(RFD) Olive branches and reuniting the community? (MorphOS / Amiga)

[Wayne]

I realize the inherent dangers involved, but since I lack the ability to restrain myself, I have been thinking....

Everyone here knows my hesitation in getting involved with projects surrounding a certain couple in (or around) this community.  There's no sense in rehashing that hatred, as it's well documented as are the reasons for it.

That being said, I begin to worry if my personal issues regarding those two aren't -- in a way -- doing harm to the Amiga community (what remains of it anyway)..

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, that's ok, I'm about to 'splain...

What I am considering is creating a set of forums, links, and, gallery directories for MorphOS users, in the hopes of bringing them back to the ORG, and hopefully resolving some of the division that I'm sure I've helped to cause over the years.

I realize that this is an "Amiga" site.  I am *not* talking about changing that, but I beg you to remember that every member of the MorphOS community was once a very vibrant Amiga user who was run off by the inaction of Amiga Inc and the availability of a product "in their hands" that promised to do what Amiga Inc never did.

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THAT BEING SAID -- I know this is a very sensitive subject, and I know people are going to be prone to bring up the "red versus blue" crap.  I am asking politely for us to have a discussion, but will not tolerate that crap being brought up in this thread.
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We're all adults, and should be able to discuss our differences without venom and immaturity.  The Amiga (as a generality) is a hobby and doesn't warrant such childishness.

I'm not going to do anything without a general consensus on the site, but need to find a way to solicit that guidance from you without re-igniting the silly infighting.

What say ye?

Wayne

[Wayne]

In principle, reuniting the community is a fantastic idea. But is creating a separate MorphOS-related section the best way to go about that? I just wonder if it would end up being underused and having to be folded back into another forum (as with the recent combination of the Desktop Video and Audio forums).

I ask because I already use the existing forums for occasional MorphOS-related discussions, an arrangement that seems to have worked out fine.

Hi Matt,

To be honest, I can't answer your questions without knowing how other people would react.  Last thing I want to do is try and mix oil and water (proverbially speaking).

What I was thinking was setting up different sections, like I did with the news forums.  Example;

• Forums
• Operating Systems Discussion
• AmigaOS
• Applications
• Development
• Support
• etcetera


• AROS
• Applications
• Development
• Support
• etcetera


• MorphOS
• Applications
• Development
• Support
• etcetera


• Other Operating Systems

Like I said, this might be a colossal pot stirring for no soup, but it's a thought, and an offer *IF* people think they'd use them.

Wayne

[Wayne]

Can we dispense with any off-hand remarks like this? This is totally-off topic, it is subjective and potentially incendiary. Attitudes like this are precisely what caused the bad atmosphere and split in the first place. IMO, as neither run on any m68K CPU, they equally distant from the classic line.

Thank you very much.  I was about to say the same thing when you hit submit first.

Wayne

[Wayne]

Yes with a "but" -

So it's clear that there's a certain segment who can't keep their yaps shut, even when talking about talking about adding a Forum.  It just so happens that this time, it was a morph-os cheerleader.

Ok.  Let's stop.  Calling someone a cheerleader is also a big part of the problem.  Can't you see that?  Whether intended innocently or not, it is still a wedge between the community.

Other point: Bill Buck.  Man, if you even say "pegasus" or "morphos" that guy shows up like Beetlejuice and spams with links to "their" 'blog.

I'm amazed you don't already know / remember this, but Bill Buck and Raquel Velasco are persona non-gratis on this site, unless they are willing to write the checks owed to those who put our lives on hold then got royally screwed by them in 2002/2003, myself included.

Again, old crap, doesn't need to be brought up, so let's drop it, but that's where I stand on your concerns.  I am much more concerned about the community (all of us) than I am a couple of dishonorables.

Wayne

[Wayne]

TAFOOS?   You been near the marketing guys again? I think you caught something. :lol:

I can just hear it now... "Shut TAFOOS up!"  :roflmao:

[Wayne]

Based on an 81 to 5 ratio, I think it's a pretty clear indication of how our members want this to go.

Right now, the deed is done, on an EXPERIMENTAL basis.  If you guys lose your cool or start calling each other names, I can easily turn it all back off and go back to SNAFU.

I know this might get a little confusing.  There seems to be a bit of overlap in our forums now, but here's the way I've got it lined up currently (I'm open to suggestions)...

• Development (master category deleted)

• Operating Systems Specific Discussions (master category added)
• Amiga OS
• Amiga OS Applications discussion and support
• Amiga OS Development (was Dev // AmigaOS development)
• Amiga OS 4.x (future) Hardware Compatibility Discussions
  
• Amiga UNIX discussion
• AROS Research OS (was Dev // AROS Development)
• Linux PPC Discussion (was Dev // Linux PPC Development)
• MorphOS
• MorphOS Applications discussion and support
• MorphOS Development
• MorphOS -- Hardware requirements and availability discussion
  
• Other Operating Systems

We'll try this and see what happens.  If you see anyone get out of line, PLEASE help us out by using the "report post" function.  We can't watch everything, all the time.

My only real concern is that McEwen has a habit of popping up when least expected and demanding that anything not Amiga specific be removed from any site with Amiga in the name (he'd be fully justified -- no debates please, that's a statement, not a request for comment --  but it would leave us with a choice of comply, or shut the whole site down). Feel free to ask Davey D about that.

To be very clear and very honest about it, my intent here is to try and get the Amiga community back together, no matter what they run.  It's not anyone's fault that Amiga Inc has failed to produce a viable desktop alternative, meaning that while the trademark issues are sketchy, they don't actually have any competition since they're not producing a desktop platform.

Since Amiga Inc is not supporting or developing for the desktop (and they are completely ignoring the community), I cannot possibly see how trying to help Amiga users could be a conflict of interest or in "bad faith".  

For the record, while I hope they will tolerate these actions in the interest of uniting the Amiga community, I will absolutely reserve the right to take whatever steps are necessary to protect the site should that happen.

Enjoy, and have fun.

Wayne

[Wayne]

But to prevent cease-fire denial, I think it (those specific issues you said) need to be clearly stated in a ToS.

We have both a moderation policy and ToS in place (see site info below) which draws attention to the "this is my house" rules of order.

Wayne