Don't Back Down

I've already mentioned that I had planned on sticking with Movable Type, at least for the immediate future. This decision was really made for a variety of reasons - notably because of the time investment I've already made, but also because of a significant discount on licenses for developers and the announcement of a contest for plugin developers, a contest in which I felt that I could do fairly well. But perhaps most of all, I felt that I had made a sort of commitment and it wasn't right of me to break it so easily.

The mass exodus of users from Movable Type was a bit disturbing, as it shrunk my potential user base, but let's face it: most of the people who left probably won't contribute to my development costs, as they aren't likely to pay much if anything for the things I develop. Which is certainly okay. If you've got the inclination and the resources and would like to encourage my chosen pursuit, then gifts from my wish list are most welcome. But they are by no means required.

It's now been a few weeks since that mess, and I haven't seen any more information on the free developer's license. However, I have been busily coding away, hoping to get my plugin(s) done prior to a vacation we had planned. It starts tomorrow. The last few days have seen a definite increase in activity, as I tried furiously to get it done.

It is, of course, not Six Apart's concern whether I spend loads of time frantically coding, whether or not it is to try and make a self-imposed deadline that was slightly shorter than the original deadline. What really gets me is that they have now extended the contest deadline (to July 6).

Don't get me wrong. The contest (and Movable Type, and TypePad, etc) is their baby. They can do whatever they like with them. But I've taken a considerable amount of time to try and get things done by the deadline, and now everyone gets a couple more weeks. So the frantic coding that has been completed, the attempt to get a working product turned in, and now everyone who wasn't able to make it can suddenly get in?

What about the plugins I've already submitted, perhaps even hastily in an attempt to get them in by the deadline? My decision, to be sure, but it was apparently based on faulty information. Out of luck - you aren't allowed to submit updates in this contest. What about the features I trimmed, planning them for a near future release to the public, as they aren't really relevant to the contest and could be shaved? Now much code would have to be rewritten to get those back in there.

I'm sorry, but it's just not going to happen. I'm almost complete with MT-Notifier version 2.0, and as soon as I turn it in this afternoon (perhaps tomorrow morning), I think I'm about done with Movable Type and Six Apart. You want to change the rules, go ahead. You think over your decision to set an ambitious deadline and move it back shortly after announcing it, that's one thing. But to change the deadline 48 hours before it happens, weeks after it was announced, and in the process essentially tell all those who have worked towards that deadline that their efforts just don't matter?

That's unfair. I know, life is unfair. That's not the word I'm after. It's just wrong. If people couldn't make the deadline, then they should just have to miss it. Whatever happened to accountability, to being responsible for a deadline? It's obviously more important to 6A to wave it in the face of their developers that they mean diddly than it is to try and do the right thing.

There are arguments to the contrary - there may be many valid reasons, like additional features or better coding. But it also shows a definite disdain for those who worked their butts off in the first place to try and meet what they thought was a stationary target. I think that may have finally done it for me. I'll keep you posted.