[amykhar]

I guess I'm just touchy on this subject right now. Nobody has the right to my brain or the code that I write. Now, there are Vbulletin 2 hacks I have written that I have no intention of supporting any more. I could delete them because I won't support them, but I prefer to leave the work so that other coders can use them as a baseline.

Why don't I support my version 2 hacks? Because I don't have a version 2 board any more, and I don't see it as my duty to keep it installed to answer questions. If I was a company support person, that would be unforgiveable. But I'm not. I'm a hobbyist. And doing something that is no fun is no way to pursue a hobby.

And, I'm not going to update most of my older hacks. Why? Because I no longer need the features those hacks provided. If I don't need the code, why would I take the time to write it, debug it, document it, and support it? I'd do it if a special friend asked me to, but not for any Joe Blow. Too many headaches involved.

If somebody were to say to me that they wanted to update one of my old hacks for VB3, I would say go for it. It's not an ego thing for me.

That said, if somebody were to take my code and re-release it with minor changes without my permission, I would have a fit. Why? Because it is a sign of disrespect. In a community such as this one, there have to be rules of etiquette. The rule about not pilching code is there because some hack authors release code for the joy of the recognition. Without that benefit, they wouldn't release code at all because there would be no fun in it. Allowing others to take code, tweak it a tiny bit, and then slap their name on it would drive the real hack-writers away.

Before you make any demands of hackers, please understand that hacking is our hobby, not our job. Making your site better is your responsibility, not ours. Fixing bugs in our released code is something we should do, but adding extra features, upgrading code to your version of vbulletin, etc. isn't something you should expect of us.

A hack is a gift from a coder to the community. When you receive a gift, you're not supposed to demand more of the giver.

Amy