Hello everyone,

I’d like to take a couple of minutes of your time to express my feelings regarding some matters that I’ve seen getting amplified in the past couple of months. Last year, I swore to myself not to take all this too personal when so many people were complaining about the first appearance of a sponsor program but I’ve been accumulating a lot and I feel that I should now “give it back” at least a little.

This message doesn’t only target comments about the sponsor program, after all, I kinda got used to it in the past 15 months. No, the primary reason I’m writing those lines is the comments I get from some people about my own work. You know, when you spend 3 1/2 years of your life working on a project as I worked on Messenger Plus! and some guy come at you saying that you’ve stolen the code from others, that you didn’t invent anything, or that the important parts were written by somebody else, it can really be depressing.

Bad-mouthing the sponsor is something I can understand: you install too quickly, you reply yes to the sponsor’s license agreement and you post a couple of “I hate you” messages on the forum to express your frustration. That’s completely understandable and the helpers on the forum generally deal nicely with that kind of situation. I’ve read many times, on many sites, that the sponsor installed even if you selected no on the agreement, that the choice was not offered in Automatic Mode (wondered why it got removed in Messenger Plus! 3 ? ), that nothing could uninstall it ever from your computer… at first, I was very concerned by these allegations, especially after all the work I’ve put with C2Media (my sponsor) to make sure that the package I distribute was clean and easily removable. I know for a fact that most of the times, the sponsor can’t get uninstalled because a program like Adaware destroyed its backup data but I still live with all the complaints, everyday on the forums I visit and you know what help me do it? your very own support. In the first couple of months the sponsor was added, it felt like the entire community was against me however, as the time passed, I saw more and more supportive replies on every forums, even on the ones I would never have expected it. It’s very comforting to know you got so much people willing to take your defence, especially on the web where lies circulate at the speed of light and becomes instant truth as soon as they’re posted on enough different pages. So everyday, when I browse the newsgroups and I find someone insulting my entire family tree because he got a popup, I reassure myself reading the replies some people already made telling the sponsor is optional and can be easily uninstalled. You may not realise it but I would probably have stopped the development of Plus! a long time ago if it was not for this support, and this has nothing to do with the money that my sponsor is generating. I never had any problem finding a company to work for but I take a lot of pride in my little plugin and what you’ve all done for its success and I intend to continue the journey for as long as possible.

Which brings me back to the beginning of this message: all of you can install the sponsor and try to uninstall it to verify that what I say is true. However, when someone comes and say “Patchou is just using the code of other people to make Messenger Plus! work”, there’s not much you can do except wondering if it’s true or not. This is what I’m facing these days, and let me tell you that it’s particularly bad for the morale. Despite all the features Messenger Plus! has, it’s still a plugin for a little instant messaging application. I know it doesn’t looks like much but let me tell you that it takes my days and my nights to ensure it stays alive and keeps evolving. After all, why else would Messenger Plus! have no other “serious” competitor? I’m not diminishing the other plugins available for MSN Messenger, for what I’ve heard, some of them are a great peace of work, but you still can’t deny the fact that Messenger Plus! is the first name that comes in every web site, article or news post talking about enhancing Messenger, and it has been so for a long time (since Messenger 3.6 for those who remember it ).The fact is that maintaining this kind of plugin is time consuming and not many people are  willing to put all the necessary time in this kind of thing. I’m a computer geek, my life is based around creating software (successful or not ) so I never had any problem patching Messenger Plus! at 4:00am in the morning while watching some reruns of Star Trek. I have no merit for it; it’s just the way I chose to live my life. Other plugins that are released by other developers are sometimes promising but are sadly too often forgotten due to the lack of update.

What I’m trying to say is that I’m proud of every single line of code that forms the Messenger Plus! core engine and nothing hurts me more than someone saying that I’m not the one who created this code. It’s surprising how much some people can argue on this matter, despite the fact that there’s no way for them to know whether it’s true or not. I have no problem saying that Will helped me do an assembly patch for accessing the API of Messenger more easily in Windows XP, that Ginge gave me an encryption routine that I use to store emails in the registry and that, obviously, I didn’t write the png/zip library I use in Messenger Plus! to extract files from the setup or display pictures on the screen (big thanks to the CxImage class by the way, couldn’t live without it anymore ). However, this is where the list ends. Everything I just mentioned count for maybe 500 lines of code (excluding the png/zip libraries of course… everybody uses the same ones) and as Messenger Plus! is constituted by more than 50,000 lines of code, I can safely say that I’m the creator of the program and that I didn’t steal anything from anybody. In fact, I’ve always made a point not to install any competitive product. That way, I’m sure that I don’t get ideas (indirect or not) from others. It’s true that sometimes, ideas collide. I remember being notified that someone had a grudge on me because he thought I had stolen his code for sending more than 400 characters in each message. After reading his code, I tried to tell him that mine was at least half different but I don’t think he ever believed me. That kind of thing happens, it’s sad but there’s nothing I can really do about it except showing good faith. However, things are different when people attack the very core of the project. For example, one thing I get from time to time is that I stole the code published on Code Project demonstrating how to hook the rich edit control of Messenger. The fact is (and this can be very easily verified by checking web archives) that I had coded a similar feature and released it part of Messenger Plus! 2.00 at least 6 months before this code was ever published. Even more than that, I reviewed the code published on Code Project a year ago and even if  it’s a fine piece of work, this code can crash Messenger depending on people’s configuration and that’s why Messenger Plus! couldn’t never have relied on it. As you can imagine, a 6 month delay can be easily checked but it doesn’t prvent people from throwing this kind of allegations. The same thing happens when I mention the help Will gave to me. It is true that his patch saved me a lot of time at some point, but some people tend to exaggerate, as always, and try to claim that Will is the one who coded the whole hooking code for MSN Messenger 6, which is of course, entirely wrong and puts me, and Will, in an embarrassing situation.

Messenger Plus! is my product, my baby, the best software I’ve ever created and I’m not afraid to say that I’m proud of it. Please, if you have something to say about it, don’t forget that its creator is human. I find it amusing when people accuse me of being greedy with my optional toolbar when so many software now distribute forced adwares that do much worse things than my sponsor will ever do. Why haldof the complains about Messenger Plus! I see on the web talk more about me than the software itself? I mean, if you read some of those posts, it's like these people had known me personally for years. Reviewing a software doesn't mean reviewing its author. Being greedy and not caring about my users would mean that I wouldn’t be writing this message and I wouldn’t be upgrading Messenger Plus! so often. I would buy a pool, a big plasma TV, put it in my backyard and watch anime all day long in a swimsuit. I would also not spend so much time answering to people’s suggestions, bug reports and concerns on the Messenger forums (not just my own). On all the software you use every day, how many of them did you buy and how much support did you get in return? Messenger Plus! now counts more than 6 million of active users and I still find it necessary to show some personal support instead of relying on the help of the people on the Messenger Plus! forum (thank you to all of you). I even got some remarks saying that if I wanted to earn money, I should get a job: since when software developing stopped being a job? It’s not because I don’t make advertisements on TV or in computer stores that my software is any different from the other ones you use, except that there’s no crack available for mine as I chose it to be 100% freeware, with optional support. I’m still happy with this choice, I think everybody is a winner in this situation and I can just hope that other software would chose this method instead of dying from no-sale-we-got-cracked syndrome.

Thank you for reading such a long post, I hope I didn’t bother you too much with it, I just really needed to say all of this. I’m didn’t become the devil the day I considered earning my life with my creation and if you thought that 10 minutes ago,  I hope this post helped you change your mind a little. User’s support is what Messenger Plus! needs to live, I’m the one who needs the money. Without user’s support, Messenger Plus! would die in a matter of days so thanks again to all of you!

Best wishes,
Patchou

That's the underlying problem, and I doubt it will ever change.  Most users are ignorant to the origins of things on a computer.  It's just too easy to express how you feel without thought, research or even consideration of others.  It's even easier to read what is written and believe it at face-value.  People forget that an actual human being wrote the code behind all the programs we use.

As long as you never change Patchou, and you remain true in your intentions, then that's all that matters.  Surely I'm not the only one to feel this way 

Uncle Patchou, as you should know by now you have my full support, and will continue to have my full support.

Plus! is an exceptional product. You've shown just how much Plus! means to you by your dedication to the project, in many ways.

People judge other people too quickly befor ethey learn the facts.

You were there at the beginning, the first real messenger addon, you've swept the users away by the features now contained in Plus!.

The downside is, there is always going to be people like that..

i use Plus! since 1.42b, and i never distrusted patchou's piece of code. no adware ever installed because of Plus!, when i choose not to instal the sponsor.
if using the the png library is considered stealing code, then all software has stolen code: dont we all use "iostream.h".
libraries are there to save time, and its actually stupid idea not to use them.
or how about patchou should stop developing Plus! and start working on a png library. maybe wait a year or two for making that library a great piece of code.... Thats stupid because there are people working on this png library, it got its own developers and its made for people to use it.
and patchou didnt steal code from Will, its just that Will gave it with his consent, right ?! and its not a shame to reuse code already made up, why should patchou reinvent the wheel ?!
and i am sure that patchou can make that code on his own without anybody's help.
its a very known thing that you can never staisfy everybody, so patchou: dont mind a jealous and ignorant minority.

Patchou I really feel sorry for you... It's really.. it's UNBELIVEABLE what you do for all of us, and get NOTHING BACK for yourself. Ofcourse, you get the pleasure of coding the software, the pleasure of it's great success and the pleasure of being proud of it.
But just look... All the things said above are... Pleasure YOU do to yourself... Pleasere YOU deserve. PLUS, you do a great pleasure for US.

But look what you get back from US. NOTHING. NO-THING at all.
This is not honest. This is not a way it should be!

You give your whole life to MsgPlus and to the community. What you get back is at most a lousy post card.
And a couple of angry n00b comments about your software, about your sponsor, about your code.

Well Patchou, f**k them. We can do nothing about those unthankful n00bs. They are just there and that's the way it is. I really advice you not to take it personal a lot. Not to take it personal at all.

Remember, you are creating MsgPlus! for ANOTHER GROUP OF people. People who ENJOY IT. People who LOVE it. People who RESPECT it. And people who RESPECT and APPRECIATE your EFFORT, and people who are shocked by the RESULT. People who share thier love to your piece of software. And, I want you to know, I am one of them. I am with you for 100% on everything you say and I support you!!!

And, I am sure, there are A LOT of people like me. I know it. And you, you are creating MsgPlus! for us. And well... There is not much I may give "back" to you, not much I can do to compencate the pleasure I get from software created by you. But I just want you to know one thing: I adrore both Messenger Plus! and you

Peace!!!

Patchou, as you said, the very existence of this thread proves that you're different than greedy software companies who don't care about their users. This "human" quality is exactly what many other programs lack, I think.

Messenger Plus! is a very unique project: it manages to combine freeware + user attentiveness like a small open source project, together with a long-term commitment to the development of the software and the users, which is only possible due to the honest, "human" use of a sponsor.
Considering you're the only one behind this software, I find it admirable that you managed to keep it alive. It was only possible through the vast support you gained from your users, which you wouldn't get if you weren't so "human".

I think that in any aspect of life, being honest and attentive is just as important as being skilful, and you've proved that. I'm glad this software is in your hands.
Best of luck to you and your wonderful project!

quote:

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Originally posted by Pure_BY


Patchou I really feel sorry for you... It's really.. it's UNBELIVEABLE what you do for all of us, and get NOTHING BACK for yourself. Ofcourse, you get the pleasure of coding the software, the pleasure of it's great success and the pleasure of being of about it.
But just look... All the things said above are... Pleasure YOU do to yourself... Pleasere YOU deserve. PLUS, you do a great pleasure for US.

But look what you get back from US. NOTHING. NO-THING at all.

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I'm behind you 100% Patchou. I really think that Plus is a superlative piece of software, free or otherwise. Some people think that saying this consitutes a$$ kissing, but I think it merely means you have my upmost respect.

Many pieces of software are made by a group of faceless coders, while the public only see the customer support team. The fact that you put yourself out there, and regularly participate on the forums sets you apart.

What is really sad is that you have been forced to write a post like this by some people who have so little respect/knowledge/manners/brains. Its unfair that you have to put up with some of the critisism on here, and no doubt through other channels. Do people forget that you are only human after all, and to insult Plus is to really insult you? Perhaps they do not realise just how much a piece of software can mean to someone, especially one that has been part of your daily routine for over 3 years

You have proved to be a most gracious and moral host for us all. Just look at the community that you created just by writing a piece of software.

You have my total support now, and in the future. I really hope that the few idiots don't get you down...

Jeronimo

quote:

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Originally posted by Jeronimo
You have proved to be a most gracious and moral host for us all. Just look at the community that you created just by writing a piece of software.

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We love you Uncle Patchou!

Keep up the great work.

Patchou:

* lopardo applauds

There is a lot of people here who knows you and Plus from the beginning, we know Plus is the add-on for Messenger, we know it's your creation and we know you're a person who needs money to live, just like everyone else. As Cookie said, when you feel down you can always check these forums and you'll always find some Plus fan

And there's always gonna be someone putting down Plus, for ignorance or jealousy, the best we can do is trying to explain them how the things are.

I admire your work. Have you studied something? This is my last high school year and I don't know what to do next year

You've got my Patchou.  I've just had people on a game website messageboard slagging off so I jumped in and corrected them about the optional sponsor, etc...

This project makes Messenger worth using.  If we waited for M$ to come out with the same level or quality of features on their own, I know that I for one would be old and grey before that would even happen.

I freely and openly offer a mirror download link for your program of every release since just before MP2! (IIRC), & there is nothing I can read that will convince me that I am helping a "software criminal".

Keep up the work, try to let these attacks against your person pass you by, and be the bigger and better man by rising above the level of these ignorant bigots that wish to attack you and your work.

EDIT: How many people install Kazaa, yet don't complain about the amount of shit it forcibly installs onto a computer?  I wonder how many of their userbase have written nasty emails with personal scathing attacks against the software creator, etc...!

Plus gives people the option of a sponsor package being installed, yet Patchou gets branded as worse than Satan because of it.  Gimme a break!

quote:

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Originally posted by Pure_BY
Remember, you are creating MsgPlus! for ANOTHER GROUP OF people. People who ENJOY IT. People who LOVE it. People who RESPECT it. And people who RESPECT and APPRECIATE your EFFORT, and people who are shocked by the RESULT. People who share thier love to your piece of software. And, I want you to know, I am one of them. I am with you for 100% on everything you say and I support you!!!

And, I am sure, there are A LOT of people like me. I know it. And you, you are creating MsgPlus! for us. And well... There is not much I may give "back" to you, not much I can do to compencate the pleasure I get from software created by you. But I just want you to know one thing: I adrore both Messenger Plus! and you

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Plus! is great! The community is great! And guess what is behind all of that... You are, Patchou! You are the greatest! I will always support Plus! Everybody should.

I agree with everyone here. Plus is great, so is the community.
Patchou. I dont know any other developer that works so hard on a program that they then offer as freeware! You have my support

I fully agree with you, Patchou. Having worked with you in Messenger Plus!, I must say that you really put a lot of effort in this project, and it shows.

Some people are just too paranoid about spyware, adware, copycats, people stealing others' ideas, greedy corporations doing dodgy "freeware", and all that.

In this world, anyone who is honest, talented or at least a bit generous to any given community is automatically tagged as greedy, egoist, and deceitful.

Luckily, you were able to convince a big part of the "paranoid mass", shall we say , and at least all this huge forum member base supports you (almost) completely.

Keep it up!

PS: Can I get the plasma?

So much already said, no need for me to say it all again.
You have the support of millions of users, including mine.

We all adore your work, keep it up and don't let those few individuals get you down

Patchou, We all support you, we will be always in your side, Look, guys, think about it this way, If you ever coded a program, you just get bored about a bit of time, because no one is using it, you'll tell yourself: "No one is using it, why am i working" But when we support Patchou, he can do the ultimate, Look at the current Messenger Plus! Lots of fans, lots of people, Doesn't he love to go to site's such as Plus! lite, and people trying to help, support, submit bugs, trying to enhance the experiance, This should be done for a reason, Look, Patchou, if he attached this small optional sponser program, He just wants a bit of thank you, He should be really nice, as he always fixes bugs, friendly, never left a bug with saying that he doesn't like that, or that's long, he tries, and tries, and give's us the best product, I love Messenger Plus! I try my most to help on Messenger Plus! forums and IRC Channel, I am an official helper in Francais and help whenever i have the time in the english channel, Honestly, i have Messenger Plus! Sponser installed, because i think Patchou needs support, what is it, a toolbar that hooks up in Internet explorer, and some popups, To support a program, That can not be compared with a bit of popups and a toolbar, Don't you think he's tired sometimes, he's a human, sometimes gets mad as we do, when something doesn't work, and then you figure out it was a small variable bug (strName & srtName, i get really mad, but look, he's a nice person, a human that thinks about others, and have an Optional thankyou, he doesn't tell you that you Should tell him thank you, but If you do, that would be nice.

Just to tell you.

Thanks Patchou, We will be always supporting you, and helping you! THANKS!

Edit: By the way, i live in Montreal too, West Island, Dollard-Des-Ormeaux, Maybe i should drop at laval one day =P

Well everithings been said so ill keep it short :

1st of all hail Patchou!

And i probably couldnt live widout Plus! its become almost more inportant that MSN messenger itself.

I think: F**k those people who install the sponsor programs cuz they dont read and then say its all ur fault. Cuz its not.

quote:

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Thanks Patchou, We will be always supporting you, and helping you! THANKS!

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Its the horrible truth, unfortunately people out there are arrogant and make up their own stories and listen to rumours about things, and tell that to people, sometimes even take it out on you Patchou.

But most users on this forum know that when somebody reports a bug or anything, you are the first on the case, sending a post, and sorting it out the best way possible, I think it is safe to say that we all respect you for this, and understand that nothing is perfect, and never can be. 

As you probably know, whenever anything is mentioned about the adware, we step in and tell them how to uninstall it, and explain about the option, we're all here for you and backing you up mate!!

This software 'Messenger Plus!' is probably the greatest extension for messenger that there will ever be, and the one main thing that I respect you for is that; you get all of this money, and you don't really think about the luxuries, you just spend your money on things that you require, or things that you need, maybe on the things that you want, but you're still a nice guy, many people at your stage would probably already be making people pay for this software, but you just give it out as freeware. A lot of people with adware in their programs probably wouldn't give you a choice in whether you want to install it or not, but you do, for the mere fact that you are proud, and you don't want peoples computers ruined, one last thing, you're not a geek, you're just talented.

This was really emoting .

Really: thumbs-up for all your work and for everything you have hear and read here and there from people who want to ruin your work and destroy your wishes.

I' very sure that you're -on the other side- an idol for many many geeks like me who can't expect to ever code such (master)pieces of software like you do. So simple, some see in you an idol and some see in you an enemy.

You can't expect it to be any other way (how does Bill Gates feel although he know better programming than 98% of people who hate him). But remember than, unlike in many other cases you've prooved to be sincere and trustworthy in all you did concerning MsgPlus. And this very few people can say.

So congratulations (once again and all the times it is needed) for your work.

Thanks.

Edit: And you know this Community keeps growing inside and beyond these forums

What else can be said? Patchou: we all support and trust you. Don't take into account to those few people who say that. They are a sh*t compared with the 6000000+ ones who use your great software.

Continue your unvaluable work.

It proves that some people need glasses. Or a new brain. If some people actually bother to look at agreements and terms & condiditons etc., then they would see that they are installing a sponsor. I always check to make sure if a program contains advertising software.

At least Plus! has the option not install it. If only people would realise. And if they accidently did install it, why wouldn't they just search the forums for past posts instead of creating another post that leads to spam and arguments and really annoys people.

I really support Patchou in the creation of the most respected MSN Messenger Add-On of all time.

This is my opinon and i'll always continue to use Plus! forever unless the world ends for some totally random unknown reason and computers don't exist anymore

GO PATCHOU!

Patchou, there's one in every crowd, and more than one in larger crowds. You can't get rid of these people and all you can do is really just say, "If you don't like it, don't install the software." Hold your head up high, because I've never seen a better piece of software in my entire life. Except for the one's I create . Just kidding.

Patchou, what can I say besides thank you.  If it was not for you and your add-on called "Messeger Plus!", my IM'ing experience would not be what it is today, I would not have met some of the awesome people on this forum, and not made some good friendships with some cool people.  All I can really say is thank you Patchou, and do not let the discouraging words of those people to get to you, because we all know your better then that, and you know it too. Thanks again...

-pr0xy

Patchou, you can see I am not an active member in the forum, but I do always support your software.  Since I discovered Messenger Plus! a few years ago, I started to use it.  I love your software very much, and I do thank you for your time for making the best piece of software.   We are know you are doing your best, and I am sure you are not greedy for adding that sponsor software as an optional installation. 

I tell everyyone I know about your product, as a way to help you, support you, and thank you.  I can't do much to help out in your forum, but I do want to let you know what there are a lot of people who like you.  Please don't tell those rude people upset you.

u have always got my support patch, after reading your message i was really saddened, it made me really think about how mcuh you got hurt by people saying stuff like that.

I will continue to support you, your great work and Plus! i have been using plus since ver 2x and will continue to do so, one of the first things that i did last time that i to helped fix my friends' comp is put plus on it (after i fixed the prob ofcourse ), and i have done this more than a few times and will continue to do so, i hope that this helps u fell better about peoples support towards u and plus since that was the point of this post. i kno i repeated my self a lot in this post but its wut i felt so .

Hope u feel better and have sum fun patch we are all proud of you and your magnificent work

quote:

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Originally posted by BooGhost
You just have to read the Messenger Plus! Community forums history ( http://shoutbox.menthix.net/showthread.php?tid=18557&page=1 )

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lol  patchou you have an army of users and most of them would be willing to take over a small country for you just because we are all addicts now we cant live without our IM + msgPlus!
you do fanatistic work your really a great idle for people because you've shown us that hard work and determination can get you anywhere cheers to you mate

well its a great job that patchou has been given us and that he puts all his time in it day in day out and i think you should be very proud on what you have done not only for yourself but also to other people and especially US who are having msgplus installed on there computers and you cant imaging when there will be a count how many times has been downloaded from the biginning till now

so take good care of your baby and let it be the best downloaded file from msn messenger

and i'll allways support you fully what ever its gonna take and i think more people think the same thing as i do

patchou r0x0rzzzz

Normally I don't read very long posts, but this one didn't bored me any minute and was touching. I don't know of other software that's free and has got the dedication of his creator like Messenger Plus! has. It's a pleasure to tell people about Plus! and its features and to help those who need help with it.

Don't feel depressed when someone says lies like that because after all they are lies and you know better. We know better too than to believe lies like that. You got my full support (and from others too) and will always have it.

I hope you won't care too much about these lies and keep up the good work .

Here's my two cents:

OK, so people moan about the sponsor and accuse you of stealing code.

But look at it this way: how many of the 6,000,000+ users actually moan? From what I've seen, far less than 0.1%.

I wouldn't have over 1000 posts on this forum, and written nine plugins if I didn't think Plus is worth the binary it's distributed in.

People will always complain about things they don't understand. The true worth of a person can be (partially) measured by how they deal with lack of understanding: those who refuse to research a little and just fly off the handle aren't worth the air they breathe (or the ASCII they write), whereas the good souls in this forum, who do research and come to straight and honest conclusions, are worth their weight in gold.

Keep working on Plus, for the sake of humanity!

* RaceProUK can't wait for the 10th anniversary party for Plus in 2011...

Edit to bring up to date and fix typo

Patchou... I have been keep supporting you. Although I'm not very active on the forum but I intro alot of people (from my country) to install msgplus lol this may sound lame lol

Anyways I support you! You have my sword!

Yeah Patchou. You have our support.

if it means anything to you patch I've installed the sponsor program so you'll be getting a littel teeny weeny piece of money in your pay pal or whatever

quote:

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Originally posted by Patchou
Without user’s support, Messenger Plus! would die in a matter of days so thanks again to all of you!

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Again, thanks to all of you