Per Eduardo:

http://connectedtext.com/forum/index.php/topic,3514.0.html

That is excellent news. Thank you for posting this.

Even if all Eduardo intends to do (it seems) is modernize the underlying technology, move away from his proprietary data management routines, and fix critical bugs, that would be enough. At least it keeps CT viable for longer, which in a feature-rich (and one could argue, feature-complete) product is the best thing to hope for.

After his long silence, he has a ways to go (and a lot of code to write) before he earns back the trust of his customers, potential or otherwise.

tightbeam wrote:

After his long silence, he has a ways to go (and a lot of code to write)
before he earns back the trust of his customers, potential or otherwise.

I have a different perspective on this. In my various interactions with Eduardo I found him to be a very generous person, and when he had the time to be developing CT, he was incredibly receptive to customers' suggestions, and it shows in the quality of the product.

His generosity also extends to the pricing of his product, which is an amazing value considering what ConnectedText can deliver.

He certainly hasn't lost my trust. I can fully appreciate how hard it is to run one's own business, and if it's a labour of love, as CT seems to be, I also understand that sometimes a developer's work can be disrupted by all kinds of personal and professional reasons.

On my part I consider Eduardo a genius, as it is reflected in the unique and innovative nature of CT, and I consider myself lucky that I came across his software and it has made a huge contribution to my work in many respects.

So I couldn't be more delighted that Eduardo is back and ready to dedicate some of his time to CT again.

I feel the same way as Dr Andus.



Dr Andus wrote:

tightbeam wrote:
>After his long silence, he has a ways to go (and a lot of code to
write)
>before he earns back the trust of his customers, potential or
otherwise.

I have a different perspective on this. In my various interactions with
Eduardo I found him to be a very generous person, and when he had the
time to be developing CT, he was incredibly receptive to customers'
suggestions, and it shows in the quality of the product.

His generosity also extends to the pricing of his product, which is an
amazing value considering what ConnectedText can deliver.

He certainly hasn't lost my trust. I can fully appreciate how hard it is
to run one's own business, and if it's a labour of love, as CT seems to
be, I also understand that sometimes a developer's work can be disrupted
by all kinds of personal and professional reasons.

On my part I consider Eduardo a genius, as it is reflected in the unique
and innovative nature of CT, and I consider myself lucky that I came
across his software and it has made a huge contribution to my work in
many respects.

So I couldn't be more delighted that Eduardo is back and ready to
dedicate some of his time to CT again.

That's wonderful that you feel the same way as Dr. Andus, and I wish Eduardo the best, but the proof is in the follow-through. "Labor of love" or not, his paying customers have complained on the forum about his "disappearances" and lack of replies to tech support questions, and past behavior is an important consideration for whether or not to invest one's time and money in software. I guess we'll see how much follow-through is behind his very good intentions.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

I feel the same way as Dr Andus.



Dr Andus wrote:
tightbeam wrote:
>>After his long silence, he has a ways to go (and a lot of code to
>write)
>>before he earns back the trust of his customers, potential or
>otherwise.
>
>I have a different perspective on this. In my various interactions with
>Eduardo I found him to be a very generous person, and when he had the
>time to be developing CT, he was incredibly receptive to customers'
>suggestions, and it shows in the quality of the product.
>
>His generosity also extends to the pricing of his product, which is an
>amazing value considering what ConnectedText can deliver.
>
>He certainly hasn't lost my trust. I can fully appreciate how hard it
is
>to run one's own business, and if it's a labour of love, as CT seems to
>be, I also understand that sometimes a developer's work can be
disrupted
>by all kinds of personal and professional reasons.
>
>On my part I consider Eduardo a genius, as it is reflected in the
unique
>and innovative nature of CT, and I consider myself lucky that I came
>across his software and it has made a huge contribution to my work in
>many respects.
>
>So I couldn't be more delighted that Eduardo is back and ready to
>dedicate some of his time to CT again.
>

tightbeam wrote:

his paying customers have complained on the forum about
his "disappearances" and lack of replies to tech support questions, and
past behavior is an important consideration for whether or not to invest
one's time and money in software.

Sure. But to keep things in perspective, for a single payment of USD 39.95 you get a perpetual licence for possibly the most sophisticated personal wiki software on the planet that has ever existed.

Then there is a huge forum where you can very likely find an answer to almost any question or technical problem, and normally there are users there who are happy to help.

I'm not saying it's OK for a developer not to reply to tech support questions, but you get a lot of value for the $39.95, even if you never hear from the developer.

CT wouldn't be the only software that's sold without further development or technical support. See e.g. Outline 4D, which is more expensive and less sophisticated, yet it's been sold for over a decade without any development.

"I’m not saying it’s OK for a developer not to reply to tech support questions, but you get a lot of value for the $39.95, even if you never hear from the developer."

I think he has a point there.

But I'd like to draw you attention to some other element in the communication policy in question: When I tried to follow the link in the first post, in order to read what the developer would say about the situation, I encountered sort of an error message, telling I had no right to access the forum.

I don't know which of two possibilities applies:
- registered users only
- paying users only allowed for registration.

But whatever, even paying users would like to just have a look if there's something new, without entering data in 2 separate fields, and then, prospects would like to inform themselves about software they're thinking of buying, and for somewhat elaborate software, they tend to want quite extensive information, and even if it's then possible to get into the forum before buying, after a lengthy procedure, be assured that perhaps 1 or 1.5 out of 10 will go into such depths of fuss, just in order to read a little bit about a thing (how's it going, possible problem, possible hints/ideas...), the others will very probably lose interest, judging that the developer does not want them to read there, making it that difficult for them.

Please note I don't speak of writing access here, which is another question indeed.

(And prospects would ask questions by mailing, rather than register to another forum... of course, they would expect their questions answered within 2-3 days max, I suppose. But without reading access, which could probably answer some of such questions already, they're not that much motivated to contact the developer with questions either.)

It doesn't sound to me like a question of whether the developer is providing sufficient bang for the buck. It's a question of whether (at the risk of sounding legalistic, which isn't my intent), he breached an implied contract with his customers. If technical support appeared to be part of the package, and the developer suddenly disappeared without notice or excuse, I wouldn't trust him. (Which doesn't mean necessarily I wouldn't buy his software.)

Dr Andus wrote:

tightbeam wrote:
>his paying customers have complained on the forum about
>his "disappearances" and lack of replies to tech support questions, and
>past behavior is an important consideration for whether or not to
invest
>one's time and money in software.

Sure. But to keep things in perspective, for a single payment of USD
39.95 you get a perpetual licence for possibly the most sophisticated
personal wiki software on the planet that has ever existed.

Then there is a huge forum where you can very likely find an answer to
almost any question or technical problem, and normally there are users
there who are happy to help.

I'm not saying it's OK for a developer not to reply to tech support
questions, but you get a lot of value for the $39.95, even if you never
hear from the developer.

CT wouldn't be the only software that's sold without further development
or technical support. See e.g. Outline 4D, which is more expensive and
less sophisticated, yet it's been sold for over a decade without any
development.

I'm with Dr. Andus and Steve Z on this. It is extremely difficult for a sole-practitioner developer to create and maintain a robust application over the long term. When we buy apps made by a single person, we cannot apply the expectations for presence and support that we apply to firms like OmniGroup etc. Additionally, Eduardo has had personal misfortunes, reported here, his forum, and elsewhere, that in my view earn him a lot of slack and patience.

(BTW, if I recall correctly, the CT forum doesn't require a license, just registration. Like all other forums.)

If he can't handle it, he could always open source it. That's the ideal exit strategy for developers who can no longer maintain their software. Of course it almost never happens.

The point I made is that it's important for prospective customers to have *all* the facts, including those of Eduardo's occasional disappearances and his less-than-stellar record at handling tech support requests, or even general questions about his software. For some, it's not a big deal to spend $40 on relatively mature software that seems to work well; for others, a non-responsive developer is a deal breaker.

There's no right or wrong here; just a moral responsibility of full disclosure, because the guy *is* charging money for his software, and if we can't "apply [to him] the [usual] expectations for presence and support", then he ought to mention that somewhere on his "buy now" page.

Paul Korm wrote:

I'm with Dr. Andus and Steve Z on this. It is extremely difficult for
a sole-practitioner developer to create and maintain a robust
application over the long term. When we buy apps made by a single
person, we cannot apply the expectations for presence and support that
we apply to firms like OmniGroup etc. Additionally, Eduardo has had
personal misfortunes, reported here, his forum, and elsewhere, that in
my view earn him a lot of slack and patience.

(BTW, if I recall correctly, the CT forum doesn't require a license,
just registration. Like all other forums.)

I have to agree with tightbeam. You're assuming that anybody who buys the software knows that it's written and supported by one person and can take account of this. That's not the case. There's nothing on the website that states that it's a one man band, nothing that tells you that bugs won't be fixed, that support requests won't be answered, that access to the forum won't be provided and so on. What has annoyed me about this case, and others, is the lack of transparency. I expect honesty from any retailer, large or small, so that I can make an informed choice. Whilst I understand that nobody would want to put people off buying their software by making the situation clear, that's what I expect.

So, whilst I use CT and appreciate it's value, it's not bug-free and there's no guarantee (or even likelihood) that it will be reincarnated if it suddenly stops working. If Eduardo is back with us, that's great, but considering the past absences, I'm starting to move to other software.

Paul Korm wrote:

I'm with Dr. Andus and Steve Z on this. It is extremely difficult for
a sole-practitioner developer to create and maintain a robust
application over the long term. When we buy apps made by a single
person, we cannot apply the expectations for presence and support that
we apply to firms like OmniGroup etc. Additionally, Eduardo has had
personal misfortunes, reported here, his forum, and elsewhere, that in
my view earn him a lot of slack and patience.

(BTW, if I recall correctly, the CT forum doesn't require a license,
just registration. Like all other forums.)

tightbeam wrote:

After his long silence, he has a ways to go (and a lot of code to write)
before he earns back the trust of his customers, potential or otherwise.

Have some compassion people. He has clearly been through some trying times in the real world!

MenAgerie wrote:

Have some compassion people. He has clearly been through some trying times in the real world!

Before condemning Eduardo, keep in mind that he was in a bicycle accident last year that required surgery and immobilized his arm for at least three months. He may have had complications we don't know about. He's basically resuming the work on CT he had promised before the accident.

http://connectedtext.com/forum/index.php/topic,3461.msg16723/topicseen.html#msg16723

tightbeam wrote:

If he can't handle it, he could always open source it. That's the ideal
exit strategy for developers who can no longer maintain their software.
Of course it almost never happens.

Indeed. And that raises the next question. Would you prefer that instead he stopped selling the software and took his website and forum offline?

I'd prefer if developers of abandoned software kept making it available to those interested, rather than making them inaccessible to the world.

There is an argument to be made that certain pieces of very well-made software belong to the intellectual history of the world, rather than to their makers, like great books or works of art.

E.g. the owner of Natara Bonsai, another software that I love, has decided to pull the website and stop selling licences. It is a fully functioning software that continues to work perfectly well, if you're lucky enough to own a licence.

I constantly get emails through my blog from people trying to find out how they could buy a licence. The two blog posts that contain instructions on where to download the software from (answer: the Internet Archive) have so far been visited around 5000 times since 2014. I get people looking for it daily.

It's a pity that the owner has decided to deny the world access to his work, and a lot of people have been frustrated in their attempt to get access to it.

So I'd say Eduardo is being kind that he continues to make his software available and I hope he is not being put off by this thread.

I do understand the point about managing expectations of prospective customers or that it might be frustrating not to get support if you based your business on this software.

But great programmers are not always the best salespeople or the greatest of marketers or the best customer service reps, as those are different skills.

tightbeam wrote:

If he can't handle it, he could always open source it. That's the ideal
exit strategy for developers who can no longer maintain their software.
Of course it almost never happens.

Looking at his tech stack (Visual Basic and a few components) i doubt that this is legal for him to release all the code required to rebuild.

Also he uses old proprietary development tools that need to be purchased before anyone can try to build i. It's already very hard to compile old projects that were designed for open source from grounds up. But with this it's almost impossible to find anyone who can do this and is interested in maintaining it.

Lets face it, everything is mortal, including software.

Lothar Scholz wrote:

Lets face it, everything is mortal, including software.

Interesting insight. But not quite so on this point.
Software is immortal. It is the chessboard that may change and make it (sometime willingly) unusable.
Alice in the Wonderland - and some scientists afterwards - called it the Red queen effect. But the chessboard does not change as quick as some people (producers) would like. So software as a service has been invented.

We can have all the compassion in the world for Eduardo as a person - and I'm sure we do - but still criticize his business practices.

MenAgerie wrote:

tightbeam wrote:
After his long silence, he has a ways to go (and a lot of code to write)
>before he earns back the trust of his customers, potential or
otherwise.
>

Have some compassion people. He has clearly been through some trying
times in the real world!

There are other apps and one comes close for moi, though not exactly the same as CT, on the plus side it has other advantages, as do others. He'll have to re-code from scratch & bottom up. To make it worth his while, might as well use a multi platform UI libkit like Qt or GTK, while he's at it.

Then commit to maintaining the development into the foreseeable blue yonder, debug, lifecycle, grow etc. He won't have that sort of time. So most likely might just tinker and fiddle about, as is, a tad or two, just to be able to holler: it's alive, it's alive. To placate the great unwashed outside his drawbridge, for a lil while longer. Even planets and galaxies die, eventually.

All this talk of death and dying and doom and gloom and pessimism...

I nearly forgot this thread was about the good news of resurrection! Rejoice, people!

In fact no-one, not even the software has actually died, thank goodness.

CT is running perfectly well on my laptop. I'm not getting a single bug. Nothing. Zilch. It's alive!

Moreover, for the vast majority of CT's existence, Eduardo had provided exemplary customer service.

We are talking about a developer who quite often implemented customer requests and suggestions on the same day or within a couple of days. Try that with the likes of [substitute your favourite big tech corporation]!

Surely we can see some positives in the news of an extraordinary developer recovering from an accident and announcing that he's back?

Unlike a few big corps, most outliner-ware is a cottage industry if not overwhelmingly single devs. I've always said all outliner devs should be supported as a rule, regardless. Eduardo is one of the few, an elite, who created something new and not just a little app. So he deserves extra praise. Another in the same league is Andy of Hyperplan who is present here. There are not many like them. Most just copy genres. There are 2 models for securing an app's future but that is not the topic here.

I hope Eduardo finds both the time and resources to keep updating and modernizing his app. To provide both, commercial success is needed. Look at big hits like Scrivener or even bigger Evernote. It's a catch 22 problem, not easy, specially when doing something novel in a niche market. There are certain crucial aspects to be taken care of to cross the Rubicon into the Valhalla of big box-office. Hope they get the right feedback. In any case, we should wish them all the best of luck.

The one thing I most want from CT is better, fuzzier autocomplete.

For one thing, it should default to substring search. As it currently stands, unless you remember the exact words a topic's name begins with, you simply can't get to it in the autocomplete dropdown. You have to use the topic search.

Most of the time when I insert a link it's purely to tie bits of my text together semantically. For example, I might write:

"This reminds me of that experience I recently had in which [blah-blah-blah]"

Now let's say at some future point I recall that experience, and think: "hey! I remember several times in the past month I pointed out how what I was then experiencing reminds me of that particular experience. It'd be nice to find those references."

But how? Mostly likely you don't remember the exact words you used in those references. Worse, you most likely didn't use the exact same words each time you refer to it. So it looks like you'll have to grep a word or two and look through the results. A very unpleasant prospect! This where CT's autocomplete come in handy. It helps you standardize on a single phrase to use when referring to a given idea. Same meaning, same language. Finding all references to some idea is just a matter of finding all backlinks.

For anyone who like to put links to this kind use, linking is probably something you do very often. I can easily have 8-10 links in a single paragraph. But this workflow isn't supported very well by the current behavior of CT's autocompletion, simply because you can't search *inside* a topic name. Sure, you can do a topic search, but it'd much nicer to be able to minimize the context-switch, not having to leave the editor at all.

I keep some of my notes in sublime_zk, which has just this ideal (from my pov) autocompletion behavior (inherited from sublime text itself). But I miss so many of CT's rich text and scripting capabitlies.

Thank you for this, Dr Andus!

CT is a great product. Only someone doggedly determine to excel at their work would produce a product as robust as CT. It nothing else every happens, it's enough from that perspective.

Dr Andus wrote:

All this talk of death and dying and doom and gloom and pessimism...

I nearly forgot this thread was about the good news of resurrection!
Rejoice, people!

In fact no-one, not even the software has actually died, thank goodness.


CT is running perfectly well on my laptop. I'm not getting a single bug.
Nothing. Zilch. It's alive!

Moreover, for the vast majority of CT's existence, Eduardo had provided
exemplary customer service.

We are talking about a developer who quite often implemented customer
requests and suggestions on the same day or within a couple of days. Try
that with the likes of [substitute your favourite big tech corporation]!

Surely we can see some positives in the news of an extraordinary
developer recovering from an accident and announcing that he's back?

Well said, washere. There are a few independents who contribute to conversations here (not least Pierre!), and it's always a great pleasure to hear from people with enough passion for a really interesting idea to turn it into an actual product.

washere wrote:

Unlike a few big corps, most outliner-ware is a cottage industry if not
overwhelmingly single devs. I've always said all outliner devs should be
supported as a rule, regardless. Eduardo is one of the few, an elite,
who created something new and not just a little app. So he deserves
extra praise. Another in the same league is Andy of Hyperplan who is
present here. There are not many like them. Most just copy genres. There
are 2 models for securing an app's future but that is not the topic
here.

I hope Eduardo finds both the time and resources to keep updating and
modernizing his app. To provide both, commercial success is needed. Look
at big hits like Scrivener or even bigger Evernote. It's a catch 22
problem, not easy, specially when doing something novel in a niche
market. There are certain crucial aspects to be taken care of to cross
the Rubicon into the Valhalla of big box-office. Hope they get the right
feedback. In any case, we should wish them all the best of luck.

Yes, most devs are very approachable if contacted too. Also if it's a major app, the key aspects are, how innovative is it and how useful are those features and itself overall.

MadaboutDana wrote:

Well said, washere. There are a few independents who contribute to
conversations here (not least Pierre!), and it's always a great pleasure
to hear from people with enough passion for a really interesting idea to
turn it into an actual product.