... the developers are not active in the community and development is on hold. This, as a minimum, needs to be pointed out to newcomers so that they buy with an awareness of the current situation.
Kindly make it an accurate statement then which this is not.
The developers are active in the community.
Mike has been doing essential maintenance for several days now which is why the demo has been out of commission while it is cleared. This has been stated several times.
Support tickets are being dealt with.
This has been stated several times.
Bug fixes - if they arose which is rare in XF - will be attended to.
This has been stated several times.
The part which is on hold is new development.
Some new development had already been done but in late August development went on hold.
That they are choosing not to make the repeated statements giving us the same info over and over, is I think a shame. It comes under customer relations. But it's their call.
... the lawsuit is not ... the cause of the current situation and is not necessarily the fix either. It will help XF no end if they win in court and the case is concluded - a good deal of pressure will be removed - but it does not directly translate to a resumption of development; that is dependent on other, more private matters that have already been alluded to in the official announcements.
You know when I assess if a member of my professional staff who is currently needing a lot of time off is a loser or is having a specific crisis which won't affect them long term, I look back at their track.
Has this person put in dedication and long hours in the past few years? YES.
Is their work almost always of extremely high quality? YES.
Do they work in a thorough and painstaking way? YES.
Do they generally take care to give clients patient courtesy and consideration? YES.
Do they show a cheerful response to difficulties? Until now YES.
Have I seen them cope with genuine personal issues in the past so I know they are competent mature people? YES.
Did they notify me that they needed leave of absence AND make sure their routine work is covered meanwhile? YES.
So if I can see a track like that I'm going to ask - why is THIS time different?
Why are they not bouncing back quickly and cheerfully and getting back to top performance THIS TIME?
Well I think I'd answer in THIS CASE that these people have coped magnificently with a grossly unfair and huge stress factor for over two years. I'd think that in spite of that they have performed impressively on all my points above.
I'd remember that with their previous employer they were almost as faultlessly professional. Not quite because they had a lot less freedom to act back then.
So as I KNOW these professionals have coped with difficult personal issues in the past, the fact that THIS TIME they aren't managing to just keep on trucking with top notch creative work - but even so
they are covering all the routine stuff - why then I'd conclude that two long years of strain from the extra factor has got to them.
Since they have always demonstrated capacity to deal with personal stuff and not let it get in the way before it is logical they can do so again - when the extra factor is not draining them dry.
In such a situation I would say (and have said as a boss) go ahead, take the time you need. You're a valued professional and you deserve it.
Funnily enough my staff work their guts out for me. They do amazing miracles and I really respect them.
The software is strong and has great potential - I simply cannot find a good replacement for it - and I want to see XF development restarted, the lawsuit behind us, and the company/developers coming out fighting and being a strong contender in the marketplace (
which has just been made soooo much easier by a recent product demo release ... 
).
Absolutely. Their track over two long and difficult years demonstrates that.
But don't let's sell new customers the idea that all is rosey and XF has a great and secure future - that would be equally as bad!!
No it's not rosy. It must be bloody awful being them right now.
But XF DOES have a great future. If KAM can achieve as much as they have under such a massive disadvantage - like creating AND SUPPORTING a forum software still years ahead of opposition - then one almost SHIVERS to think what they might do if that stupid bundle of junk was lifted from their backs.
Read the actual information on the court case. It's junk.
Unless the judge has a complete brain meltdown it's a done deal XF win - or early settlement.
