1 I'm sorry. It's my fault. If I hadn't joined, this wouldn't have happened...[tongue firmly in cheek]

2 I want to start a day-care center... where do I go for that?

3 If we do end up going to Expression Engine, I'll be buying a full license, but since my 30-day trial timed out, this is a great chance to play with EE some more.

And be sure to pass the hat.

4 I don't have a hat.

5 If it helps, though I think that it won't because we have so many blogs, I was a beta tester for MT 3 and they are offering reduced prices on the licenses. Not sure what those are yet (will know next week), but I'll keep you updated.

Just dreading having to redo all of the styling and learning a whole new system...

6 Daniel... I have a copy of Word Perfect on 5.25" diskettes if you are interested. And original Windows 2.0 diskettes, too. Maybe DOS 3.1?

7 Not all of us are the coding geniuses that you are, Michael. Nor do some of us have the time to learn.

8 Why do we have to change? I thought things were working fine the way they are.

9 Jennifer:

1) I do not consider or promote myself as being a "coding genius" (that would be Rob and Pixy) and neither should you. I only try to share what little I have learned as a way to pay forward the generosity of our esteemed host.

2) Lighten up. That was meant as a joke.

3) I have an above average understanding of certain things - things that I am interested in. I would guess that you make time to learn new things everyday. Something new about whatever you are interested in. Some things you naturally have to learn more about or be left in the dust of the technology revolution, eg a new cell phone from a different vendor, a new cordless phone, a new answering machine, a new remore control device, etc

4) I'm sure any learning curve on a new blogging system would not be too steep. You already have a frame of reference from BlogSpot and/or MT. Stylesheets won't be functionally changed. Maybe the bits and pieces of the blog will have a different name or be located in a different place, but it will all work in a similar fashion. It won't be like learning AutoCad or anything like that.

5) What about learning a new system when Minx comes out? Or will you quit blogging because you have to learn something new?

6) What about the learning curve in new music format. From perforated metal disks to 78/33/45rpm vinyl to cassette tape to metal-coated plastic CD/DVD to MP3 players. There is a learning curve with each new upgrade that everybody seems to be able to make without too much difficulty or hand-wringing or committing acts of hari-kari.

7) Sorry I blew up!

Daniel: Sorry if you took that the wrong way. Like I tried to explain to Jennifer, it was a supposed to be joke. Since you were an MT beta tester, I assumed that you would "get" my apparantly feeble attempt at humor. My most humble apologies, sir.

As an aside, I really do have original Microsoft Windows 2.0 on 5.25" diskettes. I don't what hoping for in keeping them, but maybe they'll be worth something to someone somewhere. I'll keep telling myself that anyway.

10 If you took my comment as not being "light" you would do well to remember the rest of us have problems "reading" attitudes, too.

My comment follows an experiment with TextPattern--I don't consider myself particularly stupid, but I couldn't make head or tails of it. A setup like MT would be fine for me, as I assume Minx will be. But, yes, if we were to move to something completely different from MT I would quit or find another home.

11 Don't Quit Jen!!!!!!!

So, Pixy, where is this EE installed so we can play with it?

12 Happy faces

We won't be moving to a system that people aren't comfortable with. We don't need to move from MT 2.64 in a hurry, it's just that we've been orphaned (unless Six Apart significantly changes their licensing).

The move to a MySQL backend has sped things up so much that there's no hurry anymore, but it doesn't hurt to explore alternatives, especially when they're free.

I am trying to make it as easy as possible to move from MT to Minx, but even so you'll need to make changes to your templates.

13 Daniel - EE isn't installed yet. I'll be doing that today though

14 I bought a fully-licensed version of the pMachine program. I used it for a while, but I was more comfortable with the MT-interface. (I've also donated over $50 in the past year.)

pMachine, WordPress and MT all have their strong points and their not-so-strong points but with any one of them there is a learning curve. I would hope no one would jump from this fine group of folks based on that premise alone.

I hereby offer my services in any way you need them -- I'm here to help. If I don't know the answer, I'll find it.

Love,
Em

15 It has been my experience that the older I get, the steeper the learning curve seems.