Borland產品的老用戶，只要上 BDN(Borland Developer Network) 的，都會熟悉這樣一副尊容：

這個大胡子，就是Borland負責開發者社區的副總裁David Intersimone。因為Intersimone這個詞不好記，社區里面習慣叫他做“David I”。當年在BDN上，該老兄的相片是在首頁可以看到的；而且，隔一段時間還有他介紹社區新內容的文字。

BND是了解Borland技術資訊的重要途徑，另外一個途徑是Borland Newsgroup。從初學Delphi開始，我就一直在Borland Newsgroup上提問、獲得回答，也嘗試回答別人的問題?；霣orland Newsgroup的，都熟悉Team B——這個神秘的組織，不知疲倦地為開發者提供支持，回答大家的各種問題。

現在David I要來中國訪問了，遲了許多年。中國的Borland開發者社區正在被有意或無意地放棄，逐漸走向衰落。世事滄桑，令人感慨。《程序員》雜志要對David I做一個專訪，孟巖問我想問什么問題，我說特別想知道Team B的一些情況。今天孟巖給我發來了David I的答復，篇幅關系，這些答復不會出現在雜志上。謝謝孟巖的訪問和翻譯。下面是David I關于Team B的說明：

TeamB是10多年前作為一項試驗而創建的，目的是讓Borland產品的高級用戶回答其他用戶的技術支持問題。最初的計劃非常簡單：確定最有經驗的用戶，并從中選出一些愿意共享自己知識的人員組成一個團隊。然后為他們提供免費產品作為回報。讓他們回答其他用戶的問題。現在的teamB由各行業的各種人員組成，包括以前的大學教授、項目經理、優秀的開發人員和咨詢師。Borland用戶社區比以前更依賴于TeamB來獲取及時、準確的問題答案。在新聞組經常會發現這樣的消息，感謝TeamB解決了威脅到重要項目或任務正常進行的問題。因為TeamB成員不是Borland的員工，因此他們更能夠坦言關于Borland市場表現的各方面實際的觀點。包括但不限于產品開發、市場銷售和支持方面。大多數TeamB成員作為開發者，他們共同關注著開發者社區。開發者社區的關注問題將通過TeamB引起Borland公司的注意。

附英文原文：

If you've ever visited Borland's newsgroups at newsgroups.borland.com, or visited the CompuServe forums dedicated to support of Borland products before the newsgroups opened, it's a foregone conclusion that you've seen posts from members of TeamB.

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TeamB was created more than 10 years ago as an experiment in encouraging advanced users of Borland products to answer other users' technical support questions. The original plan was deceptively simple: Identify your most knowledgeable users. Find those among them who most enjoy sharing their know-how. Organize them into a team. Offer them free product and benefits in return for their time. Let them loose to answer other users' questions.

Today, the team is composed of a mixed group of people from backgrounds as varied as the industry itself; former university professors, project managers, hotshot developers, and consultants. More than ever, Borland's community of users depends and relies on TeamB to receive timely and accurate answers to their questions. It is not uncommon to read a message in the newsgroups thanking TeamB for solving a problem that was threatening to delay an important project or task.

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Because TeamB members are not Borland employees, they tend to be outspoken with their opinions on virtually all aspects of Borland's presence in the market, including but not limited to product development, marketing, and support. Being, for the most part, developers themselves, TeamB shares the concerns of the developer community. If there is an issue of concern to the developer community, it has likely been brought to the attention of Borland by TeamB.

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