A couple of notesâ?¦ I saw the turn that this conversation took last night when I got home from work, and frankly, I wasnâ??t certain how to reply. So I gave it 12 hours to think about it â?? as I didnâ??t want to offend anyone with a short reply that could be construed as offending anyone (which can happen after 13 hours working retail and being tired) â?? so here goesâ?¦
Iâ??m deleting some of the posts in this thread, and at the same time â?? Iâ??ll address many of the issues a few of you raised in your comments. You see â?? this is my thread. The intention of it â?? originally, and now is to say thank you and acknowledge those who have recently stepped up to sharing the financial cost of running this site. To those folks who Iâ??ve mentioned in this thread â?? this is â??theirâ? thread as much mine.
However â?? if your name isnâ??t in this thread â?? this thread is not yours. It isnâ??t a place to debate the who said what to who, who has software ability, who has rights to claim support, nor even â?? what that support isâ?¦
Why?
Itâ??s pretty simple â?? if you stop and think about itâ?¦..
Iâ??ve owned, hosted, programmed, provided and paid for the â??LugerForumâ? since January 2001. During that time â?? it has developed into the worldwide community it has become. Many of you, to attain the status of one of the predominant collectors communities on the Internet â?? have shared your knowledge, pictures, time and efforts in Moderating and contributing to this same success. For example â?? Iâ??ve contributed a knowledge base on Kreigs. Ron has done so with early Lugers, Ed with Simson Lugers â?? and the list goes onâ?¦.
But â?? for all that â?? all those things have absolutely nothing to do with this thread â?? nor the folks â??thankedâ? in this threadâ?¦.
Rather â?? they have stepped outside the box and donated funds to the operation and monthly cost of this site â?? so all the community, sharing, knowledge mentioned above â?? even exists. At the end of the month â?? each and every month, since this sites inception â?? circuit providers and hosting charges need to be paid. Thatâ??s each month â?? at about $500 per month. I get to pay those. I donâ??t have the luxury of thinking â?? â??Oh, I have an extra $500 this month â?? should I pay for the LugerForum, or should I buy a Kreig related item on the â??O-boyâ? auction site. The decision is made for me â?? as the choice is â?? either I pay or there is no Forum. I have made that decision each and every month â?? since January 2001.
So this thread is about those who support the financial costs of this forum. It has nothing to do with the community, the sharing, the photographs, the Moderators time, my time â?? nor any other self glorified aspects of how this Forum appears on the Internet each and every day.
I donâ??t sell Luger parts to pay for it. I donâ??t sell services. Iâ??m not a dealer who makes a living by selling firearms. Rather â?? this site is funded â?? PAID for out of my pocket and those in this thread and previous threads. There are no hidden agendas. There are no â??Sponsorsâ?. There are no banner ads flashing about which I charge for. There are no paid advertisements. In short â?? at the end of the month â?? there is â??meâ? writing checks to pay for this communityâ?¦.
Finally â?? each of you who has LugerForum Patron in their title have also stepped up at various times throughout the past years â?? and donated as well. You have been thanked publicly and privately. You have had your own threads saying Thank You. You have donated as little as $10 up to hundreds of dollars over the year â?? which was as appreciated as much as this years donations are appreciated.
However â?? please do NOT taint this thread and my thanks to these new folks in THIS thread by hi-jacking it in the future. Itâ??s not about you. Rather â?? itâ??s about the very few, a handful of folks that most recently have stepped up to join me in paying real dollars each month â?? every month â?? in defraying those real expenses of itâ??s operationâ?¦
It has nothing to do with sharing anything (knowledge, pictures, parts, etc.) in the Forum â?? as you probably understand a bit better â?? those donâ??t pay for the cost of this site.
Please do not post in this thread â?? unless you, too â?? want to just say â??Thank Youâ? to those named in this thread. For their kind contribution â?? so this Forum even exists. Each and every hour, every day and every month.
It really is that simple.
John Dunkle
LugerForum.com
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