Thanks Irving for your update on the spacebar mod! However, it is difficult for me to see the mod in the first photo. I can see you bent the back of the tab slightly forward, which might be a preferable option, though I would be careful with the metal tabs and not flex them too much.
I am glad we are getting back on topic and beginning to focus on the topic at hand - appreciation for and working with Model F keyboards, and specifically the new reproduction keyboards that are the focus of this thread.
Not to sidetrack us but I did want to respond with my general take on things:
At this point a small number of folks, often with too much time on their hands and nothing to do, have tried for years to attack the project and personally attack anyone supporting the project, and they have nothing to show for it, including the latest round of attempts.
It is time to move on and leave these threads to folks who like the Model F and do not want drama, and who want to talk about the topic of the thread instead of looking for things to be bothered by. Any outcome they may have hoped for was not achieved; there have been no changes to the project philosophy and the interest has only grown over the years thanks to all these great folks worldwide that appreciate buckling springs. Surely there are other things that are more important in their life than to be angry for years about some small web site that does not affect them. Which world problems are more pressing than being angry about someone else's keyboards? Surely, all of them! Most of the repeat attacks are folks repeating and exaggerating hearsay that they cannot personally confirm is true, instead of reporting on their own personal experience. Everyone who reads the product page is aware of their major complaint points so it is not necessary to repeatedly shout the same points - no one is just finding out about it from these rants.
One other reason for the attacks is that there are not as many exciting projects, group buys, and the like in recent years, so there is not as much to discuss and there are far fewer active posts, but much of the remaining activity is by the same group of ill-wishers, with negative post after negative post concentrated on far fewer areas of activity. Hopefully we will see some more keyboard interest in the near future.
I see a lot of key set group buys and various small custom MX projects, but what are the major completely out of the ordinary advancements in the keyboard community in recent years? The innovations adding capacitive keyboard support for QMK and Vial and the creation of the Leyden Jar controller most certainly, but I cannot think of many others.
We are all adults here and are free to accept how things are set up and decide to participate in these keyboard projects in various productive capacities without expecting to face judgment from harsh forum members. My stance is that the community is at its best when things are easy-going, everyone is left alone, conversations remain friendly, and no one is forcing requests on others. The only request to force is that we keep things civil, because if we cannot agree on that then there is no community, just a power struggle for certain community members to try to tell everyone what to do. It is not their place to repeatedly message and bother people to do something. Now we have had some forum members openly moralizing and going after other community members who don't do exactly as they say, forcing everyone to weigh their own contributions against what they have "taken" from the community (and of course appointing themselves as judge). Last I checked, this forum is not limited to folks who have contributed exactly as these few forum members have demanded, but the forum is open to all who have an interest in keyboards, whether or not they comply with ridiculous requests to hand over their computer files or revenues "for the public good." Most major companies are not being ordered to hand over all of their private files because they work with open source tools, even if a tool like FreeBSD, Linux, or OpenCAD was used to write a document or design a CAD file.
A good way to take back these threads from the few angry posters who are posting all day is to post about on-topic stuff, such as your experience with a new (or original) Model F keyboard and any specific recommendations to change the writing in the manual and on the project web site, and hit the ignore button for these few users. Helping to refute these mostly false claims and off-topic remarks would also be helpful as no one person has the time to refute every false claim on the internet! However, feeding the trolls and replying to their arguments only spurs them on get in the last word on any subject, so we need to balance correcting misinformation and not giving them what they want (attention, a superior self-appointed position in the community from which to pass judgments, etc.). The ignore user list will be growing for many other folks here for sure.
With this in mind I will make some brief comments below so as to refute some of the more ridiculous and foolish claims while focusing on continuing the project philosophy and mailing out the backlog.
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/c ... dex_en.htm
"Under EU rules, if the goods you buy turn out to be faulty or do not look or work as advertised, the seller must repair or replace them at no cost."
If the goods are advertised as having cosmetic defects, then any good with cosmetic defects is as advertised, so no claim can be justified that the goods are not as advertised if they have a cosemetic defect. Same with goods that require setup and assembly - if it is disclosed and arrives as disclosed, the goods are as advertised. Never have any project goods been advertised as completely set up and requiring zero work. No one is getting broken keycaps and is being told they will have to live with a broken keyboard; that is just false. Everyone who follows the required setup will have a working keyboard, and if a broken part is preventing that, the part will be replaced for free.
Quoting from the same site: "Please note: the 14-day cooling-off period does not apply to:
-goods made to order or clearly personalised"
The terms and conditions disclose that all goods are considered custom, made-to-order, so again we have additional accusations that prove false. These keyboards are all completely made to order both to my specifications and custom requirements and based on the customer's custom specifications, out of more than a thousand possible combinations of parts. Since this was disclosed ahead of time, everyone has been adequately notified.
And regarding another point brought up, it is standard business practice that the local country's laws may have a say over any standard terms and conditions; this project abides by all such international requirements.
It is plainly careless to throw around generalized accusations without any evidence or only with hearsay evidence from those who admit to having no firsthand knowledge. Again, these requirements do not force anyone to only sell fully assembled products with zero cosmetic defects. Laws do not prohibit assembly requirements and selling products with cosmetic defects if they are fully disclosed as such, which they are. And to repeat once more, if you get a broken part it is replaced for free at my expense. Therefore there is nothing wrong with selling a keyboard requiring setup and assembly and buying from a "B Stock" since every one of these points is disclosed in multiple areas of the project site.
I will also respond to a recent request to hide the thread and move it to a different location; the only purpose of such a request is to make it more difficult to access the thread for folks who have been following for years and may not be able to locate the thread again if it is moved. There is not an overabundance of group buys expected in the future where one additional topic would hide all these other group buys from the list, so this request comes of as another mean-spirited request to get rid of the competition for Model F projects.
