We cannot disparage "other forums," much as we might feel tempted. That makes us them, and that we cannot be,
On September 10, 2010, the day I thought about what happened to me elsewhere, I was walking to my job, I realized like most others these days, I ought to have a web site for my career, So I bought my name as a domain. At the same time, I realized that I could put another domain on the web hosting service. I was very hurt and dejected about what happened when I sought to learn about machining online. I had bought a machine, which still lies in pieces to this day (a SB Heavy 10 lathe), and I had questions about how to get it working. I decided to open a little "answer site" that I could use to get some help. When I got to work, I looked up domain names. I was a lawyer who wanted to machine as a hobby, so I figured "hobby machinist" would be a good name, but it was taken. The same guy has owned it since 2005 without using it. He keeps renewing it, claiming he is going to start a machinist site. I offered him $750 out of my own pocket for it, but he declined. So I went with hobby-machinist, which his probably correct grammar anyway. I set it up with free forum software from the web host. Took me 5 days or so to get it running. Once along the way, someone hacked it, and destroyed it. So that is why September 15 is our official anniversary date.
I have no desire for us to be the biggest or best. Only for us to be the most helpful and most welcoming. That we can be.
We always need to help others, and to share what we know. Some people who know a lot, have sadly decided we are not worth sharing with.
One of them Adam Booth, Abom79, maker of many wonderful YouTube videos, has not participated here since 2014, although he has been here recently. He also ignored my friendshp overtures. That is what makes me saddest, that there are such skilled people out there who bear grudges, some for many years now, and will not share their wonderful skills with us. After all, we don't wish to make money from the knowledge, only to learn and be educated by them.
And that is what makes me saddest, I suppose. The lack of sharing by some of the most skilled.
I beg them to reconsider this, and help us to learn from them.
Some people are just hard, I suppose.