Firstly, Tourweaver (STD) is also a <$200 software package. Only the Pro version is more than this for the main reason of being totally "Brand Free". This is something none of the others you mention can claim.
This forum is very active and has been so longer than any of the others you speak of. But it is limited to Tourweaver software, it is not a free for all. If you are not seeing many posts it's because you need to adjust the "Show Topics" on the home page of each forum sub category. It can be adjusted to show posts that date back to 2002. Tourweaver to November 2003 and 88 pages, 1742 topics and 9244 posts when I last looked.
Tourweaver is NOT open source and never will be. It is designed as an easy way for everybody (non coders) to produce a virtual tour. You cannot hack or modify the XML code. It was the first and still is the best tour compiler software on the market. But it does have limitations that you must work within. Or you can add something to the wish list.
I have found the program very easy to understand and I have not ever needed the user manual nor any video tutorial but I release some people do. If you get stuck on a specific problem there are many forum users here who will attempt to help you out. Providing the question makes clear sense and you are polite.
The point you fail to understand is that all the other programs you speak have come about from panographers who wanted to push the limits further to meet their own demands. They didn't start out as a business. There is nothing wrong with that and you are welcome to join them.
After reading your post I'm not sure of what you really want? (maybe it's the language barrier) But I do read a lot of ranting.
Like everything, there is room for improvement.
Currently it is Chinese New Year so Easypano staff are on holidays.
Regards, Smooth
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