I'm in complete agreement here. Michel owns this site and he can do as he sees fit which is probably what he feels makes the most business sense to him. I have been personally affected by member's abusing the 'intent' of the UT on a few occasions and I fully support Michel's right to do as he sees fit to protect his investment. However, I am also deeply concerned about the free speech issue though-regardless of whether or not John and others crossed over the line from time-to-time. Personally, I think a 6 month lockout would have been more appropriate AFTER a written warning. Following that, if a user continues to abuse the rules on Michel's site then a permanent banishment is definitely called for. Once again though, it is not my site and it's not up to me to decide what the appropriate action is.

On a personal note, I met John in person when he taught an advanced VFP class and regardless of his personal feelings about the future of VFP, he was one of the best instructors I've ever had in the IT field. He was professional and even used the UT as an example of peer support. I feel the 'intent' of his messages overall were more to suggest to VFP developers that they consider all options available to them rather than limiting themselves to just one tool for all of their development needs. Many felt he was preaching leaving VFP out-right though and posted negative responses to all of his messages. I'm afraid his tone on many occasions spurred more negative feedback than positive. There were, however, definitely times when the verbal tone of his messages crossed the line on professionalism as well as appropriate behavior in an online forum whether he initiated the conduct or not. These were typically rebuttals to personal attacks on him from Steve and others. Remember, this is only my opinion, but it is how I see it based on the threads I have read over the months in the last year. I do not feel that John's posts were the most negative or abusive of those posted, but I do feel he demonstrated unprofessional behavior on more than one occasion and even got into a name-calling (if not by insinuation at least) fest with a few online. It is a shame that two of the most professional, experienced, and knowledgeable VFP developers could not communicate on the UT without attacking each other personally and dragging the messages into the mud-it would have been better had they both just not reacted to anything the other said at all, but then we all do not necessarily hold back our emotions at all times either as much as we would like to. At the end, though, it appeared that one could not post without the other responding negatively regardless of the subject matter. He did apologize too on at least one occasion that I recall and in the end of that thread received a lot of negative feedback also. He is a very talented developer and I will miss his posts regardless. I will continue to read his articles where-ever they are available.

Tracy

>Hi Victor,
>I do agree that this site is owned by MF and he can do what he wants with it. However, this site is supported and thrives because of its members and its members alone.
>
>How long will it be before some other member is taken out because people don't agree with his/her opinion. Communities thrive because people can safely have an opinion whether you agree or dont.