From: ccsw@bristol.ac.uk (EthaStorm)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.audio
Subject: Re: Jim Young Worshippers
Date: 8 Sep 92 08:17:55 GMT
Organization: University of Bristol, England


Hello all.

  This is an attempt at an UNBIASED post with relation to the U4ia/money
shock-horror "I read it in The Stun" scandal!!! (It's gonna be hard though, I
share an office with the guy).

There have been a lot of good mod writers on the network over the past year or
two. There are a lot of new mod writers coming to fruition. Like everyone else,
Jim learnt by example. He saw other peeps mods and thought "I can do that!!"
and has done so. He's written about 40 PUBLICLY available mods, of various
styles. Other peeps, who are not "personal" friends of Jim's have written 
saying "Wow!! This is great" Jim has become a bit of an institution in the
mod writing world; a sort of Chris Akabusi of the keyboard. As with all 
"leading lights", he sets a standard and an example to everyone else as to
what is possible. His contributions to the network are listened to and enjoyed
by a lot of people. There are a lot of peole who use his modules as examples to
learn from, and as samples to use.

Consider his work now, not as an example of art that you would buy from a shop,
but as a learning aid to other musos who are writing mods. In this context, his
work is valuable (as is most other peoples... we all learn from each other!!)

Over the past 12/18 months, peeps have E-Mailed him saying "When's the next
mod?" "How can I get hold of ...?". People genuinely like his work. He has
directly and indirectly helped others to improve the standard of module
writing, from the hoary old standards of the EdelWeiss/GreenSleeves type mods
we used to get to exciting new standards which will hopefully go further again.

Also, within this time, he has been hassled, pushed, bullied and cajoled by a
significant MINORITY who have, in their time, attempted financial sodomy on
him. He's not had an easy time of it, and there have been a couple of times
when he's turned to me and said "Phuq it!!!" He's really wanted to let it all
go. He's really seen that, at times, it's really not worth the hassle. But
just when the going gets tough, someone E-Mails him and says "Wow!!! XYZ mod
is great... When's the next one coming out?"

I seriously believe that his module writing is for his own personal
gratification. His attitude has been mainly "If they don't like it, PHUQ 'EM"
He's never asked anyone to listen to his mods. He's never asked peeps to E-Mail
him with their praise, and gratulations. But they have. That's what's kept him
going. The moral support of those people out there (THIS COULD MEAN YOU!!) who
have over the past 18 months enjoyed his work, and have taken the time to say
so.

His old system is a 1.2WB Amiga, now a tangled heap of plastic and semiconductor
For such an old system, he's done pretty well. However, his machine is now
only useful as a book end. Is it so wrong for him to say to those who've liked
his products "Excuse me, but can you help me out?" Yeah, he works but like
everyone else he's got bills to pay. He ain't got rich parents who can say
"Here you go, Son. An Amiga 3000 for you to play with." He's just an
ordinary joe, trying to make ends meet.

The letter that was put out to the network was a REQUEST for help, not a 
DEMAND. The letter was along the lines of "If you liked my work, and you
want some more, please help!" here was also a deal for purchasing THREE disks
full of UNRELEASED modules for (I think) $15. 2.4 MBytes worth of mods (about
3 full ones with the size Jim works to *8) ) for $15. Healthy trade!! No rip 
offs!! Is that so wrong?

So, please, if you do like the U4ia mods, consider this. If you had been to a
trader (PDSoft or otherwise), what would you have paid for a disk containing
ONE U4ia mod? $1? 2? $5? If you like(d) his work, then please send him what
little you can spare. If 200 people send $1 each to him (or Travis, his proxy
in The US) then that's $200. With the exchange rate, that's about 100 pounds
sterling, just under half way to getting a new Amiga. I'm sure that with
your support he could scrape up the rest to get himself back on the road.

I'm also sure that those who do support him now will find that their loyalty
has been in no way misplaced.

My $0.02 worth.

   EthaStorm  *8)