What happened to XDA? - Off-topic

I was looking in the wayback machine archives. I saw the original mission statement of XDA and it's so comericialized now. Here is the original mission statement from 2005.
The only two things not wrong about the name of this site are the dash and the dot. This site is about certain PDA-phones, made by a secretive firm called HTC in Taiwan. Their makers named them 'Wallaby', 'Himalaya' and 'Blue Angel', but almost nobody knows them by those names. The mobile provider O2 sells them under the brand-name 'XDA', and that's what we had in our hands first. They're also known as Qtek, MDA, SX-56 and many, many other names.
Then there's the 'developers' part: we noticed a profound lack of developer information for these devices. Since we develop software for it, we need information, and nobody seemed eager or ready to give us what we needed. So we 'reverse-engineered' the devices, found a lot of information, and shared it with the world.
But as our site grew we realised that lots of ordinary users were also suffering from a lack of support. They started using the xda-developers forum to communicate and before long the forum was as much a user forum as it was a developer forum.
And then finally there's the 'com' part of our name: we're not very commercial: no banner-ads, no pop-ups and we're not selling anything. The entire site is supported by private donations from the community that uses it. You are encouraged to make a donation if the site is useful to you.
So in short: never mind this site's name. No matter who you are or what brand-name is printed on your phone: if it looks like one of these, this site is for you.
Then there is this on the current rules... B) The site is a relatively small, personal website without commercial advertising / links (i.e. not a competitor forum-based site with purposes and aims similar to those of XDA-Developers......... Yet as we can clearly see is fully comericialized and I'm wondering if this is effecting the original mission statement of......
And then finally there's the 'com' part of our name: we're not very commercial: no banner-ads, no pop-ups and we're not selling anything. The entire site is supported by private donations from the community that uses it. You are encouraged to make a donation if the site is useful to you

I found one on Ebay, I never knew what XDA meant.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Xda-i-O2-windows-mobile/164165466814?hash=item2639063abe:g:-XEAAOSw-LJbccbX

That phone is a classic...

Related

There are no usenet groups for android/G1.

Moderators, please feel free to move this to another forum if it doesn't fit here.
There are currently no Usenet groups for Android software or supported trans-coded video files. There are advantages to hosting these files on Usenet, rather than on this, or other websites. Please PM me if you would like to hear my opinion. I will not discuss this openly.
I would like to propose one be created, but actual new group additions to Usenet are a pain in the rear and require a community backing.
Is anyone else here familiar with the process?
I have never added a group myself, but I have worked for a Usenet provider and know that it is not a simple process. It would require a proposal in the alt.control newsgroup, as well as a discussion and justification of the group between supporters and the ISC (www.isc.org). For this, we need people to speak up and support our group in the alt.control newsgroup.
Notice how I say OUR group. I propose the group be un-moderated, because suggesting a moderated group requires a lot more organization, time, and discussion before the ISC will consider the addition.
Again, if anyone has actually undergone the addition of a new group, please speak up. If no one has, but people are interested, I will try to work with Usenet assistance groups on getting a group added.
Thoughts?
I'd be surprised if a quarter of this forum knows what a newsgroup is.
jashsu said:
I'd be surprised if a quarter of this forum knows what a newsgroup is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh, well if there is not a community interest, I won't pursue it. In my opinion, the brightest people use this site, so I'm only posting here.
I guess then, I am one of the 25%. I gave up on usenet years ago when the content to spam ratio got too bad.
I still grin when I think of alt.barney.die.die.die
I guess it all depends on what exactly the OP wants out of a newsgroup. These days most interest groups / communities on the internet form around http-based services like forums and bulletin boards. There are also hybrid http/email mailing list type things. Generally the whole of the Android community is well served by these tools already. Between the various fansites (phandroid, androidguys, etc), the Google android-discuss groups, xda-dev, and #[email protected], I think there are plenty of points on the internet as-is for all comers alike.
Of course, then theres the modern-day usage of usenet, which is not so much discussion-centric rather than a no-holds-barred haven for digital piracy and pretty much every kind of porn under the sky.

Welcome to the Paid Software Forum!

The purpose of this forum is to allow developers of XDA to have a place to showcase their for-pay applications. While we maintain that XDA is a place of sharing and openness, we understand that there is a need for a place like this, since some "premium" pieces of software just cannot be given away for free.
This is not a marketplace. No buying or selling will happen here. If you are a developer, please provide links to your for-pay products. If you are a user, feel free to respectfully provide feedback to developers.
Because we don't want this to be haven for outside firms trying to use this forum as a sales tool, we will require that any developer posting here have a history of providing value to the community, either through free software, assistance/help to users, or other contribution.
Naturally, we might need to adjust the rules of this forum and institute policies to keep everyone happy. For now, we'll see what happens.
Happy posting!

A Note From Your Moderators

Hi everyone, on behalf of reinbeau, reaper24 and I, we just wanted to let you know that if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to PM any one of us.
Please also be aware of the following rules and that they not just apply to the Android Themes forum but throughout XDA. All rules here are of equal importance but the ones highlighted in red, I believe, will clarify any misunderstanding as it pertains to the posts and development in this particular forum.
Thank you.
FORUM RULES​
1. Search before posting.
Use one of our search functions before posting, whether you have a question or something new to share, it's very likely someone already asked that question or shared that news.
2. Member conduct.
2.1 Language: XDA is a worldwide community. As a result what is ‘ok’ to say in your part of the world may not be ok in someone else’s part of the world. Please think about who is reading what you write. Keep in mind that what you think of as acceptable use of language may not be acceptable to others. Conversely, while reading member posts, remember that word you find offensive may not be to the writer. Tolerance is a two way street.
2.2 Nudity: XDA is used by people of all ages, including minors. It's not acceptable to post nude/pornographic imagery, which includes exposure of the male or female genitalia or of female breasts.
2.3 Flaming: XDA was founded as a group of people sharing information about certain mobile phones. Sharing does not involve virtual yelling (flaming) it does involve working together to solve problems in an environment of mutual respect and understanding. Losing your temper and flaming another member, or group of members, is not acceptable behavior.
2.4 Personal attacks, racial, political and/or religious discussions: XDA is a discussion forum about certain mobile phones. Mobile phones are not racial, political, religious or personally offensive, therefore none of these types of discussions are permitted on XDA.
2.5 Courtesy towards other Members: Treat new members the way you would like to have been treated when you were a new member. When dealing with any member, provide them with guidance, advice and instruction when you can and always with respect and courtesy. Never post in a demanding, argumentative, disrespectful or self-righteous manner.
2.6 All members are expected to read and adhere to the XDA rules.
3. Post only using a clear subject and message.
You're most likely to receive a helpful answer to your question if you use a short subject title that describes your problem and a message that explains in detail what your problem is and what you've tried to solve it.
4. Use the English language.
We understand that with all the different nationalities not everyone speaks English well, but please try. If you're really unable to post in English use an online translator, You're free to include your original message in your own language below the English translation.
5. Post a message only once.
As a large forum we don't need unnecessary clutter, You're free to edit your message as you like, so if you do not receive an answer revisit your message and see if you can describe your problem better. Not everyone is online at the same time, it might take a while before you receive an answer.
6. Do not post warez.
If a piece of software requires you to pay to use it, either pay or find your cracks and serials somewhere else. We do not accept warez nor do we permit any member to promote or describe ways in which Warez, cracks, serial codes or other means of avoiding payment, can be obtained.
7. Do not spam.
If you wish to advertise a product, contact us we provide ads. But do not post it in the forums, it will be removed and you're likely to receive a ban.
You are however allowed to sell used goods like your own device, parts of your device or accessories for your device in the marketplace forum, please read the rules there before posting. (This rule includes signatures, if you use a signature it will appear in your post)
8. Donations.
We appreciate all donations to xda-developers.com, it keeps our forum online and well maintained. As a user you're allowed to ask for donations in your signature as a thank you for your hard work. However donations up front are not allowed, this forum is about sharing, not about getting paid to do something, that's what your job is for.
9. Don't get us in trouble.
Don't post copyrighted materials or do other things that will obviously lead to legal trouble. If you wouldn't do it on your own homepage, you probably don't want to do it here either. This does not mean we agree with everything the software piracy lobby try to impose on us, it simply means you cannot break any laws here, since we'll end up dealing with legal hassle caused by you. Please use common sense: respect the forum, its users, and those that write great code.
10. Help others if you can.
If you see posts from others where you can help out, please do. This place exists because people are helping each other, and even if you are relatively new to the matter, there's probably already quite a few people newer than you that would benefit from what you've learned. Don't be shy.
11. Don’t post with the intention of selling something.
Don’t use XDA to advertise your product or service. Proprietors of for-pay products or services, may use XDA to get feedback, provide beta access, or a free version of their product for XDA users and offer support, but not to post with the intention of selling. This includes promoting sites similar/substantially similar to XDA-Developers.com.
Do not post press releases, announcements, links to trial software, or commercial services. unless you’re posting an exclusive release for XDA-Developers.com.
Encouraging members to participate in forum activities on other phone related sites is prohibited.
Off-site downloads are permitted if the site is non-commercial and does not require registration.
Off-site downloads from sites requiring registration are NOT encouraged but may be permitted if the following conditions are met:
A) the site belongs to a member of XDA-Developers with at least 1500 posts and 2 years membership who actively maintains XDA-Developers' support thread(s) / posts, related to the download,
B) the site is a relatively small personal website without commercial advertising/links (i.e. not a competitor forum-based site with purposes and aims similar to those of XDA-Developers.com.)
12. Using the work of others.
If you are developing something that is based on the work of another Member, you MUST first seek their permission, and you must give credit to the member whose work you used. If a dispute occurs about who developed / created a piece of work, first try to settle the matter by private message and NOT in open forum. If this fails then you may contact a moderator with clear evidence that the work was created by you.
Convincing evidence will result in copied work being removed. If there is no clear evidence you created the work then in the spirit of sharing all work will remain posted on the forums.
These rules apply to all software posted on XDA unless that software comes with a license that waives these rules.
13. Advertising and Income Generation
Commercial advertising, advertising referral links, pay per click links and other income generating methods are forbidden. Do not use xda-developers as a means to make money.
14. Create only one User Account
You are allowed one User Account at xda-developers. If you create additional accounts, Moderators will disable them and your original account may also be disabled or infracted.
15. Keep posts/threads on-topic
Whilst a minor amount of off-topic posting may be overlooked, the general rule is your posts / threads must be relevant to the Forum / thread in which you are posting.
Marketplace RULES / Guidance
Read before posting!
(Updated October 5th 2011)
The Legal Stuff
1
The XDA-Developers.com Marketplace, also known as MP, is provided free to members with at least 50 posts and one year of XDA membership.. XDA-Developers.com, its moderators, administrators, owners, legal advisors and all other related parties do not warrant, guarantee or endorse any item offered for sale or trade on this forum.
SIMPLE ENGLISH: Trade at your own Risk. XDA-Developers is not and will not get involved in transactions whatsoever.
2
The MP is for use by private parties only, do not post commercial links (SPAM) or links to private sales taking place on other sites ie: eBay, Craigsist, etc. The MP is intended for the sale of your personal phones and/or accessories. It is not intended as a sales platform for operating a business.
SIMPLE ENGLISH: No Business links allowed. No off-site sales allowed. Personal use only
3
All transactions must take place in the public forum; use of the Private Message (PM) system to buy/sell/trade is against MP rules. Use of the PM system to convey private information, shipping address and payment details is acceptable.
SIMPLE ENGLISH: If you trade by PM how do you know the person you are buying from isn't selling the same item to 10 people? Keep all deals in the open.
4
a. XDA-Developers allows the following items to be offered for Sale/Trade:
Mobile Phones including Tablet devices and directly related Accessories ONLY.
b. we do not allow items to be offered for Sale/Trade that are stolen, thought to be stolen, or of questionable history. For the avoidance of doubt, phones with a "bad ESN" or which are network barred are NOT permitted to be on the marketplace.
SIMPLE ENGLISH: Don't sell anything but phones / accessories and ensure they are not stolen.
5
Do not send money by any means that you cannot track or recover. Sending money via Western Union is a known scamming method and although it may be necessary due to country restrictions it is not recommended.
a. XDA-Developers recommends the use of PayPal® or another secure method of transferring money.
b. XDA-Developers is not responsible for transactions gone "bad". It is YOUR responsibility to know with whom you are dealing, and YOU assume all responsibility for the transaction.
In addition, the use of PayPal gift payments is not permitted on deals conducted on XDA. Specifically relevant to sellers, but applicable to everyone in general, you must not request any additional payment to cover PayPal fees. Doing either of the above is in breach of the PayPal terms and conditions.
SIMPLE ENGLISH: Use PayPal® whenever possible. You are responsible for your own actions.
Do not use PayPal gift payments, as these offer no protection. Do not ask the buyer to cover PayPal fees.
6
By posting on the MP you agree that you have read, understand and will abide by these rules.
7
a. You may sell 5 devices per month maximum (each device must be in a new thread).
b. All current registered members will be able to use the marketplace regardless of tenure on the site or number of posts. New members will NOT be able to use the marketplace until they accrue 50 posts and one year of XDA membership.
c. If you are selling or offering to trade, you must take a photo of the phone with XDA as a backdrop on your screen with your username clearly showing
d. If you are selling, you may only sell an absolutely maximum of five devices per month, and each listing must be contained with its own thread.
For advice on avoiding scams, you may wish to refer to the text below, and these threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=714435 by MikeChannon
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1271745 by Kareem,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1100447 by Greenstuffs,
Some informal advice on trading for avoiding scams
1.
Ensure member has made useful contributions to the site. Useful contributions tend to show a genuine person who uses XDA legitimately and values their account here and looks after it. If someone has only ever really posted in the MP, they have little track record on the site.
Tl;dr- Do background checks. Consider their reason for being a member of XDA. Are they a good all-round member?
2.
If you are given an external feedback system link to vouch for a member, ensure that it is the same person. Contact them using the external system and ask them to confirm they are arranging a deal with yourself on XDA. If not, steer well clear.
Tl;dr- I can give you the president's feedback link on heatwave or eBay. But it doesn't make it mine. Anyone can give a link - check it out.
3.
Ensure sufficient feedback. If someone bought a phone case and battery on XDA, or indeed another feedback giving system, consider the value of these items compared to that in your prospective deal. People have been known to get positive feedback on auction sites by buying loads of 1 cent items. Also ensure there is feedback on them as a seller, in addition to as a buyer.
Tl;dr- Is the feedback relevant over time, for sensible items? Is the value in the range you are dealing with? Does the feedback cover selling and buying?
4.
Is the person easy to deal with? Are they easy to contact before agreeing on the deal? If not, you can bet they will be even less reachable if something goes wrong. If there is a language barrier, could that prove problematic if something went wrong?
5.
Only ship to the verified PayPal address. If you get given a P.O. box address or non standard address, remember that you don't have any idea who you are dealing with. If an address is PayPal verified, it means they receive their credit card bill at the address shown. And proof of address is required to open a credit card.
6.
Use your common sense. If someone is selling something that is going on ebay in similar condition for more, consider why they are doing this, when ebay would give them more money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Website] Growing Fast, Needs Staff

Hi Everyone,
I recently created a website with a couple of XDA members, and were growing in views fairly fast. However we literally cannot keep up with the content we need to publish in order to be competitive.
So were looking for new staff.
We need:
Writers, if your good at English and can write fluently and professionally why not get into Article writing and gain some popularity across the internet.
Site Designer: I can design a website, but I would like someone with a little more knowledge than me to converse with, also if they want to the Site Designer can also write articles (if they desire)
Social Media Promoters: If your up for getting into a new team and are a Social Guru, get involved and help us grow our social following.
Payments can be discussed depending on work rate.
Sorry, but there's a recruitment section and this isn't it

Censorship on social media platforms

Truth is the first casualty in a war or something similar is an often quoted saying these days. The recent reports of censorship on social media platforms are good examples of this censorship. Freedom of speech does not mean the license to troll or spread wrong information. I feel censorship by impartial judges is justified. The operative word being impartial.
What do you think? Do you agree with this view?
Do you think social media platforms should allow the unfiltered flow of content?
I don't use FB, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Tic-tok or bother to view a any of the major US news network's bs.
They pushed too hard and the worm has turned...
blackhawk said:
I don't use FB, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Tic-tok or bother to view a any of the major US news network's bs.
They pushed too hard and the worm has turned...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not using any of these social media apps is definitely one approach. The problem is if we have family members active on only these platforms!
ManojNairOnline said:
Not using any of these social media apps is definitely one approach. The problem is if we have family members active on only these platforms!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not good... my Mom didn't raise a fool.
Need to bring up their level of wherewithal.
All those sites are purveyors of disinformation at the very best and completely untrustworthy.
censorship is no longer a matter of social media, it's daily business on public media too and concerns all people around the world. nowadays it's even forced by law on governments outrage. we have passed 1984 long ago.
I don't see a reason why we should play their game and self-censor each own. On the other hand there are people out there spreading fake-news on telegram or whatever, so I am fine with our common board rules - no religion - no politics.
Having own opinion is part of our identity. we don't judge about someones avatar or profile signature - what we all have in common we are tech nerds, that's why we signed up here, don't we?
this is currently happen on xda? some true useful stuff is from 4pda (WwR MTK which is really great tool to create scatter files for mediatek devices, Orange State Disabler which patches little kernel to remove the 5 seconds delay on unlocked bootloader, just to mention two of them) and is mirrored on xda by members (not authors). some genius russian spend lot time and mind and offers it for free, so why not allow link to origin for respectful giving proper credits?
my opinion, xda should generally allow links to 4pda and only censor if necessary. each link should be surveyed for its advertising character on its own. only explicit links should removed, no generalized claims...
Oswald Boelcke said:
@Pervokur
Welcome to XDA! We're greatful that you share your knowledge.
However; I've removed the references to 4pda! Same applies to your post here.
4pda is not only another phone related website (and not at all affiliated with xda-developers) but also well known for the distribution of malware and warez. Links to 4pda are not accepted on XDA.
XDA Forum Rules (excerpt):
Regards
Oswald Boelcke
Senior Moderator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aIecxs said:
this is currently happen on xda? some true useful stuff is from 4pda (WwR MTK which is really great tool to create scatter files for mediatek devices, Orange State Disabler which patches little kernel to remove the 5 seconds delay on unlocked bootloader, just to mention two of them) and is mirrored on xda by members (not authors). some genius russian spend lot time and mind and offers it for free, so why not allow link to origin for respectful giving proper credits?
my opinion, xda should generally allow links to 4pda and only censor if necessary. each link should be surveyed for its advertising character on its own. only explicit links should removed, no generalized claims...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@Alecxs Thanks very much for sharing your opinion. Censorship is a very subjective qualification for an action especially on a completely private website. In all the years that I'm visiting, monitoring and contributing to XDA - even before I was allowed to join the very small team of volunteers who mediate this site - I've never seen that anything has been censored on XDA. What I've seen (and am actually also now doing as a moderator) is that posts were edited or removed in cases when no content would remain after an edit because those post were not in line with the rules of this private website.
Would you call it censorship if I remove a post with a link to a child-porn site and ban the author? I certainly wouldn't call it so, and I'd even report all information I have in such cases to my local police station. Would you call it censorship?
Would you call it censorship if I remove a link to a website that offers warez and cracked premium applications and inform the authors that we don't accept that at all and made all users aware about this stance shown in rule no. 6 of our forum rules? I certainly wouldn't call it so. Would you do?
If we've visitors at our home and we told them please not to smoke but they don't care and do, I ask them to immediately leave. Would you call that censorship of the actions of our visitors? I certainly wouldn't call it so. Would you do?
In your above post you clearly explain that 4pda is another phone related website; something I also mentioned in my post that you've quoted. And the third bullet of our rule no. 11 says:
Encouraging members to participate in forum activities on other phone related sites is prohibited.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's just fair and quite understandable that XDA doesn't want to be a promotional platform for another phone related website.
If I visit the restaurant "Bella Roma" and order my drinks but when the waiter brings the menu, I say negative, please bring me the menu of the "Bella Napoli", I like to order their food, I'm most likely told that I won't be served and eat at the "Bella Roma" but could leave any time.
no generalized claims. that's all I said
edit: google translate: no sweeping accusations. that's what I wanted to say

Categories

Resources