Vmax, Out of frustration I built the portal page so as to bring all the resources into at least one point.
For a long time I have been hassling and lobbying for just one group. Without success I came to the conclusion, that if you cant win every one over, then at least you can try and put them under the one unbrella, hence the portal page.
I am not sure what your KINGDOMS comment means, But I have set up this forum not as competition to either CNCzone or the Yahoo forum, but as primarily a site dedicated to Mach and not CNC. While there is two other forums dedicated to Mach, one been CNCzone and the other been Yahoo. Both have disadvantages. Yahoo is owned by a comercial company and you are at thier mercy about what features they implement, and CNCzone while been a great place to be, You do not have the same control over the forum as having your own.
This forum is owned by Art, and while he has let it be managed by others, he ultimately can steer it as he likes, if need be. Without advertising on it for other competitive software too. Art has full control over what, if any, advertising happens on his pages. Also there is just one main focas on this forum, instead of 100s of topics competeing for your attention.
The advancement of Mach as you mentioned is also my goal, but my main focas is to help all members by providing the best interface as possible, by pulling all resources together in the portal page.