part of the thing about being a media whore (oh i respect that, it's his pimps i take issue with) is that you occasionally have to change your message to something a little more progressive. pete's certainly done this:




"I dont program in BASIC anymore, even though I run a site about QB and FB. The last time I've coded any significant project in QB was way back in 2001 or so," - new interview

three years before freebasic came out, so he knows what he's talking about:

"That said, I also believe that FreeBasic is a much better language than QB at this point, and I think that the people recommending new users to switch to FB do have a good point. If I were a new BASIC programmer, I certainly would start with FB -- for compatibility and user support issues alone." - new interview

"Your allegations that FB is unpolished, difficult to use, and missing features because it's still in beta, are unfounded." pete in qbe 15

yeah but have you used it?




"I suppose I've always been more interested in the QB community, and helping other people share and promote their programs than in actually coding myself. At this point, I run my site and QB Express out of a sense of loyalty to the QB/FB community more than anything else."

although this is an avenue only open to pete. it's one thing to take the community seriously if you're just a fanboi, it's another if you actually still code in basic, as pete makes clear to me in qbe 16:

"I guess I never knew how emotionally invested some people get in web forums. I consider the Qmunity and QB Express to be a hobby and a leisure activity; I don't really take any of it all that seriously... The "Qmunity" is not real life, so you probably shouldn't treat it as such."




but pete's allowed to miss the point now and then. i like how he defends all the critics of freebasic (or at least, people that want to still use qb) lately, at least the ones that came out later:

"You need dissenting voices, and critical people who are not afraid to speak their minds to have a functioning society. Otherwise it starts resembling some kind of totalitarian regime where a few people make all the decisions, and everyone just follows blindly." - new interview

except of course,

"(Aside from that whack job mennonite.)" - pete on his forum, a month or two ago http://www.petesqbsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=15718#15718




now what is mennonite's problem? well, i don't like like the problems that started around freebasic, i don't like elitism, i don't like it when people abuse noobs, and neither does pete:

"I dont appreciate it when a QB newbie posts a question, and the other users make no effort to answer the question, instead just recommending them to use FreeBasic."

"I would appreciate it if you guys would stop arguing with each other about which programming languages are allowed, and maybe..."

"...try to answer each other's questions for once." - new interview

pete can say that, and that's great. pete should say that. i tried to say it in qbe two years ago, but,

"And what's wrong with RTFM responses?" - pete's reply to me, qbe 15, 2005

"I don't take anything that's posted on a QB/FB forum to be "elitist" or "extremist"." pete's reply to me in qbe 16




"I could definitely see myself programming a game in FreeBasic sometime...we'll see."

maybe when he tries this, he will *finish* making my points for me two years late. that is if it's not a bunch of if thens like his last game. (oh nothing wrong with that, but i'm sure freebasic will compile it. you have to start going being if then print to get freebasic to bitch at you usually.)




"As for QB users switching to FreeBasic, I think it's very a good thing. FB is a more powerful and accessible dialect of BASIC, and it's almost completely compatible with old QB code."

(so i'm told...)

"But now users have the ability to access tools like OpenGL, so they can make professional-looking games much easier. There are a lot of FB haters out there, but the way I see it -- what's not to like?" - new interview

oh i dunno, why not ask galleon?

http://www.network54.com/Forum/13959/thread/1186996802
Why+I%27m+making+QB32

http://www.network54.com/Forum/585676/message/1199844064
Some+QB+%26quot%3Bquirks%26quot%3B+are+a+very+important+part+of+QBASIC

ask london:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/13959/thread/1186413496
Dear+god...+someone+gets+it

ask sjzero at fre- oh, they removed that forum.

ask myst:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/585676/message/1199841665
Because+BASIC+is+BASIC+%3B-%29.

ask theophage:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/585676/message/1194012030
Re-+Now+witness+the+true+power+of+QB64

moneo:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/13959/thread/1186861606
Re-+FB+is+the+perfect+choice+for+anyone+looking+for+a+32-bit+%27composter%27...

ask seb mcclouth:

http://www.petesqbsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=16297#16297

even eponasoft will shed a bit more light on the issue than pete (being more of a press secretary for freebasic.net or a tabloid publisher than a news reporter)

http://www.network54.com/Forum/585676/message/1197736638
It+IS+better
(old versions of fb)
http://www.network54.com/Forum/585676/message/1199331452
Obsession-+Hardly.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/585676/message/1199411930
Why+bother+anyways-
http://www.network54.com/Forum/585676/message/1199434197
Everyone%27s+a+critic+--%29




although pete does have the right idea a lot of the time:

"I would much prefer if it people either answer the question being asked (no matter what language it's in), and dont criticize people for the programming language they've decided to use. (Basically a "If you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all" policy.)" - new interview

i wish he'd had the right idea sooner:

"You're like the Amish: still living with no electricity and horses and buggies because it works. You're just too set in your ways. Computer technology has advanced past DOS, and it has gotten way better. You're the only person I know who thinks a DOS command line interface is more "user friendly" than Windows. And you're way too angry and defensive about the whole thing." - qbe 15

actually it's freebasic that has a horse and is buggy (another pete came up with that)

but today i have a right to use whatever language i like, thanks to pete berg!

"Pete dont let anyone tell you your programming language is dead. If you are still using it, it's alive!" - new interview

now that's the kind of progress i'd hoped to see out of freebasic.




but you can't blame pete for making progress. i don't! that's not my complaint. i do have a bit of trouble resolving the above with this:

"As for the flame wars and the arguments that always happen in the FB community, it's inevitable, and perfectly healthy for this type of thing to happen in any sort of community. Not only does it add interest, but it creates a sense of competition and one-upsmanship that encourages innovation. Where's the fun in everyone always just getting along and complementing each other?"

personally i think a bit of flaming is like sh*t, it happens. there's no way around it but to let them burn out and try to get along. still it's pete that thinks they're a good time, except when i'm part of it:

"And I think you're a major douchebag for ripping on the Qmunity like you did. I'm sure most of the readers would agree."




i thought this was interesting:

"People have been predicting the death of QBasic ever since I joined the community in 1997, and it's still alive and well. As for FB, I think the community will stay small and tight-knit. I dont see FB ever hitting it big and becoming a major compiler, at least not in its current form, but I'm sure it will continue to have a moderate following like it has right now." - new interview




but pete, "what's not to like?" could it be that it's not really basic, that the community has an identity crisis and takes it out on noobs, that it divided the community (i know, you blame the people that didn't convert, you call them the "qb establishment" and i think, "fb haters", but do you understand where the bitterness comes from? could it be that flamewars aren't all fun?)

or you could just ask the people that are using liberty basic, powerbasic, thinbasic, autoit (which isn't even basic, but looks and acts like it,) qbasic "fanatics," etc. if people want to use freebasic, fine! but if we don't like it, there might be a reason other than being old-fashioned, lazy, or stupid as we've been treated. you think it's fun, but then you're really not in it, you just like to watch and pick sides.

perhaps if you spent less time trashing critics to make yourself more popular, and more time learning about freebasic like i did, you'd be able to understand the issue you're telling lots of people about.

you might have decided that i was only arguing points you'd be making two years later, but you're getting there, slowly. of course when you totally agree, you'll be the one that was right all along, and i'll be mennonite.

all i can say to that is happy co- well, happy documentary making. the next time you document something, learn about it first, and we won't have all the really fun and wonderful flamewars you fanned because... because i guess that's what tabloid journalists do.