adamgoose · June 25, 2014 18:55
diff --git a/FromHim b/FromHim
 Hi Adam,

 Thanks for the note. We understand your desire to end your work with us as soon as possible. 

 However, there are a number of legal obligations which define the scope and manner in which we end our work together. 

 First as an update, we have decided not to work with Wildnet to host our site, but they will still be developing the site. 

 Given your proposed short deadline to break our hosting contract, we are using best efforts to finalize another hosting service, but it may take longer than June 30th. 

 Despite the fact that we no longer wish to work with one another, the Spirit of our agreement dictates "collaborative and creative communication," and so just like we began our agreement, we must end our agreement in a professional and reasonable manner. I'm sure under the same circumstances, regardless of how they were created, you would want to be treated in a professional manner. Once the site is successfully migrated, we assure you that you will not hear from us again.

 As such, we request that you put emotion aside and grant us the additional reasonable time we need to make a smooth transition with our new technical team as outlined in our agreement.  Specifically, you are legally obligated to provide "the migration process to a new server" as a courtesy to us. Failure to do so constitutes breach of contract.

 Per our agreement, all the site files and the database are property of Conscious Planet and were created at our direction.  Therefore you are legally obligated to provide all of them to us, regardless of the reason, upon request. As noted in Richa's email this morning, she needs all the files to ensure our site is fully functional but has yet to receive them. As such, please send her (with cc to me) all the missing files today, regardless of whether you deem them "necessary" for installation.  Until our site is up and running with a new U.S. based hosting company at it's current level of functionality, the migration is not complete.

 Failure to appropriately complete the migration process to a new server constitutes breach of contract. 

 Additionally, we are currently still covered under a one year hosting contract with your company that does not terminate until September 9th.  As such, if you decide to unilaterally turn off our hosting at your discretion and with only 7 days notice, this will also constitute a breach of contract on your part, for which we will have no choice but to pursue our full rights and remedies under the law. 

 Nevertheless, I trust that we can put our differences aside and finish this last piece of our work together in a professional and sane manner.

 Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

 Sincerely,

 Michael 
diff --git a/InReply b/InReply
 Michael -

 I am not inclined to continue a professional relationship with you, considering the way I have been treated over the past several months. That's not to say I don't carry fault here, by any means, however I feel truly disrespected in many ways.

 However, since your developer will not be serving as your host, I can understand the complications that can present themselves when trying to get your site online elsewhere in one week's time. I will say, however, that I was able to install the site on my local development environment (which is identical to my production environments) in no more than 5 minutes with only the files provided to Richa a few days ago. I'll explain the "phantom files" that Richa had requested in a moment. I've taken a screenshot of your website working properly on my local development environment: http://d.enge.me/5eNA

 That being said, I'll give you another week to get your hosting situation squared away. I provided 7 days because that is ampul time (considering I was able to accomplish the task in 5 minutes), and I had understood that you were ready to move forward with more development, thus wanting to get your site moved over sooner than later anyway. I hope you understand my hesitation to allow someone else to access my servers for development. Since you're needing more, I'll be happy to provide an additional 7 days. Thus, I'll be terminating your hosting on July 7th. Since you do have more time already paid for (not in a contract, for the record), I'll happily extend this timeline should you need it. I also would be happy to issue a refund for the $100 that you paid on 9/7/2013, should you feel its warranted.

 On that note, I would like to point out that your quote from our service agreement related to "the migration process to a new server" was misguided. That reference was in our agreement for migrating your old site to a new server while we begin development at the beginning of our relationship. It had no mention to migrating the site that I built for you to a new host should you leave our agreement, regardless of the situation. That being said, I'll say that I have provided you with everything that you need in order to get a new developer and a new hosting provider set up with no problem.

 Furthermore, when you say that "all the site files and the database are property of Conscious Planet and were created at our direction", I must disagree to some extent. This is where I will explain the "phantom files" that have been causing confusion. To build your site, I used a web framework that collects several free and open-source packages from around the net to build a starting-point for which to build a web application. In order to curate all of these packages successfully, a tool called Composer (getcomposer.org) was used. Its job is to do just that - curate the packages, manage their installation into the application, and make their code available to the rest of the application with a feature called "autoloading." A list of which packages were used when developing your app is outlined in two files that were included in the codebase I sent to Richa: composer.json and composer.lock. The first configures how composer is to behave, and lists the packages that I need to install. Note, that some of these packages require other packages (dependencies). Composer is responsible for resolving these. Thus, composer.lock is a complete list of which packages were installed (including those depended on by the packages I outlined in composer.json), and exactly at which version they were installed. Composer is smart enough to read the composer.lock file and download all of the packages from the internet, which are publicly available and open-source. The only file that I created was composer.json, and the composer utility took care of the rest: resolving package dependencies, downloading them, and "installing" them into the application.

 So, I'd like it to be made clear that the files in "vendor" and "bootstrap/compiled.php" (also generated by composer) are NOT your property, rather open-source files that are publicly available with various usage licenses. On top of that, it is, in many ways, illogical and inappropriate for me to "zip" these files to you. For one, they're already available to you and your developers by using a single command. Secondly, since composer does so much work to install these properly throughout your application, simply "dropping in" these files will not sufficiently install the files for you. I guarantee you that doing this would only cause more confusion. In fact, I regularly need to completely delete the vendor directory and use composer to re-download them to resolve any installation issues. It's composer's job; let it do its job.

 I'd like it to be made very clear that all of these complications would not be present at all were you to take a moment to speak with me on the phone. I planned to explain some of these things to you, and tell you that by choosing the developer you have chosen, you will be running into issues every step of the way. I'm not too surprised that you're running into issues this early. The issues that Richa is experiencing are not due to my lack of provided files, rather due to her lack of understanding about how the application was built. I had several developers lined up and ready to speak with you about taking over the project, all of whom would have been able to install the site in 5 minutes just as I did, since they are already familiar with the framework in which the application was built. Helping your new developer install the application and getting it working is far outside the scope of our original agreement.

 All things considered, I understand how you might want to "blame" me and pursue legal action for my lack of cooperation. However, I hope it's now clear to you that the lack of provided "phantom files" are not the cause of the difficulties that your developer is having installing the application. I also hope that adding an additional 7 days to the hosting agreement (and some flexibility) will provide you with some comfort.

 I would also like to propose one last thing. If you are still unable to get your application installed on a shared hosting solution by Monday, I'd be happy to enter into a very simple verbal agreement with you. For $75, I will install your application on the shared hosting of your choice (depending on, however, the host's ability to properly host your application. I recommend hostmonster.com). We could spend the time to get a written agreement signed, however I think that you'd much rather simply get this process done sooner than later. I'm offering this as a fall-back solution for you, so that you can have your site up (even if you are unable to do it with your people) by the time the hosting expires. This is also to help expedite your development, which I anticipate you are anxious to move forward with.

 Lastly, I'd like to say that I believe these long back-and-forth emails are inefficient and unproductive. I think it'd be much better to have a phone call that is limited to discussing business (and not or relationship, because I'm sure we're both tired of that), in which I can explain any of these matters in more detail. Also, I'd be able to answer any questions you have in real time, further expediting this process for you.

 At this point in time, you are all set to have your site up and running on a new server with no problems. If you would like to discuss any of these issues further, and/or discuss my proposal above, please let me know, and we can get a call scheduled.

 Thanks,
 Adam.
	Hi Adam,

	Thanks for the note. We understand your desire to end your work with us as soon as possible.

	However, there are a number of legal obligations which define the scope and manner in which we end our work together.

	First as an update, we have decided not to work with Wildnet to host our site, but they will still be developing the site.

	Given your proposed short deadline to break our hosting contract, we are using best efforts to finalize another hosting service, but it may take longer than June 30th.

	Despite the fact that we no longer wish to work with one another, the Spirit of our agreement dictates "collaborative and creative communication," and so just like we began our agreement, we must end our agreement in a professional and reasonable manner. I'm sure under the same circumstances, regardless of how they were created, you would want to be treated in a professional manner. Once the site is successfully migrated, we assure you that you will not hear from us again.

	As such, we request that you put emotion aside and grant us the additional reasonable time we need to make a smooth transition with our new technical team as outlined in our agreement. Specifically, you are legally obligated to provide "the migration process to a new server" as a courtesy to us. Failure to do so constitutes breach of contract.

	Per our agreement, all the site files and the database are property of Conscious Planet and were created at our direction. Therefore you are legally obligated to provide all of them to us, regardless of the reason, upon request. As noted in Richa's email this morning, she needs all the files to ensure our site is fully functional but has yet to receive them. As such, please send her (with cc to me) all the missing files today, regardless of whether you deem them "necessary" for installation. Until our site is up and running with a new U.S. based hosting company at it's current level of functionality, the migration is not complete.

	Failure to appropriately complete the migration process to a new server constitutes breach of contract.

	Additionally, we are currently still covered under a one year hosting contract with your company that does not terminate until September 9th. As such, if you decide to unilaterally turn off our hosting at your discretion and with only 7 days notice, this will also constitute a breach of contract on your part, for which we will have no choice but to pursue our full rights and remedies under the law.

	Nevertheless, I trust that we can put our differences aside and finish this last piece of our work together in a professional and sane manner.

	Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

	Sincerely,

	Michael
	Michael -

	I am not inclined to continue a professional relationship with you, considering the way I have been treated over the past several months. That's not to say I don't carry fault here, by any means, however I feel truly disrespected in many ways.

	However, since your developer will not be serving as your host, I can understand the complications that can present themselves when trying to get your site online elsewhere in one week's time. I will say, however, that I was able to install the site on my local development environment (which is identical to my production environments) in no more than 5 minutes with only the files provided to Richa a few days ago. I'll explain the "phantom files" that Richa had requested in a moment. I've taken a screenshot of your website working properly on my local development environment: http://d.enge.me/5eNA

	That being said, I'll give you another week to get your hosting situation squared away. I provided 7 days because that is ampul time (considering I was able to accomplish the task in 5 minutes), and I had understood that you were ready to move forward with more development, thus wanting to get your site moved over sooner than later anyway. I hope you understand my hesitation to allow someone else to access my servers for development. Since you're needing more, I'll be happy to provide an additional 7 days. Thus, I'll be terminating your hosting on July 7th. Since you do have more time already paid for (not in a contract, for the record), I'll happily extend this timeline should you need it. I also would be happy to issue a refund for the $100 that you paid on 9/7/2013, should you feel its warranted.

	On that note, I would like to point out that your quote from our service agreement related to "the migration process to a new server" was misguided. That reference was in our agreement for migrating your old site to a new server while we begin development at the beginning of our relationship. It had no mention to migrating the site that I built for you to a new host should you leave our agreement, regardless of the situation. That being said, I'll say that I have provided you with everything that you need in order to get a new developer and a new hosting provider set up with no problem.

	Furthermore, when you say that "all the site files and the database are property of Conscious Planet and were created at our direction", I must disagree to some extent. This is where I will explain the "phantom files" that have been causing confusion. To build your site, I used a web framework that collects several free and open-source packages from around the net to build a starting-point for which to build a web application. In order to curate all of these packages successfully, a tool called Composer (getcomposer.org) was used. Its job is to do just that - curate the packages, manage their installation into the application, and make their code available to the rest of the application with a feature called "autoloading." A list of which packages were used when developing your app is outlined in two files that were included in the codebase I sent to Richa: composer.json and composer.lock. The first configures how composer is to behave, and lists the packages that I need to install. Note, that some of these packages require other packages (dependencies). Composer is responsible for resolving these. Thus, composer.lock is a complete list of which packages were installed (including those depended on by the packages I outlined in composer.json), and exactly at which version they were installed. Composer is smart enough to read the composer.lock file and download all of the packages from the internet, which are publicly available and open-source. The only file that I created was composer.json, and the composer utility took care of the rest: resolving package dependencies, downloading them, and "installing" them into the application.

	So, I'd like it to be made clear that the files in "vendor" and "bootstrap/compiled.php" (also generated by composer) are NOT your property, rather open-source files that are publicly available with various usage licenses. On top of that, it is, in many ways, illogical and inappropriate for me to "zip" these files to you. For one, they're already available to you and your developers by using a single command. Secondly, since composer does so much work to install these properly throughout your application, simply "dropping in" these files will not sufficiently install the files for you. I guarantee you that doing this would only cause more confusion. In fact, I regularly need to completely delete the vendor directory and use composer to re-download them to resolve any installation issues. It's composer's job; let it do its job.

	I'd like it to be made very clear that all of these complications would not be present at all were you to take a moment to speak with me on the phone. I planned to explain some of these things to you, and tell you that by choosing the developer you have chosen, you will be running into issues every step of the way. I'm not too surprised that you're running into issues this early. The issues that Richa is experiencing are not due to my lack of provided files, rather due to her lack of understanding about how the application was built. I had several developers lined up and ready to speak with you about taking over the project, all of whom would have been able to install the site in 5 minutes just as I did, since they are already familiar with the framework in which the application was built. Helping your new developer install the application and getting it working is far outside the scope of our original agreement.

	All things considered, I understand how you might want to "blame" me and pursue legal action for my lack of cooperation. However, I hope it's now clear to you that the lack of provided "phantom files" are not the cause of the difficulties that your developer is having installing the application. I also hope that adding an additional 7 days to the hosting agreement (and some flexibility) will provide you with some comfort.

	I would also like to propose one last thing. If you are still unable to get your application installed on a shared hosting solution by Monday, I'd be happy to enter into a very simple verbal agreement with you. For $75, I will install your application on the shared hosting of your choice (depending on, however, the host's ability to properly host your application. I recommend hostmonster.com). We could spend the time to get a written agreement signed, however I think that you'd much rather simply get this process done sooner than later. I'm offering this as a fall-back solution for you, so that you can have your site up (even if you are unable to do it with your people) by the time the hosting expires. This is also to help expedite your development, which I anticipate you are anxious to move forward with.

	Lastly, I'd like to say that I believe these long back-and-forth emails are inefficient and unproductive. I think it'd be much better to have a phone call that is limited to discussing business (and not or relationship, because I'm sure we're both tired of that), in which I can explain any of these matters in more detail. Also, I'd be able to answer any questions you have in real time, further expediting this process for you.

	At this point in time, you are all set to have your site up and running on a new server with no problems. If you would like to discuss any of these issues further, and/or discuss my proposal above, please let me know, and we can get a call scheduled.

	Thanks,
	Adam.