Posted on 07/17/2017 9:48:56 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
Received a copy of the message pasted below that apparently is circulating via freepmail.
In response, all I can say is John is my son and my partner in FR along with Chris and Amy. None of us make a six figure salary. I designed and wrote the original version of FR back in '96, but it was my very first internet project ever. It worked, but codewise it was a dog. And virtually impossible to maintain.
When John came in with me, he rewrote the software and made it work greater than ever before and included maintenance tools that were sorely needed. I never dreamed that a homegrown internet site could handle the traffic and the millions of posts that we do. And even including the few times when we were down hard for more than a day, over the last 21 years we have better than 99% uptime.
And later, when our growth saturated and used up all the resources of our original ISP, John designed and built our multi-server hardware system, negotiated a contract for sufficient bandwidth and installed it at the San Jose data center. I'm not a techie so the hardware and software are John's baby.
And he and Chris are planning on running FR after me and Amy are gone. We are not about to let it die, assuming there's still a need and willing members.
This is about 20th warning being circulated during the last 20 years that FR's demise was imminent within the next year. Someday they may be right.
Lastly, if the guy who wrote the message below thinks he can do a better job than we do, he should go for it. And, for crying out loud, if he thinks he's being ripped off he should stop donating immediately and possibly should start posting somewhere else.
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“I don’t want to answer this question out in public, but I do want to answer it because I believe that many potential donors are in the same position. I have donated fairly regularly, but am becoming increasingly hesitant to continue on.
We see from the numbers that EXCLUDING expenses (collocation, bandwidth, legal, credit card processing fees, etc.) Jim (and I assume John shares) is pulling in a cool quarter million per year from this. Its his baby... he created it, he does what he can from home to babysit it... that’s fine... more power to him. It seems that his son John is the other principal who does the running to the data-center when things need fixing.
I don’t know how much John gets from this... but there’s enough profit there for BOTH Jim and John to make a six-figure salary. John apparently already has a full time job... he gets around to FR issues “when he can squeeze in the time”. If someone’s getting a six-figure salary to mind a system then that system ought to be sort of a high priority, not something that can be squeezed in on weekends now and then.
It is what it is... but here’s where it’s reaching the breaking point for me and I think many others:
Given the frequency of hardware failures, it’s becoming clear that it is now more likely than not that FR won’t exist a year from now. Many of us have suggested that hardware upgrades are becoming increasingly more of a priority... they’re now imperative.
There in NO discussion of this even being considered. I get it that Jim’s a stubborn guy... no one likes change, and a migration is a scary project.
But, without it, this site is going to evaporate... soon. Hardware is cheap... he could get a pair of great servers for $20K... the software is fine, no need to spend a ton of money writing some fancy new system. Just replace the hardware with something modern. Get some of the many experts here to volunteer a few days to work on the migration.
A brand new setup would cost less than one month’s “salary”... but would guarantee that FR survives. If giving up one month’s pay to invest in the future of his site (and the future of his income) is too much to ask, then hold a special freepathon to raise it. I can almost guarantee this money, if it was known that it was being allocated to a legit hardware upgrade plan, would be raised in a matter of a few days.
Perhaps Jim’s plan is to simply squeeze as much money out of it until it dies, then forget about it... we don’t know... he’s not saying anything (at least publicly that I can see). If that’s the case, he should at least be honest about the plan to the people he’s asking to pay his salary. If he has a plan for the site to continue, then he would be better served telling his donors what that plan is.... that would encourage more to be on board with the plan.
I would hate to see FR die abruptly and permanently. The likelihood of that happening soon is becoming very high at this point if these outages and other hardware issues continue on their current trend. If that’s NOT the plan, then I wish Jim would communicate to his donors about it and get moving to prevent that... before its too late.”
Count me in. You have my support and understanding.
I’m very sorry to see that someone is circulating such a message within FR. Yes, it’s frustrating that sometimes there are problems with the site, but that sense of frustration is also an indication of how important the site is to us. Saying mean things about you and your family is a very inappropriate response.
Thank you for the great service you have done to your country and the cause of freedom by starting FreeRepublic and keeping it going all of these years.
Ed
Free Republic wouldn’t be the same if it were run with “corporate efficiency.” A little down time let’s everything breath.
FR has been here more than 20 years.
Think about that.
I’m a Computer Engineer. Without getting into specific details, I am very familiar with the costs involved with running a site like FR from just about every aspect.
The person who wrote this ‘analysis’ is leaving out many details at the beginning of this ‘analysis’ concerning the costs involved, which leaves the rest of the ‘conclusions’ worthless.
This strikes me as the same kind of thinking that goes behind fake polls. The author had already predetermined a specific conclusion. Create a plausible, yet vague, simple list of talking points that seem to validate the conclusion.
Appreciate the sentiment but, I hate it when people say “ God Bless”.
Does that mean “God Bless You” or “Homeless, will work ...” ?
If you guys are making money.... Great!
You should.
Who cares. You provide a great service.
- - I’m thinking the Clinton/Obama intelligence community is after FR. We all know Hillary has feared and hated FR for years.
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This does look suspicious. And especially following the last weekend of *rather suspicious* troubles.
AND considering how much is right now being exposed of all their treason and mischief, trying to change subject any way possible ??!
Exactly. I read some criticism of Bernie's kid that accused her of making $500,000 off her woodworking course, associated with her mom's college.
When I looked into the details, it WAS $500,000 - spread over a number of years, and incorporated a number of embedded fixed costs.
So, a lie and a smear, though I'm no fan of The Bern.
Ah, I remember sipping that thousand-year-old Scotch on your yacht in the Barbados as we were trying to decide which of those private jets you had circling would do for a quick trip to the Cote d'Azur for a supper with, what was his name? Rothschild or something? I forget. Probably not worth remembering, he doesn't have a website or anything. Anyway, we lost the anchor and you said, "Bill, fetch me a sack of gold bars and we'll drop that instead." Man, those things were heavy. Anyway, John comes up and sez, "The server's down" and I sez "Naw, he just dropped a silk napkin, he's fine," and everybody laughed and we toasted the dawn with thousand-year-old champagne.
Well, that's how I remember it, anyway. The Doc said the bruises from the electrodes will disappear in about a week.
“FR has been here more than 20 years.
Think about that.”
Like a dog’s years are 7 to 1, I’m guessing an internet site might be something similar - so Jim’s is going on 140 years old!
BTW - FR is ten years older than the I-phone!
And Sony offered its first PC in 1996.
Just Me who does not post much, but always here. Have no complaints scares me when down, but has always come back and that is the Important part. Thank you for all you and your Family does to keep us on the cutting edge of what is happening in the World. Pray often for you and the site.
Jim, This freepmail is absolutely freekmail and Fakemail. I question if this is from a FRiend. I would suspect that this is from someone who wants to undermine the Free Republic’s donor base by making them think that the donations would go to a sinking ship. A lawsuit, if it is justified, would be the course I would take.
Thank you! Before finding Free Republic, I had to frequent many websites, radio programs, and televised (so called) news programs with all of their inherent problems. No criticism can desperage capitalism or free market. Free Republic is worth every penny. God bless you and your family for providing such a wonderful product.
That Freeper is fag...ala Spiccoli...
We bitch about FR and getting dogged but, where else are we gonna go?
Smartest people are Freepers ....even that hypocrite Laz and the redneck Humblegunner(he ain’t a hillbilly so, there’s that).
Anyway, I’m in as always and FR latency is better than homo latency...not that is anything wrong that....
This site is like a fine old Harley Davidson.
Classy.
That is the money comment here tonight. God Bless you Jim and John, and whomever else contributes to the operational success of FR, and to you Jim for your unwavering devotion to truth and freedom. FR has been a beacon for decent people to find the truth about what's going on here in America. You have had major impact on politics and political discourse that have, and continue to be of inestimable value to us all.
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