Censorship is bad for the Xojo Community

Since I have been permanently banned from the Xojo Forum, I can’t help but notice that lately there have been a number of questions asked, for which either nobody has yet to provide an answer, or the answer is wrong or overly complicated… And I can do nothing but sit back and be unable to provide an answer or at least a direction for the poster to think about.

While perhaps I don’t always have the best answer, I do believe over the years my insight has helped a great many people, but alas no more.

And yes, I realize I am not the only person who has been banned, or quit that was a good resource to the community… but it is shameful that the arrogance and ego of certain other people deny the rest…

[rant mode off, stepping down from soapbox]

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Did they tell you it was definitely permeant?

I think Markus said he would need to re-apply for admission if he wanted to get back on, but he said he would not do that.

-Karen

Well Norman was banned an hour after I was… he got a reactivation date, I did not.
And so far what few attempts I had made to communitcate have been met with silence

I have had some communication about my suspension
Lets just say that I’m not entirely pleased with how that has transpired so far

The forums are Xojo’s domain and they manage them as they see fit

At this point my sole complaint is that in order to access the pre-releases you have to be a member. And that is supposedly a benefit of being a Pro Pro+ license (its on the product comparison page). But IF you have been suspended then you cannot access something they say IS part of your license ???
That makes no sense

Everyone says now much the community is an asset to them…

All I will say is IMO If they don’t at least follow their own rules impartially there will be problems in the community resulting in fewer poster s(and so less overall support and sense of community)… Which over time might translate to fewer customers.

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Well, having access to the beta testing forum channel is not listed on the license features list, but I think that is fair to have the power to request the current published “builds” because your license “includes an extra level of support you need”

https://www.xojo.com/store/proplus.php

I have asked about this before and received an unsatisfactory answer.
Basically “no license type guarantees forum access”
That really wasnt my point but thats what got taken from my question.

As I wrote elsewhere I was suspended for a rule violation - but the rule doesnt appear on their list of rules at all. Anywhere. None of what was cited to me.

Hard to know that you might have violated a rule when its not listed.

Bit … it is what it is

And I think that Dave, after some resting, can request an unblocking, if he desires it, as I did not see the word “permanent” or “forever” in the letter he got. But as you got 30 days in the fridge, I would not try it before you make your come back.

After 30 days I might just resolve to say screw that and post whatever here and avoid the forums except for downloading pre-release versions
We’ll see

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You’re always welcome here @DaveS. The more Xojo clamps down on their forum, the more people come here. All I offer is a place to talk about the tool we (want to) love without fear of commercial censorship. Geoff doesn’t seem to understand that.

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While that’s a boon for Garry and INN, I would definitely miss your posts there. I’ve been following them for years and they’ve certainly made me a better Xojo programmer (in my own eyes anyway :slight_smile: ).

Anyway, glad it’s not a permanent detention.

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To be honest, I kind of like the idea of a forum where it hosted by the community for the community. I really do enjoy reading the conversations started here as its more of an honest conversation rather than a filtered one.

@Garry, thank you for putting the work in to create this forum.

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Likely on purpose as they are not stupid…

As you have a Xojo Pro licenses you are guaranteed accesses to pre-releases…

But as they ONLY use the forum for distributing the links to them instead a separate mailing list a they once did, you don’t have access…

So unless they start emailing you personally links to every prerelease, it seems to me they are in breach of contract and may owe you some money! :wink:

You need Roland Blum for a lawyer! (I have been watching “the Good Fight” on CBS All Access) :wink:

-Karen

For now its not an issue
I have several avenues that work
Should that become an issue I’ll ask for other alternate means to access the pre-release

I think what grinds some peoples gears is that honest discussion gets shut down
Rants I get why they are shut down
And the line between whats considered a “rant” vs “honest criticism” seems to be way on the “anything negative is a rant” side of thigns at the moment

But when a person asks about "Hey what about Xojo vs " those too are shut down and so you really cant be honest about where Xojo does well vs where it doesnt
NBobs series of posts about searching for replacements for Xojo couldnt happen on their forums
Nor could our thread about Tools for Windows only development
There are decent other tools for Windows only but that conversation couldnt be had on their forums

That kind of censorship is not helpful to them
People are going to compare Xojo to other tools to get a feel for how it stands up
Whether that happens on their forums or not it will happen

Its one of the reasons ifnotnil exists

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well this generated much more conversation than I thought it would :smiley:

It’s akin to a company removing all the customer reviews for certain products on their site, because there were “too many” negative reviews.
Or removing the estimated battery time from the menubar, because a series of recently produced laptops were constantly getting 40% of the time on battery that was advertised (still happens today, but how many people are complaining about it?).
Or reducing the performance of a device, to avoid having to replace the battery under warranty.

These things irk those in the know, but for the general population, less information keeps them calm.

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someone quick! better lock this thread!! :stuck_out_tongue:

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I think its dishonest in several ways

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The marketing is dishonest and the censoring is stupid.

Users google “Xojo vs. other development tool”. Instead of showcasing a good discussion “Xojo is better than other development tool because x, y, z” the prospective customers just get silence.

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