I subscribe to a blog that just announced the arrival of a new "forum" or "wiki" site for SQL Server professionals. Now, most will say, "no big deal", however, I don't believe the current direction that these sites are heading is profitable for the following reasons;

 1. With the addition of new sites that do the same thing as others you will thin out the talent pool that are available for the individual sites and they will become fractured communities rather than a large commonly focused community. I know as a poster I can barely reply to as many as I would like to on this site, nor blog as much as I would like to so, I can't even begin to imagine adding another site to review and or post helpful replies to.

2. Due to the fact that most of these sites are now owned by some software company (Red-Gate, Idera, Quest), you will have that focus being driven as well. I know that this has not been the mindset of this site but I don't believe that adding ownership by a major software manufacturer has added anything to this site. Fortunately as far as I can tell it hasn't detracted from it either. I can't say the same for all these sites though as there is another site that was quite profitable from the performance perspective which is pretty much obselete at this point and has really fallen off following the purchase by one of the vendors listed above.

3. You will have duplication of information. It really can't be avoided completely. I know that we should believe people to be honest and innovative but I also know that people will glean from an article "here" to put an article "there".

Ultimately, my major frustration behind all of this is the fact that now there is an encouragment by these sites to align yourself to a third-party application posting site, whether intentional or not, so that you can be amongst a community that is most like your environment. The focus has been in some way taken away from SQL Server whether admitted or not. Seriously folks, if we really were focused on making SQL Server better and providing answers to the community would another site have been started? Why is it that the majority of the major contributors on the new site are from the vendor that is supporting the site? Is there something wrong with this site and / or the other sites currently available that you needed to start another?

 Sorry, all this is bordering on the ridiculous to me. I am thankful for this site, very thankful as it has been a MAJOR help to my growth as a DBA. I do honestly wish that it had not been bought out but I can also state that the impact has been very minimal and mostly unnoticed which I am again thankful for.

 I would like to hear the thoughts of others on this both in support of my statements and in defense of other sites. Thanks in advance.