In the ongoing series about the FreeRepublic,
the time has come for a question about software
design. I said I wouldn't just be looking at
the background hum of bigotry, disagreeable
as that is. There are other issues.

The board is driven by a product (FocusForum)
developed by Robinson-DeFehr consulting. The
product seems to have been "in development"
since at least 2000, and as of this date I don't
believe I have ever seen it offered for sale.
As things stand, Jim Robinson and his son John
runs the FreeRepublic and John is responsible
for the software - which does not seem to be
publicly available. It is listed on the web-
site of Robinson-DeFehr consulting as a "current
project".

There are many software products available for
bulletin boards. But the FreeRepublic site (a
major board with many thousands of active members)
is using a proprietary product offering no public
transparency. Basically, in regard to certain
security issues, they're saying: This is safe.
Trust us. When you send a private message to
another member, there is no way an administrator
can look at it. Your mail is private.

Just an example.

Now, they might be right. But it would be nice
if there was a way of knowing that. That way
exist with commercial software, in the fact that
the public uses it, flaws quickly become exposed
and fixes are found and distributed, etc.

So, some questions:

• Is FocusForum available anywhere?
  
• Is there any independent tests?
  
• Would you trust a setup like this?