<me@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> PB is a GREAT product but we just have no idea what is coming
> next, and no constructive criticism is permitted or you will
> be instantly banned like a whole host of very talented developers
> that no longer post on the PB Forum.
Though I would like to know what PowerBASIC plans are, I don't have
a problem with them being mum on that. My concern in this thread is
only that, if I have some future disagreement with PowerBASIC, will
I be summarily shut down for some relatively innocuous remark that
I might make? For the first time ever, this thread has given me
cause to be concerned.
Had I been in the same position as PowerBASIC, I would *never* have
taken the posts (that I have read) which Frank Cox made as hostile,
or even remotely deserving of censure. True, we haven't seen his last
post, the one that was removed, but that was after Frank felt he was
being unfairly labeled and criticized. But for Frank's first post,
I would have taken it as a simple misunderstanding, explained the
company policy on PB/Linux, apologized for any misunderstandings
previous announcements may have caused, and that would have been that.
Companies do this kind of thing all the time, and from the tone of
Frank's early posts, I believe he would have been satisfied, the
situation would have been cleared up, and no bad feelings on either
side. Certainly I would have thought that sufficient and apropos.
To my mind, the crux of the issue is trust. I trust that PowerBASIC
compilers are good products. I trust their do***entation and sup****t
to be good. But can I trust PowerBASIC not to "pull the plug" on me
for some mild complaint or criticism I happen to make, at a time when
it could damage my business? Right now, though I use PowerBASIC quite
a lot, I am not vulnerable to any real damage. I have always maintained
a fairly wide familiarity with a variety of development languages and
tools, and have viable alternatives if PowerBASIC were to cease to
exist. PowerBASIC could inconvenience me, but could not really harm
me by shutting down my access to them or their website. So, though I'm
not afraid of offending Bob Zale or anyone else at PowerBASIC, I have
no desire or reason to do so, and would prefer not to do so.
What I will say with certainty is that I will not willingly make
myself hostage to the whim of any company, particularly a company
that appears to act on whim, or with caprice. For the first time, I
am concerned that this may sometimes be the case at PowerBASIC. I
vested some 20 years of development into Micro Focus COBOL, and felt
betrayed when they drastically changed their licensing policy, which
significantly and negatively impacted me and my clients. I still
sup****t my clients who still use systems I wrote using that excellent
compiler, but I have no intention of writing any more, unless
specifically requested by a client. I have no intention of knowingly
putting myself in such a position again, unless it is unavoidable.
So, what to do? Except for the one deleted message, we appear to have
all the correspondence between Frank Cox and PowerBASIC on this issue.
PowerBASIC is clearly not forthcoming with more information, which,
in and of itself, is not reassuring. The only conclusion I can come
to is that, either that one post was (unlike Frank's other posts)
extremely egregious, or PowerBASIC is being overly sensitive to their
own interests, and very insensitive to the interests of a long time
customer. If that one post is truly egregious, PowerBASIC could
simply post it here and say "See?" I would. They should. Why don't
they? I can only see two possible reasons for not doing so: either
the post is not really egregious, or they don't care. Neither one of
those possibilities is reassuring, either. Nothing about this whole
episode could possibly reassure any customer that PowerBASIC is not
at the very least capable of being capricious, and possibly even
malicious. I would be delighted to learn otherwise, but the only
input from PowerBASIC has seemed to me to be somewhat haughty and
indifferent, and everything they have provided so far has been all
subjective *****sment, with no actual evidence.
Barring further information, as far as my own self, I see only one
logical course of action, and that is to not put myself in a position
where I could be harmed by PowerBASIC, for this or any other thing I
might say. Unless or until PowerBASIC or Bob Zale makes the effort to
reassure me, I will not be developing any large or long term
applications using PowerBASIC, no matter what it's technical merits
may be. The security of my business is far more im****tant to me than
any possible technical merits of a compiler. If this honest post, with
absolutely no bias or malicious intent, in which I have tried to be
completely fair to both positions, gets me banned by PowerBASIC, or I
find them chilly to me after this, then so be it, and I'll be glad to
learn that now, rather than after I was in a more vulnerable position.
This could have easily been prevented, or resolved at any time, at
least to my satisfaction, if PowerBASIC had been willing to do so. If
it were a client of mine, you better believe I would have fixed it,
just like I'm fixing this for my business, using the choices I have.
I really would have preferred not to have been pushed into this, but
that's life. :-(
So, why do I make this post, which may offend Bob Zale? Partly for the
same reasons I have come to Bob's defense in the past, because I want
to speak the truth. Beyond that, it appears to me that Bob Zale may
have been guilty of arrogance in dealing with Frank Cox. If so, that
is a stupid thing for a businessman who depends on his customers for
his continued prosperity to do. If it is the case, then he should know
that it has cost PowerBASIC the trust of at least one long time loyal
customer. If it is not the case, then he should take action to reassure
his customers that is isn't. That's up to Bob, but either way he should
be aware of the consequences, even if he considers them insignificant.
How he responds (or not) should make it even clearer to everybody what
the character of the PowerBASIC company and management really is, which
should be beneficial to them either way.
--
Judson McClendon judmc@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(remove zero)
Sun Valley Systems http://sunvaley.com
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
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