WWW.TOTALCMD.NET is out (new site about Total Commander)

Lefteous · Post by *Lefteous » 2010-10-25, 19:56 UTC

I mainly agree with Joube. Totalcmd.net is linked from ghisler.ch and although it once had been an ambitious project it's now something that damages the reputation of TC.
A new website which includes plugins would increase the perceived value of TC dramatically.
I think getting some help from some a team of web designers, information architects and web programmers couldn't hurt and gives you time to focus on your main work.

JOUBE · Post by *JOUBE » 2010-10-25, 20:40 UTC

Lefteous wrote:I mainly agree with Joube.

Why only mainly...?

Plugins are nowadays a must for Tc. So, a Website about/with Plugins founded/owned/maintained by Ghisler(Author) and supported/designed by some of us is also a must. [1]

JOUBE

[1] Same as with this forum in the past...

bigtimefan · Post by *bigtimefan » 2010-10-25, 22:08 UTC

I also agree. Plugins have really become a core function of TC and TotalCMD.net is simply not maintained well enough (even when not infected) to represent the program's potential. A proper site with a good design and good explanations would serve us all better.

Balderstrom · Post by *Balderstrom » 2010-10-25, 22:33 UTC

I found totalcmd.pl to be decent, but it's main focus is polish, so it's not really the GOTO place that a similiarly maintained site like the forums here that accomodate a diverse community.

Lefteous · Post by *Lefteous » 2010-10-26, 06:04 UTC

I forgot:
We need a Plugin Store!

JOUBE · Post by *JOUBE » 2010-10-26, 16:53 UTC

Lefteous wrote:I forgot:
We need a Plugin Store!

What is your personal interest in destroying this thread/idea of a new website? I do not understand it. Cynic? Because of you are thinking, that Ghisler(Author) is not willing/not able to establish a new website about the Plugins?

Balderstrom · Post by *Balderstrom » 2010-10-26, 17:09 UTC

JOUBE wrote:
Lefteous wrote:I forgot:
We need a Plugin Store!
What is your personal interest in destroying this thread/idea of a new website? I do not understand it. Cynic?

Perhaps you are misinterpreting? Most (almost-all) plugins for TC are free (and freely created by the community) : The source is even provided with some to enable others to learn and extrapolate from that knowledge.

The smiley and/or a wink at the end of a brief statement tends to imply sarcasm or joke... plus if you take the general knowledge that plugins are 99%+ free, there is no real impetus for a store. It's possible as well that it's a play on the current tech-world where everyone and their mother is trying to open an AppStore (iPhone, multiple android stores, Apple Mac-App Store, Microsoft Game store, etc etc).

There's also a commonly held bargaining method, where you try and ask for far more than you actually want, to try and convince the other party for what you really need. So perhaps if we keep adding to this idea and layering it again and again we might actually get the bare minimum.

Hell I could set up a joomla site easy. And since this is PhpBB can even link the registered users of the board to a Joomla login.

And in fact the store idea isn't necessarily even a bad one, since a store (like joomla's Tienda) provides all the backend and MOST of the front-end for presenting a product for download. When an item is a virtual-good like software, the item in question doesn't even need to cost anything, but it could have requirements, like you need to login to download.

Lefteous · Post by *Lefteous » 2010-10-27, 21:26 UTC

The App Store post was originally meant as a joke but the more I think about it the more I'm realizing that a solution integrated in TC would be even better. While the backend could be accessed through a web page the plugin area could be a function in TC. The advantage is mainly that the installation of plugins and addons would become even more straightforward.
Anyway both solutions would do the job.

I didn't really think about a business model - I don't think there is one.

JOUBE · Post by *JOUBE » 2010-10-28, 07:09 UTC

Lefteous wrote:The App Store post was originally meant as a joke but the more I think about it the more I'm realizing that a solution integrated in TC would be even better. While the backend could be accessed through a web page the plugin area could be a function in TC. The advantage is mainly that the installation of plugins and addons would become even more straightforward.
Anyway both solutions would do the job.

Thank you for your explanation and your ideas.

The main thing is, that Ghisler(Author) founds now a Plugin/Tools/Apps Website und takes it under his leadership.

What does other forum members (and of cause Ghisler(Author) himself) think about it?

Lefteous wrote:I didn't really think about a business model - I don't [*][/i] there is one.

Verb missing here [*][/i]: think/believe/hope/want?

JOUBE

Post by *ghisler(Author) » 2010-10-28, 14:15 UTC

Flint, the maintainer of totalcmd.net, has confirmed that the site (the html) had been infected by a worm. He has already fixed it, but it takes a while until the site gets removed from the warnings.

I have downloaded myself all the plugins and checked them for viruses. Besides two which looked suspicious due to the used EXE packer, there were no viruses/worms, so only the html pages were infected.

The problem about my own plugins site would be that I would then be responsible for what the plugins do. I would have to check each plugin very thoroughly - that's what I did with all the plugins listed on ghisler.com right now. Since this takes about half a day for each plugin, I simply don't have the time to maintain such a site.

That's why there is this current separation between "essential" plugins on our site, and 3rd party plugin sites like totalcmd.net where anyone can upload their plugins. It's similar to what you have on Android, where there is an official app store, but you can also "side-load" programs.

Peter · Post by *Peter » 2010-10-28, 15:34 UTC

ghisler(Author) wrote:...The problem about my own plugins site would be that I would then be responsible for what the plugins do. ....

Really? There are many well known big download-sites (chip.de ....), and I don't think that chip.de is responsible for all that stuff.

Peter

infimum · Post by *infimum » 2010-10-28, 16:55 UTC

Peter wrote:Really? There are many well known big download-sites (chip.de ....), and I don't think that chip.de is responsible for all that stuff.

Don't equate the responsibility (or credibility) of those download sites with that of program authors. The latter should have higher standards.

JOUBE · Post by *JOUBE » 2010-10-28, 21:04 UTC

ghisler(Author) wrote:The problem about my own plugins site would be that I would then be responsible for what the plugins do.

Do you really believe, that someone, who is able to separate "ghisler.com" (as the home of "Total Cmd") from "totalcmd.net" (as an independent website) [1], is not able to understand the difference between your program Tc and the independent Plugins if you are the owner of a Plugin plattform? The reality is, that in the moment many Tc users/not users do think that totalcmd.net is an integrated part of the Tc project, because of the name. So the reality is that problems of totalcmd.net fall back to your project... And - much more important - if plugin sites are closed (for whatever reason) it is nearly a ko for the Tc...

[1] That's the premise for your opinion

JOUBE

Post by *ghisler(Author) » 2010-11-01, 15:11 UTC

I do list plugins which I tested myself on my site:
http://www.ghisler.com/plugins.htm

I just find it too risky (from a legal point of view) to give plugin authors direct access to my site to upload their own plugins as it is possible with sites like totalcmd.net...

Lefteous · Post by *Lefteous » 2010-11-01, 15:20 UTC

2ghisler(Author)
In another discussion on this topic you stated that you don't have enough time to test all updates, merely accept new plugins and that you recommend totalcmd.net for this reason.

Is this wrong? Do you accept new submissions? Will you test and updates and update your page in an acceptable time?