At the risk of dragging this thread back on target
I am a newly returned Poco user so I don't know what has been happening with the development of Poco 4. I was a beta tester for V3 but I cannot remember my access details, but the beta forum here doesn't exactly seem to be busy.
I appreciate the development team have other areas of responsibility such as Barca (which I cannot use because there's no pocket pc synching which is essential to me ) but it seems to me that there has been some sort of crisis at Poco. These forums have their fair share of complaints about lack of support and this has been resolved so we are moving in the right direction.
Shareware is an interesting concept when it comes down to responsibility. As users we have a trial period in which to make up our minds whether the program suits our needs before coughing up the cash. At that moment we buy the program, fully aware of any shortcomings or problems with it and it can be argued under the Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware) rule that once we have committed ourselves the Poco team do not really have any responsibility other than to sort out any major bugs that occur.
The flip side of the coin is the argument that as paying customers we have certain levels of rights and nthat the programs should be continuously developed.
Whichever side of the argument you take I don't think it is unreasonable for the users to be kept up to date with a little more than "things are being worked on" level. By keeping the punters informed you generate loyalty and enthusiasm for the product and the company developing it.
Even if a list of bugs that were being worked on keeps us involved and keeps the relationship between the company and the customer healthy and happy.
Here endeth the lesson for this Sunday - now I'm off down the pub for a few beers
