Too many RISC OS sites have gone off with a bang - promising to be THE site to visit for RISC OS users but then nothing happens for a while and the site slowly dies because of lack of updates. I hardly ever look at the Acorn Cybervillage any more because of exactly this. Same can be said of Acorn Gaming 98/99/2000, started off well but somehow didn't have the endurance. I was worried about the Acorn Arcade for a while but now the new design is mostly up and most importantly the Forums it will hopefully have a bright future.

This is exactly the same thing that keeps happening to RISC OS software - people just seem to move on to other things and there's no one left to carry the torch. That's why I say, let's all support one site for a while and if we manage to expand the user base maybe there will be room for another one! If we keep spreading around like this the RISC OS market WILL die. Competition is good but is there really room for it right now?

Just a thought!

172


[Edited by 172 at 00:27, 12/11/2000]

A few of the sites you’ve mentioned I’ve visited, but for the new one planetriscos.co.uk. That has opened new web links for me. They seem to do all write but the lay out could be better. Drobe also do well but has no forum. My son has locked me out of icq so I don’t speak to his mates, or see what he’s saying. You know what teenagers are like, I’ll be glad when he goes to uneversati next year.

For anyone that is interested in doing web sites like planetriscos.co.uk or the same. Would it be better for them to take over something that has been started already? Like riscos.net.

But I could not get involved in this type of thin because my english is a little slow. I had to read it twice before it got through to me, and then anserd this in MS word to check spelling and grammer. It would probably take me too long to sort thing out, and when I get back to them. The subject would have diad or changed.

But it might have opened some eyes if they are intrested. After all that is what all about.
Just talk if not do anything else. :-)

Sure, there are a lot of RISC OS portals, not all of which can be maintained. TIB/AA has been as guilty as anyone with regard to lack of updates and spending too long planning stuff without having the time to implement them (TIB itself was "in development" for over 6 months before it appeared IIRC), so I know how tough it can be and would not want to belittle any of the other sites - diversity is good, and at least in the attempt people are trying to support the platform.

I do think that in general a site run by one person or two people on a part-time basis is always going to run into patches of dead-time, so strength in numbers is the key; not always easy, but seeing as I was supposed to do all the programming here, and Tim ended up doing it all with me just providing news and moral support, shows how a little forward planning and support can get around obstacles like an unexpected lack of free time. It also helps that people like Alasdair can chip in with news, and all the other guys can update other sections, mostly without waiting for us.

I wouldn't completely dismiss the Cybervillage as it does still have news on it before anyone else - the Ant suite story was up there before TIB, and I had pre-warning of the story Drobe also has a good turnover of news, and offers a feed for free. Not to leave anyone out (I hope!) there's also planetriscos.co.uk and of course riscos.org, Paul Vigay's baby (wish he'd tell me exactly what it is - news site, portal etc. - so I can link it properly

Not every project started on any platform will be seen through to completion, but it's only by people making the effort that any finished items see the light fo day.

Most sites will welcome new writers with open arms; I don't want this to become an advert for any particular site ( ), but TIB provides space for as much or as little as anyone wants to do - articles, columns, sections, (sub)domains - and Acorn Arcade isn't far behind. If you want to do something on any of the RISC OS news/portal/etc. sites then it can't hurt to ask, especially if you have a definite idea about something you can do.

As for going commercial, Acorn Arcade got a lot of stick for putting an advert up once, so we stopped that and ruled that there'd be no advertising on TIB. It does kind of ask questions about impartiality I guess for someone so small (in business terms) to carry an advert for something which they may then be asked to review or criticise later. AA has links to a shop to buy some of the goods reviewed, and we might extend this to TIB (especially if I can get these bl**dy T-Shirts done!) but no-one ever seems to use it, and we don't rely on it for any kind of income, so hopefully no-one will criticise us for offering the service.