I’d agree that it doesnt mean they MUST write their own - whatever
Or that they even should
Their focus should be on their product - the things they sell to make $
10,000%
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You are totally entitled to your opinion just like I am to mine. And my observation is mainly on the actions since the inception of MVPs, the gaps the plugins have filled almost coincidental to the latest releases (especially the other plugin vendor), and the constant copying and pasting over this forum of the company line of TOF. You know what they say: " If it looks like a duck , swims like a duck , and quacks like a duck" …
You didnt knew some of they will become simply lackeys doing the repression in the forums.
But, they decided to kick many users who decided not to renew a PRO licence 
So, they alone keep ditching the people that can help them.
Anyway, usually when a change gets to that chanel it is already too late to have any feedback about a BAD choice.
If the company was smart they would have close informal mutually beneficial relationships with the main plugin developers but NOT have them be “MVPs” or forum moderators
Those relationships should be separate and different in kind IMO.
- Karen
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as @s7g2vp2 notes Christian, and other plugin vendors, have been plugging gaps in functionality in Xojo for a long time
I dont think that has changed since the inception of the MVP program
These folks are in a weird spot, esp if they are a vendor & MVP
There is some degree of conflict of interest and also of mutual self interest
Plugin vendors want to see Xojo grow & expand as that may translate into more sales for them
Christian is entitled to his viewpoint
Whether you agree with it or not
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That has certainly historically been the case… which turned people off on testing…
-Karen
lets just say I suspect there is a significant portion of their Testers that just dont bother
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Having someone using plugin SDK to give direct feedback to Xojo is a good thing.
The group should also include people to cover all targets and usages.
Correct. I am not a moderator.
You mean Björn? He could get a MVP someday. I wouldn’t oppose that. Maybe the plugin API related MVP position could even rotate between a few plugin developers.
I can read pre-release channel like you guys. As MVP I may get a view on the new release a week before it hits the pre-release channel. Which isn’t a big advantage, but may be enough to fix my plugin before you try it.
There is plenty of discussion with MVPs and Xojo Inc. where we can point to issues and discuss how they may get resolved.
I can more or less push my feedback directly to Xojo Inc and don’t need to write it in the forum. I have been pushing things as much as I can to get things better for me and my clients. And yes, I have a couple of big clients with bigger projects, where I need improvements in Xojo myself.
Yes, when I can do something via plugin, we can do our own and don’t get stopped by framework bugs. It has reasons why MBS Plugins come with SQL, JSON and other classes.
So you see me usually ask for fixes on the IDE, improvements to compiler and not spend time to reinventing, what exists in third-party libraries already.
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please leave Christian be, he is the only one together with Bjørn that makes xojo usable. He is not to blame for this problems 
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I don’t believe that Christian has more Informations. He is good in that what he is doing as a programmer. But like every Businessman he also has to sell. He has to generate money. And so he looks which Plugins are needed. And he realizes fast how he can reach that point. He is doing that for years. In all respect to users don’t like the Behavior of reading all time Buy my Plugins, we have to be fair. It is not the fact that he writes the Plugins. The painful fact is that for every even small stuffs Plugins are needed at all edges. That is not that what I would await from a programming language like Xojo. Not at all. There is in my eyes no excuse.
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He is in a weird spot having issues with Xojo and part of their MVP and vendor dependent on Xojo’s success to have their own success
I certainly DO NOT BLAME him
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yes it is difficult indeed
The sad truth is that plugins have, for so many, become the only way to deal with Xojo’s bugs and issues
THAT is a problem for Xojo - and a business opportunity that Christian has taken advantage of as have others. Bjorn sells plugins that, in some cases, I would argue should be part of what Xojo offers. For along time it was the only way to get a nice date picker etc that worked x-platform.
So, as an enterprising business person, he filled that need.
Good for him.
Same for Christian. His DB plugins have worked where Xojo’s didn’t.
PDF, and so many other things.
Dont blame them for being enterprising.
But it IS a problem for Xojo that plugins have become “the way you work around Xojo bugs”
Plugins SHOULD be for the things that Xojo wont add because too few people need them - niche needs. Not “core components”
As for “buy my plugins” well … I would encourage @MonkeybreadSoftware to more frequently post alternatives as well. And if the only answer is a plugin, which in some cases it is, even a “use this plugin like this to solve your problem”
Basically provide more helpful answers
I cant find the specific thread at the moment but there was a recent case where he did exactly this
Posted a “here’s how you do it with this plugin” and a declare for the same thing
But thats only MY preference
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The difficult part of it is that Christian has to have a clean relationship to Xojo. Otherwise they could decide that they don’t want him around anymore. And they would have many chances to hurt him deeply. So I can understand that he has to react like he reacts. But I don’t have to like it and I also don’t have to accept it. But that critics are not against Christian in Person. This has to do with the System. The Structure of Power in this environment was building up an own dynamic and that is something I can not accept. While Christian is MVP Xojo is awaiting that he helps to keep the environment clean. There is not that much interest in that what he thinks. Interesting is the commercial part. If Xojo is not getting enough new users and losing in the same moment old users there will be the end of Plugin sales not only for Christian. So it is in his deep interest that not to much of this shit is coming up. That I can deeply understand. And I respect it. While he needs to have his Plugin sales.And again: the change for it can not come from the MVP. It can come only from Xojo. They drive that System. And People like Anthony are overriding their role. What shall I say: beside the question of character the Idea to give a MVP that kind of power makes that MVP to a Bulls Eye Plate. And he tries to make the best from it. What is and can not work.
I know Thorsten, I did not aim at you, but rather some less respectfull comments above
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And that should not be… the included advertised functionality should work well… In one sense the plugin vendors are enabling Xojo to get away with not only being buggy but also have minimally functional features…
But that is only for those who can afford or make enough money off off their code where it makes sense to pay for BOTH the Xojo license as well as teh plugin-in licenses.
As someone who does not make money from using Xojo, and have to pay for my own tools, that is a difficult decision.
Despite the vast array of functionality (though much of it low level with insufficient documentation for someone like me) there is no way I can justify the cost of keeping a MBS complete license current …
Bjorn however has most of the basic functionality missing from xojo (that I think it should have) that I need in his set and at a price point (and renewal policy) that make more sense for the type of things I do.
The only MBS plugin I’ve gotten in recent years is ChartDirector because I needed very capable graphing functionality for multiple projects… but that is too costly for me to justify keeping current.
The fact that there are very capable free packages for other languages that are are also free to do that (and many other things) make me wonder if sticking with Xojo was wise…
-Karen
I’d agree that its become a “crutch” for Xojo to lean on
Kind of Oh you want X thats in this plugin or worse To workaround this not working thing in Xojo get this plugin
At this point I certainly cannot fault Christian, Bjorn or others for taking advantage of the business opportunity. It just shouldn’t have come to this
The answer is not simple. While Xojo has limitations, high tco and low reliability I would say it was not a good Idea from my Site in the beginning. Because I needed to write that much stuff and had to do tons of workarounds and and and and…
On the other Side: if you are used to the language and it’s environment it is simply less complex even if you need workarounds.
But: landing on Java was for me a soft landing. I have not to deal with unavailable functionality, I have tons of Plugins and Libraries, thousands of frameworks and possibilities. It is nice to use Java. It is reliable, supported in the free Versions until 2030 and the next LTS Versions will follow I am sure. So Java is a no cost alternative / low cost alternative. As Indie Developer you can build up IOS and Android, Web and Desktop for around 500 per year using CodenameOne for Mobile, JFormdesigner IntelliJMarketplace edition for Desktop, Cuba Platform for Web and as IDE IntelliJIdea Ultimate Edition . Combining with JFreeChart, Apache PDF, all the Database Drivers and thousands of free Libraries, Frameworks, Snippets, Codeexamples and so on shows: NO NEED OF ANY PLUGIN. Or simply use IntelliJIdea, CubaPlatform and Codenameone as Open Source for free and pay only JFormdesigner Marketplace Edition. What ever you want. At the end there is always one result: It is less expensive for more, much more possibilities.
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Plugin vendors will write plugins for where they see a need - so naturally they fill in the gaps and holes, or provide working replacements for buggy components (even though that is more risky). I can’t understand how someone can criticise that.
I would like to see answers like “you can do it this way, or that way with my plugin. The advantage with my plugin is that it is 5x faster and more capable.” - basically point out what advantages are conferred by the plugin. The non-plugin solution doesn’t have to be a worked out solution either - it can be just an instruction set: do 1, 2, 3, 4 …