Forum Software Update Question

[CaliforniaLiberal]

Are we going to be able to bring the CalGuns smilies under the new software?

That's one heck of a smily list and it would be a damn shame to lose it.

[tylenol9999]

SMF


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[jeremyy]

sysadmin hat on says latest vb

[UFO hunter]

Xenforo, basically the Corvette of forum software.

The others are like modded Stangs and Camaros that may match the Vette's performance numbers, but just aren't as nice.

Open source doesn't automatically mean better. Anyone here use GIMP because it's open source and avoids Photoshop because it's not?

[Cokebottle]

Open source doesn't automatically mean better. Anyone here use GIMP because it's open source and avoids Photoshop because it's not?

Nope.
I use Gimp and Paint.Net because they are shareware and affordable and I can't justify paying for PS for the few times Windows Paint can't do the job.

[lordmorgul]

Nope.
I use Gimp and Paint.Net because they are shareware and affordable and I can't justify paying for PS for the few times Windows Paint can't do the job.

Love them both, but technically they are open source therefore freeware, the term shareware has other connotation.


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Andrew - Lancaster, CA
NRA Life Member, SAF / CRPA / FPC member and supporter, USCCA Member

[Cokebottle]

Love them both, but technically they are open source therefore freeware, the term shareware has other connotation.

Right, but I don't use them specifically because they are open source, I use them because they are economical, and when it comes to software, I prefer to use the simplest platform that will get the job done, thus, in order of preference, and in order of frequency of use, MS Paint, Paint.Net, and Gimp.

The only time I use Gimp is when I need selection, color blend, or text options (such as arcing) that I can't do with Paint.Net.
It has honestly been about 5 years since I've even fired up Gimp. I use Paint almost daily.

[moleculo]

My 2 cents that is based on some actual knowledge of the subject:

VB4 is terrible, and a bloated piece of garbage. When Internet Brands bought vBulletin, they ruined it and v4 was crap that came out of that purchase. vBulletin 3.8.x is already unsupported and fraught with security holes and you're talking about only going to 4.x which still doesn't get you to the modern codebase you should be looking at. And I agree that 5.x is ugly.

Xenforo is really slick and very fast running code. It has the best responsive UI of them all and renders Tapatalk completely unnecessary. Unfortunately, there is not currently a functioning iTrader-like app, though. But there's nothing else going on with calguns.net that Xenforo won't support. The commercial theme support for Xenforo is strong, too. This one gets my vote.

SMF: I've been down the opensource forum software road before. It got hacked every 10 minutes and became giant pain to maintain. With the traffic this site has, I would tread cautiously.

[Cokebottle]

And while iTrader seems like an important function, people aren't using it.
I've participated in a number of transactions in the last couple of years, including multiple firearms.
Nope... Zip since 2011, and I've left a positive on every transaction. Three haven't even been received.

This, coupled with the too-common occurrence of someone with good iTrader numbers "turning bad", and I really see a diminishing value in it.
This is the only forum I participate on that uses anything like it, but this one also has the most active marketplace (though I'm sure the ammo law changes have really impacted that)

[Deedle]

Its more about the philosophy behind open source that makes it attractive. For home and personal use, mainly. But for business purposes, you have to go with the best.

For a business open source means that what has happened to CalGuns can't happen nearly as arbitrarily, because if anyone is using it, someone can maintain it. No one can just decide it's time to EoL open source.

[billped]

My suggestion for priority for your decision (it's not really ours):
1. Security
2. Stability
3. Maintainability/upgradability
4. Features
5. Speed
6. Slickness/appearance

[tuna quesadilla]

And while iTrader seems like an important function, people aren't using it.
I've participated in a number of transactions in the last couple of years, including multiple firearms.
Nope... Zip since 2011, and I've left a positive on every transaction. Three haven't even been received.

This, coupled with the too-common occurrence of someone with good iTrader numbers "turning bad", and I really see a diminishing value in it.
This is the only forum I participate on that uses anything like it, but this one also has the most active marketplace (though I'm sure the ammo law changes have really impacted that)

Speak for yourself.

I wouldn't mind if iTrader had to go, though.

As far as software selection goes, I'm leery hearing about all the security threats with SMF.

[Cokebottle]

Speak for yourself.

I wouldn't mind if iTrader had to go, though.

As far as software selection goes, I'm leery hearing about all the security threats with SMF.

Open source is a double-edged sword.

I've always viewed OS as being more vulnerable to hacks... but that's coming from seeing that the code is out in the open giving everyone the opportunity to look for weaknesses, and a history of commercial software being compromised after the source was leaked.

OTOH, open source also allows everyone to look for and patch weaknesses more quickly.

[lordmorgul]

Open source is a double-edged sword.

I've always viewed OS as being more vulnerable to hacks... but that's coming from seeing that the code is out in the open giving everyone the opportunity to look for weaknesses, and a history of commercial software being compromised after the source was leaked.

OTOH, open source also allows everyone to look for and patch weaknesses more quickly.

This is exactly why with open source you do not want to use the latest and greatest major release version for production systems, but a near recent major release with the absolute latest minor patch releases since that helps provide time for major flaws to be found and fixed prior to compromise.

In contrast, you always want the newest available with commercial closed source tools since it provides less time to find flaws and compromise.


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Andrew - Lancaster, CA
NRA Life Member, SAF / CRPA / FPC member and supporter, USCCA Member

[Flight Now]