Comodo Aquires BoClean!

I just hope, that Kevin and Nancy will remain a fixture of this place. Man I smile, when I think of all the times, someone posted a question, concern, or thought, about Boclean, just to patiently wait for them to log in and respond. Which, when it came to customer service, were ranked at the top. Unlike some others in the malware products that I have observed of late. Even with Comodo, they will hopefully have a active role and work to make the product better due to better resources. I mean look at Ewido. Everyone pee-ed in their pants when AVG bought them. But the Ewidos assured us they would stay active in that products development, and they obviously have, or AVG malware products would not be, damn near perfect.

Vendors and people will leave here and return from time to time. But they will always be family, no matter how much squabling we do.

 

Nancy and I are *humbled* by all the faith and warm wishes everyone's extended, and well wishes for the future. For those of you who showed YOUR faith in us in cash, rest assured that even after the change, I know who helped us pay our bills for over ten years and it's MY personal promise (as well as COMODO's) that everything you've always expected and received from us will continue to be honored as time trudges on. That's WHY we appreciate (despite our early doubts) being "eaten" by COMODO. NOTHING changes, it only improves! And that was, and is STILL, my "marching orders."

For those of you who are going to get FREE BOClean, it will be at least as good as the paid version, actually slightly better until I can REALLY get to serious coding which I haven't had the time for in nearly two years and all else that will flow from this. But then again, if y'all weren't into "free" in the first place, you would have HAD BOClean *and* you probably wouldn't NEED it. There's ALWAYS been a price EVERY time for "free" anything. Either you were outright hosed, ripped off or used as a lab rat for some product that needed you to pay for development at the cost of y our machine or sanity.

After all, if "free" were TRULY FREE, I wouldn't have had to pay a mortgage, one or more of you would drop by every night with food and I'd be able to take a joyride to Texas in YOUR car. FREE, after all.

Alas, some folks NEED to get paid for their work to pay the rent, eat, etc and that's all we ever asked ... to EAT in exchange for our hard work every day. I dunno what COMODO's plans are for support for those who will be getting BOClean for free, been too busy to ASK ... all WE cared about was that our EXISTING customers at the time of handover would be treated right, and THAT promise was made and is already being kept.

I'm guessing the "freebie" will be supported like any other freebie - the rantings of folks on forums. One of the reasons we didn't really take part in the forums so much as begging people to just EMAIL us with specifics so we could solve them was that "forum advice" where it's even available tends to be people parroting one oddball situation of a specific machine's configuration having a WEIRD problem and us telling that person, "here's what you need to do here and THIS will fix it for ya" and them then hitting the forums with the SAME advice to others on that weirdy, then having people pay ATTENTION to it and DO it, and then blame US when they hosed their box on incorrect advice when they didn't contact US in the first place.

THAT was the reason we were so hell bent on providing PERSONAL support for what we charged. No two winders hosings are the same, YMMV, all other provisos. What folks PAID for was our actually paying attention to specific people and what THEY had going on and then fixing it. Like I said, dunno what COMODO will do for the "freebies" ... I suppose I'll have the time to be dragged out onto the forums soon ... maybe it'll be like that. Dunno. My own PERSONAL attitude for all the pain and suffering the past two years that Nancy and I have been through protecting people from themselves, I'm not terribly inclined to provide the same level of "service" for those who haven't paid, but I'll certainly do what I'm told as an employee of COMODO. But doesn't mean I'll LIKE the concept if you understand where I'm coming from.

The PERSONAL cost of trying to keep BOClean together while carious other companies sniffed at us put ME into personal bankruptcy and almost lost our HOUSE trying to keep it lit for everyone and do the work of entire corporations with thousands of malware analysts and support people. It was just the TWO of us, and we STARVED for all this. Nobody cared except for a handful. And I'm just a little bit more than slightly peeved at those who are here with ...

SO WHEN do I get my FREEBIE?

Can I have the keys to your car AND your girlfriend?

Can anyone look at this from OUR standpoint for once? We HONORED those who paid us by ENSURING that our stuff would be in GOOD hands. And NOW, because of the generosity of that company, folks will have it for FREE, those who PAID us will get the service they PAID for and Nancy and I have gone through all of this the past couple of years while "experts" beat their chest and crow?

Some expletives come to mind. Just needed to be said. But now that I'm about to EAT again, and Nancy is free to get SOME of her life back, geez ... picking the bones of a CORPSE some of you. This has been HIGHLY upsetting to us, and seems no one's noticed.

Just needed to be said.

 

Just wondering from what Kevin said.

So the new free Boclean will be the same as the paid as the paid wont exist anymore?


Coz Kevin said that for the paid customers he will do some hard work on coding the program? but i thought that there will only be 1 Boclean version and that is the new free Comodo Boclean?

 

Kevin, live for the future and screw the past. The 2 of you, have each other and that my friend is priceless. Your past customers knew the arena they got in to when they purchased your product, and that they can live with it. I spoke to Nancy today, trying to actually pay for a version, but as we both know, that cant be done. Actually I may have asked for a refund at one point. Stupid me.You see I know that the freebies are great for folks like me, but dont put meat on the table, for folks like you. We never take the time here to think about this, because software vendors are all viewed in one light. Not by their true size of employees, but just by a products name. Life is very short my friend, and your biggest accomplishment isnt the products you created, but a certain person whom you live your life with. And that Kevin, is the end, of that story.

 

I can't blame the guy for taking a payday. Heck...that's what many small businesses dream of. The initial investors put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears then reap the benefits when they get bought by a larger company. Whether this was his plan from the start or not, it's all part of the American Dream.

People should be happy that they had such a great product for so long rather than moan about what they might lose. Not to mention, the product could actually improve with Comodo's resources.

 

Truth be told, I'm in my mid-fifties. Nancy is pushing 50. We're dynosaurs of a bygone age where your "word" was EVERYTHING. And it's not like there is much in the way of opportunities at our age - "cost accounting" says that our "acquisition value" as employees will NEVER cover the cost of our "training." So it goes ... that ALONE was reason enough for us to want to stay independent. For the past year and change, both of us have cried ourselves to sleep over the situation of not being able to "compete with FREE" and watching sales die on our end with people scooping up all SORTS of worthless qwap because it was free. "No trial" means in all reality, "I wasn't going to pay anyway" ... sorry, that argument don't wash ... been here too long. I grew up in the Bronx ... self-excusing sidewalk act there.

The two of us literally cried ourselves to sleep MANY a night as we struggled to find some way to keep this going not only for our own obvious "salvation" but also the weight of "a promise made is a promise kept" as those who've known us for a while *know* is what we've always been about. At OUR age, going to bed in tears just ain't right. But so it's been.

Nancy continues to believe that SOMEHOW she could have saved the company ... and it tortures her EVERY day that somehow she couldn't pull just ONE more rabbit out of the hat. She takes this all as HER personal failure and that hurts ME to no end. Never mind that "Netscape Communications Corp" or PETS.COM or any of the others that didn't last anywhere NEAR as long as WE did ... and we made some SERIOUS enemies over the years from Microsoft over our 1997 testimony before the FTC about all that's come to pass because Microsoft took a stupid WEB browser (a formerly SEPARATE application) and inserted it into the operating system to evade PERJURY charges before Judge Jackson when the judge's law clerk easily disconnected IE from Windows and thus was born Win98 "whoopsie edition" (prior to SE). That 1997 testimony sealed our fate way back then but then since we weren't in this for MONEY, the cutoff of investors didn't faze us a it until 3 years ago ...

But still ... the nonsense STILL honks ME off ... particularly with Nancy apologizing to me EVERY night for "her failure." She REALLY believes she did something wrong.

Like I said, this WHOLE situation is to cry over from our standpoint, but we walk away from it doing our VERY best to uphold our promises, and are FOREVER grateful that COMODO recognizes all that they're getting and Melih is EVERY bit as committed to all of this as we ever were, and he's JUST as sincere about this as we always have been. And HIS finances permit FREE ...

But for those who are strong as oak and twice as thick, we've been through HELL and are still in our own personal one over all this ... be nice if someone even mentions or thanks NANCY for all "we" have done over the past ten years. Yeah, I've written code and I've been tied up in the lab ... but NANCY was the TRUE spirit of PSC and natch, like everything else we've seen in the various forums ... nada.

These have been VERY rough times for us ... we put ALL of our efforts into ensuring that NOBODY who gave us money would be disappointed. And once again, WE kept OUR promises, and so will COMODO. But we're BOTH tired of the nonsense ...

 

know how you feel, 53 here and in 4 years my 30 years of government employment are up. Buying a Honda Gold Wing and me and my better half are off to do some fishing.

 

13 years of sybill cervix for me for the State of New York as engineer, sysadmin, techie. And I grew *SO* tired of dealing with dueling arsoles. Worked with the spookiest of spooks from alphabet agencies, trained CIA, DEA and FBI and did what I was required to do. Vested.

But I just couldn't DEAL anymore with the "know WHAT to kiss and WHEN" bullsquirt. Quit, did this. STATE paid better. Even on the so-called "cashout" though we cannot ever reveal the amounts.

But no ... despite all, will NEVER miss the "Paturkey farm." But still ... for all the good things we've done, pains ME to NO end that Nancy's blaming herself for the tendencies of too damned many ... it's all over now, but it was INCREDIBLY painful for both of us to be forced to do what we had to do since we're here in "tech valley" of "upstate new york" and the only "assistance" we've gotten from our "pro-business government" (even under our NEW gov) is "yet another campaign finance shakedown" ... and of course, what happens when you're behind on your bills.

But it pains me even more that for all NANCY has done, seems nobody cares. And that TRULY hurts ... were it NOT for Nancy, *I* wouldn't have been able to do what I was able to manage as she ran interference for me here, there and everywhere that I had no time to get to, and SHE was the one who made me STOP posting when I'd gotten too stupid ... like now, but she's not here anymore. She didn't WANT to do software anymore and thus SHE declined COMODO's offer to "come on board." That's HOW devastated she is about all this ... and nobody cares.

 

Hi Kevin, I hope it's not too long before your table is sagging with food.
I feel really sad for you both, especialy Nancy, my wife does the same thing of trying to take all the blame on herself over certain matters and it's a horrible thing to see.
I suggest a holiday in Tropical Nth OZ, heaven on earth [and that's coming from an atheist], probably later in the year when Oz is then, fingers crossed, a john howard free zone.

the keys to the car, no worries mate, I'm afraid the rest of the request might be turned down.
Best of luck for the future, I hope it all works out as you and Nancy want, and don't take too much notice of us bored forum dwellers.
Mid 50's great time of life, mind you I have to say that ;-)

 

Very nicely said trjam!

Free is nice but small companies and individuals need to be paid for their work and rightly so.
BOClean is such a program. I would have gladly paid a yearly renewal and have stated so prior.
BOClean has been a constant on my computer and will continue to be as long as Kevin and Nancy are behind it.

 

trust me Kevin, I think everyone here would agree they care very much for Nancy and know her contribution to your joint adventure. Hey man, you thought we loved you.

And that is local governement, not the major one.

 

Dear Nancy, dear Kevin,

Once again, from the bottom of my heart: BIG HUGE THANKS !!!!!!!!!!

So much thanks for all you have done !
So much thanks for all your absolutely great support; support, not beaten by any company!

You both have there ALWAYS been for me when I needed it.

Never ever did I wish that there were tears, never !

I do wish you two ALL the very best !
I definitely do hope that life will be nice for you from now !

I will continue to use BOClean; and I'll advise my friends/family to do the same.

Dear Nancy and Kevin,
Please accept big warm {{{HUGS}}}

With my most warmest regards,
Jan

 

MOO! And thank ya, m8! No worries either, I've failed to take my Bob Dole/NASCAR blue pill and heh ... no worries THERE either! Actually, it is I who is in living fear of the high hard one ... having SEEN Ballmer do a "dance monkeyboy dance" choreography, I recognise that it is GATES who must live in mortal fear of backing into a doorknob and I *love* it! No worries about the Sheila either! Heh. OH, how I wish I could have a REAL Cook's or a PROPER Fosters (CUB, NOT what is now brewed in Canada which is but ONE step away from Yank pythwater, heh)

But Nancy's TRULY gotten hosed over all this because SHE was the company, I had NO financial interest in it other than making sure everything worked. And she's more than US$350K down and getting hosed by OUR government in the FINAL stages of "Microsoft's revenge" over that 1997 thing that *I* did ... but hey ... "Winders Defenduh" and KILL BOClean at ANY cost and phuck the PSC people ... TRIPLE the cost of MSDN, FORCE licences which cost more than we make, and hey ... byebye PSC. It WORKED. Vista was what finally killed us.

But Aye, mate ... would LOVE to raise a toast with ya, in the past years, we've had more friends in OZ and the UK and CA than in our own country. And apologies for my blubbering here ... just PAINS me to no end that in all the convos, it's been the selfish and those who forgot ENTIRELY that I actually had nothing "officially" to do with Privacy Software, it was ENTIRELY Nancy who did it, held it together, and guided us ALL in "fair dinkum for all." And it pains me continually to NEVER see NANCY get her due through all of this. SHE busted her butt over all this even more than *I* did.

 

Fellow Creatures,
I was really asleep on this thread I have been busy working in the Spring air and have only stopped by the Wilders Forest for brief visits and totally missed it.

I am actually glad as I have taken the opportunity to to read each post. And unless someone jumps ahead of me will post behind someone (FanJ) who has as much honor and respect as I do for the McAleavey team.

I have used BOClean for about 5 years...worth every penny if it disappeared today. The piece of mind alone was priceless. The support second to none... the end result of this "club" predictable. It is sad in a way, but again it is a second wind an evolution of the product that is occuring. I really was only surprised by the slams and cuts against COMODO. This forum has basically been humming with praise for this Firewall.

Kevin and Nancys posts have raised my faith. That out of all the possible choices they were given that they did not make a mistake. It was imho impossible for them to continue as they were. Fellow users just look at the number of updates that you were getting and the amount of new malwares on a daily basis that was being loaded in to this wonderful light weight program. More human talented resources were needed to bring to the table to keep this fine piece of protective software up to the demanding task we have come to know and trust it.

I do not see this as Checkpoint buying Zonealarm I see it more like Ewido and AVG. No two mergers are the same.

If you trust Kevin to keep BOClean up to the task as we all have over the years then trust him to know who to merge with when the time comes. That time for them is now.

I will not stop using BOClean because of this. I look forward to getting my license number.

I don't use COMODO firewall currently but I have. It was fine. I had no complaints. I honestly love the idea that Kevin will stay on and assist in their AV department.

BOClean will soon be more then it has ever been....keep the faith.

Best to all who have made BOClean what it is. I look forward to your continued success.

 

too funny

 

No trial means ultimate failure. You asked for money and you got it from some that were willing to make the leap of faith. You sold out to comdo and you got paid. You still get paid probably even better. Stop crying and enjoy yourself, look back and be proud. Take care of Nancy.

 

Bit of a harsh post there G/P.I have used BoClean since Feb.03 and know how good of a program it is and how great Nancy and Kevin took care of their customers.I want to thank each one for what they did company and code wise to help and protect.All the best to you fine people.

 

How very unfortunate since IMO Vista was fashioned for nothing more but a cheap diversion for $M to fully & finally distance themselves from their past & first real customers of (Me/9 and avoid what they should have done as a real technology leader would have tied up those loose strings first before proceeding in the manner they now have by conceiving the Vista idea before first re-writing 98/Me as those customers deserved.
Personally, and shortsighted, some of us almost expected more responsible attention to addressing those concerns shortly after XP's first release but instead they announced ending support entirely for them as though they were the black plague...........

...............and lines up exactly with my own disappointment & disgust with $M

For BoClean to have been victim of Vista makes me sick and only intensifies (confirms) my own suspicions that $M is way out of line in their compromising the trust so many expected of them.

 

HHmm. lol, I had no idea there are so many old fogies posting here. lol

I've already made my feelings clear to K&N in e-mails to which K has graciously responded.

I never really separated the two of them.
To Nancy: hold fast. I'm very sorry to hear that you have left the fold.
Who will translate for us?
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=863677#post863677

Very embittered at what seems to be the developers version of DRM going on behind the scenes: we already have to pay absurd amount for Blista eye-candy with very little I can see in terms of increased functionality and now it seems M$ is making devs pay some gouge for "Vista accredited" softs

Good business practise by M$: harmful to others = monoploistic practice = hopefully BIG lawsuits

Anyway: to Nancy ; we will miss you. dont stay away to long, you're too good to lose forever.
Respect.

 

I am SO waiting for the day when Microsoft is knocked off their high horse. Doubt I'll see it, but sure would love to.

They keep forcing their updated crap on us without providing much if any real value. Is Vista much better than XP? I tried the latest version of MS Office and immediately went back to Office 2000. What about what they did to GIANT?

I must say that there is almost always a better option than a MS Product. Unfortunately, they make it hard to go with anyone else due to their monopoly type business practices.

 

Dear Nancy, dear Kevin,
i am a paying customer and i have been very happy with boclean and kevin and nancy do keep their word and i agreed i would pay yearly also and kevin i do feel better that you talked to us about whats happin after reading your posts that all it took because i do belive you and i am not worry thank you , could you tell us when boclean comes out what you want us to do

thanks for everything very happy boclean customer

 

what Kevin revealed about M$ prompts thoughts well illustrated by Easter2000,which i agree with entirely.

What i want to stress again is that during these past years of using Boclean ,after the first elation for using something completely original and super efficient, i began to nurture a feeling of affection towards the nsclean firm people as if they were relatives who were helping me solve IT problems.

A feeling which became bigger with Kevin & Nancy posts in forums and especially now.

To Kevin i'd like to say : be happy , Capricorns worries are finally over!
To Nancy idea of having failed somewhere: a failure like yours is a great success for any sane people.

I never ever saw people expressing love for their programmers or programs
like the many i saw here.....including me, i do in fact
'love you like a brother', Kevin!!!

 

Kevin/Nancy.

Thank you for BOClean. Been using it for over 3 years now and never once regretted it. I will continue to use BO for as long as it is available. Congratulation's on the deal you have achieved with Comodo. It's great to see that at long last you have the finances for home stability and the support to make BO all you ever wanted it to be. I look forward to seeing what develops and I am chuffed to bits that you got to this point.

Take care,
muf

 

Kevin,

It pains me to read about the hell that Nancy and you have been through. I hope posts that I have made here and at other forums did not add to your stress. I want both of you to know that I have the utmost respect and appreciation for what you have done for me as a BOClean user. I also have faith and trust in you and Nancy that you have earned.

It is because BOClean was the one application that I felt was irreplaceable that the initial news of the merger was so much of a shock. After you posted here at Wilders, my worry turned to optimism.

I had never heard of Comodo before, that I can remember, but now I will be watching them. I have been expecting that I would have to replace ZAP in the future, and now I think I will wait a few months for your presence to have time to have it's effect on Comodo products and then I will give Comodo firewall a spin.

I hope that Melih guy appreciates what a valuable resource he now has and is wise enough to hold on to you and pay you what you are worth. I said this at another forum, but I really feel that if he keeps his promises that you fellows are going to change the landscape. My gut tells me that in a year or so there will be other companies out there kicking themselves for passing up an opportunity. I wish for you not only financial reward, but also the personal satisfaction.

 

Good evening

I'm french but I think I've undestood the most important of these posts.
I bought Boclean few monthes before.

A lot of emotion, but for Kevin and Nancy : MERCI (thank you)
Your story is a succes, you create a fantastic software, a super assistance, and more, personnal links between customers and authors !

One more time, MERCI and please, don't leave us, We need YOU, Nancy and Kevin.

Please, excuse me for my english, I made what I can !