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posted by mattie_p on Monday March 10 2014, @03:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the always-backup-your-website dept.

Update: The staff is in conversation with the buyer right now. More to follow, but at this point it looks to be a benevolent benefactor from the community. More to follow as we get it.

SoylentNews community:

As you know, there is not a lot of information available right now. Barrabas reports that he has sold the Soylentnews.org and associated domain names, and successfully transferred them, but neither the buyer's name nor the terms of that sale have been disclosed. As spokesperson for the staff of the site during this time, we would like everyone to know the following:

Our current backup plan is to revert to the li694-22.members.linode.com where the site is actually hosted. If we need to go there for any reason, we will try to notify the site in advance. If it has to go down or we are forced down, we'll be there. We will rebuild the database with some downtime and work from there.

We will send out a mass email to all users from the database informing them of this step should we need to do so.

We do not plan to implement this yet. We (the staff) did not advocate the buyout, but will try and work with the buyer if possible. We do not know the terms on which the domain name was sold.

We the staff will still operate the site, in its current condition on linode, until the community can vote on a new name. Depending on the buyer, we hope we can consider keeping the name the same as an option.

Until we know more information, we would like everyone to remain calm, collected, and civil, while we sort through these issues. Thank you

~mattie_p

 
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Non Sequor on Monday March 10 2014, @07:28PM

    by Non Sequor (1005) on Monday March 10 2014, @07:28PM (#14370)

    I'm the AC you replied to and I just want to double down on the idea that, while I don't like the idea of a site like this being another corporate asset, that doesn't mean that it can't be a means for a small group if people to make a decent living. The community should not demand martyrdom from the people running the place.

    If barabbas had laid out for the community the number of hours he anticipated committing to the site per year and what he was hoping to be compensated for that, he probably could have gotten it with a Kickstarter as long as it wasn't too outlandish.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Kell on Monday March 10 2014, @09:39PM

    by Kell (292) on Monday March 10 2014, @09:39PM (#14413)

    I do agree with your points*. To clarify, please don't think that I was advocating that site operators not turn a profit - it's merely a case of the initial intent of the website. Going into a project planning to make money results in a different outlook from creating a community site that happens to turn a profit. Making money isn't inherently bad, if you're going into it saying "This will be a business that delivers a dividend" and everyone else is saying "Let's make something cool for like-minded people" the impedance mismatch will invariable lead to drama.
     
    *While I think about it, I've seen far more constructive discussion, feedback and (gasp) even consensus on SN than I ever saw in 10 years on Slashdot. It was a rare rare thing there to ever hear someone say "That's a good point, I never thought of it that way", but here it seems to happen much more readily. I am enjoying the smart, earnest conversation!

    --
    Scientists point out problems. Engineers fix them.
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Non Sequor on Monday March 10 2014, @10:00PM

      by Non Sequor (1005) on Monday March 10 2014, @10:00PM (#14416)

      I agree with the stuff about the community here. I remember some of this from turn of the century era slashdot, (although there were more trolls back then).

      It seems like there should be a way to make this more permanent. Slashdot may have suffered from being a part of the dotcom era. After the ad rates fell off their peak, they ended up chasing different strategies for dealing with that which never left me comfortable that it could keep going forever. Slashdot was a community oriented site, but it was always being forced to jump through hoops to justify its existence to external forces.

      So now, can a site like the slashdot of old operate continuously just by continuing to justify its existence to its community? Drama aside, I think the answer is yes, provided that goal is put front and center.