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

freerepublic.com ^ | 1/11/11 | paulycy

[paulycy]

FYI -

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."

"To those who wish to leave because of it, see ya."

"If FR dies, that’s that."

===

[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.

===

- Jim Robinson

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2653583/posts?page=168#168

[Lady Jag]

Everyone wants to know!

[reaganaut]

I commented to.

Grow up or go away.

[Elsie]

This is not an indictment of all who post there, of course.

So; you're going to let us GUESS who is doing this; eh?

[Tijeras_Slim]

LOL

[DJ MacWoW]

I don't understand why there's no discussion of replacing the fried 8th server that's been down for months or longer.

You're right. It's been almost a year.

[goat granny]

With all the bitching some freepers have been mouthing, I don't blame Jim for being disgusted. Some freepers bragging about how much money they give, other complainers also...

When its slow, do something else for a while and shut up. I am just glad its not my computer that's the problem, cause then I am in real trouble....GG

[central_va]

I do donate, anonymously. Black Helos withstanding, do you know the FCC is trying to prohibit anonymous posting?

[Quix]

PRAISE GOD FOR FOLKS LIKE YOU willing to step up to the plate regardless.

[Poser]

Just because or your tag line making me laugh, I’m going to up my monthly donation right now.

[DJ MacWoW]

LOL!!!

[metmom]

If I may, an even better solution is for Jim Rob to allow banner advertising, which only unpaid members would see. Paid members would not see the ads.

I do like that idea. It would keep it private, so that nobody else would see who is donating and who is not, and thus judge others by that.

One can donate anonymously in regard to actual real world identity, and yet designate their FReeper screen name on the donation.

Then if they didn't like to see the banners, they could donate.

[OneWingedShark]

John's system is, frankly, amazing for the price it's cost. it's obvious it's a labor of love. Plus, for him to have accomplished it in a bass-ackwards language like Perl, is truly mindboggling. (Poke poke, John.... lol.... told ya .NET was the way to go......lol.....)
Agreed. I'm not a fan of Perl but this is testament to what tenacity and a good mind can do with it.

A rewrite is probably a formidable task, since this is an enterprise-level web app. My offhand guestimate is that it would take 2 senior developers, 1 fulltime tester, and one SOLID architect to pull off a full Free Republic implementation in 9 months to a year. Let us say, it is a year. Senior developers go about 100k, testers 60k, and an architect of the caliber you'd want is about 200k. That's 450k, and we haven't even talked about licensing development software and the equipment for them to develop on, much less the server farm itself. Figure 600k-750k to do a redevelopment.

This is true; but while Jim's stance seems somewhat anti-opensource of FR's internals I'm not sure if he is also unwilling to accept the 'donation' of developers re-implementing FR for him. I bet there's at least several capable programmer-types in the membership.

As I am currently unemployed [just graduated] I could probably donate some time to just such an effort. Even without pay, there is the possibility that I could put it on my resume as an experience point.

There may come a time when the Perl system you have simply won't cut it any more. When that happens, I suggest a conversion to a robust enterprise solution. I favor C#.NET with SQL back end. It's battle-tested and well-regarded for enterprise apps. John would be a pro in it in about a month.

As long as the system is being rewritten in another language, and the .NET paradigm of "language-independence" [CLR] is somewhat valid, then the choice of language should be given careful consideration. I would suggest that in this situation (where the common runtime makes data-types usable from anywhere) the best language would be one which facilitates:

1. Compile-time error-checking
2. Verbosity
   
3. Modularity and perhaps
4. language-level concurrency

(Items #2 and #3 together should greatly help maintainability, while #1 should prevent at least some troubleshooting.)
I would suggest Ada as it offers all of these features; and from my understanding the .NET-targeting Ada compiler from AdaCore can be used freely in non-commercial projects.

[Quix]

It’s a two way street. They can dish it out with the best of them.

Same with any other group that whines about *haters*, *antis*, and persecution.

---

ABSOLUTELY INDEED.

[Windflier]

$.25 per post might make some think if what they are about to say is worth saying.

If Jim implemented that policy, this site would shrivel and die within the first day.

Much better to allow paid advertising, and set up the site so that donating members don't see the ads. Unpaid members would see the advertising, but still be allowed to post as usual.

[metmom]

Heh..... Love it.

[DJ MacWoW]

I am just glad its not my computer that's the problem,

Amen! I have a bad hard drive. I have a new one but haven't switched over yet. It will take awhile and I'm on FR everyday! lol TWO days without FR? Horrors!

[reaganaut]

WTG, Els!

[T Minus Four]

It [FR] was a hobby that has grown terribly out of control"

God bless you too Jim :-)

[DJ MacWoW]

do you know the FCC is trying to prohibit anonymous posting?

They want the lefties to know who we are. It makes it easier for them.

[atc23]

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