoder2]

deleted

[xlucas]

FreeBASIC is a boat without a captain.
BASIC is for beginners and this is OK
but too much idiots and trolls here
and the moderators are blind or sleeping.

It'd really be a great loss if you go, Joshy. I wonder if you'll actually read all these posts. There's a couple of points I'd like to make about what you state. First, often we do feel forced to leave some project because of some people, especially when it's required that everybody involved be good so that the thing works, but that's not the case with FreeBASIC. Here, each of us makes of FB a different thing and we just meet to share what each of us do. What I mean is that even if there are a few whose attitude you don't feel comfortable with, that won't spoil FB or the rest of the community. It only makes sense to leave if you were here for that bunch, but I reckon you're here for yourself and for the people who are interested in what you have to say.

Another thing is that life, man, the whole of life, is a period of time (and a region of space... say, a region of space-time, if you like it more) that always invariably contains many idiots and trolls. I have no idea who you point to. Maybe I agree or maybe I don't about their trollness and idiocy, but the point is, if you leave a project because of trolls, you'll be disappointed to find that every other project will also have them. It's life. And what matters is that you are not one of those trolls. Give the good people here the privilege of experiencing a slightly decreased precentage of trolls by remaining part of the community

[sean_vn]

I'm doing a review of Java currently. I was looking at a number of different languages but none appealed to me very much.
The main reason I have dropped FB for the moment is I don't need access to assembly language for a number of planned projects. I can share more widely in Java and at least remain in some contact with commercial programming. Maybe FB should be forked into a simple beginners basic, somewhat modernized and a low level basic with pointer based arrays and access to assembly language etc.

[caseih]

The main reason I have dropped FB for the moment is I don't need access to assembly language for a number of planned projects.

What does this mean? Do you mean you don't want compiled executables since you need to target different platforms?

I also don't understand what you mean about forking FB. Is not the pointer-based array language you are describing C? Anyway FB already covers both niches in its present form. No forking necessary.

[jj2007]

Is not the pointer-based array language you are describing C?

C is obfuscated assembler (and C++ is a disease).

[coderJeff]

Joshy, I always admired the dedication and level of understanding you put in to your projects. Your focus on coding in FreeBASIC has been amazing. Hopefully your time away from FreeBASIC is temporary and we hear from you again. Best luck in your next adventure!
---
As for the trolls and idiots: yes, annoying that users post petty insults and hijack topics with unrelated material. I am not sleeping or blind. I find it difficult to ignore them, but I force myself to. As moderator I have these tools to delete posts, lock topics, ban users; but I don't, because I think it better to let community educate each other how to be better people, and learn how to get along with one another.

[sancho3]

As moderator

You are doing an ace job. Thanks.

[speedfixer]

I agree with sancho3: admins - good job!

I chose FB five years ago first because of the language, but a very strong second reason was that there are very few real trolls, and the community is very helpful. Admins did NOT have a heavy hand and did let people speak their mind.

*I* am definitely guilty of saying more than I should, as are others. But I hope that when I make a mistake, it is just a learning experience, or maybe more of an introduction to the PERSON saying what I say. Sometimes the advice in the forums is too dry, or may be harsh personally, even though correct technically. So, for me, I don't mind a little personality along with the tech stuff. It helps to understand the person and his answer.

No one of us would choose that Dodicat NOT add whatever he wished, whenever he wishes, however off-topic it may be.

Yeah, at this point, I would prefer the 'Making FreeBasic appealing ...' topic get moved to a topic thread: ''Dumped Discussions" -- still there but not really anything you want fished up by any new person to FB. TOTALLY unproductive at this point. But, that just isn't the style, here. No problem.

A few people have had patience with me (thank you, fxm). Perhaps joshy just got tired ... or busy ... or disgusted. It happens.
It is because of this possibility that I have refrained from chiming in more to that now ugly 'Making ...' topic. I have passion for things, and then I push too hard, sometimes. (That describes me, when I was young - then it became my job for 20 years. Hard to stop.) Other people do that, also. fxm has called me out a few times, and I have seen that I still push too hard, sometimes. But I try really hard to stay ON-TOPIC. Really.

I suggest:

Those who contributed to that terrible 'Making ...' topic: review what you said - remove all that doesn't belong to the topic --- how many pages would be left, what good ideas were simply ignored?

I am not an oldtimer, here, but I like FB, want it to continue and grow. I wouldn't want a newbie to read that thread - ever.
That would scare ME away and that doesn't happen very often. Exersize some self-discipline, please. Someone else is also reading these posts - always.

[Mihail_B]

Thank you Mr D.J. Peters for your contribution from which I too benefited ... benefited richly ... I'll personally be missing your presence.

I always thought about programming like it offers endless posibilities for research and development - and it does but perhaps we only need a new perspective and a recharging break - long, as long as possible :).

To anyone else reading this: you are not a troll nor an idiot :), but there are some odd things goin' on in/on our beloved planet Earth which kinda' brings a pessimistic tone to our daily lives.


Did I ever told you the joke with the skeleton ?
A skeleton walks into a bar and orders a beer and a mop.

Cheers Joshy !

[Boromir]

Thank you Mr D.J. Peters for your contribution from which I too benefited ... benefited richly ... I'll personally be missing your presence.

I second that!

[Lost Zergling]

Hi D.J. Peters
Thank you for your huge contribution. I'm using TinyDialog everyday. I also discovered FLTK owing to your posts.
Up to my mind you are among those whose technical level is the highest, The community of developers will miss you.
You will be welcome as you come back.
Yours zerglingly.. :-)

[aurelVZAB]

well what to say then good luck even I and mr.DJPeters not agree in some things
but who cares that is part of life like everything else.
contribution of DJ ti FB is really big and i appreciate that
personally i am not involved into FB very much because i prefer to use something else
which is bythe way created with FreeBasic what i proof that i like FB indirectly - YES that is truth!