Can You hear A Pin Drop ?

[GhostShip]

As its so quiet around here I thought I would have a peek around the network itself to see how things are going

Despite some rumours the actual userbase remains substancially the same as many of the proceeding years (post attacks), the two largest userbase are still the English speaking nations and the Japanese , followed closely by one or two European states, so we are all good in terms of accessibility and folks are still enjoying the network.

What we are missing out on is new users and community led strategies to increase the size of the community and dare I mention it staff here.

Despite some folks claims over the years no one runs this network and no one is in chanrge, instead there is a loose collection of hard core users undertaking all of the key roles to ensure the network remains operational, this didnt happen by itself but was organised by talks and discussion and then planned action to deliver, one thing we all have in common as WinMx users is we dont like to be bullied  or silenced.

As one of the old school folks here it concerns me that we are not talking or discussing matters that concern us or we could all rally around, we dont need rules so much as direction of travel, as a community we would do well to set some lofty goals that we can all work towards, there have been few new ideas heard here or anywhere else that I have looked  and the ideas I have seen are not really applicable to the entire community, so what is to be done for the future ?

I ask those of you whom have ideas, big plans, small plans , strategies or simply dreams to post some of them here and lets all look at focusing some of our untapped energies towards improving what we have, it really does only take a small "time" investment from all of us to create a fully formed path for the future we can all follow as a community.

[White Stripes]

considering what a pain it is to get running on the vista+ environment of windows (especially if you want some add-on toys) i dont expect too many new users... the users it has now are going to be who keep it going for as long as they live and/or the win32 api exists (beware windows 10S) ... winmx is the p2p retirement home...

[GhostShip]

Always the optimist eh lol

I think we have a lot of the problems licked in terms of being able to launch a third party client but not all yet unfortunately, we dont need to be stuck in stone and I am looking towards that time for the ultimate ending of what I can bring to the table, in the mean time it pains me to see so few folks looking to maximise their enjoyment of what we have here, I completely understand times have changed for some folks and they have changed lifestyles or careers that devour much of the time they formally put into this network and that applies to me too but without some dreams or focus we stagnate and so whilst in the long term I see a potential future in the shorter term we need to expand on the overall activity to support other potential roots and branches, not everything needs to be a big job nor should we frown upon smaller projects that deliver value to the userbase, a key component of progress will always be to seek out ideas and match those to resources, or vice versa.

Thanks for making the time to post btw Stripes, you have been a good source of ideas, knowledge and quality feedback for some time now 

 

[Rossi]

This thread

 
 
 
 
 

[GhostShip]

Happy to bring merriment to your day Rossi 

[wonderer]

what worries me, racing to the age of 70 and time seems to run faster every year, is who will take our "jobs"
many of the new generations will not know the feeling of victory when you after many hours finished downloading 650 Mb and could look at the movie you liked.
These days you download 2.5 Gb in 15 minutes when you are slow.
will the new generation still want to continue what we are doing ... 

[GhostShip]

I like to think so Wonderer 

It seems to me that theres a space for private chatting and semi public discussion as well as having the ability to share information and created works of your own with interested folks. relying on someones server based p2p network or social media web server to deliver all the material hollywood produces is very much a different scene from what goes on here, folks who use such servers are "consumers", most of the folks using winmx are" producers"  in that we all have something to bring to the table and do so.

Technological fads and fashions come and go but friendship lasts a lot longer and this network has created more friendships that I can count,  I agree strongly with your further point btw regarding just who will take care of business in the long term once we all get called to pastures new upstairs

I dont know the answer for sure ,but the question is very relevant.

[White Stripes]

These days you download 2.5 Gb in 15 minutes when you are slow.

and if you download it from too many sources it 'clogs' winmx

will the new generation still want to continue what we are doing ...

with different software most likely but yep

I agree strongly with your further point btw regarding just who will take care of business in the long term once we all get called to pastures new upstairs

i have the source to the patch and a version of the cache server and im sure im not the only one.... if it wants to continue it will.. if it doesn't.. well... it was an interesting ride was it not?

[GhostShip]

I think your missing something important Stripes, whilst you may have the tools to continue the fight you may not have the wish to, apathy and boredom lead folks to look elsewhere for excitement, the instant gratification generation are too busy consuming to put in any effort to produce anything new, thats if they have the attention span 

I know you personally take the time to take part in this community but the point of this topic was simply to highlight that we all need to undertake that same role to keep the community vibrant and self refreshing, if folks post ideas, thoughts and tangible items that others may find worthy of their input the community thrives, conversely if we all stay silent or rely on one or two folks to make the running we are in effect creating a future that leads no-where.

[wonderer]

Are the Japanese users connecting via our caches or do they operate their own ones and if so do we have contacts with them?

 

[GhostShip]

No they do not operate any caches Wonderer, I cant say with any specific certainty the quantity of numbers using non Community Patch group caches but its likely to be a minimal amount as a quick trawl around the web demonstrates.

Due to the enivitable language barrier Issue and the lack of any recent reason to bother anyone on the network I havent taken any steps towards finding a dual language speaker to replace the ones no longer on the network, if theres something we need to speak to them about and theres a dual language speaker out there, I think we could mount our usual appeals for assistance.

[wonderer]

we are still a life and on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/8302325641/

[GhostShip]

I'm immensly proud of the folks that keep the spirit of WinMx alive Wonderer, its great to see so many folks had a great time using the network across the nearly 20 years its been up it really does bring a smile to my face to read such posts and to know that despite some bad times based on mistrust we have all been able to utilise the network for learning new skills, sharing our talents and most importantly making new friends.

I spent many years learning to listen to folks in other lands whom I would never meet in real life, sharing their hopes and dreams for the future as well as some sad moments and in-between I  helped a few set up a router or two..lol

Good people good time's and many treasured memories.

* GhostShip smiles

[wonderer]

Winmx Hideout https://www.facebook.com/groups/349489558432083/
it almost looks like they are coming out of the closet
Or maybe I did not look hard enough, anyway, I am more than happy to have proof now that we have not been keeping up a dream all those years.

[Rossi]

Folks on there are asking about ourmx.

I chuckled I did. 

Ourmx is this forum's Brexit but much much worse.

 

[wonderer]

Yep Rossi we have been waiting for the people contributing to ourmx and the network as much as you do, you have been a great help through the years.

[GhostShip]

Rossi I an unable to fathom your level of intellect given the situation here, as you are fully aware we have a lot of the code for a direct replacement in the bag, we dont have it all however and we also dont have all the skilled coders and time we need.

Do you feel we are being dishonest in some way ?

What about you do what I do. put something in, time, knowledge, discussion etc

As a logical person I find it hard to comprehend how folks can extrapolate anything but good will and continued effort from my posts as thats the truth of the matter, there are currently two folks working on ourmx and we are struggling with the transfers section, thats been the main holdup, I will remind you that both of us have real lives and jobs to deal with that take up a lot of our private time despite our best efforts to get more done, you could have spotted that for yourself simply by watching the site activity or rather lack of it as we prioritise our efforts rather than post news etc.

I remember I asked for help testing one Ourmx version and disappointingly received a minimal set of responses almost all stating they wanted to help but didnt have the skillset or knowledge to deploy the tools I needed employing at their end, given this serious lack of community engagement I could be forgiven for feeling some folks are not as engaged as they could be and that feeds into preventing a resolution of the general client replacement problem, we do want to be able to move forward and we do want to be able to pass tools, code and knowledge forward in time to assist those who follow us in their journey of supporting the network.

We always have a choice in life in what direction we choose, the team here and those whom have given time and resources to this network have done so without asking anything in return bar the respect of the community, we have over time prevented all efforts to monetise the network, we have encouraged nearly all other support sites to run as best they can free of annoying ads and other displays of "Business", thats because this isnt business, its our network, yours mine and anyone elses whom runs the software,our interactions make up the networks lifeblood and ensure the networks survival, thats a powerful concept, theres no central server or corporate nonsense involved in anything folks do on this network.

Now knowing all of this and how strongly we feel in ensuring there is continuity for the userbase what about finally doing your part and searching out opportunities to both nurture and protect this network.

You are your own boss so theres not really any excuses to keep lashing out with  derision and sarcastic rhetoric onto your fellow network users trying to make things stable for the future when your own effort is near zero.