Not trying to stir the pot, just putting in an opinion...as a vet, I fought for my right to an opinion and freedom of speech so I am going to say it since it is my right.
I might as well stop you here.
You don't have a
right to free speech on this site. This site is private property. You are not "entitled" to anything on here, your access to this site is at the whim of the owner, namely me.
Servers cost money. Storage costs money. Tech support costs money. Bandwidth costs money. My time is worth money. The people who pay for memberships here are the
only reason why this site is still open, and whatever shortfalls come up in the expenses,
I personally make them up.
You think you deserve everything for free? Go tell that to the power company. Go try to get some gas and tell the attendant that you don't feel like paying. Heck,
CNC-GUY how about you tell your Mill, Lathe, or Machining Center supplier that you want a new VMC with 5 axis+ operation for free. It ain't going to happen. So recognize - life isn't free.
You still have access to this site, which I provide as a courtesy to this industry. I am
not, however, obligated to bankrupt myself so that people like yourself never have to be inconvenienced while my paying customers are without service. Nor am I obligated to give you anything, quite frankly, so if you feel extorted, feel free to leave - no one forced you to sign up here to begin with.
I'll challenge you to find a single free forum site that is:
1. Our size
2. Not advertising supported (banner ads, interstitials, keywords)
3. Has been open as long as we've been.
4. Has our length of history available.