BorisB Gone?

Originally Posted by Chubulor

That's one person, who I assume the forum moderators have dealt with.

He's still posting....

Originally Posted by Chubulor

borisb left for totally unrelated reasons, anyway.

You're sure about that?

It is really sad that Boris left. I am shocked. He surely was a voice of moderation in this forum.

Though I understand his position, I wish he would be back for the sake of his forum friends and well wishers (which includes me).


Pat

I'm 100% confident that Boris is not an employee, but he was a step higher than a regular customer. This was a win-win scenario for everybody, Boris encouraging, teaching, learning with all of us on the forum, as well as having dialogs with enTourage employees. I have had this same 'position' when in high school. I spent so much time at a favorite store that I was allowed behind the counters, helped customers, etc but never received a paycheck, employee discount, or ran the registers. A step above a regular customer, like Boris.

I miss the old forum, where people were civil while disagreeing, generally encouraging and reading posts was a positive experience.

Yes, I want a lot of apps and features, and am not known for patience. But, nearly all the threads are degenerating into cat fights, which are helpful to no one.

I truly hope Boris returns to the forums, he's made more positive contributions here than anyone else I can think of. I don't think anyone else would be as deeply missed.

As an enTourage employee I can assure you that BorisB was/is not an enTourage employee. I am sad to see that he has gone as his posts were very valuable to the forum and he would usually be the first to respond to a thread where someone needed help. I hope he realizes his value as a member to these forums and decides to return.

Originally Posted by NiaTrue

You're sure about that?

If what he wrote in his profile is true, then yes, I'm sure they're unrelated reasons.

Originally Posted by dcubed2

I miss the old forum, where people were civil while disagreeing, generally encouraging and reading posts was a positive experience.

I remember plenty of criticism and negativity in the "old" forum too. In fact, the subject of GPL compliance was brought up on this forum months ago and caused a heated debate then too. The good old days were never as good as they seem.

Look, as far as boris goes, I respect that he always tried to be helpful...but sometimes his enthusiasm for the Edge got in the way of helping people with problems that reflect poorly on Entourage. Just yesterday, he responded to a user who reported problems playing You Tube videos by crowing about the August update which will include a UI refresh. Now, the update in question is NOT supposed to fix the YouTube problem that was acknowledged by Entourage in late July.

Originally Posted by Chubulor

If what he wrote in his profile is true, then yes, I'm sure they're unrelated reasons.



I remember plenty of criticism and negativity in the "old" forum too. In fact, the subject of GPL compliance was brought up on this forum months ago and caused a heated debate then too. The good old days were never as good as they seem.

Look, as far as boris goes, I respect that he always tried to be helpful...but sometimes his enthusiasm for the Edge got in the way of helping people with problems that reflect poorly on Entourage. Just yesterday, he responded to a user who reported problems playing You Tube videos by crowing about the August update which will include a UI refresh. Now, the update in question is NOT supposed to fix the YouTube problem that was acknowledged by Entourage in late July.

Well, old meaning before June, I guess. When it first started, and a few months after that. I haven't been around much in the last couple of months *because* of the negativity. I do want sources to be released, but civility is of /far/ greater importance to me. I am worried about reports that entourage is not being civil to some developers, that is bad business conduct. As is the reverse.

Whether Boris was over enthusiastic or not is a matter of perception. I found him to be polite, helpful and kind, in general. There may be a few instances where this wasn't true, but the vast majority of his posts were positive. I'd rather have overly positive than malicious or destructive.

I stand by my statement about the early forum. The same goes for the Yahoo group prior to the forums starting. The old days WERE better. And way more fun. There were, of course, disagreements and heated discussions, but nothing like what's been happening here the last couple months.

Originally Posted by Chubulor

If what he [boris] wrote in his profile is true, then yes, I'm sure they're unrelated reasons [why he left the forum].

Actually, boris told me earlier this evening that he left specifically because of the negative, unwarranted, "vicious" attacks on him, me, and walt526.

Originally Posted by dcubed2

Well, old meaning before June, I guess. When it first started, and a few months after that. ... I do want sources to be released, but civility is of /far/ greater importance to me. ...

Whether Boris was over enthusiastic or not is a matter of perception. I found him to be polite, helpful and kind, in general. There may be a few instances where this wasn't true, but the vast majority of his posts were positive. I'd rather have overly positive than malicious or destructive.

I stand by my statement about the early forum. The same goes for the Yahoo group prior to the forums starting. The old days WERE better. And way more fun. There were, of course, disagreements and heated discussions, but nothing like what's been happening here the last couple months.

Ditto.

It is really sad that he left. Clearly, Boris enjoyed helping others on this forum, as he gave so much of his own time to do it. Very disappointing.

Originally Posted by NiaTrue

Actually, boris told me earlier this evening that he left specifically because of the negative, unwarranted, "vicious" attacks on him, me, and walt526.

Unless there was something going on in the private message world, there were no vicious attacks in the threads themselves. Dude needs to get a thicker skin. I agree that releasing personal information is over the line, and those responsible should be punished.

My heated discussion with walt526 was due to the fact he posted a comment explicitly saying that he was an Entourage employee, and thus it appeared that he was acting unethically by not disclosing that before posting. As I haven't yet learned how to read minds, you can't really blame me for not knowing it was a typo, and I made two specific mentions of his purported employer over the span of two hours before he corrected it.

And you were asking for trouble by comparing developers asking for GPL-based source code to whiny toddlers. Don't expect people to be civil when you pull something like that.

Originally Posted by Chubulor

And you were asking for trouble by comparing developers asking for GPL-based source code to whiny toddlers. Don't expect people to be civil when you pull something like that.

That's very disingenuous. My comment was a criticism of the unprofessional, rude, and offensive language used on the forum by certain posters complaining about not being able to get the source code. I compared that behavior to that of toddlers who throw temper tantrums when they don't get what they want. And I was spot on.

Today's continued bullying and defense of inappropriate behavior is further evidence of that.

Frankly, this thread is quite hilarious to read. BorisB picked up his toys and left the sandbox. Poor baby. This is indeed very strange behavior, for an adult anyway. To suddenly leave and delete all the postings. To think that this is caused by hurt feelings on an on-line forum alone is simply naive. There are clearly other pieces of this puzzle, which we will never know. Not worth further discussion.

It was pretty clear that it was a (very unfortunate) typo based on the comments that I had made immediately preceding and following about the absurdity that any enTourage employee would pose as a rank-and-file poster. Given the broader context, I honestly have a hard time envisioning how a reasonable person could genuinely be confused for so long, particularly despite repeated clarification as well as an immediate correction to the original post as soon as I became aware of the error. As such, IMHO, you spent the afternoon trolling plain and simple and are continuing to do so.

Looking at a bigger picture, this sort of activity unfortunately seems to visit every internet forum from time-to-time. The amended forum rules that more explicitly outline what is acceptable behavior and what is not is a good first step toward "re-civilizing" this forum. It goes beyond any single particular poster--I agree the the general tenure of this forum not as collegial as it was just a few months ago. Hopefully the new guidelines and--if necessary--some proactive enforcement will help facilitate a more productive dialog over issues that are actually of interest to me rather than debating various crackpot conspiracy theories.

As for Boris, it's unfortunate that his reaction to an internet troll is to withdraw from the forum, as his contributions have been outstanding and he was an asset to the eDGe community. But I certainly can empathize with not wanting to deal with baseless accusations and distortions of the truth that are presented in a deliberate intent to harm one's reputation. Hopefully the new guidelines--and their enforcement--will foster an environment that will bring him (along with a number of other former regulars) back here.

Typo or not, the story is (and will likely remain) incomplete. There are missing pieces to this puzzle

Originally Posted by walt526

It was pretty clear that it was a (very unfortunate) typo based on the comments that I had made immediately preceding and following about the absurdity that any enTourage employee would pose as a rank-and-file poster.

No. You were talking about the absurdity of a concerted campaign by Entourage itself, not a lone employee posting independently. Nothing you said contradicted your statement that you were an Entourage employee; it merely ruled out a concerted campaign by Entourage itself. Other commenters got the same impression from your remarks as I did.

Given the broader context, I honestly have a hard time envisioning how a reasonable person could genuinely be confused for so long, particularly despite repeated clarification as well as an immediate correction to the original post as soon as I became aware of the error.

Immediate correction? It was two hours after you made the post and an hour and a half after my first post referencing you as an Entourage employee. I've given you the benefit of the doubt and assume you must not have seen that comment, or the subsequent ones, and not noticed your typo for the entire time, even if you seem totally unwilling to give me the benefit of the doubt. Which brings me to...

As such, IMHO, you spent the afternoon trolling plain and simple and are continuing to do so.

Funny that the one who's complaining about incivility is the one throwing out baseless accusations! Not much of a humble opinion there. This is one of those times I wish the forum rules allowed colorful language. If you're as experienced with Internet discourse as you've claimed, you would recognize that trolls don't waste time backing up what they say with rational argumentation, and your typical troll doesn't spend two months participating in the forum as a fairly average user before suddenly letting loose his or her trolling.

But I certainly can empathize with not wanting to deal with baseless accusations and distortions of the truth that are presented in a deliberate intent to harm one's reputation.

Please point me to a post that exemplifies a baseless accusation against Boris. One person asked me if I thought he was an Entourage employee and I ignored them because I wasn't interested in making accusations against individuals. Other than your subsequent defense of him, no one else even mentioned the name on the thread.

I finally had to break down and start using the ignore list in the forums. I might miss a few important comments, but the way these forums have turned into a middle school whine-fest, that's a chance I'm willing to take. My grade school and middle school children are much bigger adults than some of the recent posters on here.

I'm another one who liked Boris' comments. Even the excessive cheerleading. ^_^