yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[General Questions and Answers] caliban2:
one question: money?!

do we know that for sure now? what amount of money? so far it's only been an assumption that there's been some sort of deal, like getting a piece of hardware. again: an assumption! now it's a fact that i.e. da_g turned down an offer of money. could you show some proof for that? (please, no hearsay this time...)

bobsbbq, laurentius26 - you guys remind me of some hardcore apple-fanboys i know... looks like you are on a crusade here.
[General Questions and Answers] af974:
Whats proves do you need? i believe them and i dont need proves.....maybe you can ask these prove to Mr. Tom_Codon :rolleyes:
[General Questions and Answers] Staxxthedan:
Alright guys, assuming you are right so what are you gonna do, huh? what next? cut the crap and say way forward rather than just complaining and crying...tell us your plan....if you have any....:^
[General Questions and Answers] af974:
Come on mate...take this thread like a Pub where we speak of football....can i say that Manchester United sucks and International FC is better?:D

No complaining,no crying,no plans......btw admin has akready made his decision about Hpedia links............but I want to feel free to speak, XDA is plenty of threads and if someone feel hurt reading this one ...oh well:rolleyes:
[General Questions and Answers] Psyki:
I haven't read this whole thread (only up to this post) but this is the best idea I've seen yet. I did that with my (CDMA) TP roms and plan on doing this with my TP2 roms. It's not like the popular chefs or their roms will become less downloaded. In fact probably moreso.
[General Questions and Answers] bobsbbq:
Usually where there's smoke there's fire.. But I will tell you that their is no doubt in my mind of the activities of htcpedia, whether right or wrong , or good or bad, is up to each individual to decide. Maybe Da_G will or will not explain what he knows, that's up to him. I know that the person who posted about Da_G decision got it straight from Da_G himself. In the end it doesn't matter but only confirm what has been said here. I will say it was good to have a place to discuss this openly and to vent or share our opinions. If it were not here it would end up in another thread where it doesn't belong. So a thanks to admin and moderators for leaving it open. Now I'm going to take a step back until there is something else to discuss.
[General Questions and Answers] caliban2:
i think that's the only point we all agree on a 100%. :D

(btw, my saying about apple-fanboys and crusade? there's a :p missing at the end... i'm aware it's a "challenge" to call someone an apple-fanboy. ^^)
[General Questions and Answers] orb3000:
XDA sold? to who?

I read this:

Can Mods or Admin give a point of view about this comment please?

Could this be the reason for many changes and some members leaving?

I´m not trying to make more noise, just want to understand...Excuse me if I´m causing any problem with this post and feel free to remove it if necessary

Thanks,
[General Questions and Answers] the_scotsman:
To me, people saying things like that are just trying to stand out from the crowd and get some attention...I really don't think much changed at all...nothing that should affect anyone doing what they normally do on the forums.
[General Questions and Answers] Noonski:
This all is nothing new, when Molski left/stopped at XDA there where a lot less users that knew about his Rom's. (and there was some discussion)

Now the FanDom of "Cooks" has grown exponentially.

And there's way to much attention on these minor details.

You know what is really [CENSORED] Cool.

Making Rom's and Kitchens for some of the oldest HTC Devices around like the Blue Angel:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=428030

And if you digg deeper you will find more of these projects.
[General Questions and Answers] ElCondor:
Yes I'd also like to see this cleared up.

No problem if you mods&admins may not explain this or don't want to explain this. Some information just shouldn't be available for the crowd.
[General Questions and Answers] Chainfire:
Does it matter who the owner is? This whole thing the thread is about has nothing to do with the changes going on at XDA, this is an unrelated external issue that influences XDA, and rules would have been discussed and possibly adjusted no matter who the owner is, was or will be.

In my personal non-moderator opinion, it's just not related.
[General Questions and Answers] Staxxthedan:
Virtually true dat.. thats what I am seeing also: Hey XDA-Check me out I can make some some noise.....:eek:
[General Questions and Answers] orb3000:
It doesn´t matter, just wanted to know if my question has something to do with it, and a yes or no will be enough:)
[General Questions and Answers] Fallen Spartan:
The new owner is not the reason why some chef's have left XDA
[General Questions and Answers] egzthunder1:
You are indeed missing a bunch of people. I guess it goes with you not being around for long enough, but there are more "core" people that still pop their heads in her every so often (but haven't been active for many years now). Sure, all the people that you have mentioned are the "current" back bone of xda (as well as other sites such as PPCG), but they are not the "core"

bepe

mamaich

Tuatara

Pof

Buzzlightyear

Mikechannon

vijay555

DaveShaw (still pretty much active :))

Helmi_c

xplode

sun_dream (more recently)

I'm sure I missed one or two people in this list, but in essence we would not have been able to move to WM5 (or had been able to unlock the ExtRom and erase all the crap from the Carriers) if it wasn't for them.

As far as the unlocker's comment, let me correct you on a small detail. There is not a single unlocker for current devices that is not made by cmonex or olipro (actually, wasn't the Vogue unlocker made by ImCoKeMaN over at PPCG?). The original unlockers for the BA, Wallaby, etc were conceived by joint efforts by the aforementioned devs.

Lastly, the main reason why they probably do have more roms than anyone else combined as you mentioned is simply because there are almost weekly builds coming out where as in the old times, we were lucky if we had a couple of builds in a given month.

I said all this because this site did not start with the efforts (which are great in their own respect) of the users that you mentioned. Credit must be given to the people that were truly the foundation of the whole development scene here at xda.

To answer the OP's question, everyone has a reason for leaving or joining xda. The fact that they happen to be chefs is just a mere coincidence. It could be money as some people have suggested, but that is probably not the only reason. A lot of us have families and/or work full-time, and because of that we have to devote our time to the things that are important to us. Like with any hobby, if you can sneak in a few hours a week, you are among the lucky ones.

Now, if they want to make a living out of this, then so be it, but as bob pointed out, they cannot sell what is not theirs to begin with.

egz
[General Questions and Answers] orb3000:
Thanks for clearing that:)
[General Questions and Answers] forelli:
I think that all links to htcped... should be removed for they put the rom in what they call "Appstore". On the download page, you can even, while waiting (sometimes for a rapidshare link), buy a bluetooth headset, among other thing. Does it comply with XDA rules, to redirect, or link, to such a website?

Just my 2 cent

P.S.: Credit to be given to them: some post a link to the XDA HSPL thread, which is good.
[General Questions and Answers] Noonski:
Thought there are some indifferences between the Moderation team.

The add system on HTCPedia might be more obvious then the adds here at XDA.

But there is a consensus that we are not against linking to HTCPedia, it is not against the XDA rules.

The adds while downloading are Adds, you can ignore them and you do not need to pay for the downloads.

It is another way of using advertisements that is not in direct violation of the "Intent to Sell" rule.

"Intent to sell" is when users that contribute nothing to XDA-developers do hit and runs. Post a few times then link to a site which main intent is only to beat a few penny's out of your wallet.

The HTCPedia site's main intent is not merely to make money, they just have a different and maybe more aggressive model of advertisements and making money out of advertisements.

Not allowing links to HTCPedia, would bend the rule in a way that next week users start asking to forbid links to Modaco or PPCGeeks because they also try to make money through advertisements or other programs.

All the above sites share a common interest with what most users search for at XDA-developers and sometimes this bring synergy and overlap and sometimes this can bring conflict. But luckily for some XDA-was founded by a bunch of guys that resemble smiling Hippies just having fun. (there are pictures to proof this ;))

A few links have been removed the past month, it started a discussion.

This discussion carried over to the Administration and Moderation team.

And a decision was made where XDA- stands with these links.

The above was my personal loose interpretation of the situation and the decision made.

In short:

"The Big Men and Women, Say it's Oké"

Have fun, enjoy the weekend and the hunt for information found in the Windows Phone 7 Series SDK emulator.

23 Pages and the question of this thread's OP hasn't been answered.

The thread was on the edge but wasn't over the line, but it has served it's purpose and responses have been dying down over the last week. Time to let it RIP.
[General Questions and Answers] Syphon Filter:
Precisely what I was eluding to. For example, should a membership fee or "download administration" charge start to come into effect to gain access to these ROMs and apps then I think serious issues are going to arise.
[General Questions and Answers] orb3000:
I would love to hear and Admin / Mod point of view of this.
[General Questions and Answers] af974:
Bob,

you said everything there was to say .... I can only agree with you for that.

Well said.

BTW ...im stealing a part of your sig......i guess you know which one:D
[General Questions and Answers] denco7:
Sorry, I can't agree with you here. It is nice to think of thinks in black and white, but they are not. XDA is a community because " we " make it a community. In reality it is a privately own business that is worth a substantial amount of money. It is owned by one person and is administrated by a small handful of people. If you think that this is a tight knit public forum of techies and HTC users, you are wrong. It is a business, not a public forum , just ask the temporarily banned ijte. It is ruled by the king and his minions and policed by hand picked volunteers, for the profit of a few.

I have no problem with any of that. They came up with the idea, they built the site, they invested their time and money at the start, they deserve the rewards they reap. Kudos to you all......

That being said, the success of this site does not lie in their hands, it lies solely in the hands of Tom, dutty, ijte, Leo, sakajati, NRG, Olipro and cmonex.

I am sure I could add others, but these guys ( and woman ) are the backbone of XDA. " they " have the intelligence, no one at HTC or Amsterdam sat them down and said this is how you cook, they figured it out together and by themsleves. no one in Amsterdam said here are the raw rom sources, they went out and developed their own sources.

There is not an unlocker out there that has not come from Olipro or cmonex. They shared and shared and shared until they were all shared out and went private on their own site. The Chefs mentioned above, are responsible for more new roms over the years than, I dare say, all other chefs combined .

They have given us here at XDA, more time, effort, creativity and brilliance than any one should give for the profit of others. They owe us no more roms, they have worked years developing sources, they have absolute no obligation to share those sources with anyone. I am sorry, but it is all about them and the their talents and the people like them.

When the King starts tell the farmers, what to grow, where to grow it, and how to sell their goods, and banishes those that do not follow, he better make damn sure that he has enough farmers still working the fields to feed the Kingdom.
[General Questions and Answers] bobsbbq:
I can appreciate your point of view. I did not go in to the specifics as I know it is a business and I know it was recently sold and there is some new people involved. You are right those mentioned are very talented and are very highly respected for there contributions. I disagree with what Tom, itje and dutty have done and some of their actions. Again this is my opinion just as yours. I do agree this place would not be what it is today without them. But this does not excuse what has been going on.
[General Questions and Answers] Simon_WM:
Does anyone now where there moving to?
[General Questions and Answers] cobbs:
First of all I would just like to say well done to the owners/admin’s/mod’s for having the courage to do this as in my option it needed to be done.

Which brings up another question as if this other site is in completion with XDA and I feel it is, should these people have their mod status revoked? As how is having a mod on XDA who is not very active here but very active on a rival site as a mod be good for XDA.

On XDA we have a lot of very talented chefs starting to cook so that always good for us.

Out with the old and in with the new i say.
[General Questions and Answers] jagan2:
yeah me too heard about that.

+1 I would also like to hear some Admin / Mod point of view.
[General Questions and Answers] Shawn_230:
Ugh, this blows.

I was always wondering why some chefs forced you to sign up for HTCPedia.com to download the ROMs they'd listed here, especially given how totally crappy and unacceptable HTCPedia's servers seem to be.

XDA is really slow for me sometimes, but HTCPedia is the only website that puts my router under such load that it keeps resetting - doesn't happen on any other site or use, only when downloading ROMs from that specific site.

Whatever, sorry to say, but I never became as enamoured with HD2 cooked ROMs as I was for my previous phone (Omnia). I don't know if it's that the Omnia had better cooked ROMs or that the HD2 has a better stock ROM, but I personally usually run my HD2 on stock ROMs. So, no loss for me, and I finally got to the bottom of the stupid HTCPedia download redirection mystery.

So... so long, and don't let the door hit you on the way out. For me personally I value this site a lot more for app developers and hack/tweaks than I do for cooked ROMs.
[General Questions and Answers] mally2:
Hi

All

i was kinda schocked about the news too.... XDA was all about sharing.... some have talants some dont... so what... when i first came to XDA ... my devices have got anew life.... Its true i've learnt to cook too..let me assure you all The CHEFS leaving is no loss to XDA... ive learnt to cook and its easy as a click of a few buttons.. all you need is to invest some time...I hope only OLIPRO and CMONEX dont leave...

dont let the door hit you buddys... as a friend already poined out
[General Questions and Answers] appelflap:
What the heck if chefs are leaving. Maybe that will make this community a open community where people meet to share knowledge and experiment with stuff. What is the use of having a dozen of customized roms available anyway? :D
[General Questions and Answers] ramdroid77:
I just see the thread I've got my lasted ROM from also "moved" to htcpedia.com

Well let all these people go and let half of the noobs on this board following them!
[General Questions and Answers] devil_82:
i still love XDA :)
[General Questions and Answers] ~~Tito~~:
What is going on here? Dutty is gone? :eek:
[General Questions and Answers] bobsbbq:
I second the motion that all the moderators status should be revoked, from TOM, itje, Dutty, Miri. If they are no longer going to be a faithful member to xda and have made the choice to leave then I don't see how they can remain moderators here.
[General Questions and Answers] ~~Tito~~:
I agree. Can you play catchup with me? I haven't really been paying attention on the WM side of the forums.
[General Questions and Answers] udK:
uh?! What do you mean?
[General Questions and Answers] caliban2:
erm, are some of you guys really thinking all these builds are actually being "leaked"?! at a rate of what, 3 new builds a week?! use some common sense, it's obvious this is approved and controlled by MS & HTC. it's only in the past 6 months that new versions come out at this rate. (dunno, to keep us happy?!)

and what's all this talk about being obliged to share?! if you want a garantuee of always being supplied with the latest build - get your own sources! that's how it works in real life!

how long does it take until a build is available to everyone? 3, 4 days top? certainly less then a week. so what are you complaining about?!

looks like some "cooks" are simply pissed because they didn't get an invite to this so-called "elite group". meaning: they're not worthy enough, or good enough.

i'm passively following the release-thread for a year now and it has severely changed in that time. from a place with pros exchanging knowledge and getting things to work it became a place of questions like "anyone has sys xy ready?". whatever the reasons for all these people leaving are - it's a massive brain-drain for xda. and some guys are actually happy about that?!

the irony here:

xda got more new users from htcpedia than the other way round, of that i'm sure of. why? where are people over there referred to for bugfixes, info, apps?! hm? right, xda. do you even know how xda makes money? do you really think servers and bandwidth are payed from donations?! have a look at wiki, the magic words are "google adsense".

what you guys are claiming has nothing to do with "sharing" or "community", you're simply "demanding" without any(!) justification. and that really sucks. but: it doesn't matter. noone actually cares.

i can be using xda and htcpedia simoultaniously, i don't lose anything. and should one of these two pages ever demand from me to stop using the other site - well, it would be interesting how good it would do either one of them, trying to pull something like that.
[General Questions and Answers] denco7:
As you are slamming the doors on these " defectors " don't forget to add a thank-you as the door is hitting them in the ass, because the only reason " you " know how or are able to cook is because of the ground work that these guys have laid over the last several years. Do you actually think that cooking is as easy as a few clicks because HTC made it that way ?

" Thank-you guys for years of ( free ) hard work to lay the ground work of rom cooking to the point where I have learned how to cook with a few clicks.

But I can cook now, so good riddance , and get out I' m taking over. "

Talk about the lion attacking the trainer that has been feeding and caring for him over the years.

Check the Mod list and see how many of them are also Mods over at ppcgeeks, a lot. Is this what this site has become ? Everybody line up and pledge your undying loyalty to the party, or leave the country ?

Like these guys at HTCpedia, OLIPRO and COMEX left a while ago for their own sites.

http://blog.htc-unlocks.com/

http://htc-unlocks.com/
[General Questions and Answers] ElCondor:
Well... I am not sure but I first heard of the site when you got banned etc.

Then you moved over to HTCPedia. But correct me if I'm wrong!:)
[General Questions and Answers] udK:
Yes, you are totally wrong :D

I never moved over htcpedia and I will never do it.

Maybe you missed this thread.
[General Questions and Answers] maja:
It's too easy to talk without knowing ...and too easy to speak without first having built something great.... sometimes silent and read is much more constructive!!!:mad:
[General Questions and Answers] alphazero:
udk dont make me laugh :p:p:p

about chefs who are leaving .... dont worry they will come back soon or later or will be replaced by other more talented chefs.
[General Questions and Answers] Simon_WM:
Do we know where there moving to tho?
[General Questions and Answers] af974:
Yes we know, and since we arent supposed to dont post external links yet, here you go www.htcpedia.com.....

and since there isnt a rule in TOS that prohibits those kind of links,IMO we should end this "war".....on that note Denco was right...i know what im saying.
[General Questions and Answers] ElCondor:
OK I'm sorry then!:) Yeah I've read that thread but didn't know that it was about htcpedia.

Easy man, I am just sharing what I think. In that way, other people can correct me so I am sure about it.

We shouldn't hide our thoughts.
[General Questions and Answers] cobbs:
this could be why these chefs have left XDA?

rule number

11. Don’t post with the intent on selling something

As an elaboration to rule number 7, don’t use XDA to advertise your product or service. If you are the proprietor of a for-pay product or service, you may use XDA to get feedback, provide beta access, or offer support on the product, but you may not make any posts with the primary intent of selling. This includes posting press releases, announcements, or links to downloads for trial software. The only exception to this is when you’re posting an exclusive release to XDA.

would love to here what other mod's or admin have to say
[General Questions and Answers] svetius:
Hey Guys,

Sorry for the delay in responding to this thread. I literally read through almost 50 threads per day, and sometimes I miss important ones.

Tomorrow I'm going to post a public announcement that speaks about this situation, but as a preview...

XDA has always been about sharing. Developers make great software and never ask for anything in return, but happily accept donations from those that have the means and inclination.

We do our best to maintain that culture of sharing. It's not easy as it used to be because of the increased competition among developers, plus the massive growth of this site (which means that coming to a consensus on an issue isn't so easy).

Recently, we began discussing with mods and developer what was acceptable and what was not acceptable (meaning, not in XDA's best interest) in terms of linking to other sites for file downloads. Over at HTCPedia, they provide FTP space for the developers. Many developers find that FTP space to be very valuable because it's fast, and easier to use than RapidShare or MegaUpload. So they began using that and thus posting their ROMs to XDA but linking to HTCP where registration is required. Naturally, this raised concern among some moderators as they questioned whether this practice was in XDA's best interest. In some situations, links to HTCP downloads were deleted. Naturally, that angered certain developers.

We've now changed our stance on the situation, and are allowing links out to any file sharing resource. In fact, we're internally working on a way that developers can have access to fast and easy FTP space to host their software. We hope that given this news, the developers will continue to provide their terrific software to the community. If there are certain developers that choose to leave XDA and join another development site, it's unfortunate, but our focus will always be on doing what is best for the XDA community. It's impossible to make everyone happy, especially in a community with over 2 million members. With that in mind, there's a lot of cool changes to XDA we have coming around the bend that will benefit XDA (hopefully you are all enjoying the much faster site speed and improved front page).

Anyhow, that's the situation in a nutshell. :cool:
[General Questions and Answers] ~~Tito~~:
NTTBR

[Not trying to be Rude]

Basically its this, they brought competition, we compete back.