Future of powerbasic

[Jon Eskdale]

I agree the lack of communications has been the worst part with PowerBASIC and I was never involved with IBASIC so can't comment.  But although some have moved - many including myself have not and would love to support PowerBASIC in the future.  It's a wonderful product as it is now, and would love to see it go forward even further.  It has been neglected for a while and it won't be easy to take over Bob's work but I'm sure it is most definitely worth saving and developing further.

Jon

[Edwin Knoppert]

...The code was garbage and the company was totally illegal.

I lost a great deal of money on that transaction. Eh, we live and learn, and sometimes it smarts a lot.

I have no intention to interfere with the 'who saves PB' discussion but this statement wonders me.
How can one not being capable to check out his goods before purchasing it?

[Frederick J. Harris]

How can one not being capable to check out his goods before purchasing it?

I think it can just happen.  Couple years ago I bought a truck.  I did what I thought was reasonable online research on the truck before I bought it.  After I bought it I ran into a problem which I simply failed to discover in my research.  It was there - I simply failed to recognize it.  S*** happens. 

A number of us wondered what happened with IBasic.  Tom's statement above is the first mention of it I've seen.  I'm sorry it didn't work out for him.

[Tom Hanlin]

Tsch, yeah. I am probably not going to repeat Bob Zale. I don't think anyone has the incentives available. But we have a very interested group, and I might imagine a small collection of talented people filling in. Consider being one of them.

[Patrice Terrier]

Tom--

What about facts, and a clear road map, instead of just vapor words again and again?

...

[Marc Giao]

Please do elaborate on the following:

I don't think anyone has the incentives available.

[Theo Gottwald]

Besides all the good, Bob never used the chances that incorporating user contributions would have given to PowerBasic. That was possibly one of his biggest mistakes.
If Tom is going to make a significant change about this, it could be a way to go.

[Tom Hanlin]

 I can't tell you the future. I don't know what it will be. I am trying to make it smooth and clear but, it's liable to be a month before there is an announcement.

My preference? I see three products about ready to go. I would like, actually, to release all of the source code, at a reasonable price. But I am not in charge of marketing and this may be a silly dream. It's a notion. Might happen. I have unreasonable clout, at the moment, which may not persist.

[Tom Hanlin]

Besides all the good, Bob never used the chances that incorporating user contributions would have given to PowerBasic. That was possibly one of his biggest mistakes.
If Tom is going to make a significant change about this, it could be a way to go.

I'd go so far as to state that this is completely mistaken. Bob wasn't always good at outreach. I was. I started out as a PowerBASIC tools vendor, and it was just an offhand thing, my real market was Microsoft BASICs. Bob screwed me around more than once in his redesigns of the internal code, and actually stole my ideas to improve his own product. He incorporated them directly into the compiler. I don't bear him much resentment for it but I don't forget it, either.

But, as an outside tools vendor, I always knew what other vendors would want, and I built them directly into the IDE. You have a tool? The IDE will load your help system for you. It will do its very best to make your tool feel comfortable and at home. It's designed to accommodate.

[Theo Gottwald]

Tom, then who is in Power?
Are you going to save PB?
Can you if you are not "in Power"?
I can say that i like your progressive attitude. But a detailed plan will also be needed.
As said, i believe that there are people willing to help, if there are clear plans, that are honest and believable.
Such can only be done by somebody who has a authority on the PB leftover code  etc.

[Patrice Terrier]

Theo

{Il n'est pire sourd que celui qui ne veut pas entendre.}
(There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.)

Why don't you consider the facts. You should stop dreaming and rely on yourself to handle your programming destiny.

Time is going fast, and those waiting for the tide to come back are dying slowly on the shore, do you think it is another result of the climate change, do you?

There are plainty of other programming tools around, some are more BASIC oriented, but all in one the choice for SDK programmers should be obvious, and the transition not that hard, especially because, on this forum, you could get the help from those who already jumped in.

...

[Theo Gottwald]

Patrice, i am not waiting for the tide, but if she comes it will be ok.
If it doesn't happen it will also be Ok.

[Brice Manuel]

Theo:  I agree with Patrice.  The only difference is I would not recommend VC++ to people.  The reality is, the majority of posts on the official forums are no longer PowerBASIC related.  The majority of posts here are no longer PowerBASIC related.  Everybody has moved on.  It really doesn't matter what PB Inc. does at this point. 

I like PB and I was writing an IDE in it for a new project of mine.  Unfortunately, my plans have been shot to hell as my laptop was stolen and it was my development machine.  I do not even have access to a Windows machine now.  Right now, I am stuck getting online with an archaic Eee PC 4G Surf.  So, my development and all plans are at a complete standstill until I can afford to get a new system.  What really sucks, is this has destroyed some major plans for my future.

[Patrice Terrier]

Backup; BAckup; BACkup; BACKup; BACKUp; BACKUP...

and put a safe copy in a hidden place.

I never leave the house, without at least an USB key in the pocket, i learned this the hard way too. 

...

[Brice Manuel]

Everything is backed up fine and nothing is lost in that aspect.  I just can't afford to replace the stolen laptop at this time.