Database Error...Sorry

Is this discussion of a fee due to the owner of the server hardware considering charging due to traffic volume and general maintenance or is fee that is being considered something that the people operating T4R are considering to help fund things?

The reason I ask is that I happen to have a 1U server colocated at Equinix sitting on 2 gig uplinks, RAID storage, out of band KVM, and it's also got plenty of CPU to spare, 2 quad Xeon 2 GHz (8 cores total) and 4 gig of RAM. I've been debating getting my server setup for some hosting to recoup my colo fees (Which are pretty minimal) but am also considering hosting sites for some friends/special interest groups etc for free as well. I just wanted to gauge the atmosphere to see if this would be useful or help remedy any fee situation.

Server platform right now is Debian Linux (ETCH) running Apache 2, MySQL 5.0 and PHP 5.2

Currently this server only runs a few game servers for my gaming group and CPU usage is about NULL so it's a quite capable platform. I currently have each NIC setup so that web is running on one and the game servers on the other to help divide traffic...anyhow, I thought I would just throw that out there for GatorGreg or whomever to ponder.
 
in my experience, when a site like this one asks for membership fees it sinks. that is, if its relying on these membership fees.
I think if anything, it should be on a DONATION basis. give what you can give. in any case, if it becomse unfree then I will be lost as a member but im not worried about that, the knowledge will still be out there for free. its about whether you want to be in the little club and support whoever, which I dont and I dont.
So, im just being honest. I love this site, and started my journey here, but I wont pay for the information that is here (tends to be dated) or whatever. Im not poor by any means, but paying for something that should be and has been free; I will not do.

this is like my dealer telling me I have to pay $60 for something ive been paying $50 all along. it doesnt work. Good luck.

Raymondo
 
I for one have possibly saved 100s if not 1000s of dollars of time and services I would have had to pay for if it were not for this site. I would gladly pay a $1 per month for the privilage of accessing this site.

With that said, last I can remember their are over 10000 members here. @$12 each per year, simple math would put that at $120000.00 per year.:D

I also smell an early April fools.;):
 
charlier180 said:
I agree because the numbers being tossed around simply do not add up. :D
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Well as a non-paid moderator, did you get that Gatorgreg, non-paid, there are two ways of looking at it. We currently have 16,000 members and lots of non-members looking at this site. If you look at the numbers about 80% of the people on this are not members. If it is a pay site, non-members cannot get on at all. So, those people would have to decide. And that would be a big benifit to the forum.

The second way of looking at it is out of the 16,000 members, I would say only 25% are active now and many post only 3 or 4 posts. So, the number could be way less than 10,000, maybe less than 1,000.

For members being here for years, do you remember what was at the bottom of Thai's signature? It was something like, Nothing is Free, even if you think it is. Well, guess what..........:biggrin2:
 
I did talk to the owner. He states that he is asking for fees on all of his other forums. This forum was slow in the beginning (2002) and thus, he has not been asking for money. However, with the software/hardware (or whatever) upgrades, he needs to be consistent with all his forums, esp. if we are to benefit from the upgrades.

The one silver lining (hard one to see) in all this is that he has always been there for us. He maintains the forum(s). For example, on my G forum, the owner has left town...so, the G forum is now up in the air because at any point, the forum will shut down.
 
ok my 2 cents. no pun intended. If the site is going to a paid site, then one has the obligation to disclose fixed costs, and variable costs... etc etc. That is just good business. After that disclosure I am confident that the members, originator and mods can put their collective wisdom to a equitable solution.

ps. I am bringin em.www.truckmoxie.com/tenarticle.asp?aid=2547&sid=18
 
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So whether or not this is an April Fools joke, why would he need $$ in the thousands to keep the site running? Even if only 1,000 people decide to pay, and the rest leave, there is no way you need $12,000 to run it. Seems like he would be pocketing a pretty hefty profit.
 
If it turns to a charge site I will be leaving. However, due to the devastating effects of me leaving the forum, I am prepared to accept a fee for me to stay and continue posting. I'm thinking 3 dollars from every member for a year. Thats a quarter a month. And that is me being generous.
 
However, due to the devastating effects of me leaving the forum, I am prepared to accept a fee for me to stay and continue posting. I'm thinking 3 dollars from every member for a year. Thats a quarter a month. And that is me being generous.

:nono: my old cat's dish. final offer.
 
simple said:
If it turns to a charge site I will be leaving. However, due to the devastating effects of me leaving the forum, I am prepared to accept a fee for me to stay and continue posting. I'm thinking 3 dollars from every member for a year. Thats a quarter a month. And that is me being generous.
Click to expand...


HAHA bye Simple....we'll miss you...:D
 
If it goes to a fee I will stay. I think those that will stay we will all be on a first name basis because there will be very few of us. My name is Evan by the way. I wasn't around for the last years april fools joke, but I did read it. Very funny. I am not rich by any means, but I think that 12 dollars a year will not hurt me, I think thats what my wife pays for my playboy perscription LOL.

Evan
 
josh220 said:
So whether or not this is an April Fools joke, why would he need $$ in the thousands to keep the site running? Even if only 1,000 people decide to pay, and the rest leave, there is no way you need $12,000 to run it. Seems like he would be pocketing a pretty hefty profit.
Click to expand...

It is a free capitalistic society....
 
alaskaman said:
However, due to the devastating effects of me leaving the forum, I am prepared to accept a fee for me to stay and continue posting. I'm thinking 3 dollars from every member for a year. Thats a quarter a month. And that is me being generous.

:nono: my old cat's dish. final offer.
Click to expand...

Color?
 
April Fools here we come

Must be an april fools joke. I own and operate a forum (unrelated topic). Vbulletin license costs $85 per year or like $200 for a lifetime license. My hosting costs less then $10 per month.

Im sure the Google Adsense and banner ads more than cover the costs to operate the forum.

Thanks, nice try!
 
I've kept quiet on this topic for a number of reasons, but it's time to reset the discussions.

For all of you speculating about this being an April Fools' Day joke, go back to the archives and see what we have done in the past. We've done bigger and better pranks every year. This is small news -- certainly not of the scale of the past.

Second, all members should already know that Greg, Thai, and all the moderators do what we do as a service for which we are not paid (but often criticized for). So we're free of charge to you.

But as part of delivering this site to you, there are hardware, software, and network bandwidth needed, and now some upgrades need to be made. Neither of the site owners are IT people. So they have to have it done for them. It's not likely that the folks doing the work behind the scenes are doing it for free for Thai and Greg. But it's all part of delivering the site to you, the members.

Also, storage is not free. Think about the storage demands from all of the members:

- that all history be available and searchable -- indexes and posts are not storage-free

- the capability to upload multiple pictures at up to 140KB per photo, rather than linking to a hosting service

- and members that still refuse to comply with the new rules for signatures (see Rules 10 and 11)


Charlier180 mentioned about his ISP that offers 10GB of storage in the deal. Good point, except that by today's standards, 10GB is nothing -- you can get that for free as part of a disposable e-mail account. A GB is so small today that usage-based software is now licensed by the terabyte or petabyte.

Thanks to all the members who have shown their support for the idea. Rest assured, Greg and Thai are really trying to keep the expenses down while maintaining a site where you, the members, can share your experiences and information.
 
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