Pouet.net through the eyes of Analogue
By Magic/Nah-Kolor
Analogue, the founding father of Pouet.net, talks about
what became one of the main pillars of today's demoscene.
Credits:
Written by Analogue & Magic
Photo given for this article by Analogue.
Prologue
In a nutshell www.pouet.net is a website hosted on the scene.org servers (read the article about scene.org in Hugi issue 34) where sceners can catalog demoscene productions. For each production a screenshot and an infofile can be added and of course a download link. These days it's common to add a youtube link as well. Other sceners can then rate the added productions and leave a comment. Hugi talked with Analogue, the original founder and creator of Pouet.net.
Introduction
Magic:
Hi there Analogue, could you tell something about yourself and could you describe a day of your life?
Analogue:
Well, I'm Laurent Raufaste, known online as Analogue, I work and get pleasure with computers. I wake up late, go to work late, work, eat at a restaurant, work, go back home late, eat, game, read and sleep ;)
Magic:
Where do you live anno domini 2008? How old are you? What exactly is your occupation?
Analogue:
I'm 31 and I live in Toulouse, south west of France. Nowadays, I work as a DBA at http://www.over-blog.com/.
Magic:
Anno domini 2008 what is it you are doing for Pouet.net 'behind the curtains'?
Analogue:
If I get the question right: not much =(
Magic:
Why not much? Is there a reason for this? Who took over your job?
Analogue:
The reason is time, I have a lot of projects (personal and internet ones) and I'am afraid to screw up Pouet.net by changing it too much. Hence before going back to the code, I need to carefully watch how it is used nowadays. It takes time. PS took the code lead but he is still working on my lame procedural codebase ;)
Magic:
How would you describe Pouet.net?
Analogue:
Pouet is just a way for sceners to index and find the scene productions they like.
Magic:
Where did you get the idea of creating Pouet.net and what was the philosophy behind it when you founded Pouet.net?
Analogue:
Back in 1999 I was a big fan of the scene, and I enjoyed watching productions. But there was no directory where you could find what just has been released or what had been done in the past. I was mostly using the group's websites, which isn't easy for most of the groups. I then started to work on a production directory which the people of #demofr (irc channel -ed) could use to index their favourite productions.
Magic:
So Pouet.net originates from a production directory aimed for the visitors from #demofr on the IRC. How was the name Pouet.net eventually chosen? Were other names considered? And what does the name Pouet mean?
Analogue:
I bought the domain name Pouet.net because it sounded fun and cool before even thinking of doing anything with it. Then when I started the project, I needed somewhere to put it, and it sticked on this domain name. Pouet is the sound made by a trumpet, in french.
Magic:
What and how much are the costs nowadays for doing a website like Pouet.net?
Analogue:
Zero. All the work is done in the spare time, and the hardware stuff and bandwidth are provided by the scene.org guys.
Magic:
Could you, in your own words, describe the rating system of pouet. Why did you choose this rating system?
Analogue:
It's based on ratings, popularity, comments, etc. It's not a rating based on quality but on popularity. Its only use is to point people who don't know what to look for to the prods which are the most popular. Show an elitist production to a noob and he won't watch another one. Show the popular demo by Farbrausch to a noob and you get one more scener ;)
Magic:
Please explain how the popularity of a production is calculated on Pouet.net.
Analogue:
I'm counting the number of times I've been asked how the popularity is calculated by each scener, the less it is asked, the more the prods of the group of the scener are getting points.
Trolling and Flaming on the Pouet.net BBS
Pouet.net also has a forum called the oldskool pouet.net BBS. It's used to discuss various topics which everybody can add themselves. There is no real protocol so people can behave how they want. We asked Analogue some questions about this and found out he kind of agrees with all behaviour which is going on at the Pouet.net oldskool BBS.
Magic:
What's your opinion about all the 'trolling' and 'flaming' which is going on at the Pouet.net BBS?
Analogue:
It's fun, really. I like Pouet being the place where the hot stuff is discussed. My motto is "Il est interdit d'interdire" which can be translated to "It's forbidden to forbid".
Magic:
But don't you think there are flaming / trolling excesses at pouet? Do you think this is a good thing for a website as pouet.net? Does this fit in your Philosophy of Pouet?
Analogue:
Yes it does, I like freedom over everything else and if you start moderating flaming, who will be able to judge what is flaming or trolling and what is not? And why should flaming be moderated anyway? If the flaming is unlegitimate, it won't get far.
Analogue Miscellaneous
Magic:
Do you know the demoscene community called Bitfellas.org? What's your opinion about this community?
Analogue:
Not really, I only know they have a scene database. Sounds cool =)
Magic:
Do the all-time top 10 demos at Pouet reflect your taste? If not, what kind of demos do you like?
Analogue:
Not really, too much Farbrauch and too much Windows in it. It's not that I don't like Farbrausch, hell no, but I don't only like them ;) I love Odyssey by Alcatraz mainly because of the music. Also State of the Art by Spaceballs, Enigma by Phenomena etc.
Pouet's future in the eyes of Analogue
Magic:
How do you explain the success Pouet.net has gotten looking back from the very beginning?
Analogue:
It's only successful because it's useful. I needed something to find new and old scene productions and I guess I wasn't the only one who needed it ;)
Magic:
Can you tell us some of your nicest memories and/or anecdotes from the last '7 years of Pouet.net'?
Analogue:
Nothing much as I work remotely on it, but it feels a lot like when someone presents a demo on the big screen the day you see people use it and thank you for doing Pouet.net.
Magic:
In your eyes, what could really be a major improvement for Pouet.net which probably never will become a reality?
Analogue:
Hosting all the files and the videos!
Magic:
How do you see the future of Pouet.net on the short and long term?
Analogue:
It really depends on the scene. I don't really know where the scene is going, it was easier before. As soon as the sceners take a strong direction toward some new way of enjoying our machines, Pouet will follow it. But for now, I see no evolution in the scene, hence there is no need for a major Pouet revision.
Magic:
What do you want to tell the Pouet.net visitors and our readers as a good ending to this article?
Analogue:
Chill out and check out the top 10 demos on Pouet, you should love the scene then ;)
Links related to this article
www.pouet.net
www.glop.org
http://www.over-blog.com
Magic & Analogue