Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] Re: Get a load of this!!!
From: Benno Senoner (sbenno_AT_gardena.net)
Date: Fri Jan 30 2004 - 21:49:47 EET
Dear Ron Parker:
I'm not sure if this message was intended as a private reply or to the
list but
I guess it was the latter because if this message was private you would have
sent it to Domenico and not to me.
Even if I'm not implied of the dispute since it was an issue between
you and Domenico (Lionstracs head) I'm very disappointed about these
SILLY statements you made.
Lionstracs is neither my company nor am I an employee, I'm just
an external , selfemployed developer that is writing some code for this
company.
I have no decisional power in the company.
I'm sorry that you got "fired" (fired is not the right term, see below),
perhaps Domenico reacted a bit too quickly but he did it for a couple of
reasons.
Since Lionstracs believes in open source I think they have nothing to
hide so
I tell you guys how the story with Ron went:
all began on irc: I was already writing some code for Lionstracs and
asked Ron
what he was thinking about the Mediastation. He said he would like to
contribute to
the project (volountarily, without expecting money in the beginning)
since he owns a recoding studio and knows what studio people want.
(The Mediastation, since it contains a PC can be used in a studio too,
not only as
a performance keyboard)
The contributions would have been in form of docs, elaborating user
concepts,
defining what apps to put on the box etc.
So far so good. I've put Ron in contact with Domenico and they talked
for some
time about what to do etc.
Then Domenico needed to fly to the US for a meeting with a potential
distributor
that wanted to see what kind of machine the Mediastation is.
So Ron and Domenico agreed to meet the distributor at Ron's studio so that
Ron could get a MS to work with.
So far so good.
Meanwhile according to Domenico, Ron got paid $1500.
Then after a few months came the NAMM, the distributor hosted Lionstracs
at his own booth.
Ron was invited there too taking his MS with it.
(all expenses like hotel,taxi, food, badge etc all paid by Lionstracs).
Then we stayed 2-3 days at the hotel in Anaheim before the NAMM began
because
we had to prepare some stuff.
We tested them in the hotel, Domenico had to change some boards and
panels on
the MS of Ron and the first thing that upset Domenico was that the
buttonpanel
of Ron's MS was totally yellow and dirty because Ron smokes alot and must
probably having used the MS as ashtray.
I mean, you are given a prototype machine that costed hundreds of
thousands of
dollar to develop and you treat it that way ? I'd be a bit upset too if
it was my
creation.
Wednesday we brought the 2 MS to the booth for setting up all cabling
etc since
the opening was Thursday.
We got only a relatively small corner of the booth and the demo guy
which played
the MS live needed to face the visitors while the other MS (that Ron
should have demoed)
could not be put in that position (facing the visitors) or we would have
closed the booth
to visitor preventing them to enter it.
So Domenico decided to position one MS facing the booth's wall.
That way visitors could enter and see the button panel, the LCD the
external monitor etc.
But Ron complained and said "I don't want to look at the wall the whole
day", got upset
and did not talk to us for the whole day.
I mean: you come to demo a machine for a company and get upset about the
position of the machine,
it just does not make sense to me.
Everyone at the booth agreed that the right position of the 2nd MS was
facing the wall so it was not just
Domenico's silly idea.
Then came Thursday: the NAMM opened and the keyboarder guy player the
1st MS while Ron was at the 2nd MS.
Ron prepared an ardour demo but he refused to show off to people the
basic features like soundpatch selection,
midi players/ audio players. This stuff is so easy to learn that it
does not take more than 5minutes to explain to
a non computer savy person.
When I told Ron, "Ron, take a couple of minutes so I show you how to use
the midi players and the soundselection menu" he responded "I don't want
to touch this stuff, I show people Ardour".
I mean ... nothing against Ardour, it is a nice app but it is not a
primary application for the MS.
The MS is a keyboard made to play and this is why the midi/audio
players, volume faders, mute buttons, soundselection menus are more
important to show to people than ardour.
All this stuff toghether has lead Domenico to take his decisions and
telling Ron he is not the right person for him.
So Ron stating he was fired without motives is not telling the whole story.
There was no contract between Ron and Domenico, just sort of volountary
trial period thus you cannot even call it firing.
Ron regarding your gear (HD, mics, cables) you let at the NAMM:
After the NAMM closed (sunday evening) and the flightcases arrived
(where your stuff was stored),
Domenico has put everything in a box and Don Peterson of Music
Industries took care to ship it to your
home address. Not sure if they shipped it from L.A. or if they took the
stuff and shipped it from NYC where
they reside. Anyway just call Ernie of Music Industries and ask. I think
it just takes a few days to get delivered since they probably ship via
regular mail service.
So before accusing someone of stealing your stuff ask what's up instead
of writing silly statemens like in your mail.
I repeat, I'm disappointed about your childish behaviour, you wrote lots
of nonsense to a public place which Domenico not even reads instead of
writing him directly.
Its a cowardly act.
Plus this senseless blackmailing puts you even more on the wrong side.
I mean ... with what you wrote one could just sue you for defamation,
blackmailing and theft of private data of a company.
Not sure what this translates to in the US in terms of jailtime and
monetary fines.
I'd interested what a lawyer thinks about your public statements you
made, I'll let you know if you wish.
Frankly speaking you produced almost nothing usable for the MS, you not
even finished a short
powerpoint-like presentation to run on the MS external monitor which
Domenico asked you to prepare for the NAMM.
But you got paid and got a free all-inclusive trip to the NAMM.
So don't try to look like a victim pretending even more money (extorting
money I would say) for your
"lost time", that just does not make sense.
BTW: there is nothing to encrypt on the Mediastation, just look at the
hardisk contents, a few audio/midi players,
soundmenu management, keyboard management, mixer management.
It will become open source anyway so your threats would not make any
difference to the company.
Ron next time you have a problem with someone please avoid the Linux
Audio community these public performances
since it is only damaging yourself and nothing other.
Leave me out too because I have no fault in this situation.
I responded to a question of the other user on this mailing list and you
respond with this silly crap.
Perhaps you feel excluded from the Mediastation team and thus you hate
everyone involved and feel the need
for some revenge or reliation attacking everyone involved in this project ?
It's a childish behaviour which will buy you nothing other making you
look ridicule and putting you even more
on the side of the wrong.
If I would put me on your some low level then I'll probably telling
people now about your personal problems you
suffered from in the past so probably they would better understand why
you reacted this way on the mailing list.
But I'm not doing so, I respect you and your privacy unlike you did with
others.
Know what Ron ? The real nature of people comes out during conflict
situations and unfortunately you demonstrated
it pretty accurately.
Next time you incur into a conflictual situation try to leave emotions
aside and analyze it from a rational point of view.
You will discover that usually decisions taken by people are caused by a
serie of events and not because they get up
with the wrong foot.
Don't think that everyone in the world is bad and wants to fsck you as
soon as you turn your back.
If Domenico was a bad guy and treated people without respect (not only
me) I would be the first person to leave.
I'm not dependent of him. I usually work for multiple companies and one
more or less does not makes the difference.
A few LADers here known Domenico personally and I'm sure they have a
total different opinion from those of Ron
which tries to paint it as it was the evils of al evils.
Please stop spreading this senseless bashing on the mailing list and
give vent to your anger somewhere else.
The linux audio lists are friendly places, where people talk about linux
audio and not about attacking other people,
and screaming out their personal problems and issues they have with
some poeple.
I think everyone here should contribute to keep this place in harmony.
I'm sorry for my OT mail, but Ron sucked me in in this mess and I had to
give a fair explanation, I don't like FUD
neither in the computer world, neither in the real world.
PS: Ron, if seeing messages mentioning the Mediastation here on the
mailing list just place a filter to put them
in the trash folder that way you eliminate the problem at the root.
peace,
Benno
R Parker wrote:
>>We will see, ill keep you posted what these crazy
>>italians cook in their
>>kitchen :-)
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Fri Jan 30 2004 - 20:47:24 EET