SimPE 0.64 installer released 24th Dec 2007

[J. M. Pescado]

Clearly, Quaxi has failed us! You must not!

[jolrei]

Amen.

[Orikes]

Orikes, I have a funny feeling someone reported sim surgery as broken in the QA. I don't use it myself so I probably wasn't taking enough notice.   It's stuff Peter could have fixed in time, given time.  But as it is, I am treating it as if the original author has instructed us to desist.   The person has hardly any posts, yet full admin rights over the GUID database and the forum.  It invites thought...

Thanks for the info, Inge. I had a feeling it might be something like that. The extracted sims all seem to work just fine, but occasionally something gets borked with the sims themselves. Thank goodness for valid back-ups.

I really hope someone over there gets on the ball and starts posting some information on when we're going to get an update or let people who actually want to do it DO IT. I get irritated every time I check out their forums. I understand not wanting to have to answer every 'OMG I need SimPE NOWZ!' post, but the community really does depend on the damn program. Most of us are screwed without it when it comes to saving our games if something goes wrong.

Fah. Thanks for at least trying, Inge.

[cascaneda]

The SimPE forum was down for several days. Then the day it reopens, someone you never heard of before comes with admin rights and claims to be the "new owner".
SimPE site suffered attacks before, and Quaxi is not around anymore to confirm the thing. I just think this stormwench hacked the site.

[Inge]

Or she may be a sockpuppet^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hjust trying to help

[dizzy]

Just tell them you intend to fork the project if they don't shut up. That'll shut them up. If it doesn't then go ahead and fork it. I'll applaud in advance of that decision. 

[Inge]

I am sure Peter would understand this forking stuff, but as he's at work for the next 8 hours can you explain it a little for me?  Currently Peter has direct submission rights to the main project, and he updated it with 0.64.   Does forking mean he starts essentially a new project in his own name, using Quaxi's code as a basis?  Or is is just a branch within the main project area?

[dizzy]

Forking would mean taking the free as in freedom parts of the code and starting a new project with it. People don't always like it, but it's sometimes necessary when things aren't getting done.

[Inge]

Now you're introducing another concept to me "freedom".  How are these parts of the code marked, and what is the difference?  I thought everything on sourceforge was sort of PD.  It all sounds very complicated.

[dizzy]

Okay. I'm not a lawyer, but the "LICENSE.txt" indicates that SimPE is your standard GPL v2 code. So, unless you're dealing with some portion of the code that's licensed some other way, it should be okay to use in a new project as long as the new license for the new project is not more restrictive than the GPL itself.

[Inge]

If Quaxi's the sort of person we all assumed him to be, someone who enjoys coding and with a tendency to be generous (ie making something for the benefit of others) and also someone who doesn't spend a lot of time interacting with the community apparebtly enjoying the glory, but someone who was becoming increasingly bored with sims-related stuff, then I can't see how he could possibly object to someone simply  continuing the project.  He has no reason to believe his founding contribution will be airbrushed out of history.

Yet I can't believe that Stormwench is just speaking her own erroneous opinion when she is in sufficient communication with Quaxi to have his full trust as server admin in spite of being *apparently* new to the community and not a very active member at that.  Hence the relationship must be at a lower level than just sims community.   Could it be that she gained his trust, then murdered him, and now feels guilty and somehow wants to keep his status as SimPE developer alive?

This happened before.  Does anyone remember an "Emily" who appeared on the SimPE forum apparently from nowhere, who beat him up so badly she broke his arm and after several weeks of us worrying what had happened to him she took over as his spokesperson and ran the forum?  Fortunately she was even able to code SimPE temporarily.  I wonder if Stormwench has that ability too?

[neriana]

Wow. Have you talked to anyone whom you know to be close to Quaxi? Numenor, maybe?

[Inge]

Quaxi seems to be a very private person and I don't think he has confidantes in the sims community, apart from perhaps one female who I count/counted as my friend, who also had admin access on his site but who I believed to have moved on and lost interest in simming.  It was through her that I heard when he was missing previously that he was ok and chatting to her regularly about non-sims related things - and that he was becoming less and less interesting in SimPE.  And that was back just before the Emily period.

If this is the same person using a new ID of "stormwench" and she didn't have the good grace to contact me privately when she saw what Peter and I were planning, rather than "scolding" us on a public forum, then she can cross me off her friends list permanently!

[dizzy]

I don't really see the big deal as long as the developers don't mind the work involved. And it's not like the work can't be merged back into SimPE if Quaxi decides to go back to work on it.

[J. M. Pescado]

Clearly, Quaxi has failed us. You must not!

[Inge]

I see the bot is operating the Pescado account currently.  Personally I think Fairlight does a better job when it's his turn

[ingeli]

Sim Community Drama is better than day time soaps or even prime time thrillers, at times. Broke his arm?? *Pictures quaxi kidnapped and gagged.
I just repeat what I have expressed before: you and Peter do an awesome thing. Furthermore, the source is open. If quaxi is alive and interested in this he will say so, I believe. Ignore all others.

[Inge]

Peter just phoned me for his lunchtime chat.  I think what he will do is post both the QA and his release builds onto sourceforge as well as his source as an update to the main project.  If Quaxi comes back to work he can decide whether to carry on from there or revert to where he left it.

If we do it that way rather than a previous plan of uploading it to MTS2, we can avoid sims community etiquette, politics, allegiances, prejudices and dead aunt sockpuppets altogether and just concentrate on sourceforge/gpl adherance.   Naturally, feedback and bug reports can be made to us in whatever way is practical, including on the SimPE forums.

[Inge]

Anyway, did anyone who downloaded the release 0.64 find it accessing Teen Stuff ok?   I still need that answer before I can release it.

[crazi_aboutu]

Yes, Inge, I can see the teen stuff.  Sorry this morning was the first chance I got to open simpe. 

[Inge]

I have uploaded it to the link already given, again.  Peter found he only had edit rights not admin, so he couldn't make it a download  at the SimPE project on sourceforge.
 
I think the way forward now is for all the casual users to openly share 0.63hQA for the time being, and the more testing-minded users to use 0.64 from the above link.   I am aware the QA was never completed, and there is Theo's binning tool and Bidou's career editor completely missing from 0.63 and 0.64.

What else needs fixing?   If Pete actually adds stuff over and above .63, and/or we get to Freetime and Qaxi is still not back, then it will be time to upload at MTS2 and support the branch there.

[phyllis_p]

I think you and Peter are awesome for taking on this project, and I'm so sorry you're getting abused for your efforts.  You are most certainly more awesome than the person/people abusing you.  And you're more awesome than those of us who rely on SimPE so much but have no clue as to what makes it tick.  Thank you.

[Inge]

Of course the other advantage of .64 over .63 is it has the latest PJSE included...

[J. M. Pescado]

In other news, I found out where I heard that "Stormwench" name from. Apparently, she is a filthy Infidel Paysite Dog, and I suggest you pay no attention to her or her blatherings.

[Inge]

How odd... Quaxi was staunchly anti-paysite, he even had the Federation logo all over his site while it was in operation.  So where actually does Stormwench hang out?