Al wrote:
With Jay retiring, what are the hosting plans for these
mailing lists?
Well at least for me, there's more to it than that ?
I retired from general work on 4/30/20. My consulting firm is going to be kept open on
paper for a few years at least but I doubt I will be transacting much business through it.
I guess if someone comes by with a short project that I find interesting, I may do it
through that company but mostly it's staying open to handle a few germane expenses.
All staff and offices are gone and regular payrolls ended 4/30.
That leaves the hosting company for me to determine scope/future. Since that company (as
long as you are proactive with admin tasks) takes virtually zero work and allows me to
have a grossly oversized but paid for full-on high availability virtualization
architecture, I was going to keep it going during retirement with just a few very low
maintenance customers that cover the costs. I basically can then host any personal/hobby
related sites for myself and friends at literally zero cost. In this company I do have one
business partner, and that relationship has become quite difficult lately. So much so,
that I'm ready to just turn it off and walk away. I'm sorry, but I have reached
the point in my life where that stress outweighs the benefits. This infrastructure is of
course where I've hosted not only the classiccmp mailing list, but a fair chunk of
other classic computing related websites and services at zero cost to their respective
owners.
Throw in to the mix that for whatever reason - while I have dutifully taken care of this
list and a lot of other related websites for probably 15+ years or more - I honestly
don't feel that I am doing a good job of it's care & feeding lately. I think
it's time for fresh eyes and attitudes to carry it forward. I hope no one begrudges me
for after decades finally saying "it's time". I have enjoyed being of
service.
First and foremost, there is no worry about future hosting plans for above content.
I'm not going to just turn it off one day - the grizzled veterans here that know me
well know that I would not let that happen. There is no sense of immediate urgency nor any
possibility of data just disappearing. That being said, I do wish to move steadily forward
with those plans.
Second, I do not wish to pass this off to someone who "has a server in their
basement" or has spare space on a vps. While I appreciate these offers and the desire
to help, I'm not sure you have full knowledge of what all is here. Putting it on a
"PC in your basement" is not the environment this stuff requires. At the very
least, asymmetric bandwidth (what most people have in their homes) is a non-starter.
Sneaking it on to your company infrastructure isn't good either, as there is almost
always a builtin "need to move this stuff soon" disruption in store.
I've already been working with folks in this community to figure out what to offload,
where, how, etc. That work will continue, and I suspect that each separate migration will
go off transparently with little or no outward signs of change. Also, I am definitely not
leaving the hobby; I just look forward to participating as an end-user instead of host.
Just as a heads up at the same time I am looking to thin my herd; not because I've
lost interest but because I want to gain focus. That means most likely that I will be
moving out a lot of choice DEC, Data General, Heathkit, and related items. I will post
separately on that topic, but at the least I am going to keep/focus on HP and a couple
others.
Will post more info once I have it ?
Best,
J