Well, I'm hanging out waiting for info and answers ...and hope...

And now I'm just wondering....why can't the community simply make an offer to buy the company as a "co-op"?

Some of the best run companies in the world are owned by the employees...who have a vested interest in the quality of the product and the future of the company. I mean...really...how much could it be worth? I'm a part time stock options trader...it's not beyond me to buy a few hundred "shares" in a co-op for a software that I depend on 24/7/365!

Frankly, Bud and I have been using this UBBT product for well over a decade - (that would include our foresight to purchase a W3T license back when W3T was the ONLY php/mysql forum software in the world) - and like many of you have posted, we still depend on this product as the foundation for our entire community development project.

Who among us would be interested in "owning the company"?

And why is the success of something like that so hard to believe?


*****

Before there were corporations, there were community co-ops...and when the co-ops proved highly successful and profitable, corporations were created to BUY the co-ops, privitize them, and control the access and profits. The internet - and communities like ours - actually have proven that a collective of individuals with a common goal has greater potential to change the world.

As much as I want to stay optimistic, this is BS.

Com'on man...Facebook is only...what?...five years old? Seriously...at the speed the web moves, and apps and software is outdated and passe, do any of us really have time to sit around waiting for six months...a year...or more?...for bug fixes?

Don't get me wrong - I'm no quitter on UBBT - but I've got over ten years of my life invested in this development. This isn't a "business" to me and my community...it's how we stay alive in a drop dead economy where discretionary income has dried up and our community members are looking for reasons not to drop out for the sake of their family budget.

After all, this is a "community building" software and it was in reality "built" by the co-op of live-site-developers and hacks and workarounds that is the UBBT Community...so WE are the best resource for keeping it alive, funding it's progress, promoting independent web developers to work in teams to kick the ass of every other forum software and CMS that has literally passed the "original" php/mysql based forum software.

Before we haul ass over to vB or IPB and "start a new life", I'm willing to fight to keep UBBT alive...but we can't afford to wait indefinitely for promises we're not going through another InfoPoop mindfunk experiment that will burn two more years of our lives and the progress, or survival, of our respective communities.

So...here I sit, brokenhearted, came to build and only farted...

And in the words of my mentor, Forrest Gump -
..."that's all I have to say about that"....

I have been working with another member who has the contact info for Brooks. The problem we're encountering is that brooks, the current owner is not returning calls or responding to emails.

I agree with you and it has been almost a week since I have tried to make contact with Brooks.

It is believed that brooks bought UBB at a fire-sale price in a private auction held on the flippa.com (?) website.

Someone please buy this guy out and take back over the reigns.