Sad indeed, for the sentimentalist and non-sentimentalist alike.
I was first using Compuserve as my internet access and even uploaded a
few things there; maybe a POV raytrace as well, been too long ago to
remember.
I too think things are taking a good turn for POV-Ray instead of bad. I
tried another trial of Compuserve about a year ago and it was so slow
moving from place to place there. I have been using AOL now for the past
few years and it's much quicker. The POV-Ray SIG (special interest
group) there as waned a bit also however, being no longer called an SIG.
The uploads and message posting activity has certainly dwindled over the
years.
By stark contrast the internet side seems to be flourishing. In fact,
the 3D rendering acivity on AOL doesn't appear so healthy either, but
maybe it's just my viewpoint. Or maybe there is actually some sort of
exodus going on away from the online companies and onto the internet.
Personal web pages have certainly been growing in popularity so maybe
that's part of the reasoning for more and more web-based activity.
Things sure have changed anyhow. From BBS's and ftp to online services
to web sites and http, is that it?

Chris Young wrote:
> 
> A Message from POV-Team Coordinator -- Chris Young
> 
> It is with great sadness that we announce our POV-Ray forum will be
> closing its doors permanently by the end of this month.  The POV-Team
> is moving our development effort to our web-site at
> http://www.povray.org/. It marks the end of nearly nine years, since
> our very beginning, that the POV-Team has  called Compuserve our home.
> 
> In September 1996 we moved into the forum from our original home in
> the Go Graphics GraphDev Forum.  We contracted for our own forum with
> CompuServe Pacific based in Australia through our team member Chris
> Cason who lives there.
> 
> However CompuServe Pacific recently decided to drop all forums from
> its service. They helped us prepare a proposal to have CompuServe USA
> pick up our forum. However considering our declining forum traffic,
> CompuServe USA did not feel that they could devote an entire forum to
> a single product such as ours.
> 
> They generously offered to negotiate terms to place us in a vendor
> forum where we would share space with other developers or vendors but
> the POV-Team declined.  We feel we can meet users' needs better
> through expanded use of our web site, ftp site, and news groups at
> povray.org while keeping our identity intact and by keeping our
> autonomy.
> 
> While POV-Ray by definition is a team effort, we feel it is right and
> proper to thank several individuals who helped us in our stay here
> CompuServe.  Their efforts in promoting us on GraphDev and POVRAY
> forums and assisting us in maintaining our online home have greatly
> contributed to our success even though some of them never wrote part
> of the program itself.  Our sincere thanks to...
> 
>  -*- Larry Wood and Matt Drury of Go Graphics Group who were our
>      hosts on CompuServe until 1996.
>  -*- Drew Wells who founded the POV-Team and made arrangements for us
>      with GGG.
>  -*- Dan Farmer who spent countless hours both here and in GraphDev
>      answering users' questions.
>  -*- Tim Wegner and the Stone Soup Group who proved that large,
>      open-source, team development had a magic power that we could tap
> 
>      and model ourselves.
>  -*- Chris Cason who established povray.org and POVRAY Forum.
>  -*- Dale C. Brodin who assisted me in promoting our libraries.
>  -*- Alan Kong who kept our libraries full of the latest utilities and
> 
>      the greatest images.
>  -*- The staffs of CompuServe Pacific and USA.  Although our ways are
>      parting and we've traveled some rough roads, we appreciate all
>      you have done to help us.
> 
>  ...and finally thanks all of our loyal forum members, who were
> willing to subscribe to CompuServe to participate in our efforts
> there.  Their testing, feedback, artistry, and passion for ray tracing
> (along with our internet users) continue to inspire and motivate us to
> keep working to make POV-Ray bigger and better.
> 
> If you are a CompuServe subscriber and there are any files you were
> planning to download there, or if you have questions we can answer
> before we go, feel free to use the forum until it closes.  After that,
> we look forward to seeing you at povray.org.
> 
>   Sincerely,
>   Chris Young -- POV-Team Coordinator <cyo### [at] iquestnet>
> 
> (permission to repost granted)

-- 
 omniVERSE: beyond the universe
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