[FX.php List] [XPOST]Any interest in using FX.php with FileMaker4.1?

[Chris Hansen]

Stephen,

Thank you for acknowledging that your description of your new product  
was in error, and clarifying it's role.  That said, you seem to have  
difficulty in accepting complete responsibility.  In your original  
post, you said "I have just finished writing an FX.php class the  
allows you to use FX.php with FileMaker 4.1".  There was no mention  
that this constituted a completely new product.  There was no mention  
of a product name, except FX.php.  And, as you made this announcement  
to public forums, it was necessary to make a public correction.  I  
appreciate that it is difficult to take a public drubbing, but you  
made an egregious public error.  How would FMI react if you announced  
(however erroneously) that you were releasing a new version of  
FileMaker?

Imagine another situation:  you are the owner of some land in the  
mountains.  Over time, people cut across your land to get from one  
public road to another.  If you do nothing about this, eventually  
this becomes a public right-of-way and you cannot refuse access to  
it.  Now you've acknowledged that your post implied an error, and I  
hope you'll also acknowledge that it was necessary to publicly post a  
"no trespassing" response in order to ensure that there was no  
misunderstanding as to the legality of the use described (as opposed  
to the intent.)  I'm glad that it was not actually your intent to  
hijack FX.php, but I'm sure that you can see that your initial post  
was far from clear on this.

That said, I am not trying to start a battle of one-upmanship which  
neither side would win.  My statement of comparative hours spent was  
in relation to follow-up post that you sent only to the FX.php  
mailing list, and was made in the context already stated (interested  
parties may view the archives of the FX.php mailing list for full  
context.)

I must apologize for my mistake with regards to the necessity of  
entering personal information on your site.  I was basing my  
assumption on my experiences with a previous iteration of your site.   
I am very gratified that all of this information is now optional.  On  
the other hand, it is customary on web sites to indicate which  
information on a form is optional in order to minimize user frustration.

Also, I stand by my statement that your download page does not  
indicate that "FX.php can be downloaded elsewhere".  The URL that you  
provided is not your download page, nor is it the URL of the download  
form.  Rather, it is a product specific page, which is not even on  
the first page of hits for Google search on "filemaker php" (quotes  
omitted).  Considering how many of your products depend on FX.php,  
I'm surprised at the paucity of links or even references to it's  
official site.  After all, iviking.org is a non-profit site, not your  
competitor.  And as a result, regardless of intent (which cannot be  
gauged), the fact remains that your site leads some people to believe  
that FMWebschool is responsible for FX.php, rather than a major  
beneficiary thereof.

Finally, I would call your attention to the fact that in my initial  
post I apologized for the tone of my email, and also stated my  
reasons for feeling it necessary.  Had you given more thought to your  
initial email, or really read my response, the subsequent exchange  
would have been unnecessary.  Sarcasm may be an attractive way to  
respond, but it doesn't change the fact that you can't put the genie  
back in the bottle (or retract an erroneous email once you hit "send".)

Sincerely,

--Chris Hansen
   FileMaker 7 Certified Developer
   Creator of FX.php
   "The best way from FileMaker to the Web."
   www.iViking.org