FrontPage Support Outrage !!

[siren@]

The problem comes down to the fact that Frontpage is EOL and depreciated.

There will be no more security updates and haven't been since June.

I will not be running this on any of our servers for this reason, it's as security risk and it's not worth the risk.

 

[CFHCOMP]

If I have fp extentions on a box I upgraded and do not have it on a system I just installed New I should be able to copy over some file right. Does any one know how to do this.

 

[jefwic]

Anyone?

 

[blank_page]

Hi,

Take the 8.0 package of plesk (as per your operating system) and install directly from that rpm.

ftp://download1.sw-soft.com/Plesk/

I did it and it worked without problems.

 

[siren@]

Originally posted by tyson1980
Its like selling you a car that takes special gas, then stopping the sell of that gas a couple years later.

No, it would be like selling a car that takes special fuel and you purchase it "Knowing" it takes special fuel. Then the company decides that Chevron, Texaco, Shell, Maverick, and others can produce this special fuel.

After a few years the company decides to discontinue the product, but doesn't want to leave their customers in the dark, so tells all the gas companies that they will only produce the fuel themselves from now on and that the other companies can only offer what they have left.

They didn't stop producing it, they simply stopped producing it for Windows.

 

[siren@]

Originally posted by CFHCOMP
If I have fp extentions on a box I upgraded and do not have it on a system I just installed New I should be able to copy over some file right. Does any one know how to do this.

If you have it installed and do an upgrade it won't remove it and it will continue to function.

 

[CFHCOMP]

What I was stating was if I have 2 or more boxes and one has fp and one does not I should be able to take the files from the one with fp and copy the files to the one without fp and make then both work with fp.

 

[hesham55]

i think this can help you

http://forum.swsoft.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42962


if you want my bank account no. to pay to me for this soulution tell me (just juke)


Regards

 

[ztheory]

you have to be running an OS that originally supported front page. i was attempting to try and install FP extensions on FC5. it simply doesn't work people.

The operating systems on this list are the only ones that can have front page:

ftp://download1.sw-soft.com/Plesk/Plesk8.0/

but, you guys are right, you can upgrade or install 8.1 on one of those systems, and simply install the RPM from an 8.0 install.

just thought i'd put an end to this.

-Ztheory

 

[HMIBarryLSalter]

WOW! I have had my share of shock tonight!

I understand, if it is illegal for the control panels to distribute the FP extensions, then of course they won't, I wouldn't get myself in a tiff for a customer and do something illegal, haven't yet and won't.

But, on the other hand, as much as I hate FP, it is very true that customers paid for it and expect to continue using it until they are convinced something else is better. AND YOU KNOW WHAT, THEY HAVE A RIGHT (legal right) TO IT TOO..

So hats off to Ztheory for providing a way of getting the FP back in if someone wants it for their client, because their clients paid for it and we should not be the bad guys for MicroSoft.. MicroSoft, Go F??? Yourself!

 

[breun]

You *can* continue using FP if you previously had it on your server. So what's your problem? Some server admins haven't been reading up on the changelogs and other news (like FrontPage going EOL last year). Why do customers have a 'legal right' to get FrontPage installed on a new server that is managed by a company that obviously hasn't been paying attention?

I'm no Microsoft-fan, but it's really the server admins that should've seen this coming. It's not like Microsoft kept it a secret.

 

[HMIBarryLSalter]

Breun, I have one designer buying hosting from me who has done nothing but Front Page development for years, it's his expertise. How can I tell him that he can't do Front Page work on my server any more because I've "upgraded" the server and Front Page is no longer available?

Well his first reaction is to look for Front Page hosting somewhere, maybe with a competitor that doesn't pay SUS and doesn't upgrade.

Sure the problem is his, I up grade to provide better service and he has to learn a new development tool.

You probably don't remember the days of DOS 3.3 - DOS 5.0 like I do. You see, a friend of mine developed an ap in assembly to suspend applications in memory to be able to switch applications and go back where you left off in the application previously, a base concept in windows. His application worked flawlessly and then MS came out with DOS 4.0 and changed the environment to not work with his code (or the other two applications that others had wrote) and came out with their own memory management app in a shell.

For his case, he was a developer, just like Quick Books or anyone else who wants to sell on MS's platforms. You have to support your customer, if it doesn't run, fix it, make it work or die.

Now here we are, I have a customer, I can Fix it or I can die with it, but it's Micro Soft that is causing the problem.

I believe the answer is, for all of us to promote the hell out of Linux and FreeBSD and OSX (which Micro Soft has their hands in also being they own part of Apple.)

 

[breun]

Both you and your client should have known the FrontPage days were numbered. The official EOL date for the Unix FrontPage extensions was June 30 2006 (almost a year ago). If you rely on specific software, make sure you stay up-to-date on that software's roadmap or you'll run into situations like these.

Not a lot of software will be supported indefinitely and certainly proprietary software won't be. Plus there's the added disadvantage of no one being able to continue development or support when the proprietor EOLs a product.

You can be angry with Microsoft, but if they supported the software until 2010 you'd have the same problem then if you didn't keep yourself updated on their roadmap.

And yes, I do remember the DOS days.

 

[HMIBarryLSalter]

Well Breun,

I just spoke with my one client that I really care about regarding FP, and although he was unaware of the EOL, He was aware of the new app and he seemed to have the same opinion as you do and said now he has a reason to run out and buy the other program.

Now I'm concerned. I've just unintentionally helped MicroSoft make a sale by delivering their evil news. When my client buys this new program, will this mean that his sites will or will not run on my FreeBSD server? have I help MicroSoft sell a program and lost a client in the process?

So even if I knew this a year ago, could I have kept my client this year or would I have lost him sooner?


OK.. The real question.. If there is a new product out and FP is end of life to push that new product, what do we do to support the new product and keep our clients??? Does Breun or anyone have an idea please?

 

[breun]

If you go to http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage you will be redirected to a page that tells you about MS Office SharePoint Designer 2007 and MS Expression Web Designer. I'm afraid both are Windows-only solutions, so your FreeBSD server won't be able to run your clients new sites if he chooses to go with either of these products.

 

[ztheory]

i can understand that people are mad. it took me hours to get FC4 to work with FP and MySQL 5. but it's not the end of the world here people. It's been discussed that you CAN continue to use front page if you want, on a slightly older OS, personally I think FC4 was a solid system, and had no problem installing it for one of my customers. I mean, if I may say, hats off to SWsoft for having the newest releases supporting legacy OS's like FreeBSD 4 and Fedora Core 1. the point is you can run the newest PLESK versions on some older OS's and still run FP. and by the time all the Microshit followers let go of FP, you won't have to worry about it anymore, and can move on. So bare with all the people that chose a path that has come to an end, hey, it happens.

 

[breun]

Personally I think it's a little odd that SWsoft still releases new Plesk versions for those OS versions that are already EOL themselves. SWsoft recently announced they will stop supporting FC3 and older on November 15 2007, but FC5 will be EOLed by the Fedora Project at the end of June 2007 for instance. You can continue to run Plesk on FC5 and you will receive Plesk updates, but your server won't receive security fixes for apache and other OS packages anymore.

I suggest not to use Fedora on servers unless you have no problem with upgrading your OS every year. I like to go with a distribution with a longer lifecycle, like CentOS.

 

[ztheory]

centos is definitely my favorite platform, but my company only offers FC unfortunately. personally I like FC a lot, but you are indeed right is that a new version comes out every 6-8 months, really annoying.

 

[breun]

If your hoster doesn't offer what you're looking for, go find another one.

Or maybe Atomic Rocket Turtle's AOOI can be of use.

 

[ztheory]

no, im saying the company i work for doesn't offer CentOS. I use CentOS on my personal servers.