ORIGINAL: JohnP2
Ha. You guys who want to flame me have at it - but I DO know what I'm talking about here, and I fully understand what is involved with this. At the end of the day, this system is very simplistic. If you think an Internet forum is more complex than financial software, then you've lost all credibility to even discuss this with me. Comments like ''well, why don't you fix it.'' or ''if you don't like it then leave''.... .takes nothing away from the fact that it's chock full of bugs. My intent is to edify those who perhaps are not familiar with Internet software this move is ANYTHING but ''legendary'' in IT. Are you serious? You might want to tap the brakes a little. Not to get ''old guy syndrome'' but in college when we wrote apps using the Name/Finger protocol to be the first to get our university ''online'' for the first time....THAT was legendary. I've moved multiple systems MUCH larger than this to new data centers 4-5 times over in my career and we were offline no more than one hour. Being in IT for 20+ years...yeah, I fully realize there are going to be bugs. In fact, I'm not complaining about the bugs, but instead the approach taken. If there is a new maintenance team trying to fix all the old problems - great. But to call this move ''legendary'' is bordering on ridiculous. If your feelings got hurt, I apologize - but I know what I know.
For those that doubt me: think of the last time an Internet software you use was offline (which this essentially was) for three days. If this was the first time it happened, that is one thing - but it's not. It just doesn't happen (often) with today's technology. I enjoy this forum as much as anyone on here....and consequently have no problem speaking up when I see this becomes tiresome.
Please allow me to explain one thing: (I'm an IT guy myself, and have been involved with RCU since years before it was purchased by IB, I do have a limited amount of knowledge of the bigger picture)
the previous system (created by RCU's founder) was held together with bailing wire, duct tape some bubble gum and a little spit. the Issue IB is now dealing with is getting rid of the 'old' system and replacing it with better software.
(IB owns the Vbulletin software) so the issue is not that it's so hard to get the new system up and running, the issue is getting the new system up and running while retaining ALL the content from the old system.
Sure, IB could just plop the new forum in place and send a message out saying 'Sorry, all the content from RCU over the past 12 years was corrupted during the upgrade, please create new user accounts and start over'
but I don't think THAT would go over very well.
the point I'm trying to make is that as you have correctly pointed out, the old system has more than a few bugs, but since we're trying to keep the content, (but lose the bugs) it's more than a little difficult.