TEKNIDERMY - ISSUE 8: February/March 2002

Skinnables.org
or, where the code meets the artist - and then some.
by kenray


Skinnables.org came online towards the end of December, offering a place for coders, developers and skinners to come together & share creative ideas and work together on projects.

It is a concept that has been bandied about a few times in the past few years, and it is a welcome addition to the skinning (and coding) scene.

I was fortunate enough to get the entire Skinnables crew into IRC for a little chat. To be honest, I got a lot more than I expected. As Edina on Absolutely Fabulous is so fond of saying: "Names, darling, names". I found myself chatting with a list of community notables, namely: dork, plastic, integer, virophile & redllar (if you don't know those names, skin for a while, you'll learn them).


Tek: so, is this the "skinnables" crew?

integer: yeah - this is us :)

Tek: Nice crew!

Tek: where did the skinnables idea come from?

integer: skinbase - is where this all evolved from
plastic: (saying hi to scarebear :)

Tek: great guy, great site

integer: kudos to the staff there
dork: indeed
redllar: gRAVE! chaz!

Tek: how long has the site been "in the works"?

integer: hrm.. it kinda started about early November

Tek: wow, that's fast....who started this?

dork: integer has been working on his obsessive compulsive behaviors....

Tek: so, the impetus came from integer?

virophile: I believe so
dork: yes
redllar: that's what i remember
integer: well, it was something a few of us were going to do ages ago, but it fell through (a few of us being bakerstreet, dmer, tananda and myself,... i think) then i just picked up the ball and ran with it....

Tek: that's another round of royalty there....

Tek: Over at skinz.org, in the news announcement regarding the opening of skinnables.org, shoggot says:

"and if ever you've wondered, hrm, app "X" is nice, it does some nifty stuff, but yeesh, it's $59.99 - there's gotta be some guy who, in his basement, has crafted a freeware app to do the same thing - look no further."

does that sum it up for skinnables.org?

plastic: hopefully
integer: exactly, for me..
dork: i would like to think it's a little more than that..

Tek: please expound

dork: it's not as much about the money charged for an application as it is the passion most of us share for skinning and/or coding... what does ?coder do when he/she has something in the works?

Tek: well, the community has needed this kind of place for a long time... instead of having projects spanning several message boards, now we have a place for development that is dedicated to it... correct?

dork: yes, and a place for new dev's to learn some tricks and skinners to get their hands on some really neat stuff as well

Tek: yes...I have already seen some of that in just the past few days. I noticed the "default skin designers" section...very nice..."unsung heroes?"

plastic: viro's department, as is the skinners sites section

Tek: your department..eh? Was it your idea?

virophile: yes, kinda, I wanted a place for every skinners homepage all in one place, as like a gallery or a place to go and visit these skinners worlds.

Tek: ...and a place for devs to find people experienced with the process?

virophile: exactly

Tek: I'm working on a piece about "dollars and skins"...if I may ask...how are you supporting skinnables (i have not noticed pop-ups)

integer: no pop ups, no banners (intentionally)
plastic: he's paying :)

Tek: and loads of freebies...who pays for throughput and server space?

integer: we run a warez cd businees, and that covers the costs ...only joking!!

Tek: HAHAHHAHAHA

Tek: seriously, tho....

dork: integer has set this up out of his own deep pockets...

Tek: very kind

integer: I'm covering the hosting costs, though they're not expensive (yet)
dork: I tried to send him some flowers as a gesture, but he wouldn't give me his address

Tek: who "did" the site?

plastic: ask who kept breaking it :)

Tek: All right...who kept breaking it?

integer: we all did our bit...
dork: integer and redllar are the main coders of the site
dork: I break it as often as possible to speed up their learning curve (although the majority of it is nuke)

Tek: it is really nice...great app collection.... and nice to see an orphans section

integer: plastics department :)
plastic: they gotta be somewhere
integer: and thanks to howie for his contributions too

Tek: yes, howie has helped us out at tek too... like the "app stork" I notice there are already three "developmental projects" under way in just a few short days...shades of things to come?

plastic: let's hope so
integer: hopefully, I was worried at first due to lack of projects, but they're starting to come in now...as are the code snippets
plastic: and response has been great so far!
redllar: eroz and l0c have posted some great examples
integer: and so has some guy called redllar
dork: as does that redllar guy, he's spamming the snippets as we speak...

Tek: are you all linked up within the "code geek" communities?

dork: many are already with us... and that's a blessing in and of itself

Tek: care to give a few "shout outs' to the coding sites? (i know many are outside the sites skinners usually visit)

redllar: http://www.codeguru.com - great group of people, to be honest... I've had exactly 2 responses from the 12 or coding sites i posted to a while back. Devs are a funky breed

Tek: you got a nice post at Shell City a few days back tho...that's really good, right?

integer: bob (shellcity) has been great
redllar: bob is cool
plastic: as said before, best neighbor in town

Tek: yeah, and really responsive, too... he knows "everything"

Tek: of the three initial developmental projects... cursearch is the most fascinating to me personally...an original idea...we should hope to see much more of that....

integer: yeah - i looked at that - its got great potential
plastic: yep, was surprised to find it skinnable in essence already
integer: and BruB's (http://surf.to/cursorphiles) been pretty active in encouraging/promoting the site

Tek: how many more "original" ideas can there be...program wise?

virophile: millions! I think.
integer: there's always scope for improvements, if not new idea's
dork: i think that with a collective site to bounce ideas around on, there will be more creative ideas coming
plastic: some nice ideas already
integer: like redllar releasing the code to all his old stuff!

* integer nudges redllar

Tek: should it be a stated goal, as shoggot suggests, to create a freeware version/competitor to every payware program out there?

plastic: that would suggest we oppose shareware.

Tek: seriously tho, not opposing, just offering a freeware alternative as EFX is to (lets say) windowblinds or Xstyles...

integer: not primarily... i suppose that's an advantageous side effect. i just wanna see "joe coder" get the respect/support he/she deserves

Tek: do you think skinnables would or could act as a platform for the development of pay or shareware?

integer: no
dork: absolutely not
integer: there is already a platform for payware - we are just filling a hole
dork: it's in our mission statement...... freeware only, period

Tek: so, is skinnables planning to host any of the apps under development, or is it more of a "farm"?

integer: good name1, we're waiting on bandwidth figures at the moment... we've only been up a couple of days

Tek: have you got any figures at all at present?

integer: no, its too early to tell.

Tek: any big events in the future for skinnables?

integer: not big events - we've got some good features we're hopefully going to be adding

Tek: care to mention...?

integer: well, depends if I can understand the second chapter of my php book :)

Tek: hahhahaha

integer: seriously tho, we'd really like to have seperate forums for each project-something redllar is looking into
dork: i got three of 'em, and can't make sense of any of it! ;)
integer: you've got them upside down, dork
dork: crap, again?

* virophile attempts to teach dork how to read :)

dork: skinnables.org will grow, just as code snippets grow into full featured applications...

Tek: well, guys, how about an "uber spell checker" program? You could call it the "kenray cure"?

plastic: :)
virophile: hehe
integer: no problem - do we get Fnads five now? :)

Tek: do you want Fnads five?

plastic: frick, Fnad, he coded too, you know...

Tek: ok then - 1. What skin do you wish you'd written

redllar: anything by kentium
dork: damn near all of Essorants work
plastic: anything by MarbleMad
virophile: oh man, that one is hard. too many I wish I made ;)

Tek: 2. What would you like to have on your laptop if you were stranded on an island, as in: skins, music, proggies, peripherals, games, etc. (Tequila is NOT an answer)

integer: Tequila
virophile: a T-1 line, and dorks webcam address :)
dork: that's gross viro
plastic: mwah, no internet ? don't bother.

Tek: 3. Have there been any skins that have made you laugh? Cry? Orgasm?

integer: SOG by bakerstreet made me do all 3 - without it I wouldn't be here now
plastic: misery's stuff

Tek: ok...all the ladies (and some of the guys) will want to know...4. Boxers or briefs?

integer: nOoO - sensitive subject :) Panties!!
redllar: ha - maroon panties!!!!!
virophile: none of the above
integer: eew

Tek: virophile, the free-baller, huh?

virophile: sometimes, laundry sucks
integer: i wondered what that smell was....
dork: boxers, a stained white t-shirt, black socks and sandals
virophile: haha

Tek: sunset beach attire?

integer: spot the American :)
dork: hehe

Tek: ok...the big chance to "shout out" 5. List some sites you visit daily, weekly, hourly.

* virophile gives a big shout out to the LOS fellowship and all the celry troops

plastic: shellfront!
integer: shellcity, shellfront, los, skinbase, vp, geoshellx.com - and a miriad of others that'll get pissed if i dont mention them :)
plastic: new scenes for customization: neowin.net, iexbeta.com
integer: skinz...

Tek: thanks for doing this

integer: our pleasure

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