Posted on 01/11/2011 5:28:06 AM PST by paulycy
FYI -
Here are statements from Jim about the future of FreeRepublic.com for those who missed them. They are quite serious.
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"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."
"To those who wish to leave because of it, see ya."
"If FR dies, that’s that."
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[To: paulycy]
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.
Hit it boys:
https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/
And no, we have no plans of taking FR commercial. I like it the way it is. Not sure I could handle getting rich.
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- Jim Robinson
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2653583/posts?page=168#168
Subscribers - no banner ads
(donation of any amount = 12 month FR membership)
This is the Delphi Forums business model.
If I recall correctly, they offer two levels of annual subscription. Their premium membership comes with all sorts of cool user features. Their standard membership comes with fewer bells and whistles. Their basic membership is free, and simply allows one to post and read. Basic (unpaid) members also see all of the banner ads, where paid members do not.
I think that Proud's suggestion would be a perfectly logical evolution for FR, and wouldn't change the site for donating members. Perhaps as time goes on, the owners of FR could offer a few bells and whistles to paid subscribers, like Delphi Forums does.
This is a good capitalistic solution to a problem that has been plaguing FR for far too long. Given that FR is the number one gathering place for conservatives on the internet, the potential revenue that could be generated from banner ads is probably considerable.
Did you miss the dustup last week? Where JR removed caucus designation on some LDS threads and moved them?
I don’t have a problem with the LDS posting, but I also expect to be able to counter it, especially since I used to BE Mormon.
I’m all for Free Speech, but it goes both ways.
Leni
Yup. Isn't he inconsiderate!
Thanks.
It helps to have those figures.
Jim does and posts them periodically. I don't have a link handy right at the moment, maybe someone else does. I do know that we generate around one million page hits a day. That's a lot.
And that points to the other recent problem many are experiencing with FR. In my first 8 years here I had one real argument with another FReeper. We used to be entitled to our own opinions, and we accepted that our areas of disagreement were small. In the past year nearly every post I've made of substance has elicited a string of insults from someone who joined fairly recently.
I show up to check the headlines these days, but rarely bother attempting to discuss them.
Being a conservative is like reading the Bible, we all think we know what is says, but we haven’t read it and studied it..............and surprise, it doesn’t say what we thought it said.
Sometimes you have to define a problem well and we should all be able to recite these 10 points in our sleep. Until we do so it might be a lost cause. It requires a thinking cap which are rare.
Sometimes I swear this is not much difference between “conservatives” and “liberals” Government is the answer to EVERY problem.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1764974/posts
I agree. CNN, for example (before I was banned), was impossible to figure out. With just one line of messages, directed at dozens of different people. FR’s format beats the heck out of 99% of other message boards I’ve seen.
In your case, yea.
Technically, an oracle is... an authoritative person who divines the future
In other words, Jim Robinson is an oracle when he declares that he will never use oracle.
Only problem with that is, some people choose to donate anonymously.
Yes, indeed, Jim is a Magnificent Ba#tard! :-)
It was a stupid, petty complaint.
I’m kind of liking Scala lately. Clojure, too; it’s a more academic language, though.
“I know people just love to bash Java, solely because it’s the big dog.”
Well, I love to bash Java (the language) because it’s a huge pile of bureaucracy. If I want to get anything done on it, it’s 20 minutes to solve the problem in paper, a couple days to get it “just fine” under Java-lang.
I really seem to have missed something. What has happened that this whole Mormon thing has blown up??
I am really surprised to hear that
I didn't mean it in any sarcastic way. I meant that if Mr. Robinson charged for posting rights I'd pay. It wasn't meant to disparage anyone or to put down anyone. I just meant that if he or FR provides a service and wants to get paid to deliver that service, then he could or should in order to keep providing the service that FR provides. If somebody comes along with a more efficient or "better" site, then he would be forced to lower his prices or go out of business.
It's just stating a fact that we are in a free market and services are usually paid by the people getting the service to those delivering the service.
>>I have been asked to post this as a separate thread instead of a reply to various threads dealing with the subject.<<
Not much value if you can’t comment when you want
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