Hack Graveyard and Priorities

[rjordan]

We've decided not to change the policy right now because, as Xenon mention already, there is a priority list that we must follow. The staff restructure being the biggest thing right now. This policy has been put into affect since before I was a member here, and it has never caused a problem like this. I feel with the heat of all this change and commotion caused this problem to escalate more than it had too.

The admins have discussed what to do, and a "Hack Graveyard" may be put into affect once we have some things settled, and we can discuss the policy calmly and without any rush.

I am closing this thread, because it has served it's purpose. We have heard everyone opinions and suggestions, and we will have them in our minds when we discuss this again.
Forgive me, but I think this needs to be looked at again. If you do not put a "hack graveyard" in place and you continue to delete (meaning unrecoverable) modifications/hacks/whatever, then you are going against what this site is all about. It is as simple as a temporary mandate to create a new forum category (10 seconds) that is hidden and move threads there instead of deleting them. To think that this is not a high enough priority to take all of 10 seconds to create the forum and instruct staff to move instead of delete, then you will lose much more than just the hack, but all of the support given in the thread and attached posts. If it is later determined that you are going to keep deleting threads instead of keeping the graveyard, then delete them, much to everyone elses dissapointment. If it is determined that you will officially institute this graveyard, then you have the structure in place to implement it and nothing more has been lost in the umpteen months it would taken to make a decision that is able to be accomplished in 10 seconds.

Sorry, Danny, I think this needs to be rethought. Call it a temporary mandate. Call it whatever you want. It is a mistake to not immediately implement this to avoid any more loss of information.

[Code Monkey]

That whole concept is silly. It would be much more prudent to make it so there can be no posts made in a hack thread until, or while there is no zip attachement. This would solve all their stated reasons. It would also elimate all those stupid posts at the begining of hack threads asking where this or that is. It would give the author time to set everything up and prevent bumping when the zip is removed.

[rjordan]

Actually, I agree with you Jump. I was simply addressing the deletion of posts versus SOME alternative. I said what I said because it seems that they want the modifications removed in some sort of way.

[Code Monkey]

They are a machine. They only want what their programing tells them they want. ;)

[DementedMindz]

They are a machine. They only want what their programing tells them they want. ;)

very true

[Paul M]

Just to be clear - no threads are actually deleted - they are moved to a private forum.

[rjordan]

Well, that is good. There were conflicting messages in the other closed thread concerning JumpD's modifications. This is what prompted me to post this:
Deletion is part of the current policy but we are discussing ways to improve the policy...

Chris
Others said they can be restored. We need consistancy. We need one staff voice that can speak for the vB.org (in addition to Danny). Too many chiefs. Now that it has been said that they are indeed not being deleted, I feel much better.

[Guest190829]

It's not just about creating the forum, it's also about rewriting the policy so things like this don't happen again. We're not going to rush into something because it will only cause disaster in the future. There are factors that need to be addressed before a forum like this can be implemented.



It is as simple as a temporary mandate to create a new forum category (10 seconds) that is hidden and move threads there instead of deleting them


As Paul stated, this is already the case. We already have a "Thread Graveyard" that is hidden, and all deleted threads go there.


The concept I talked about in the previous thread was making a public forum for Hacks that no longer have attachments in them. Like I said, there is some planning that need to do before any of it is implemented.

Edit: I apologize for any confusion there may be between posts. No threads are actually deleted.

[Xenon]

Actually there is something i want to mention, to make it more clear, why we cannot just change this policy in a 10 second manner like suggested:

Released Modifications are copyrighted by their authors. Now, if an author determines to remove his codes from this site, he has the right to do so, because it is his code. Now in a supportthread there might be parts of his codes posted to explain things and give support... This code is supposed to be removed as well, for copyright reasons. If we would keep it visible, then we could get in legal problems with the author. That's why we can't change such things immediatelly, there are a lot of things to think about....

[creedmaniac]

Actually there is something i want to mention, to make it more clear, why we cannot just change this policy in a 10 second manner like suggested:

Released Modifications are copyrighted by their authors. Now, if an author determines to remove his codes from this site, he has the right to do so, because it is his code. Now in a supportthread there might be parts of his codes posted to explain things and give support... This code is supposed to be removed as well, for copyright reasons. If we would keep it visible, then we could get in legal problems with the author. That's why we can't change such things immediatelly, there are a lot of things to think about....

i've tried to just sit on behind the scenes with all this stuff going on...but this comment just got me thinking...

couldn't that issue be addressed quite simply by saying in the policy that if a coder wishes to remove his code from the site...he must manually remove it ALL...not just the zip files...if he leaves any of his code in the hack threads then it is free game..

[Xenon]

theoretically yes, but that would make it needed to give that author moderator rights in his threads, because what would be if another user gave support and posted code there into the thread...

you see it's unfortunatelly not that easy. As we have a sort of Miscelaneous Release licenses on our list, this issue could resolve with that as well, but at the current stance that's how it is.

[creedmaniac]

if it's another user that posts that code...then it's not the authors code...is it?

sorry..i'll shut up now...i'm just being curious... laws and logic never seem to mingle very well together...though one would think they would

[Xenon]

i mean:

Author posts code per release
User A wants support
User B gives support in that way:
find
Authors code here

change into
new code here

That way the authors code is in a post he cannot control further.

Thats the problem we need to deal with :)

[creedmaniac]

ah...didn't think about it that way...
oh well...was just an idea...now i'll get back to staying behind the lines :)