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Personal Message
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Patchou
Messenger Plus! Creator

Posts: 3439
Age: 23, Sex:
Joined: Apr 2002
Status: Offline

Personal Message

Hello everyone,

I’d like to take a couple of minutes of your time to express my feelings regarding some matters that I’ve seen getting amplified in the past couple of months. Last year, I swore to myself not to take all this too personal when so many people were complaining about the first appearance of a sponsor program but I’ve been accumulating a lot and I feel that I should now “give it back” at least a little.

This message doesn’t only target comments about the sponsor program, after all, I kinda got used to it in the past 15 months. No, the primary reason I’m writing those lines is the comments I get from some people about my own work. You know, when you spend 3 1/2 years of your life working on a project as I worked on Messenger Plus! and some guy come at you saying that you’ve stolen the code from others, that you didn’t invent anything, or that the important parts were written by somebody else, it can really be depressing.

Bad-mouthing the sponsor is something I can understand: you install too quickly, you reply yes to the sponsor’s license agreement (yes, it could be redesigned to warn you better but then, nobody would install it, let’s be honest) and you post a couple of “I hate you” messages on the forum to express your frustration. That’s completely understandable and the helpers on the forum generally deal nicely with that kind of situation. I’ve read many times, on many sites, that the sponsor installed even if you selected no on the agreement, that the choice was not offered in Automatic Mode (wondered why it got removed in Messenger Plus! 3 ? ), that nothing could uninstall it ever from your computer… at first, I was very concerned by these allegations, especially after all the work I’ve put with C2Media (my sponsor) to make sure that the package I distribute was clean and easily removable. I know for a fact that most of the times, the sponsor can’t get uninstalled because a program like Adaware destroyed its backup data but I still live with all the complaints, everyday on the forums I visit and you know what help me do it? your very own support. In the first couple of months the sponsor was added, it felt like the entire community was against me however, as the time passed, I saw more and more supportive replies on every forums, even on the ones I would never have expected it. It’s very comforting to know you got so much people willing to take your defence, especially on the web where lies circulate at the speed of light and becomes instant truth as soon as they’re posted on enough different pages. So everyday, when I browse the newsgroups and I find someone insulting my entire family tree because he got a popup, I reassure myself reading the replies some people already made telling the sponsor is optional and can be easily uninstalled. You may not realise it but I would probably have stopped the development of Plus! a long time ago if it was not for this support, and this has nothing to do with the money that my sponsor is generating. I never had any problem finding a company to work for but I take a lot of pride in my little plugin and what you’ve all done for its success and I intend to continue the journey for as long as possible.

Which brings me back to the beginning of this message: all of you can install the sponsor and try to uninstall it to verify that what I say is true. However, when someone comes and say “Patchou is just using the code of other people to make Messenger Plus! work”, there’s not much you can do except wondering if it’s true or not. This is what I’m facing these days, and let me tell you that it’s particularly bad for the morale. Despite all the features Messenger Plus! has, it’s still a plugin for a little instant messaging application. I know it doesn’t looks like much but let me tell you that it takes my days and my nights to ensure it stays alive and keeps evolving. After all, why else would Messenger Plus! have no other “serious” competitor? I’m not diminishing the other plugins available for MSN Messenger, for what I’ve heard, some of them are a great peace of work, but you still can’t deny the fact that Messenger Plus! is the first name that comes in every web site, article or news post talking about enhancing Messenger, and it has been so for a long time (since Messenger 3.6 for those who remember it ).The fact is that maintaining this kind of plugin is time consuming and not many people are  willing to put all the necessary time in this kind of thing. I’m a computer geek, my life is based around creating software (successful or not ) so I never had any problem patching Messenger Plus! at 4:00am in the morning while watching some reruns of Star Trek. I have no merit for it; it’s just the way I chose to live my life. Other plugins that are released by other developers are sometimes promising but are sadly too often forgotten due to the lack of update.

What I’m trying to say is that I’m proud of every single line of code that forms the Messenger Plus! core engine and nothing hurts me more than someone saying that I’m not the one who created this code. It’s surprising how much some people can argue on this matter, despite the fact that there’s no way for them to know whether it’s true or not. I have no problem saying that Will helped me do an assembly patch for accessing the API of Messenger more easily in Windows XP, that Ginge gave me an encryption routine that I use to store emails in the registry and that, obviously, I didn’t write the png/zip library I use in Messenger Plus! to extract files from the setup or display pictures on the screen (big thanks to the CxImage class by the way, couldn’t live without it anymore ). However, this is where the list ends. Everything I just mentioned count for maybe 500 lines of code (excluding the png/zip libraries of course… everybody uses the same ones) and as Messenger Plus! is constituted by more than 50,000 lines of code, I can safely say that I’m the creator of the program and that I didn’t steal anything from anybody. In fact, I’ve always made a point not to install any competitive product. That way, I’m sure that I don’t get ideas (indirect or not) from others. It’s true that sometimes, ideas collide. I remember being notified that someone had a grudge on me because he thought I had stolen his code for sending more than 400 characters in each message. After reading his code, I tried to tell him that mine was at least half different but I don’t think he ever believed me. That kind of thing happens, it’s sad but there’s nothing I can really do about it except showing good faith. However, things are different when people attack the very core of the project. For example, one thing I get from time to time is that I stole the code published on Code Project demonstrating how to hook the rich edit control of Messenger. The fact is (and this can be very easily verified by checking web archives) that I had coded a similar feature and released it part of Messenger Plus! 2.00 at least 6 months before this code was ever published. Even more than that, I reviewed the code published on Code Project a year ago and even if  it’s a fine piece of work, this code can crash Messenger depending on people’s configuration and that’s why Messenger Plus! couldn’t never have relied on it. As you can imagine, a 6 month delay can be easily checked but it doesn’t prvent people from throwing this kind of allegations. The same thing happens when I mention the help Will gave to me. It is true that his patch saved me a lot of time at some point, but some people tend to exaggerate, as always, and try to claim that Will is the one who coded the whole hooking code for MSN Messenger 6, which is of course, entirely wrong and puts me, and Will, in an embarrassing situation.

Messenger Plus! is my product, my baby, the best software I’ve ever created and I’m not afraid to say that I’m proud of it. Please, if you have something to say about it, don’t forget that its creator is human. I find it amusing when people accuse me of being greedy with my optional toolbar when so many software now distribute forced adwares that do much worse things than my sponsor will ever do. Why haldof the complains about Messenger Plus! I see on the web talk more about me than the software itself? I mean, if you read some of those posts, it's like these people had known me personally for years. Reviewing a software doesn't mean reviewing its author. Being greedy and not caring about my users would mean that I wouldn’t be writing this message and I wouldn’t be upgrading Messenger Plus! so often. I would buy a pool, a big plasma TV, put it in my backyard and watch anime all day long in a swimsuit. I would also not spend so much time answering to people’s suggestions, bug reports and concerns on the Messenger forums (not just my own). On all the software you use every day, how many of them did you buy and how much support did you get in return? Messenger Plus! now counts more than 6 million of active users and I still find it necessary to show some personal support instead of relying on the help of the people on the Messenger Plus! forum (thank you to all of you). I even got some remarks saying that if I wanted to earn money, I should get a job: since when software developing stopped being a job? It’s not because I don’t make advertisements on TV or in computer stores that my software is any different from the other ones you use, except that there’s no crack available for mine as I chose it to be 100% freeware, with optional support. I’m still happy with this choice, I think everybody is a winner in this situation and I can just hope that other software would chose this method instead of dying from no-sale-we-got-cracked syndrome.

Thank you for reading such a long post, I hope I didn’t bother you too much with it, I just really needed to say all of this. I’m didn’t become the devil the day I considered earning my life with my creation and if you thought that 10 minutes ago,  I hope this post helped you change your mind a little. User’s support is what Messenger Plus! needs to live, I’m the one who needs the money. Without user’s support, Messenger Plus! would die in a matter of days so thanks again to all of you!

Best wishes,
Patchou

This post was edited Yesterday at 10:01 PM by Patchou.

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Yesterday 09:16 AM

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Unknown...
Junior Member

Posts: 39
Joined: Apr 2004
Status: Offline

RE: Personal Message

That's the underlying problem, and I doubt it will ever change.  Most users are ignorant to the origins of things on a computer.  It's just too easy to express how you feel without thought, research or even consideration of others.  It's even easier to read what is written and believe it at face-value.  People forget that an actual human being wrote the code behind all the programs we use.

As long as you never change Patchou, and you remain true in your intentions, then that's all that matters.  Surely I'm not the only one to feel this way

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Yesterday 09:51 AM

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Chris Boulton
forum admin

Doing Wj's Job: Fixing New Server

Posts: 1193
Age: 17, Sex:
Joined: Mar 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Personal Message

Uncle Patchou, as you should know by now you have my full support, and will continue to have my full support.

Plus! is an exceptional product. You've shown just how much Plus! means to you by your dedication to the project, in many ways.

People judge other people too quickly befor ethey learn the facts.

You were there at the beginning, the first real messenger addon, you've swept the users away by the features now contained in Plus!.

The downside is, there is always going to be people like that..

Chris Boulton

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Yesterday 10:11 AM

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zaidgs
Full Member

Posts: 131
Joined: Oct 2003
Status: Offline

RE: Personal Message

i use Plus! since 1.42b, and i never distrusted patchou's piece of code. no adware ever installed because of Plus!, when i choose not to instal the sponsor.
if using the the png library is considered stealing code, then all software has stolen code: dont we all use "iostream.h".
libraries are there to save time, and its actually stupid idea not to use them.
or how about patchou should stop developing Plus! and start working on a png library. maybe wait a year or two for making that library a great piece of code.... Thats stupid because there are people working on this png library, it got its own developers and its made for people to use it.
and patchou didnt steal code from Will, its just that Will gave it with his consent, right ?! and its not a shame to reuse code already made up, why should patchou reinvent the wheel ?!
and i am sure that patchou can make that code on his own without anybody's help.
its a very known thing that you can never staisfy everybody, so patchou: dont mind a jealous and ignorant minority.

This post was edited Yesterday at 10:36 AM by zaidgs.
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Yesterday 10:29 AM

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Pure_BY
Posting Freak

<-·´¯`·Pure_BY·´¯`·->

Posts: 1272
Age: 15, Sex:
Joined: Jan 2003
Status: Offline

RE: Personal Message

Patchou I really feel sorry for you... It's really.. it's UNBELIVEABLE what you do for all of us, and get NOTHING BACK for yourself. Ofcourse, you get the pleasure of coding the software, the pleasure of it's great success and the pleasure of being proud of it.
But just look... All the things said above are... Pleasure YOU do to yourself... Pleasere YOU deserve. PLUS, you do a great pleasure for US.

But look what you get back from US. NOTHING. NO-THING at all.
This is not honest. This is not a way it should be!

You give your whole life to MsgPlus and to the community. What you get back is at most a lousy post card.
And a couple of angry n00b comments about your software, about your sponsor, about your code.

Well Patchou, f**k them. We can do nothing about those unthankful n00bs. They are just there and that's the way it is. I really advice you not to take it personal a lot. Not to take it personal at all.

Remember, you are creating MsgPlus! for ANOTHER GROUP OF people. People who ENJOY IT. People who LOVE it. People who RESPECT it. And people who RESPECT and APPRECIATE your EFFORT, and people who are shocked by the RESULT. People who share thier love to your piece of software. And, I want you to know, I am one of them. I am with you for 100% on everything you say and I support you!!!

And, I am sure, there are A LOT of people like me. I know it. And you, you are creating MsgPlus! for us. And well... There is not much I may give "back" to you, not much I can do to compencate the pleasure I get from software created by you. But I just want you to know one thing: I adrore both Messenger Plus! and you

Peace!!!

This post was edited Yesterday at 03:44 PM by Pure_BY.

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Yesterday 10:42 AM

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sock
Elite Member

art in motion

Posts: 1026
Age: 19, Sex:
Joined: Nov 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Personal Message

Patchou, as you said, the very existence of this thread proves that you're different than greedy software companies who don't care about their users. This "human" quality is exactly what many other programs lack, I think.

Messenger Plus! is a very unique project: it manages to combine freeware + user attentiveness like a small open source project, together with a long-term commitment to the development of the software and the users, which is only possible due to the honest, "human" use of a sponsor.
Considering you're the only one behind this software, I find it admirable that you managed to keep it alive. It was only possible through the vast support you gained from your users, which you wouldn't get if you weren't so "human".

I think that in any aspect of life, being honest and attentive is just as important as being skilful, and you've proved that. I'm glad this software is in your hands.
Best of luck to you and your wonderful project!

When I'm drivin' in my car...
I can't get no satisfaction,
I can't get no satisfaction.
Cause I try and I try and I try and I try.
I can't get no, I can't get no...
(The Rolling Stones)

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Yesterday 11:55 AM

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ZrednaZ
Full Member

Look, honey! There's the Big Dipper.

Posts: 126
Age: 17, Sex:
Joined: May 2003
Status: Offline

RE: RE: Personal Message

quote:
Originally posted by Pure_BY

Patchou I really feel sorry for you... It's really.. it's UNBELIVEABLE what you do for all of us, and get NOTHING BACK for yourself. Ofcourse, you get the pleasure of coding the software, the pleasure of it's great success and the pleasure of being of about it.
But just look... All the things said above are... Pleasure YOU do to yourself... Pleasere YOU deserve. PLUS, you do a great pleasure for US.

But look what you get back from US. NOTHING. NO-THING at all.

What do you mean? He gets 6 million fans, the pride and pleasure of having coded a great plugin, all people on this forum's undivided support, and what's more is he gets a nice salery (I presume) in return for including the sponsor. A sponsor which has, with no doubt, generated some negative 'rumors', but it isn't exactly devastating to the plugin. And let's face it, all jobs come with their share of problems But I agree that it's unfair that people claim that Patchou has stolen code from others. A nice guy like Patch would never do that.

This post was edited Yesterday at 02:06 PM by ZrednaZ.
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Yesterday 02:01 PM

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Jeronimo
Senior Member

Which one is the monkey?

Posts: 579
Age: 22
Joined: Jan 2003
Status: Offline

RE: Personal Message

I'm behind you 100% Patchou. I really think that Plus is a superlative piece of software, free or otherwise. Some people think that saying this consitutes a$$ kissing, but I think it merely means you have my upmost respect.

Many pieces of software are made by a group of faceless coders, while the public only see the customer support team. The fact that you put yourself out there, and regularly participate on the forums sets you apart.

What is really sad is that you have been forced to write a post like this by some people who have so little respect/knowledge/manners/brains. Its unfair that you have to put up with some of the critisism on here, and no doubt through other channels. Do people forget that you are only human after all, and to insult Plus is to really insult you? Perhaps they do not realise just how much a piece of software can mean to someone, especially one that has been part of your daily routine for over 3 years

You have proved to be a most gracious and moral host for us all. Just look at the community that you created just by writing a piece of software.

You have my total support now, and in the future. I really hope that the few idiots don't get you down...

Jeronimo

for best viewing of http://www.jeronimo.co.uk/

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Yesterday 02:28 PM

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CookieRevised
Elite Member

mininana, badger, nanaphone creator

Posts: 4565
Age: 27, Sex:
Joined: Jul 2003
Status: Offline

RE: Personal Message

quote:
Originally posted by Jeronimo
You have proved to be a most gracious and moral host for us all. Just look at the community that you created just by writing a piece of software.

aye.... whenever you feel down for a minute because of those people who claim you can't code for yourself and stole idea's, visit this forum and click on member list and scroll through the 998 pages or visit the support channels on IRC. And you'll notice only a small fraction out of millions of fans who will always welcome you in their hearts. Because, afterall, we all can't live without Plus! anymore. It has indeed become a part of our lives too. And the one name that comes into mind when we talk to our friends about Plus! is Patchou, no-one else...

Yes, you are different... You are one of those people who dedicated his live to his userbase and is always open for suggestions and ideas and always is glad when he can help or do something for them. Of course this comes with a downside: as easy as people can talk to you about features, they can also "easly" take it down. But that's were the whole Plus! community will stand beside you as 1 giant block because you, and no-one else, has deserved it (as this thread will proof also)....

Patchou... this is for you =>

This post was edited Yesterday at 03:20 PM by CookieRevised.

.:: for your own safety, never play leapfrog with a unicorn ::.

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Yesterday 03:18 PM

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wj
forum admin

Planning for the new server!

Posts: 705
Age: 19, Sex:
Joined: Mar 2002
Status: Offline

RE: Personal Message

We love you Uncle Patchou!

Keep up the great work.

~Wj~
If you hold a UNIX Shell up to your ear,
can you hear the C?

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Yesterday 04:02 PM

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