A New Beginning

[FellippeHeitor]

Alright.

[SMcNeill]

Paranoia? Maybe. It's like we are all passengers on an airline being told mid flight that the flightcrew is being replaced...

Honestly guys, it's not a big deal.  It's just business as usual for the current project.  One day we have an off-topic, community forum.  The next we don't.  One day we can edit posts.  The next we can't.  And then we can again...

The site, in general, has been filled with repeated sudden and undiscussed changes over the last few years.  This is just another instance of the same ole, same ole.  People will be upset for a couple days, wondering why nothing was mentioned or discussed in what's supposed to be an open source project, but then when things settle after a bit, life will go on as always.

Apparently:

The forums aren't changing.
The repo isn't changing.
The rules and basic lack of planning for development and future additions/enhancements aren't changing.

Basically, it just sounds like some guy has decided to take over the patreon funding, and now he's called "CEO" instead of Fellippe.  Felippe won't be using his personal finances to bankroll the costs of hosting; this other guy will -- and that seems like it's all that's going to change.

(For now, until the next sudden announcement... )

[STxAxTIC]

Alright lepers, STxAxTIC out.

[johnno56]

Understood. Looking forward to a severe bout of normalcy...

[Petr]

Aha. Thanks for the information. I'd rather (based on the experience at [abandoned, outdated and now likely malicious qb64 dot net website - don’t go there]) start downloading all the source codes to my home. I don't want to lose many goodies here on the forum. Just for sure. I've never heard of that guy in my life.

[RCcola1987]

Hey all,

This is Robert Carter AKA RCcola1987. I am hear to answer any questions and clear the air.

First off the title of CEO was not my choice but is required when a business is registered. This is required so that  Fellippe is no longer personally handling money and day to day business affairs. Now that that is out of the way I would like to directly address some of the posts on this thread.

@STxAxTIC You mentioned many different things and I will address as many as I can. The one that stood out the most to me is your comment stating that
"I was about to say that the financial aspect of running qb64.org is not that big of a burden. I would know because I originally bought the place. It doesn't take a CEO to run qb64.org. All it takes is a drain cleaner going through a divorce with some spare time."
That statement is simply not true. The project rides a razors edge of limited funding and increasing costs. I have personally contributed $100's to the project over the years and now my company has also contributed $100's. We are also dedicating a large amount of our time to help bring the project to new "Markets". Like getting it on the Raspberry PI.

Another of your questions was why I didn't announce my self on Discord or the Forum. For the Forum it was a matter of waiting until this post was put up and reopening my Forum account. My old one for years ago had gotten removed. Also on Discord we hadn't planned on announcing anything there and I am online all day almost every day there.

The last question I'm going to answer here from @STxAxTIC is what am I CEO of? To put it bluntly I am managing the day to day business operations, money, growth and direction of the project. For example when it comes to direction of the project I am looking into some of the issues with QB64 base code and figuring out what funding and people we need to help clean it up. both @luke and @FellippeHeitor can speak to how much a mess the source code is and how hard it is to maintain let alone add features. Since everyone involved with the project is a volunteer we need to help make their job easier and less stressful. These changes in no way will break any functionality in QB64 and will not have an effect on your use of the project.

@bplus I see and understand your concern about power and the typical situation of CEO's in companies. Let me be abundantly clear I have zero interest, want, or motivation to change the project into a pay for product nor make major structural changes to the project or its staff. My primary goals are as follows: Expand the reach of QB64 (get more people using it), Increase reliability of the IDE and complied code, Increase features of the IDE inline with the community and the vision of QB64.

On security one of the first changes I made was to the overall structure of how things are hosted and secured. Coming from a background of Technology it is my top concern and we take security of ALL of QB64's assets very seriously. This includes the security of your personal data as well.

Finally on your third item Quote "Also not fun, calling in professionals and bringing in the out of control changes and costs that usually come with them." We have systematically lowered costs. We did this NOT by cutting corners but by using better providers and streamlining services. This is still happening and we are working to make things even better.


@bplus and @Qwerkey The main website at www.qg64.org will not be the place for discussion that will remain on the forums and discord. Also most of the website work is being completed by myself and @luke. This is still in process and has already taken may weeks to do.


@SMcNeill Your concern was that the repo would be changing. We have ZERO plans to change the repo now or in the future. Also The project will still need donations to survive. I am not a bank but will help with things I can.
Also I want to point out that I have been pushing from more community input into decisions. We just aren't there yet.


For all that were asking for my information here it is.
website www.cbcwd.com
Discord RCcola1987
Forum RCcola1987

I am much more active on Discord.

[krovit]

Happy New Year to all. To all the survivors, one might say.

The concern is legitimate.
QB64 we all feel a bit "ours". Obviously this is not the case! And the credit for its development goes entirely to those who thought of it and carried it forward.
But there remains the fear that it will become another commercial project like many others, without "soul", without pathos, without "heart"... and then for a fee...

We hope well.

Thanks anyway to all those who have allowed this dream.

[RCcola1987]

@krovit  I understand and agree that is a common thing to happen but I can attest that it will not happen under my watch.

[krovit]

@krovit  I understand and agree that is a common thing to happen but I can attest that it will not happen under my watch.

   :)

[madscijr]

@krovit  I understand and agree that is a common thing to happen but I can attest that it will not happen under my watch.

Thank you for your replies. I think the concern you are seeing just shows how passionately the users love QB64 and the community around it. We all just want it to see it continue.

[Statsman1]

@RCcola1987 - thank you for replying and trying to allay some fears.

I suspect that most folks are going to take a “wait and see” position as things go forward, and you have certainly gotten a sense of how people like sudden change being dropped on them.

As I mentioned, I am looking forward to seeing what new ideas and such you bring forth.  I do not profess to be one of the founding members or even the most passionate QB64 enthusiast, but I enjoy being part of this group, and QB64 has allowed me to rekindle a love for coding I forgot I had. 

Ideally, the transition is seamless, invisible, and for 99% of the population, the new world looks exactly like the old world. 

Welcome aboard, Chief!

[bplus]

@RCcola1987

Another Thankyou for your reply and responding to our concerns, obviously we care very much about QB64.

Thank you for outlining how you see your contribution, what you are doing and aiming for, sounds great!

Thank you for helping make the Team's job a little easier.

You are now way more than just a shadowy name :)

[Dimster]

@RCcola1987 - So Mr. CEO :) - this is such an interesting change :

First off the title of CEO was not my choice but is required when a business is registered.

Can you disclose what State or Country our new business is registered in? And what kind of entity our new business is?

From reading your website and the outline you have provided here, you are definitely the man with the tools and experience to achieve the goals of expansion and wider adoption of QB64. I can very much appreciate there will be costs to maintain a business registration not to mention the hidden costs to expand QB64. I do plan on sending $$ when I can as I owe so much to the various members who have helped me with my coding and debated my weird ideas (by the way Pandemics are another reason for a Universal Income plan).

While I would love everything to stay as it was, I do agree change is an inevitability in this life and so the Carter era begins. As Statsman1 say, Welcome Aboard

[RCcola1987]

@Dimster Some things I can some I can't. What I can tell you is it is a US based entity in Florida.

[jack]

hello RCcola1987
I congratulate you in the professional manner of responding to the inquires, today's generation can's make a post without making a dozen quotes