I can't believe that in this guy put code spyware. I was surprised that deletes all comments. He explained that put trackback code to allow for their statistics. You believe in it?

Are you add  facebook like live extracting URL or link data preview while typing the content ?

Maybe you can develop Facebook style wall post application?

Here is tutorial:

http://www.9lessons.info/2009/11/facebook-style-application-with-jquery.html

BMan's code is clean with no "spyware" ping-back.. I checked his version's code ;-)

bman,

I think you should delete this plugin. The comments have not been deleted you can check it here:

http://community.elgg.org/pg/plugins/pedroprez/read/515633?release=518300&annoff=25

This plugin is not and have not spyware code, as Dhrup mentined the plugin makes a ping back. You can check it on line 19 of the README.TXT

This program automatically will add information just once to the keetup.com servers. This information is sent when the plugin is activated.
The information will be useful for us to know which elgg version does the user has installed and then we can know the majority and we can focus on that particular version.
If you are not agree with this practice please feel free to comment line 11 of the file
/mod/river_comments/views/default/settings/river_comments/edit.php
You should that line like this
//run_function_once("river_comments_ping_home");

Again please, delete this plugin because I have been working a lot of time with this to the community, I dont want nobody mess it.

Thanks

@Pedro & GushB 

Most people will not be happy regarding the ping-back - such ping-backs should be a **choice by the users of open source software. I think you should contact BMan and perhaps get to be more like friends with him and perhaps collaborate on a slicker version of this PlugIn. No one here on this Elgg Community should be too ready to start a "fight" but we should all be leaning towards collaboration, community spirit, friendship so that the Elgg-World will eventually benefit and we can have the "One Elgg to Rule them All.." ;-)

Hello Dhrup,

I am agree with you. We are developing plugins for the community for more than 2 years. We also organized an event (http://www.elggcampba.com/) and we definitly want the community be bigger and better. I just want to make valorate my work as this plugin has been developed exclusivity for the community.

Regards.

La manera de hacer del mundo un lugar mejor a través de buenas obras y la amistad ;-)

@David, I have already written a plugin to do what you are wanting, just havent finished testing it yet, and I'm running on 2 days with no sleep.  Once I take a nap I will finish it off and upload.

@Pedro, I don't doubt your commitment to this community or in any way want to belittle your work, but adding in a readme and not on the plugin page itself was not the solution I wanted to see and lack of response is the easiest way to lead to misunderstandings.  The data is collected the first time you go to the settings page which is too late to stop at that point.  The rest of my comment from the other page will say the rest:

Any pingback without CLEAR opt-out is spyware.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware

From the wikipedia definition of spyware, the very first line.

Spyware is a type of malware that is installed on computers and collects little bits of information at a time about users without their knowledge. 

to address your other statement i give you the second line from the definition:

The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. 

I understand that it is mentioned in the readme, but you should have made it clear on the download page seeing as its sending this data the first time you run it, i had no choice to not have data collected upon installing this.  Being that I run a site that espouses the ideals of Privacy and Freedom I could not in good conscience allow this to remain.  If you are updating your plugin with a opt-out I would be glad to delete this.  But I posted on your plugin page, contacted curverider and waited to see what you did.  I saw no update but my comments were not addressed so I had to do what I thought was best.

I am in no way trying to mess with your time in the community and I highly regard you among this community Pedro, and have worked with you in the past by offering support and code toward your Likes/Dislikes.  So please don't take this as a sleight against you.  But this is unacceptable and for my site to use this code I would have to offer it publicly in the same fashion as my use.  I have clearly credited you and left in all headers in the files.  If you are willing to make a way to opt out of your data collection procedure I would gladly delete this, but otherwise this is going to remain.

pla·gia·rism [pláyjə rìzzəm]
(plural pla·gia·risms)
n
1.  stealing somebody's work or idea: the process of copying another person's idea or written work and claiming it as original  
2.  something plagiarized: a piece of written work or an idea that somebody has copied and claimed as his or her own

Hello Bman,

Wow! Thanks! Everyone should admire your strong desire for truth!

Congratulations! Hari bol!

With Love,
Uddhava dāsa

@kasper, first off I never took credit for anything but removing the SPYWARE.  Secondly since you seem literate or at least able to plagiarize the dictionary, why not go take a look at these two links:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

If you can manage to read and not just copy why don't you notice that i am completely correct in my assessment of SPYWARE and also that the GPLv2 license (which everything elgg related follows including this plugin) states:

Section 6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. 

Which hopefully your small mind can read that this states I am totally within my rights to modify and redistribute any changes and have been freely licensed to by the Author when he distributed it under the GPL.  See this is a problem in this community, alot of people want to make a buck and receive credit, but QUALITY and TRUST are important parts of the process as well.  I do not consider adding spyware to be QUALITY and I do not care what the data is used for its flat out wrong and my determination as SPYWARE stays.  If you do not understand this possibly you should not be dealing and using FREE SOFTWARE and should find elsewhere to leech onto a community of proprietary software.  I hear microsoft always needs developers, but not much FREEDOM comes with it.  Debating the merits or cons to GPLv2 is not topical here as the license has been used by Elgg since the beginning.  But you just showed your stupidity in that statement and lets me know that you are nothing but a troll.  I have sat back and watched multiple developers take advantage of the nature of FREE SOFTWARE without fulfilling the other obligation to provide source back to the community, I on the other hand have contributed more than a few plugins, am constantly on #elgg on irc helping anyone that needs it, and plan on contributing much more source and direction to this community in order to make Elgg the platform that it can be with a full offering for people looking to make a Social networking platform.

Actually I did not want to release this and as I said I contacted the developer and Elgg representatives before I did a thing.  Pedro is a wonderful developer, and I have total faith in his code, but I just feel his data collection method was inappropriate.  I did not change headers *but i will if he does not update his plugin, as the GPL states that I am required to show my own name in the modified source (Section 2A)*   Technically its redistributing it with parts deleted, not modified, but either way I should have added my name to the headers.  I would prefer not to as Pedro is a great developer, deserves full credit, and I have full faith that he will realize the right thing to do and I will delete this plugin anyway.

A piece of advice, next time you run your mouth be prepared because I am not your average developer in this community out to make a buck.  My goal is strictly quality Elgg software and platform.  Ask Dhrup about that if you like, im sure he can attest.  I do not sell anything here, do not offer consulting services, do not ask for donations, and if you took the time to notice my donation link goes to the Free Software Foundation of which i am a avid supporter.  Basically I am incorruptible as far as this project is concerned.

After reading those links and this message do you have anything else to say that contributes to furthering the Elgg platform?

BTW - I don't recall you contributing anything to this at all, and looking at this page you have not, so I would suggest you get to work and get your head out of the dictionary.

http://community.elgg.org/pg/plugins/kasper - 0 plugins contributed.

We could debate on every single legality or technicality here but one.

There should be only one signature under this plugin at this point - Pedro Prez.

And, of course, everybody is entitled to the own opinion.

Whatever, you need to learn the GPL and what it means or go elsewhere.

You have no intelligent response so I am through.  You have no argument.

FYI -->

• http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html
• http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html
• http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html
• http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling-exceptions.html
  

<There should be only one signature under this plugin at this point - Pedro Prez> 

I'm quite confused. I was under the impression this was open source. Could someone please explain to me why this plugin is not? Really, I'm not being funny. What's wrong with bman's implementation that would cause a pla·gia·rism debate?

i agree with bman

wait, wtf??? so, I can blame him if anything happens to my website *knock on wood*

@bman: any news on this facebook style wall/messageboard you mentioned? I've been waiting for something like this for awhile. The one thing I've found elgg lacking in is the messageboard widget; its terrible.

@chad0989  - What exactly are you needing?  If your talking about oembed support I am testing it at the moment.  I was working on the url-preview but Pedro released one and I stopped working on it.  Now I notice his relies on a 3rd party site so I am likely to continue the one I was working on.  

@bman: I was thinking the same thing as David posted above. A facebook style wall post so that there can be comments on messages and also the content of the message/comments are posted to the river. I had originally planned to modify the current messageboard to allow commenting and post to the river, but it proved to be not possible with the current messageboard widget. This is because it uses annotations as the message itself and it seems that elgg currently doesn't allow annotations on annotations. I've been playing around trying to piece together a decent messageboard but so far its proved to be above my level.

@Chad0989 Wouldn't that be better as the bookmarks plugin with comments on the river?

I do agree that it shouldn't be part of thewire, but deciding how to do it.

@bman: I see your point. I'm making a small (90 users) closed community where everyone is forced friends so I wanted to have the river display for example:

Chad posted on bman's messageboard:

Hey man whats going on?

and then the ability to comment, a la facebook.

But you're right that on a large site its not necessarily the best idea. Considering that it would pose a privacy issue since the river seems to display things for all site users.

However, I think we can all agree that comments on messageboard posts is a needed feature that can't be implemented on the current messageboard. 

@chad0989, ill look into how to do this.  maybe thewire is best.  If its strictly for the river then it would be perfect.  If you want a seperate plugin I could do it as well.

@bman: Sounds good, I trust your judgement.