"If FR dies, that’s that." - Jim Robinson [Jim's reply at post # 588]

Here are statements from Jim about the future of FreeRepublic.com for those who missed them. They are quite serious.

"Well, I can say that there are definitely two things that will never happen. 1) Banner ads. 2) Oracle [a completely new database system.] And a third is a total replacement [of the current damaged system.] Don’t have the financial wherewithal."

Hey, you want us to get an all new system with all new software and add a few more pricey techs, system programmers and database administrators to keep it all working 100% of the time 24/7/365? Well, start coughing up the big bucks.

It’s going to take tens of thousands of donations and many with at least three zeros each after the comma to accomplish the task. And that would be EVERY month like clock work to make the payroll. Once you take on a big load of expensive overhead, there’s no going back. As it is, we get a couple thousand donations per quarter averaging about $30 bucks each and there’s no guarantees we can cover this quarter’s expenses much less next quarter. We’re on a pay as we go system and we have zero employees.We just ask for enough to pay the bills.

Throwing more money at the problem won’t solve it. [This latest glitch] was a technical issue and we just had to keep troubleshooting until we found it. And no, we’re not going to invite a bunch of strangers in to get their hands on our secure systems. John has been programming since he was 14 and he’s pushing 40 now. He built these systems and he’s an expert in them.

And no, we are not going to throw out our software and rewrite it and no we’re not going to move on to some other database system. There are no guarantees that any other system can do a better job and not without hiring a staff to build and maintain it and that’s for sure. And we don’t have the financial wherewithal to do any of that anyway. Maybe if we had a couple million bucks at our disposal and a couple years to do it in we could build an iron-clad system. And maybe not.

All I can say is, if someone else can do it better and cheaper, then please step right on up and get ‘er done!! I’ll bow out and retire. Thankyouverymuch.

And no, we have no plans of taking FR commercial. I like it the way it is. Not sure I could handle getting rich.

Thank you all very much, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the system other than the fact that it runs on computers and that we run on a shoestring budget with no employees. It’s just me and John, Amy and Chris. I’ve been involved with computers since 1972 starting with the Univac and the IBM/360 and Digital’s PDP and VAX generations. Amy got started a few years earlier. John started programming when he was 14 and was a commercial programmer by 16. He was our C+ guru when we were in the software business. He introduced us to the Internet in the early 90’s before the browser had even been developed. I’ve been a programmer/analyst from the 70’s and also in programming/project management and data processing management and also owned my own software company.

The one biggest thing we’ve learned in all these years is that computer systems have a tendency to crash. And when the inevitable happens, we don’t panic. We troubleshoot, find the problems, fix them and go on. Been doing it for nearly forty years. There is nothing wrong with FR. It’s perfectly normal for systems to fail occasionally.

Now there are ways to make a system more bullet proof and to build-in back ups and redundancy, etc, so there is almost zero downtime for users, but these are usually reserved for critical operations. And that’s because they cost money. Lots of it.

For example we only have one tech, one programmer, one hardware guy, one security guy, one operating system guru, one perl guru, one mysql guru, one all around computer guy and John is it. He’s also our chief procurement officer and liaison with all vendors and suppliers and in his spare time he fills in as our research and development department. Dear old dad with 40 years experience in programming and managing legacy computer systems tries to join in and help but usually just gets in the way. John is a one man shop, he’s on call, on duty 24/7/365 with no vacations or holidays unless he carries a cell phone and lap top and he likes it that way.

We could hire three or four guys to do what John does and we still couldn’t cover it 24/7/365 and provide uninterruptible service. We’d still suffer downtime.

We could also build redundant systems. But that just doubles the cost, doubles the maintenance and doubles or triples the capital requirements and ongoing expense. And unless they were located in different parts of the country on different providers, the redundant systems would not guarantee 100% uptime. Guess what? Even multi-million dollar fail-safe systems fail occasionally. Computers crash! It’s a fact of life and we deal with it every day.

FR was started on zero capital. It was a hobby that has grown terribly out of control. It was a one man shop when I set it up. Amy came in later to help me administer it, then John took over the programming a couple years later and redesigned and rewrote it all at least three times since. He built the servers it runs on. Now it may be that if we had the money we could order all new equipment and redesign and rewrite the software again with an eye for making it all bullet proof, but that would require lots of money and probably hiring some additional talent and it would require time. But we have no money and no access to money. And we are reluctant to take on any additional debt.

Now we could go commercial. We could sell ads. We could sell subscriptions or memberships, We could sell t-shirts and hats. But the moment we do, we invite scrutiny and copyright lawsuits. Before going commercial we would have to scrub our archives of any possible copyright violations. And we’d have to tighten up our current operations to make sure no one posts anything that could get us into trouble with any publisher of stories, photos, images, etc. And with sharks like Righthaven swimming around, there will always be room for trouble. And going commercial still wouldn’t guarantee enough income to build and maintain a paid staff, bullet proof software, redundant systems, etc.

I’m an old dog and I like to keep it simple. We have a nice little system here. We are comfortable with the hardware and our software and our providers and it works fairly well. Actually, very well. We have some occasional problems and have been down a few times but as I said, there are no guarantees that if we had double or triple the size of our hardware or our staff that we still would not suffer some downtime occasionally. It happens.

And we’re perfectly comfortable with donor funding at a shoestring level. I’d hate to complicate the thing by going commercial. We are grassroots and it makes sense to me to keep it all grassroots and uncomplicated if we possibly can.

I see no reason whatsoever to panic about our systems our staffing or our funding.

And I really wish to thank all of YOU who make it possible. Your donations provide the capital we need to keep it all going and your continued participation on our forums makes FR the premier God and Country CONSERVATIVE site on the Internet!!

Thank God for the FReepers!! God bless you all.

I agree with that assessment. During the last freep-a-thon, someone from NY sent $4. It touched me so much, that I gave $16 to bump their donation to $20. (I’ve been a monthly donor since about one month after I joined and I give extra during freep-a-thons.)

I was thinking more along the lines of one designation for Dollar-a-day members (of which I am now a proud member!!), one for monthlies (any amount), one for annual/freep-a-thon donations (any amount.)

We really already have access to the first two identifications in the freep-a-thon threads with don-o’s lists, but easy access to that information as we have with sign-up dates would be helpful and a “badge of honor.” IMHO, it might also cut out some of the hate. If you see that someone contributes to FR, you might be less likely to holler “troll” just because you disagree with their opinion - and there is far too much of that going on.

I totally feel paulycy’s frustration (for lack of a better word.) He and I joined at almost the exact same time. Both of us fell in love in with FR and became very active members of this community. We both want to help FR be successful financially but don’t know how to help.

We originally thought increasing membership and participation would increase donations. So when one of the mods wanted to start a FR Welcome Wagon to help out new members who need to learn the ropes here, paulycy and I signed up to help. (Let’s face it, newbies get beaten up. “It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.”) That effort bombed.

What to do now? How can we help? We don’t want to lose FR.

Your choice of words reveals the mindset ... you toss anti 'Mormon' around like you think it will protect you, a talisman aimed at squelching opposition. If Momtonism apologists would not try to use FR as their personal means to proselytize for mormonISM you woul dhave a nice quiet little caucus to attend and get that warm fuzzy, just as other religious gorups do. But no, you and yours have tried to squelch opposition to mormonism by bleeding your bilge into the open forum. We saw it amped up when your Momron man Romney wanted to shut up conservative opposition to the rinoism of Romney. Mormonism apologists have tried to use this 'anti mormon' whine like barry the bastard used race, as a bludgeon to squelch any opposition to him. You smarmy whine has since taken on a drive all proselytism in scope. Do you and your expect a campaign to squlech opposition to mormonism now will net an open field for your empty suit rino in 2011/2012? Disgusting. And the proof that I've nailed your stealth campaign is the way you try to use Glenn Beck as your newest talisman, as if opposition to his religion equates with opposition to his work of peaceful rebellion against the growing socialist/commie government. Doubly disgusting, using religion as a talisman to clear the path for your Momronism political agenda.

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