Adopt a hack forum?

i would agree with such a forum.. i would be more than happy to see my work taken by a coder i know, because i'm going to quit the community soon, and want the codes to be supported as they are used by some - or at least discussed for other tools..

so if we have this forum, i will post in first and offer my scripts for adoption... but i have to know the guy that will take care of my beasts...

[cinq]

Originally Posted by spence2

Why ask for site feedback when the most anyone ever gets as a response is a defense of the status quo?

Respecfully, Erwin, do you not feel the present system could be improved?

I dun think it is as much a 'defense' as it is a pretty logicial suggestion/solution.
I mean if I were interested in helping take over the development of a buggy or outdated and unsupported hack, I don't need a forum to do it, I'd just drop a note to the hack author to check if its alright to take over the development.

problem with "contacting" the author, is that we don't always have the availability of a coder when he quit the community...

a forum like this would speed up the process: example:

i'm quitting in 4 weeks (may 22th) and i know my codes are needed... i simply have to drop a note in the adoption forum, and someone available will take care of my codes...

if i don't have that forum, i have to tag my releases as "unsuported", and make an announce in my sig about the fact...

also, this is not always the case that a coder will be willing to be contacted after some work done, and i see also in the releases some hacks released by non-coders not interested to support the scripts - because these scripts were done in a paid process, etc.. any reason is good.

this would become mostly a dropbox for codes...

[TruthElixirX]

I'd love this. I hate installing a hack (After making sure it has worked for people.) Getting it installed having problems and seeing that the coder as vanished from Earth. Not good...caused me way to many errors. vB.org could write it into the TOS of when you sign-up and force all current members to agree with it.

This would excellent though.

nah, no TOS.. this is stupid... people here have to agree to the jelsoft license, and when they hack their board, the jelsoft license is broken, so why ask for a TOS...

[noppid]

Contacting the author works. It's really that easy.

If the author aint around and you are passionate about the hack, just do the necessary support in the existing thread. Post your "patches" or "mods" and gain the respect of the other users of the hack.

If you are up to par, things will fall in to place naturally.

[spence2]

Thanks for the input from everyone!

The objective of this forum would be to "hook up" those that would be willing to adopt a hack with a hack in need of adoption ... plus the added security for the original author that he was leaving his hack in the hands of someone he/she trusted.

Unless as a hacker you spend countless hours reading through the threads of other mods, I doubt you realize how many times a coder announces they are regretfully "moving on". And frequently, when they do, there remains no way to contact them.

If this were ever your choice, wouldn't you prefer to have an option to place your hack(s) up for adoption?

[amykhar]

I figure this could take place in the lounge and doesn't need a special forum. I don't see it happening very often.

The thing is, nobody really needs to get permission to support another author's hack or to post bug fixes. All they have to do is start helping out in the hack's thread. I have posted help or fixes to countless hacks in the hack thread when the author was busy or I found a bug. Others have posted fixes or additions to my hacks. That's the way this place is supposed to work.

Ultimately, a hack is sort of like a used car. It's given to the community "as is" and you have no reason to expect otherwise. What makes this place work is that if the hack is useful, others in the community chime in with fixes and feature additions.

If you see a hack that needs work, do the work and then share it in the hack's thread. Problem solved.

[Geographic2]

Perhaps instead of a special forum, simply provide a flag which hack creators could make to mark their hacks clearly as some modified open source type of licensing that would cover the "grey" areas between following the VB rules in regards to releasing hacks here to not be displaying VB's code to everybody and a true open source code file. Or people could just say that when they release it....

[Erwin]

Originally Posted by spence2

Why ask for site feedback when the most anyone ever gets as a response is a defense of the status quo?

Respecfully, Erwin, do you not feel the present system could be improved?

I wasn't being defensive, I was just stating the obvious.

The issue is whether we need a whole new forum for this or not.

A few things:

1. Anyone can contribute to a hack by posting improvements or bug fixes directly into the hack support thread itself. No need to get permission for this.

2. Anyone can contact a hack author to ask to actually release a new version of the the hack that is substantially improved. Usually this is done via a PM. If that doesn't work, you can email the author using the email form.

3. If you get no reply from the hack author, then you cannot go ahead and re-use the hack authors code to make a new hack out of it.

If a hack author has left vB.org, having a new forum does not necessarily make any difference - if he or she is not reading a PM, why would a new forum be any different?

Possible solutions:

1. Have a checkbox when you submit a hack to say "Yes I allow this hack to be taken over by another hacker" or "No I will not allow anyone else to develop this hack".

The problem with this is that initially not many would choose to say "Yes".

2. A hack author, when he or she feels there is no longer an urge to continue developing a hack, can post in his or her hack support thread and just announce that the hack may be taken over.

I don't see why option 2 is not used more often.

I guess what I am trying to say is that a whole new forum may not be required.