GENBOX-L Archives

Archiver > GENBOX > 2007-03 > 1175088749


From: "Peggy Baldwin" <>
Subject: Re: [GENBOX] Where's Bill
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 06:32:29 -0700
References: <032720071635.28100.460947ED000B9C5A00006DC42206816433080C9B079D009C9C0103D20B@comcast.net><a26fdd830703271627l5ba076e1gd30feab2f00de21d@mail.gmail.com><0E034A089264A8438893CC26CC01284A04554FB5@CORWWPKSEXV03.corp.pg.eon.net>


I don't think this response is unkind. I have asked for any reassurance in
the past
that this program would continue to exist, and have gotten none. We put a
lot
of time into getting things right in our genealogy program and it never
translates
entirely into the next software we use. I know, because I've done that
migration
3 times. When I brought my file from TMG to GenBox I had 1100 census
citations to correct!

Whenever I recommend this program to people for
it's virtues, I caution them that I don't know if it will always be around.
I am nervous
about the fact that this seems to be a one man shop. I nervous about the
fact that when
I mention this program to people, I have found no one who has ever heard
about it.
I am nervous about the fact that there is no marketing for GenBox at the
national
meetings. All of the other major genealogy software companies are at the
national
meetings. Some of the software developers sit in the back of the booth, for
technical
questions, while people more comfortable with greeting the public are in the
front.
I don't see any evidence that what is necessary for GenBox's continued
existence
is in place.

Peggy


----- Original Message -----
From: "Allen, Geoff (Energy Wholesale)" <>
To: <>
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 1:07 AM
Subject: Re: [GENBOX] Where's Bill


>I think you are being a little unkind.
>
> You're not talking about Microsoft here, and look how many 'bugs' their
> software still has despite the thousands of developers and testers they
> employ.
>
> I'm guessing Bill is a single, self-employed developer. As stated,
> Genbox is not his only product and he needs to use his time where he
> believes it is most productive. However it is most unlikely that he
> switches off from Genbox when working on other products. I would also
> not expect him to say too much about any new version he is developing;
> why show your hand to your competitors before you have to.
>
> I have been using Genbox I guess now for around 18 months. I would not
> profess to know it in intimate detail, but during that time there have
> been numerous incremental updates, both fixing bugs and adding new
> features. Indeed it was only a few weeks after Vista was released that
> Bill issued an update to support the new OS. I do not consider this to
> be 'part-time' support and I'm not aware of any 'show stopper' bugs in
> the current version. Also just because this forum is quiet, doesn't mean
> anything other than people have other things to do. For me family
> history research is a winter task, which tends to go dormant through the
> summer.
>
> Everyone is free to make their own choice of which software to use,
> based on whatever criteria they chose. However I'm unaware of any other
> product where the developer clearly does monitor comments in a newsgroup
> and will answer directly if appropriate (as he did with me when I had a
> particular issue with a file conflict in XP). And ultimately, should
> Bill ever decide to ditch Genbox, (which I also do not believe is likely
> in the near future) it is of course a very easy process to create a
> Gedcom file to export your data from Genbox and import into whatever
> Genealogy product your choose to use.
>
> Geoff
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [mailto:]
> On Behalf Of David
> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 12:28 AM
> To:
> Subject: Re: [GENBOX] Where's Bill
>
> Hi Denise and Cheri,
>
> Yes, the fact that Bill is only supporting this program "part time" is
> what really bothers me. Guess I will stay with my other programs
> until Bill has had time to fix and release his next version.
>
> Thanks,
> David
>
> On 3/27/07, <> wrote:
>> Good Day David,
>>
>> Is your posting perhaps addressing a concern about the future of
> Genbox? If so, I suspect you have little to be concerned about.
>>
>> I have worked in the software industry the past 24 years and am sort
> of "sensitive" to genealogy software development. The past six months
> (or maybe a bit longer) I have noted a "silence" (few if any postings,
> maybe only one patch, etc) from the developers of what I would consider
> the three main Windows based genealogical database software I tend to
> watch. I suspect that all three are busy working upon their next
> release, with release perhaps something this summer.
>>
>> Reminds me of the early 1990s when I had just purchased a beta version
> of a new Windows genealogy application. All users were anxious for the
> official release, or even a patch to fix some problem with the beta.
> That first Windows version was finally released and over the years that
> company has grown. I even hosted a user group for that application for
> a couple of early years in the mid to late 1990s. I expect Genbox to be
> around for some time to come.
>>
>> Oh. You might also consider that Genbox is not Bill's only venture.
> Check the web data for Thoughtful Creations.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Denise
>>
>> -------------- Original message --------------
>> From: "Cheri Casper" <>
>>
>> > I suspect his is buried in a mountain of code. CheriC
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From:
> [mailto:]On
>> > Behalf Of David
>> > Sent: Monday, March 26, 2007 2:28 PM
>> > To: GENBOX-L
>> > Subject: [GENBOX] Where's Bill
>> >
>> >
>> > Anybody heard from Bill Flight lately?
>> > David
>> >
>>
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