EverEcco Q&A  Q: Mark, are you just a “do-gooder” or is there something in it for you? A: The EverEcco Project is born out of need motivated by circumstance. I need EverEcco and sharing my work is the barter for asking others to help make it better.  In the end we all get a better EverEcco than anyone could have made on their own.  That’s the intent and concept behind Open Source as best I understand it. Q: Speaking of Open Source, who is paying for this? A: My wife and I are for now.  I say “for now” because I’m a stage IV cancer survivor.  I’m doing good 2 years out (as of Jan. 2016) but with this stuff you never know, so once the forum is up and running, formalizing a plan to continue the project without me would be a prudent move.  Just saying! I have been told lots of lawyers use Ecco.  Ha, I bet at least one of you Esquire-types could formalize something in your sleep:) (To-Do’s --> Ecco+EE’s/EverEcco’s  long-term survival) Q: Is cancer somehow tied to The EverEcco Project? A: Yes.  Getting sick has provided the motivation to create “thoseCwords.com - Life support for people dealing w/ cancer and other Cwords.”   The back end - the dual tasks of collecting and categorizing information on medicine, technology and people, then scheduling, interviewing and producing a daily podcast - will be conducted by a couple people running synced copies of EverEcco. Q: What makes the old jalopy EccoPro worth hot-rodding? A:  For situations where a limited number of seats of a super-PIM is needed, EccoPro’s native time & information toolset is not readily replaceable, even in 2016.  EE adds new features, compatibility with 2016 technologies and provides tools to tap unused memory inside files that say “out of memory”.  EE allows data re-packing of old Ecco files for longer trouble-free life, it provides tools to further exploit Ecco’s fast and robust database engine and adds rules and scripting which can be used to block user moves that would cause memory register overload.  (Note: The last sentence is “forward looking” --> (To-Do’s --> Forum: “Blocking VOU overuns”) Note:  I’m hoping EccoPro experts will update/correct/embellish this answer (and all answers) since they’ve been tinkering under the hood for years.  (To-Do’s --> Add “Why Keep Ecco Alive” to comments section)   Q: What makes Ecco so fast?  A: A combination of fast database and low-overhead graphic user interface (GUI).  Everything is done in RAM with a robust 32-bit Borland engine handling up to 2GB chunks at data.  Ecco’s GUI was designed to be fast and lightweight back when computers were slow and cumbersome.*    Q: What about “memory issues”? A: EccoPro’s internal pathways, memory registers (caches?) and GUI are 16 bit and its database is 32 bit.  The mismatch causes problems.*  Best car/truck analogy?:  The road-side turnoffs you see on sloping highways - the ones designed to give truckers a chance if their brakes fail ... Those turn-offs function a bit like the memory registers situated on the highway between EccoPro‘s display (GUI) and its database.  Sometimes the registers are not big enough to handle a speeding mass of data and there’s an accident.  EverEcco’s Memory Manifesto continues the topic. * Note:  Ha, I talk a good line. I hope EccoPro experts will correct me if/when I’m overstepping.  For example, the last two answers are starred b/c I am putting 2+2 together from what I’ve read.   (To-Do’s --> Forum Adds: “EccoPro’s Achilles heal” and “What makes Ecco unique”) Q:  What makes you think Ecco+EE is robust & dependable? A:  I have spent many hours testing Ecco+EE to see if features such as Lock* continue to work when an Ecco file gets large enough to choke native Ecco.   The answer is YES.  Over 60,000 Items, each with thousands of cells of data can be Locked and UnLocked without issue.  I have packed over 50 MB of ASCII text-only data into one Ecco file and could have added 100’s pf MB more information based on proof-of-concept testing.  Repeated Locking/UnLocking, text inputting and tag association/unassociation causes no problems on ‘overstuffed by native EccoPro standards’ files and Items can be viewed, searched, moved, sorted, filtered, etc. as long as the scope of the request stays within certain internal memory limits.  See Ecco’s Memory Manifesto for more. Note: All TLI/SLI testing is done.  Folder testing 1/2 done.  Test files for public use need to be created if others are to help test.  (To-Do’s --> Forum Add: “EE Memory Testing”) * A comment about Ecco+EE’s Lock feature:  Before ‘Lock’ I would loose data weekly if not daily. Now I do not loose data.  Q: Is EverEcco ready for release? A: Almost.  Although I’ve been saying that for months.  As with many complex projects, the more you do the more there is to do.  With new SW development, the phenomenon is caused by “feature creep”.  However, in the case of dead software, how can there be feature creep?   Well, there are over 100 templates, extensions, add-ons, and fixes for Ecco scattered across the WWW.   Add-in scripts and rules and the number doubles.  That is alot to consider for inclusion in EverEcco.  Factoring-in that many Ecco experts speak English as a second language to Lua, Perl and Assembly code, and it can be slow-going for a non-coder like me. (To-Do’s --> Forum Add: “Add-ons, Extensions, Utilities to test for EverEcco”)