Would you like to see the end of Free forums. Such as proboards, people dont have to buy hosting, forum software or a domain name. Anyone can start a forum. Dont you think that if we got rid of free forums, on those that were really serious about running forums would be better placed to get more members as their would be less forums around. look at sport, they are probably hundreds of free forums all with several members on just 1 football team, get rid of them, frees up the members, and the person who pays for hosting, domain name etc, are better placed to get those members.

By stopping free forums, it would clear out the kiddies from those that are serious about running their site.

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While the idea my sound good at first glance...you must realize, everybody must start somewhere.

How many established forum owners started with free forums? I bet that percentage is VERY high. Everybody has got to start somewhere, and free software is a GREAT place to start. It is a stepping stone...without that stepping stone, the leap to paid software might become too large.

Basically...it's hard to invest in something that you do not know is right for you. Not to mention, there are plenty of great forums out there that run on free software....notably, the busiest forum on the net - Gaia - runs on phpBB.

I like what you are getting at, but eliminating free software is not the solution.

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Personally I'm tired of paying for the internet in general, let alone having to pay for forums.

We pay way too much money on computer-related products and services as it is. It's time for that trend to end, in my opinion.

I don't think that free forums are that big of a problem. First off, are you talking about software or free hosting with forums and everything?

I'm a strong believer in open source and free software so I wouldn't want to get rid of those. Although those software still require work to install and cost to host and get a domain so I imagine that’s not what you’re talking about.

I don't think places that offer everything are that big of a problem either. If people aren't serious or are bad at running forums then their forum will fail. If someone does make a good forum then they will most likely upgrade and they will get to do something they might not have been able to do had their original forum not been free.

Also these free forum places are really good for people that want small forums. I used one for a video game clan because we only had around 10 people and had no plans at becoming larger.

Very good points, Rivaldi

Tell that to the people that spend 8 hours a day programming Try to tell them their product should be free

People do this kind of stuff for a living...whether tech support, forum software, or computer games...they deserve payment just as much as your clothes manufacturers

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Doesn't mean I have to like it.

Those people who do the programming are getting paid to do it, and the ISP's who need that programming will earn their revenue whether we pay for internet or not.

They arent getting paid unless you PAY them

Sure, some (such as phpBB) do it without payment...but they are exceptions to the game. I dunno how long they spend per day doing what they do, I would imagine they have full time jobs and phpBB programming is on the side, but just an assumption.

When it all comes down to it...these software companies set the prices, and we pay them. If we pay them, we obviously do not disagree with their choice to price software. I dropped $185 for this IPB license. Did I want to? No, but I did...and I did it voluntarily. I doubt IPS feels guilty when people do this every day

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Yeah but that was your choice.

They're taking our choices away...look at Juno Internet. It used to be free, and didn't have ads.

Now the free version has ads plastered all over it, you have to pay for an ad-free experience.



Just a small example of how we're losing our ability to have anything offered for free anymore. [/complaint]

Well to be honest i am still on a free host!.. but id like to see more free hosting coming out. Cause all they really have is google ads which is great

I admit I also started on conforums with a martial arts forum. I switched to a "normal" host and phpBB not yabb and started learning .. so in the end I did have to benefit from the free option.

And BTW Gaia is not on PhpBB anymore. I have read some nice topics in some huge webmaster communitites that Gaia stopped using the "core" phpBB after the DB crashed (they had somewhere near 100 thousand users if I remmeber it well). One of the owners has recoded a lot of the script and it looks like it's something so modified that it's no longer phpBB. Still the fact they retained the credits is something remarkable. I get tired of people who delete the script link just because they think it's cool. I have also modded my theme that no one can say it's iCGstation anymore. Still i keep the credits and mention it's a modded ICGS theme and who's modded. But a link to the one that offered me a backbone for my future "theme creation rants" is something I say decent.

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