Re: LYNX-DEV My planned version

[Michael Sokolov]

   Philip Webb <address@hidden> wrote:
> Klaus Weide, Laura Eaves, Wayne Buttles, Leonid Pauzner
> -- some names that come to mind -- have all been important contributors;
   
   When these people were contributing, Fote was closely monitoring the
lynx-dev list and accepting all worthy contributions into his version. He
has done a great job of separating real contributions from loose cannons,
as well as fixing the bugs that come bundled with them and casting them
into his Lynx Programming Style. He has had to make a lot of judgments, and
I fully trust them. Therefore, I am assured that if something hasn't made
its way into Fote's latest codeset, it is a loose cannon rather than a
useful contribution. As for Wayne's, Leonid'd, Doug's, Bill's, and others'
DOS code, its authors have done an outstanding job, and I fully respect
them, but since the code they were working on has been severely misguided
from the outset, (it pains me to say this) their efforts have been in vain.
   
   As for Mr. Dickey "doing a great job" at putting all the patches
together, I have a hard time calling it such. It appalls me a little how he
takes patches dealing with stuff he has no idea about and incorporates them
in the "official" source. I remember how hard Fote worked to go through
each patch with a fine-toothed comb, fix all bugs, find all obscure and
insidious problems with security, etc., and cast it into the Lynx
Programming Style.
   
> FM made it clear over & over starting 9609xx
> that he was no longer willing to be a developer, let alone a `hone kay';
   
   I remember Fote saying that he will not use Mr. Dickey's version of Lynx
himself under any circumstances. This implies that as long as he continues
USING Lynx, he will continue working on it, if only for his own use. Since
I trust his judgment 100%, I view his personal code as the best possible
Lynx version.
   
> recently, he has dropped out completely,
> having gone to live with his daughter, so we were told.
   
   I remember Fote saying that if he stops putting his personal code on
public-access servers, he will still make it available to those who
explicitly ask for it "in compliance with the GPL". It's true that the GPL
doesn't actually require this, but if Fote believes that it does, I'll
certainly take advantage of this.
   
> so while no-one would question his programming ability or experience,
> he is no longer in a position to criticise anyone's efforts around Lynx.
   
   I have just filled his position.
   
> as for you, Americans have a fine phrase: "Put up or shut up!"
   
   This is a free country and Lynx is free software, so if I don't want to
put up or shut up, no one can stop me from starting a divergent version.
   
   Sincerely,
   Michael Sokolov
   Phone: 440-449-0299
   ARPA Internet SMTP mail: address@hidden