VPortal

The vbportal site says the version for vb 2.03 is still in development, but it appears some folks on here are already running it with 2.03. Whats the deal? I would like to get this program if it would work.

Originally posted by TheComputerGuy
no its not the current one is for 2.01 and well vb 2.01 has a secruity flaw in it

Thanks for the heads up. I for one wont be trying any software that is still being distributed as stable but has a "security flaw in it".

Let me get my flame suit on here......

I refuse to pay for something like that. First, it’s not even a complete product; it’s still in beta. Second, they are trying to work the system by asking for “donations”. My assumption is they see donations as a way to not have to claim the income and pay taxes. The thing is, unless they are a tax-exempt non-profit corporation (which they are not), they are still supposed to be claiming the revenue regardless of it being called a "donation". I can almost 150% guarantee they are not doing so. Which means all that money is completely under the table, and completely illegal. They’re realistic overhead is actually minimal if you lay it out. I know a lot of time is spent on making the program, but they are not just covering expenses from this. I will just live without vbportal. Thanks for your help though. =)

[SteveK]

caphq, you're way off base here! Why don't you take the time to do some research on the phpportals website about "donations".

The author isn't asking solely for monetary "donations". Primarily he set it up so that people would help out in some way (bug identification, feature hacks, etc). This is so that vbPortals can improve. But, many of us took the easy route and contributed money to help pay for his time & expenses which is another way to contribute. Nowhere does he claim to be a non-profit organization seeking tax-free donations. If you do ever look at the product, you'll see that what he has done is worth multiple times the contribution he is asking for (either $ or your time).

[Juan]

I would also want to give my point on view on this.

I am not associated in any way with vbportal other that I volutarily agreed to make a donation and will continue to so. I don't contribute in their community because my knowlege of php is not that good.

The very serious accusations you make are unfounded and just based on speculation. If the same accusations were thrown at me, I will no doubt seek to take immidiate legal action against you for defamation.

Again, this is just my opinion. However, I would never dream of saying something so strong to anyone, even less in public and without any evidence whatsoever.

I know nothing about what vbportal does and to be honest, it's none of my business but I find your post to be very offensive and bitter.

[qwaz]

Juan, your intentions are good hearted but you defeat yourself with your own logic...You're accusing him of having no "evidence" to make his accusations. Then you proceed to make accusations and then say "I know nothing about what vbportal does".

*sigh*

[Juan]

The difference is that he is just speculating and clearly says so in his post. I'm not accusing him of anything other than making a public statement without providing any proof.

I don’t care what other donations they accept. I’m talking about monetary donations, and I clearly stating that. The acceptance of monetary donations requires taxation. The only way to avoid this is not only by registering as a non-profit corporation with the department of state, but also apply with the internal revenue service for tax-exempt status. Though my statement was speculative, I would be surprised if it was found to be untrue. Just the application and approval of tax exception usually takes 6 months to a year. It also costs several hundred to several thousand dollars in IRS and attorney fees to file the necessary documents. It would be an accurate statement to say it’s unlikely they went through this process so they could get donations for a bulletin board add-on program. They could sue me for my statements if they’d like, but I think a quick audit of their records would put the case to rest. Especially seeing as I stated my comments were mere opinions… and they continue to be. My initial post was not with the intent of causing trouble. If I wanted to do that, I would have proceeded to present my accusations to the proper authority. It just blows my mind that someone would charge for a beta program. You can call the “donation” whatever you want. The fact is, you give them money and you get a program. This fact cannot be disputed any other way.

[ixian]

It's always nice to hear from people who have too much time on their hands.

A) You obviously want to try vbportal. If you really didn't care, you wouldn't have bothered with this tirade.

B) You see that they are asking for either money or programming help to actually get the beta. Since apparently programming help is beyond you, money is the way to go.

C) You are offended you can't get this hack for free.

I'm thinking I pretty much have your train of thought down. Then you decide to vent, and since you know no one will care about random venting, you try to throw some legalize into the whole mess to try and make your whining seem legitimate. The fact is, you don't even know whether he pays taxes on the money he receives or not. You just assume he doesn't because apparently that's how you would act.

The fact is, Bill Jones is a retired man working on this hack on his own. It is a massive hack - far more complicated than any you will find here - and the time required to build and maintain it, on top of answering questions (he has a forum with 10,000 posts, most of them asking for help - compare that to some of the hacks here) is too much to keep up with. Therefore, he limits access to people who can either A) Help him out with development and support or B) help out financially - I'm sure the cost of hosting his site alone is hundreds a month. Finally, as he has announced, he will release a stable beta to the public when he feels it's ready, and it won't cost anything.

I find this to be an entirely reasonable approach. I find your whining to be disgusting. Frankly, I am glad I don't have to deal with questions from you regarding vbportal. If you are that upset about it, how about you try and write one yourself? Let us know how it pans out.

[Pilot]

It's called a beta but you could use it now for 2.0.3 - it's a personal project for the developer and so has been in gestation a long time but that does not mean the code is untried.

If it was easier to install/understand it would be a killer app. If you have the time to get to understand it (and the documentation is minimal) then I am sure it would be worthwhile.

You need to relocate your VB directory which has put me off installing it so far, I'll find the time probably around Christmas!

[ozone2000]

well... now i know where im gonna click when i got enough money for a lisence (soon hopefully)... and it makes me even more happy to see that phpportal is using my white button set, cool, it fits perfect on their site!