Please read latest reply that follow on this same thread to know much more about!
That’s the strange history of Smeego, a CMS started from a self-styled Francisco Burzi (the phpNuke CMS creator). No many preambles, i would like to publish email’s reports of some questions that i have do directly writing to Francisco Burzi.
Instead phpnuke.org still have not answer to my feedback where i was asking for some explanation about that situation, in very short words explained here:
time ago has arrive an email from fburzi@gmail.com (yes the same email address that still appear in date of today at phpnuke.org commercial licenses informing that php Nuke project and phpnuke.org site was sold to a not specific third persons on end of year 2007. The New owner have not accomplish with agreement to inform all users that Francisco Burzi was not more the coder/developer of Nuke, and also after a pause on his life where he have understand that his passion still was to code Php, he take the decision to open a new project, named smeego, (smeego.com) that should be started from nuke code and so developed in a new way. But after the first release 1.1 of smeego, now at smeego.com appear a system built with wordpress, while many mirror sites around the world have been opened following the announced new smeego project. That’s crazy thing in many ways, obscure in many others. Would like to start this thread here, hope my english is enought clear to make all understand the point of the question.
Here below the email i have send and related answer that i will follow to publish until i will have an answer (i would like to understand clearly what going on with smeego history). If anybody know more about please just reply.
I have read, but you so have sell also your mail box, fburzi@gmail.com ?
That's the strange, as they still have in the page reserved to contact, this same email, and this take non-sense
as you can understand. It is not believable.
http://www.phpnuke.org/modules.php?name=Commercial_License
But what about smeego project? I have lost 2 days of my time and i would like to know what to do with .it domain, that for the moment has been suspensed.
Thank in advance for your answer about smeego CMS future.
Best regards, axew3
----- Original Message -----
From: Francisco Burzi
To: al@axew3.comal@axew3.com
Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 7:55 PM
Subject: Re: Smeego - what about?
I already explained it when Smeego CMS launched and when I dropped the project.
Too bad you didn't read it. It's over now.
Yes... I sold PHP-Nuke but the new owner is still using my name to promote it. I don't know what to do about this.
El 27/07/2008, a las 10:09,
Hello Francisco Burzi, why i found that smeego.com is now built with wordpress, so what about the smeego project?
How this situatuion has come out?
Can you explain something about? Why in the commercial order page of nuke still appear your email address? This is not regular as
all peoples will go to contact for commercial licenses this email: you had really sold the domain and the project? Or you want many sites all around the world just to launch smeego.com fake site? Thank you for the explanation, alessio at w3it.org
( i will wait some day before to start to diffuse some news all over internet about the strange situation ... )
I was looking for the answer to this same issue today as I wanted to download Smeego and was surprised to find that Francisco had replaced the project site with a WordPress Blog!
Please take a moment and have a look at Francisco’s explanation and feel free to show a respectful response when you share it here on your blog.
If somebody still need to say something, i need to answer with what i know for sure, living in first person, and not what you or others maybe would like.
So, i don’t think is good you suggest to me what kind of answer i need to give or/and behaviour i should have. Instead maybe like Francisco Burzi.
You need to do peace with your mind and know much better all what is going on behind. You only know the Francisco side, let now discover the history about all these people like me that have believe on a new GPL project, with beautiful Francisco presentation, we have expend money and some time for this, and so, after few days, what they have “discover”, after a painful smeego start. In the first email where he was informing that after a little pause in his life, he have understand that programming was his life (oh poor!), asking with this trick (practically) for many new mirror’s sites all around the world. Ask for this to all these people, like me, that have read this message, and that can be maybe reported in full if needed.
Maybe you need also to take a look to this thread at w3it.org forum, and maybe Francisco need to explain what about the change of content of the smeego project, what about the new opportunities and so on … it was only a trick to get a well linked, from many mirros sites all around the world, googled site.
This is the true for me and this is what is wrong with all this history and this fake behavior; seem he like too much make money and play with his historical background about old nuke project, without respect for anybody, nor for himself, this time. You can do all what you like on your life, the point is what you do to achieve something. I think he have choose a bad way now, concering also many other peoples that had believe in.
You can report this article where you like, or not, i don’t care. I don’t think to use bad words. and hope all about general concepts is fully clear.
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
Agreed. I think he is still the same human being I met in person some years ago. Selfish and arrogant, he has great ideas, however, his first goal has been always to make money relying on other peoples work, donation or simply charity.
Completely unnaceptable his child behavior, I cannot find words to describe his sudden desition to shut down permanently smeego CMS and phpnuke.org
Don’t know if he have nothing to do with.
I have try to discover the new owner name using all possible internet site, but ‘m not able to.
Maybe more than arrogant, he think also to be so intelligent.
I don’t know the true about the real owner of phpnuke.org. I have use the phpnuke.org feedback and no one time i have received an answer. So for me at moment can also be that he had not sold phpnuke.org project. Maybe i’m wrong, maybe no, and looking to what he have do in this latest time, well, let me say, i can expect something like this, and also worse, but i don’t care anymore!
awaiting moderation? hohoho! that means you’ll never publish my past comment because you’re exactly what you describe about others or worse.
You can say all what you like, but not insults, your reply has been deleted for this reason. As you can see this has been approved.
So, like me you can say all what you like, but a fact remain: al peoples that have to do something with Francisco Burzi last time and with the fake Smeego history, have all the same idea. So you can still continue to think what you believe, it do not take much importance to me or others. But please, let us know, who you are, his lawyer?
axew3… not I’m not his lawyer. He is my friend for several years ago, even before he started PHP-Nuke. With what I will say my name isn’t relevant at all. So I know his story very well, I know how many days he didn’t sleep to work on his passion and what was the community answer to his efforts? Insults, calumnies, flames from people he didn’t know at all. Just pure envy in my point of view.
He sold PHP-Nuke in October of 2007 for something near a million dollars (don’t know exactly because he signed a NDA with the buyer, which is from Spain and isn’t a company but an individual).
You had to see his face when he sold the site… a face of lightening, not happiness, but lightening. He was really tired of PHP-Nuke due to some people’s constant attacks, lack of gratefulness, etc. I convinced him to not drop and close the project a couple of times.
Then he started Smeego CMS project just by angry. Why? because the buyer did not announce the purchase of PHP-Nuke as they agreed. He thought it will be different with the new project, but soon same stupid people started to attack him again, so he finally (following few friends recommendations) faced it and stopped working on the new project. He does not deserve a treatment like that and he made the best decision of his life.
He is now working on a more anonymous and relaxing projects on the internet and in the real estate field (will not mention them because I don’t have his permission to do so).
He is now living in Colombia in a voluntary exile after leaving Venezuela escaping of the Comunism with all his family, leaving behind the country that saw he grow. Fortunately he is well and very happy now with his father, mother, wife and his two beautiful children.
Due to this and after a long discussion with him I can assure you that he will not be involved in a free software project anymore ever. He just didn’t want to know anything about free software community, for him the PHP-Nuke experience was frustrating and dissapointing, with money, yes and with few happy moments and people that helped, but dissapointing.
That is the true story that obviously you didn’t know until now.
Finally, in the name of the friendship that I have had with him (the best person I know and the most integral and honest one) I request to you not to make unfounded commentaries and to publish this answer that contains the pure and absolute truth around this semi-polemic issue.
Thanks.
What i can say, he, in the right time, have to do a simple thing: let know people about what and why. Almost to those that had start a site somewhere following him. Not less not more. He had send an email world wide announcing a new project. I was so happy for this, but in a while all was stopped without apparently reason. The only one, at our eyes, and as you can understand, was a well googled site in a moment due to many links worldwide, so a good start point for a site… also if it can appear as a remote thing, who can know? I don’t know directly him, (or you) and i never have do something wrong versus Francisco Burzi, no one word, never before. With 1 million in his hand he can stay so happy, and many persons world wide are in a bad situation, much more than Francisco history, so i don’t care about it. It is not a good point of view. Nothing to do with in this situation. It not justify nothing. I can believe he is a good man, and to be honest, believe me i don’t care anymore (and also nor before), if he is or not. I can let you understand ok, i believe he is a good man. The spanish new owner of nuke is the worse one you can found in this world instead, and he have hide also possibility to know who is the real owner of the nuke project now.
But maybe the same Francisco Burzi, for what we can know, is still the owner. It do not should do much difference for Burzi. He can have a good life now, say him enjoy and forget all the bad. Also the latest he done.
Let’s just hope his new projects as digitalhysteria.com and themelabs last longer than smeego.com
At the end everybody deserves a 2nd opportunity.
We honestly don’t know(there is now way to proof his statement at all) if he really sold phpnuke or not, let’s give him the benefit of doubt and let’s move on!
I have not much more to add … ah yes … it is very strange your behavior when you say the above
and so go to sign JPO with a link back to phpnuke.org. If it is really your home than you should know more than Francisco Burzi about phpnuke.org owner. Or you are a likeable clown
And it is just a joke, or you are so distracted. But … yes let’s move on! (but do not forget)
My point is, we have no proof about our assumptions, that’s all, the link to phpnuke.org was a joke, everything else it’s real, I met him once and there is not much to say rather than “if it looks like a chicken…smell like a chicken….” It’s completely understandable for all the wasted efforts from people who believed and support the smeego project. In my personal point of view, he should have apologized in public and admit his error instead to blaming other people and assume its consequences as a men. Just my 2 cents. peace for everybody!
Cool!
I found your blog by chance . but i have to say that it’s great blog very useful information and very interesting subjects just greetings and good luck
i’m not going i will be always checking for updates.I’m very interested in CMS and all its related subjects.
Right in F Burtzi’s defence phpnuke at its peak was maybe more popular than 90% of all cms scripts yes at the start like all first releases it was basic comapared to the 7 and 8 releases yes smeego was basicly phpnuke with the modules file removed and index used. but he is yet one man and im sure in the beginning he had high hopes for smeego and maybe a lack of time to develope it as he would like it. I really feel he felt let down with the project and felt it was time to let go.