XMX enquired whether I was going to join Ciaran's club-xm.co.uk site here:
http://club-xm.com/forum/index.php?showtop...id=38686&st=0&#
I though it best to answer him in the "About the site" section rather than in Available since it seems more appropriate here.
I appreciate your invitation XMX and I have thought about it, a lot, particularly before the forum software was fixed. The situation is a bit awkward to say the least. Ciaran very kindly stepped into the breach when club-xm went down which is something for which time did not permit me the luxury. For that he is to be congratulated and supported and he has my own personal admiration. There are so very few people in this country/world who put themselves out personally for the greater good and the world is a worse place for it. The 'problem' I have is that the club-xm is now back up and running and we have not lost any of the old data. What's more, is that the forum software is up to date and is supported by IBforen. Therefore, any other changes which may happen to SQL will be supported in future without much issue. Furthermore, I now have access to the server which permits me to do backups thus providing another form of backstop should something fail. From the technical aspect we have overcome a major hurdle including understanding how the forum software actually works.
A while back there was a flurry of posts about 'ownership' of the 'data' on club-xm. To me this was a non-argument hence the reason I did not join in the discussion at the time. Club-xm is a public forum in the public domain. Membership is free and only exists only as a method of stopping the spammers. When it first started membership was not required to post and changed only when the spammers found us and made life a misery. Now, only the spammers IP addresses are banned. Anyone else who wants to join does so and their registration is approved automatically. At any point in time someone could copy the entire contents of this site and there's not a damn thing I could do about it and neither as it happens would I want to do something about it. I have made it clear on a number of occasions that all of the contribution I make to club-xm is free of charge and without copyright. By placing their contribution in the public domain all members implicitly do the same. It is that aspect above all others which makes club-xm as successful as it is. All that I, or any reasonable person, would ask is that any copied material is acknowledged as to the source rather than plagarised. If however, it is not, I do not intend to do a single thing about it. Life is too short and I have far more important things to worry about.
Club-xm has become a fantastic resource of help and information for Citroen XM enthusiasts all over the world and I love it. It exists as a direct result of the contribution by ALL of its members. It is true people power. We did not need government legislation or some nanny state to make it happen. It is intended that it remains that way.
That brings us back to Ciaran's site. As I said, its a bit awkward. I have no desire to fall out with anyone over this. If Ciaran is willing then he can keep his site running. I have no desire to have any form of bidding war. That would be petty and juvenile and serve no purpose. The lack of commercial interest in either of the two sites means that we do not have paymasters to answer to. Ciaran is more than capable of deciding the future of his site. There seems little future in me shutting down this site, particularly now, only to start from scratch again somewhere else and to what end? I have made club-xm my home and there's little incentive for me to move house. If club-xm had died completely then there would be no decision to make.
Club-xm is here for the forseeable future and I sincerely want to thank Chris for his spark of genious and ongoing support in starting club-xm eight years ago and continuing to kindly host it today. Yes, its hard to believe. March 2003. Incredible. I also want to thank each and every member for their valuable contributions without which club-xm would surely not exist, certainly in its current form.
Please visit and use club-xm in the spirit in which it is offered and maintained.
I hope this clears up any doubt in peoples minds over the future of club-xm.
cheers
noz
