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Erik Asgeirsson
15-Sep-2003, 13:10
I like this forum. What software does it use (I'm guessing it was derived from the old Greenspun.com software and his howto on photo.net)?

QT Luong
15-Sep-2003, 14:06
The software was rewritten from scratch using php and mysql by Bjorn and Tom specifically for this forum. They made the data model and interface look like the old greenspun.com because people liked it.

Ed Candland
15-Sep-2003, 15:01
I'm not sure how much is the software and how much the server. But it sure responds fast. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzooommm.... :-)

Steve Hamley
15-Sep-2003, 16:08
Ed,

Yes it does respond well. Thanks Tom and Bjorn.

Steve

Ken Cravillion
15-Sep-2003, 17:00
Nice place set up here.

Tom Westbrook
15-Sep-2003, 17:17
Actually Philip Greenspun probably deserves the most credit since the simplicity of the site design is really his. I did look at some of the freeware forum software offerings, but gave up since all were more focussed on looking pretty than with the basics. I think LUSENET, Bjorns' site and this one are so great because the software stays in th background and doesn't demand any attention from the users--one focuses more on the content. I've also noticed that whnever you add cutesy graphics, forums seem to attract the wrong element and be more prone to bickering and name-calling.

Anyway, it has been a pleasure for me to work on it. The price you pay is that I get to ask really dumb questions for a year and no one can complain about how dumb they are!

Sal Santamaura
15-Sep-2003, 18:55
Yes, Tom! I completely agree with your assessment of site designs and their attractions. Those of us who bothered Tuan, Bjorn and you for the last 15 months were focused on content, and I hope our community will continue that direction.

As for *anyone* giving you a hard time about your questions, even (gulp) any already answered in the archive, they'll have to come through me first, and my gratitude for your efforts will trigger quite a bit of adrenaline.

Paul Moshay
15-Sep-2003, 23:02
I don't know how you do it but the site works very FAST. I click on a subject and ZZZzzzzooooommmmm there it is. A lot different from the old site. Thanks, Paul

Lars Åke Vinberg
16-Sep-2003, 01:15
This is nice. Really. I am software engineer by profession, and I really enjoy what Bjorn and Tom have done here - simple yet elegant.

Speedup is probably even more noticeable over here accross the pond. The reason is that the actual webpage is the only object loaded from the server - less talk between server and client. Some other webpages often have hundreds of images to load, and with a response time of 150 ms over the Atlantic that can really make a difference to the worse, no matter how compressed those images are. I'm sure Tom and Bjorn thought about this; they obviously did the right thing.

Bjorn Nilsson
16-Sep-2003, 13:29
HI all!

Well, to answer the original question, apart from the flattering comments about the excellent response speed of the forum. The forum is built in a script language called PHP and the database is MySql. Both the scripting language and the database is free to use without having to pay any license fees. There are quite a lot of websites that use this combination of software because of the low cost and the fact that it's relatively easy to produce results. In fact, PHP and MySql is far more common on webservers than e.g. ASP and MS Sql server et al.

Sal Santamaura
16-Sep-2003, 13:53
Hello Björn! Good to hear from you. I hope your recovery is proceeding well. Thanks for everything you did to get the ball rolling here. It is most appreciated.