Eek! Lusenet/Greenspun Disappearing or Changing?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Beyond the Sidewalks : One Thread

Check out this thread, and read what Philip Greenspun says. LINK

Maybe we should all fan out and see what we can find out? Or maybe Jim should be emailing Mr. Greenspun? If this is going to disappear, it would be nice to have some warning!

Hope I'm not being alarmist!

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2001

Answers

They are obviously speaking English because I recognize some words, but the message doesn't compute (I am computer dummy, original factory model here), so please clue me in. . .

As I understand it, they are planning on closing down greenspun.com and converting the existing forums into photo.net? When? I understood that a password was being discussed to get into the new forum. Will I need a new password?

And why is my eye twitching? Please followup.

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2001


I kinda jumped the gun on posting this, JR. Right away, with a little digging, I found more at: http://www.greenspun.com/

Copied this off that site:

I'm currently trying to figure out how to redesign these services so that

  1. users are authenticated, e.g., before posting they have to register and respond to an email message (we won't know who they are but at least we'll know that they supplied an email address where they can receive mail)
  2. a person is available to handle service inquiries
  3. a programmer is available to provide enhancements based on user needs
  4. the site is financially self-sustaining, i.e., either the owners of bboards or the most active posters are contributing to the costs of sysadmin, programming, hosting/bandwidth, and customer service
When these services were built in the mid-1990s it made a lot of sense. Running a database-backed Web server was an esoteric art that required expensive hardware and proprietary software. But as we enter the year 2002 there are quite a few 14-year-olds who've set up Linux, Postgres, and OpenACS in less than one day. With a $500 PC and a DSL line, they end up having all the collaboration tools that dotcoms spent $10 million to construct.

Bottom line: prepare for some changes to these services!

Philip Greenspun, December 6, 2001

So I guess the questions are, do we want a forum here with those features that he mentions, and do we want to pay for it?

For me, it would depend on HOW MUCH we would be expected to contribute. We can have the forum on EZBoard, minus the pop-ups and other ads for $14/year. Kind of hard to beat that . . . . .

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2001


I agree Joy, I would be quite willing to pay a nominal fee for these services, especially nice would be the verifying the participants part, would cut down on the trolls and impersonators greatly!!!

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2001

I'd surely miss this group and CS too if it went away. I wouldn't mind paying a nominal fee either but the operative condition for me would be WITHOUT THE POP UPS. What a pain in the ass they are. When I went to the BTS portal all these casino things came up that I couldn't get rid of. I haven't been back since. Thats one of the things I like about the Greenspun boards----the almost total absence of the commercialism you find elsewhere.

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001

I have just discovered I have been under the wrong impression about EZBoard. The $7/6 months "CSC USER" is for EACH user. If I signed up for it, I could visit any EZBoard and see no pop-ups -- but it wouldn't do anyone else any good! However, to make the ENTIRE board free of these annoying ads, it's $30/6 months. Still not too bad (comes out to $5/month), BUT more than I thought.

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001


Maybe we should all fan out and see what we can find out?

I think it's a good idea for folks to keep their eyes and ears open and post anything they come across.

For the most part I think we'll just have to take a wait and see attitude. If the changes Phil (possibly) makes to Lusenet are unacceptable to us then we can always pick up and head over to Joy's forum.

If we ultimately *do* make to move over to Joy's forum, I'd be willing to contribute some funds to the kitty, too.

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001


I'd be willing to contribute too, if it comes to it.

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001

About a buck a month is hardly worth mentioning; do you know how they do the billing?

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001

It's 5 bucks a month for EZBoard, EM. There are various ways to pay, they even take checks. Credit cards, PayPal, and another method that I assume is like PayPal. You can have a community chest, where people contribute (not sure how the contributions get there, but probably all the same payment methods).

Or we could all just pursue getting one of those "pop-up killers" that Jim mentioned. I know ZoneLabs has come out with one, but I haven't looked into it.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 2001


Ok , whatever.....its like peanuts we're talkin here? I'll kick in whatever is needed.........if it comes to that......

-- Anonymous, December 22, 2001


Count me in, also, Joy!! I'll start saving my egg money :-)!

-- Anonymous, December 22, 2001

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