Not only in regards to social/political discourse, but the personal lives of many of us have also been positively affected over the years via this website and those we've been brought into contact with via its pages.
Thank you.
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.
You've grown an American resource that millions of Americans don't want to see go away. How can we ensure that it won't?
That's way, way, way to many employees. :-) Just kidding, Jim.
It's nice to hear the information for those of us that haven't been around in the days of Laz's cave drawings. :-)
Thank you Boss.
Jim, I think I can speak for all of us when I say, “You da man, Jim!”
Seriously - FR is too valuable of a resource to just let slip away because it can’t pay the bills one quarter. Because of related job issues, hospital bills being paid entirely out of pocket, etc. I’ve not donated before, but I’m gonna hit the tip jar this afternoon.
C’mon people, do it for Jim, do it for FR, do it for America!
what was the point of this thread then? I'm confused. Was this a pledge drive?
This discussion stimulated a depressing thought. Does FreeRepublic=Jim Robinson. More specifically has there been any thought about the site existing after you pass on?
I know that this is your baby, but you have created something bigger than any of us individually. I hope there are plans to keep things going after all of us are dust.
For us paranoid types, how anonymous and untraceable are our donations?
Not only in regards to social/political discourse, but the personal lives of many of us have also been positively affected over the years via this website and those we've been brought into contact with via its pages.
Thank you.
Jim,
Thanks for #588 to update those that don’t know the site’s history.
The truely wonderful thing about FreeRepublic.com was an individual with patriotic yearnings for information and communication set it up with what he could muster up on his own. It is as patriotic a move as anything I have seen in recent years.
The Clinton era Whitehouse saturday picketing started with poster MrConfettiMan (bless Joe’s dear memory) went to the White House alone and posted a thread, “ I was there, Where were you” to talk of his individual action. Your individual action, legal and constitutional, prompted Joe and all of us to take action and discuss it.
Users have the unfortunant tendancy to see a personal project like this and treat it like it is a commercial enterprise. They suggest, gripe, complain, demand, argue and in general forget that they are but visitors to your hobby — trying to save out nation. You are very patient with all of us and sharing as well.
Thank you.
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.
You’re talking multiple millions spent to create&maintain FR and its infrastructure and functions.
Well Done, Sir! That’s stimulating the old economy!
The ROI on your investment and your family’s as well can never be adequately calculated nor appreciated as much as it should be by this nation and Republic for which we claim as our own.
Old dogs know best. They know where the shade is and they know how to use it.
To those who would wish to take FR to another level,, perhaps it is time to do battle with new technologies as the Robinsons have and see what you can deliver.
—
as to - ‘we’re perfectly comfortable with donor funding at a shoestring level.’
Charlie Chaplin did pretty well on the same diet, shoestrings and sole.. ;-)
Giddyup.
Thank you, Jim. And God bless you.
God bless you too Jim :-)
Thank you, Jim. I’m an “old dog”, too. In some instances, *change* is not a good thing...
I think you might have spelled WONDERFULLY wrong...
Where would I be if I didn't have FR?
Where would we ALL be??
GOD bless you, Jim, and all your minions and underlings!
I’m late to the party, as usual! You are right. Keep it just as it is... I am completely satisfied with that decision.
THANKS TONS JIM,
FOR THE ADDED INFO AND PERSPECTIVE.
I think your seDiments are wise and reasonable.
Certainly would NOT like to increase hazards of copyright hassles. Enough as it is already yet.
WOULD like to see perhaps a bit more backup hardware.
Would say . . . double the hardware be helpful?
If so, what would be the cost?
Perhaps another way to ask . . . are there
any
hardware improvements that are reasonably doable that would make John’s job easier and the system more fault tolerant?
If so, what and at what cost?
I think that’s info that a lot of us would be happy to consider rising to the task of helping make happen, regardless of meager donation abilities.
It REALLLLLLY helps, Jim, for us peons in the hinterlands to understand better your perspective, convictions, values as well as the realities of the hardware and software.
We can feel MUCH better about being yokefellows when we understand the lay of the land and the nitty gritties more fully and more accurately than guessing allows.
There is something to be said about grassroots and small donations to fund things. Anytime bigfoot donors start putting up multiple thousands of dollars at a whack, won’t be long they’ll be trying to tell you what do do and how to do it.
See any big-time college football program to find out how that all works.
I feel better already, boss. Not that I felt badly before, mind you. Thanks so much for all you do.
Thanks for that post Jim. Very informative to a guy heading toward 80 who started life without so much as a telephone in the house...
