Slashdot Mirror


Slashdot IRC Forum

The IRC forum with CmdrTaco and Hemos is now complete, and a log has been posted. They answered quite a few questions about Slashdot's subscription system, bigger ads, and other assorted stuff. Don't miss the question about pop-up ads.

53 of 400 comments (clear)

  1. wow... that popup question was worth the hype. by edrugtrader · · Score: 3, Insightful

    cmdr... seriously... this isn't going to work. mark this redundant right now...

    1) paypal
    2) tech saavy audience already disables ads
    3) why would i pay to view the content i provide??
    4) why would i ADVERTISE on a site that allows its biggest fans to block the ads?

    this isn't a good idea. period.

    --
    MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
    1. Re:wow... that popup question was worth the hype. by Tarrek · · Score: 3, Insightful

      For this system to be workable, *everyone* doesn't need to contribute. Some people actually like supporting causes they believe in, regardless of whether they could block out the ads, or whatnot. I used to pay out of pocket for electricity on a local pirate radio rig that I used to broadcast off of (I'm clean now, away FCC, away!). Sure, I was paying for myself to work, but hell, I didn't mind.

    2. Re:wow... that popup question was worth the hype. by einer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      3) why would i pay to view the content i provide??

      Scuse me... Yeah, Hi... I don't know if you noticed this, but YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY SLASHDOTTER. You're not paying for content that you provide. You're paying for the ability to see what other people are thinking, what other people believe. You are also being given a forum with which to share your beliefs.

      If you did fail to notice this, then don't worry about paying for a subscription... You have other needs to attend to first...

    3. Re:wow... that popup question was worth the hype. by gargle · · Score: 3, Interesting

      4) why would i ADVERTISE on a site that allows its biggest fans to block the ads?

      It doesn't make sense to me either. In fact, traditionally, the more subscribers pay to read the publication, the *more* advertisers are willing to pay for ads - because it demonstrates that the readers have purchasing power; it's the reason why newspapers charge for subscriptions, even though the revenue from subscriptions are miniscule compared to advertising revenue - because it demonstrates that the paper is being read by the "right" demographic.

      Allowing subscribers to block ads is going to be counter-productive, some other way should be found to reward subscribers. Maybe like only subscribers get to read jon katz articles or something...

  2. Subscriptions by itsnotme · · Score: 5, Insightful

    After hearing/SEEING how much slashdot costs, and knowing that I'd like to keep reading slashdot, I decided to change my opinion from waiting until the BFA's become annoying and just to pay the subscription because I want to SUPPORT slashdot.. hell I dont care about the AD's. I dont block 'em but I also can IGNORE the ones I dont want to see.. (THose Thinkgeek ones rock!)

    But Slashdot folks do go through a bit trying to make sure that the ads are nonintrusive in that they're not popups and so on.. now THOSE would make you want to run away wouldnt that? and they're not using them STILL even with the subscription thing.. so you have to give them some credit in knowing HOW far to go and NOT going over the line.. so why not support them? 5 bucks isnt that much to pay..

    1. Re:Subscriptions by leviramsey · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Maybe subscribers should be able to see a list of advertisers, with a checkbox allowing them to change the policy from default to explicit allow or deny. The frequency with which allowed ads show up could be based on the relative chances of an ad from that advertiser showing up on an unsubscribed user's page (so if ThinkGeek appears on 10% of the pages of a non-subscribed user, then every tenth page-view where an ad would have been supressed has a ThinkGeek ad). Slashdot then gets the best of both worlds, and it's almost a moderation system for ads.

  3. One possibility by MadFarmAnimalz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I missed the forum thanks to work; there's one idea that had crossed my mind. I acknowledge that /. needs cash flow to keep moving, but there may be a way out of subscriptions.

    Set up polls to gather non-personal data for marketroids, such as what compiler you use and why, what http server you use and why, etc. I'm cerrtain that with some small measure of headscratching, it would be possible to gather information about the geek community to be worth money to a marketing research concern while at the same time keeping it within geek sensibilities, i.e. no 'what is your bank account number' type questions.

    Perhaaps some form of questionnaire to be filled out upon registration, retroactively applicable?

    Study us; we're geeks. We buy stuff. Expensive stuff. Servers. Networking gear. We're the bleeding edge consumers, what the marketing people call 'early adopters'.

    Just don't try to sell us beer.

    --
    Blearf. Blearf, I say.
    1. Re:One possibility by reaper20 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Mod parent up, good points:

      Generic surveys or something would be a good idea. I like the idea of Slashdot being a gathering place for early adopters and geeks - unfortunately trolls and the such bring the site down (try browsing at 0 or something and you'll get the point).

      Generic surveys for subscribers would rock. I'd definately participate if I knew that Tivo was surveying slashdot users. Or a Compaq survey for "what would you want in a rackmount". If anything, some of us are in positions that make purchasing decisions, we need to advertise this.

      Considering that most of us are early adopters of technology, I would *guess* that companies like Tivo, PDA manufacturers, IBM, Compaq, etc. would be lining up to get our input.

    2. Re:One possibility by Thing+1 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Online surveys are a complete waste of the bits that they are based on : They don't have equal representation of the cross-section of users (i.e. Ask what you favourite OS and the Linux users tend towards being more motivated than the Windows users), and even non-trolls regularly enter false information.

      So instead /. could write a few tools to help gather some of this data. Something could watch which programs you run, and the frequency; different connections you make (http, p2p, ftp, etc.). This could then be used anonymously.

      From the parent:

      Set up polls to gather non-personal data for marketroids, such as what compiler you use and why, what http server you use and why, etc.

      Such a tool could work both on Windows and on Linux, and you'd capture most of the entire audience.

      Make the tool open source, so that people are sure there's no funny stuff going on. And you could add security features to it, like firewalling, which would give added value to being a subscriber.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
  4. Well... by The-Bus · · Score: 5, Funny

    As long as I can hit the monkey and still get $20...

    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  5. Friends/Foes by DavidJA · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You touches on being able to treat subscribers like Friends/Foes (+1 or -1), but how about the ability to simply ignore a friend/foe or non subscriber???

    I want to read at -1, but I also want to not have to look at the crap that Klerck puts out.

  6. Avoiding Ads by ksw2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Never underestimate the willingness of computer folks to circumvent fees, no matter how small the fee is.

  7. Hasn't been asked enough.... by reaper20 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just in case I missed it:

    Do comments display ads by default?
    Do I get penalized for viewing them?
    And if so, am I paying for that?

    Can you explain all this again Taco? Just kidding.

    (ducks and runs)

  8. You know what? by neema · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Know what? I put that ad-removing code into my user space... read the IRC log and removed it. Specifically when I read this from Hemos:

    "Here's the reality: You block ads. You cost us money. Ultimately, I mean."

    This is where you have to stop and think "Hey... if Slashdot DOES go down because of a lack of profits, where will I turn?"

    Of course, there are other news places to go to. I visit The Register often. However, Slashdot is, despite any errors in editorials or anything... a truly unique news site. For the years I've been reading, I've been pleased overall. We've all encountered bumps in the road, and that bump in the road for users right now is the ads. Now, of course (which I find it ironic that this comes not long after this, but still) many of you are simply not going to go for the idea of something that was once pratically free and devoid of huge ads to have simply changed on you. You'll cheat the system as much as you can, and for the most part, you'll succeed.

    But how much will that accomplish? Realize the plight slashdot apparently is in, and how they need to raise money, somehow. Subscriptions and ads are that way. And while I disagree with a lot of the way they're going to implement them... why not just pick one way, even if you have qualms with it, and just go with it? Put aside your inflammatory, trolling and goatse links for a second and realize that Slashdot is truly a useful resource. If you're going to visit this site, for once prove that it doesn't take sneaky or unethical buisness for something to survive... merely a good product. That is what Slashdot is, and most of you know it: a very good product.

    While I personally won't be going for a subscription (16 years old = lack of credit card), I will stomach the ads and probably a lot more if they need it to survive.

    1. Re:You know what? by John+Whitley · · Score: 3, Interesting
      "Here's the reality: You block ads. You cost us money. Ultimately, I mean."
      This is an interesting point. Turth be told, I don't mind nonintrusive ads as we've got now. Some of them I even click through and keep in mind for purchases (which is vastly unlike 99.999% of web ads). I'd like to contrast this with ads on About.com -- there's a site there that I've been checking out with quite a bit of useful info (I'm violating some sort of Geek Union bylaw by getting exercise via inline skating..;-). The site is great, but it has the most obnoxious huge popup *casino* ads. I blocked images (doubleclick.net) and may put some more thorough measures in place, but... On one hand, I have no guilt about blocking ads from an ad agency I detest (doubleclick) and for services I will never use (a casino)... but I find two things quite sad: the dearth of known good web-content business models, and advertsing mechanisms that have resorted to (virtually) assaulting users just to get their attention.
    2. Re:You know what? by oGMo · · Score: 5, Insightful
      "Here's the reality: You block ads. You cost us money. Ultimately, I mean."

      This is complete BS, actually. Number one fallacy is a false dichotomy: either there are ads, or we make no money. Take a look at IGN. They are a partially-free, partially-pay site (although they're moving more toward for-pay), and I subscribe to them for $20 a year. And I'm happy to do it, because they have the kind of extra content for subscribers I'm willing to pay for (in addition to just supporting a site that I really like and frequent).

      This plan is complete BS. Assuming people will go for paying for not getting something is stupid. Paying for exclusion is stupid, because I can limit the signal myself, there's no service there. Supporting a site I like or not, I can't help but feel ripped off.

      Now if they moved slashdot to mostly-pay-for-stories, added some good original content, and did some bloody editing, I'd be happy to pay. I mean, slashdot is their only job, right? What exactly the heck do they do all day? Click a story and add a few halfway-literate comments without even checking? This is all fine and I have no complaints if I'm getting it for free. But if you want me to pay, shape up. That's all there is to it.

      --

      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    3. Re:You know what? by Stiletto · · Score: 3, Funny

      This is where you have to stop and think "Hey... if Slashdot DOES go down because of a lack of profits, where will I turn?"

      Here's where I will turn: I will turn my computer off, walk outside (that open space with the big bright white thing in the sky) and relish the fact that I am no longer compelled to sit there hitting reload waiting to first post.

      A glad day it will be indeed.

  9. Eh....$5, whatever by rainwalker · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Seriously, Slashdot is my homepage and I check it perhaps 10-15 times per day. The stories are sometimes questionable but usually interesting, and the comments are usually blatent stupidity or flamebait, but sometimes though-provoking. I decided I'll just block the BFA's so I don't forget to shoot them $5 on a regular basis, but really the ads don't bother me. This is a part of that whole tip jar using, user community supported, huge media comglomerate free thing that the New Internet was supposed to be all about, whats so terrible about tossing in $5? I guess that seems cheap to me, but then again I tend to use the tip jar for all my favorite sites a couple times a year, never much (because I am a poor college student), but I don't want the sites that I enjoy to disappear. just my quick thoughts-

  10. Copyright on posts by SiliconEntity · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seems like a good point by homerj at 16:41 in the chat. Posters give slashdot permission to publish their comments, but it's not a blanket grant. Slashdot can't put the comments in a book and sell the book, for example.

    By the same reasoning, wouldn't there be some limits on what slashdot can do to the site and still carry the implied permission by the author? Changing to a for-pay model means that slashdot is now profiting from the site in a way that was not the case when the author posted. Maybe he would not have been willing to use slashdot to publish if he had known that there was money coming in as a pay service, without getting a cut of that money himself.

    Seems to me that slashdot may be stepping over the line in charging for content which was submitted with the understanding that it would be published for no charge. Any lawyers care to comment?

  11. Pretty boring by Stonehead · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder whether CmdrTaco and Hemos really enjoyed the chat. Slashnet was overcrowded by trolls, there were lots of double questions about the ads and subscriptions and I think the Slashdot staff *does* have a mixed feeling on 'going non-free', but they can't go back. According to the logs, already 1,5% of the Slashdot visitors is a paying subscriber.
    I don't want to sound ungrateful for Slashdot, but some crew change might be welcome too. Slashdot has become a habit - the editors no longer feel obliged to fix half-wrong stories, they don't realize that they piss off a customer with every rejected submission and I think CmdrTaco has rejected *lots* of good ideas tonight. He seems to stick on only no-ads and gold stars, and little extra power for subscribers. Come on Taco, you aren't a suit - some things might not be too easy in Slash (submission of polls, access to the submission queue, a trusted net of paying moderators) but they will prove more robust and much cooler than this ripped-out-of-any-book business model. That's my point: Slashdot gets boring. I hate to see this leading weblog go the same road as so many others.. this is not another troll, Slashdot will be as interesting as it ever was, but the specialty is gone. Hey, we're a community! I liked the chat, but Taco hardly *listened* :( I wish him luck nevertheless.

    1. Re:Pretty boring by Stonehead · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Okay, but lots of other people have become angry too on other current reasons. For example because they post 'free' (as in freedom) comments on Slashdot, while Hemos says that replicating Slashdot comments is a copyright violation (he is right in that, btw). An option 'this comment is covered by license X' could solve that easily.
      Seriously, what if you require paying moderators to have a karma > 50 ? I think there are a lot of fair options to make interested people pay, without offending the freeloaders.

  12. It's a kind of intellectual arrogance. by Futurepower(tm) · · Score: 4, Interesting


    Read the IRC Forum. Basically, they indicate that they gave all of this very little thought. They still have no idea of the complications of advertising.

    It's a kind of intellectual arrogance. Because they know computer things, nothing else can be difficult.

    --
    Bush's education improvements were
    1. Re:It's a kind of intellectual arrogance. by Xerithane · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Absolutely agreed.

      The fact that they don't actually have a spreadsheet that they can reference to see revenue and costs is just silly. Yes, it ends in a .org -- but if it employs people (and /. does) you need to get your heads out of your ass and make a fucking business plan.

      I'll tell you how to avoid the entire /. ad/subscription mess - run it like a business instead of your after school project. Write a business plan. Do cost projects/analysis -- find out what websites make money. Hell, open up a merchandise store or do some serious bundling with thinkgeek. (More than what is there now)

      With how much readership (especially the types of readers) slashdot gets, it's really pathetic that there has not been a sound path to profitability. They have an entire web community rallying around them and they can't even figure out how much money it costs to run slashdot.

      And on a side note:
      I refuse to subscribe until I am not $rtbl'd and have an apology for receiving that treatment.

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    2. Re:It's a kind of intellectual arrogance. by Gaccm · · Score: 5, Interesting

      do you think they want to run this as a business? NO WAY. THEY ARE NOT IN THIS FOR THE MONEY BUT FOR THE FUN. The problem is that fun costs money, so they would like heavy slashdot users to donate (this system is MUCH more like a donation system than a subscription system, taco even says that in the article) to help them out. Is that too much to ask? or should they start being like Salon and all the other news sites where you have to pay for the good info? Please tell me which you would rather have.

      --

      Only dead fish swim with the stream...
    3. Re:It's a kind of intellectual arrogance. by gmhowell · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If they want a donation from me, they can go non-profit so that I can get a deduction. If they insist on calling themselves a business, then they provide value for my money. So far, the ad/experience equation was okay for me. But the experience is not offset by the new-ads, and it certainly isn't offset by the subscription.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    4. Re:It's a kind of intellectual arrogance. by cybrthng · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ahem,

      Slashdot went WAY beyond "FUN" when they decided to make a living.

      Whenever hemo's complained about having to cover costs of healthcare, salary and 10 servers i just played him my lil pitty violin.

      Oh darn, having to work and provide a PRODUCT to the consumers BEFORE you ask for payment is that hard?

      Sure slashdot provides a forum, but without the masses, it is just another "Was". There is nothing wrong with making it a legit business.

      IT IS WRONG TO BLAME COSTS ON US. It is wrong for us to Subsidize advertising. I will only pay a subscription whenever i get the benifet of that subscription. Like i have said before, i get some great magazines that i subscribe to, but i don't pay for them to remove the adds, i pay for them WITH the adds because the adds make up the magazine along with the content. If i know i'm in the market for a new GPS with the latest jeppenson airport directory loaded or want to replace the prop on my aircraft i can pickup a private pilot magazine and find a dealer that does just that as well as read some interesting magazines.

      Hell slashdot doesn't even cross market itself. I can't find linux vendors here, they sold off VA. There is TONS of things slashdot could generate revenue from to provide a great service.

      And this is just supposed to be for fun? Living aint easy.

  13. Hemos, Taco: You blew it. by Dan+Crash · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I just want to say two things:

    First, the notion that "posting is payment enough!" is a troll. Posting doesn't pay the bandwidth bills. I think it's sad that Slashdot has become a victim of its own popularity, but I understand their need to search out new sources of revenue. I'm not even against it.

    On the other hand: Sorry Hemos, Taco, but it doesn't sound like you put *any* thought into this subscription plan at all. (Proof: grep the IRC log for "i dunno", see how many times Taco says it.) Shouldn't you guys have thought this out before you implemented the thing? Isn't that the first rule of programming?

    And, not to be too pointed, but what about asking us what we want? For a site which prides itself on providing community, I'm profoundly disappointed in the way Slashdot rolled this out.

    You had a real chance to change the world here. What is Slashdot supposedly about? Open Source. Imagine if you'd practiced what we all preach: You could've let the Slashdot community propose and moderate the features they most wanted in a subscription service. Like Google, you could have shown all the failing dotcoms that, if you give the customer exactly what they want, you'll be successful where everyone else fails.

    You had a chance to lead the way, and you blew it. The current plan seems like -- forgive me - a Microsoft patch. Poorly thought out, badly implemented, causing more problems than it fixes.

    You could still do this right, you know. And I'll probably pay a few bucks because I know how much I've enjoyed reading Slashdot. But I can't help feeling like this is the beginning of the end. Here's hoping you pull this together, and thanks for the memories if it turns out you can't.

    --
    He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
  14. I won't subscribe! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    First I was afraid
    I was very sad
    Kept thinking I could never read
    a slashdot full of ads
    But I had oh so many posts
    Smacked down for saying jamie's wrong
    I grew strong
    I learned how to carry on..
    So now there's ads
    More of the same
    I just logged on to find them here
    Between the news and all the flames
    I should have changed my fucking hosts
    I should have switched my uid
    If I had known for just one second
    they'd be back to bother me

    So off I go - I'm out the door
    Just turn around now
    'Cause I'm not reading anymore
    Weren't you the one who hit me with $rtbl
    You think I'm quelled
    You think I'd just go to hell --
    Oh no, not I
    I won't subscribe
    As long as I know how to post
    I know I'll be alive
    I've got all my life to live
    I've got all my posts to give
    I won't subscribe
    I won't subscribe

    It took all the strength I had
    Not to read this thread
    Kept trying hard to ban
    slashdot addiction from my head
    And I spent oh so many nights
    Just posting crap at minus one
    Used to be fun ...
    But now I want to cut and run
    And you see me at
    Another site
    I'm not that stupid little user
    Reading every night
    And so you felt like dropping in
    And just expect me to be free
    Now I'm saving all my comments
    For someone who's loving me

    So off I go - I'm out the door
    Just turn around now
    'Cause I'm not reading anymore
    Weren't you the one who hit me with $rtbl
    You think I'm quelled
    You think I'd just go to hell --
    Oh no, not I
    I won't subscribe
    As long as I know how to post
    I know I'll be alive
    I've got all my life to live
    I've got all my posts to give
    I won't subscribe
    I won't subscribe

    Hey hey...

    Important Stuff:
    Please try to keep posts on topic.
    Try to reply to other people comments instead of starting new threads.
    Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said.
    Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about.
    Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by
    adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page)

    Problems regarding accounts or comment posting should be sent to CowboyNeal.

  15. Re:anti-anon by sulli · · Score: 3, Informative

    just give ACs a -6 bonus in your profile, they'll always end up at -1. (if you haven't checked this out, it's pretty neat: you can give bonuses between -6 and +6 to Friend/Foe/Fan/Freak as well as all comment ratings. it's in the "comments" section of your preferences.)

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
  16. My favorite CmdrTaco quote... by Dimwit · · Score: 3, Funny

    I have to do a radio interview at 10 tonight, and eat dinner.

    I'd like to watch Junkyard wars w/ kathleen ;)

    but I'll keep going for a bit.


    Dear lord, I want this man's life. My fiancee won't even watch a movie with me if it has a computer in it. *sigh* Some bastards have all the luck.

    Now, to be on topic: I think this could've been handled a bit better. I think people would've been more open to the whole thing, had the term "tip jar" been used from the beginning, instead of "subscription"...

    But, what's past is past...

    --
    ...but it's being eaten...by some...Linux or something...
  17. Slashdot's new business model by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    A guy walks into the public library one day... Okay, it isn't the public library anymore, they've been privatized for about a decade, but people still call it that. Anyway, the guy walks into the library, and the head librarian walks up to him.

    "Welcome to the Infotronobeam(r) Public Library! Our increasing costs means we have to look for new sources of income. Unfortunately the ad posters on the ends of the stacks aren't generating enough, and we have to seek financing from those who use our library."

    "Aw, damn," the man says. "You mean you're going to start charging me to borrow books? If you do, I'm just going to leave and go to some other library!"

    "No, no," the librarian says, smiling. "You still get as many books as you want for free."

    "Um, okay... So what exactly do I have to pay for?"

    "Nothing," she says, still smiling. "That is, unless you want me to stop doing... this! WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP!" She draws in a deep breath. "WOOP WOOP WOOP-"

    "Stop! Stop!" the man cries. "Okay, what do I have to do to make you not do... that?"

    "Oh, it's simple! You just pay five Northamericos, and you can check out a hundred books without any audio accompaniment. You can even choose if you only want certain kinds of books... For example, I could be silent in the Non-Fiction section, but shout WOOP when you go into the Childrens Literature section. It's like a tip jar!"

    "Okay... Wait. How is that like a tip jar?"

    "You're giving me a tip for my great service!"

    "The great service of not screaming incessantly?"

    "That's right! So, do you want to put some money in the tip jar?" the librarian asks, holding out the glass jar, shaking it as if in invitation. The few lonely Pentium pieces in the jar rattle. It seems not many have jumped at the opportunity.

    "No, I think I'll pass... I just want to check out books."

    The librarian gets a stern look on her face as she draws in her breath. "WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP..."

    At that point the man remembers he has some earplugs in his pocket. He puts them in his ears, and the woman's screaming dulls down to be almost unnoticeable. Smiling, he goes about looking for a book, with the librarian following, becoming increasingly frustrated. He notices suddenly that everyone else seems to be wearing earplugs as well... He laughs, thinking that the "tip jar" is going to remain pretty empty...

    1. Re:Slashdot's new business model by vidarh · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ... and the next time the man comes to visit the library, he finds the doors boarded up and a sign saying "Unfortunately, due to the lack of support from our users we have had to close".

  18. So.. I'm still confused.. by XaXXon · · Score: 4, Funny
    Do you guys plan on offering any payment types other than slashdot?

    And what about a flat payment rate?

    I wish you guys had addressed these important issues in your IRC forum. Also, I can't be bothered to read FAQ's, the original article, the entire web log, or anything else pertaining to the questions I'm asking. Please send me a uu-encoded, ROT13'd, PGP'd, and backwards response to all my questions or I'll keep asking them over and over and over...

  19. Re:Save alterslash by smoondog · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I really don't want to sound like a dick. (CmdrTaco & Hemos: I love /. think mostly everything you said is correct) BUT, that said, I find it pretty convenient that no one can mirror slashdot comments because of copyright issues with the poster:

    hemos_ I cannot grant him permission to repost the comments.

    CmdrTaco We don't have the right to give people permission to repost comments.


    This is a bit like saying that we support things being open and free, *BUT* it is really impossible to make it so because we created the rules so that only we can host them. Why don't you say that /. mirrors are illegal and we don't like them because they threaten our livelihood?

    Just my .02

    -Sean

  20. Why I wont pay==Why Dot Coms failed. by rufusdufus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People who refuse to pay are not mainly in the group of people who begrudge the cost; probably most readers would gladly part with the money and are largely fairly well-to-do. Its the administrative overhead and risk that stops us.

    The 'overhead' refers to filling out forms, tracking the information, and the charges on my credit card. I hate paperwork. This alone is enough to make me leery of participating.

    The risk factor is the true stopper though.

    I won't give any personal information to anybody because I have been abused in too many ways; not just internet sites but the world at large. I have been sold on lists to telemarketers. I have been charged on my credit cards by fly-by-nights. I have been outright robbed using paypal. I have been spammed. I have had my personal computer cracked by warez hackers and chinese dissidents. I have been, and am being, stalked by a [literally] psychotic guy from New Jersey. I have had my bank account compromised; my credit card hijacked.

    In short, my life has been made a living hell by the simple fact that I have given information out to people who all said they wouldn't let it out.

    Thus I believe this is the 'ultimate' reason for the dot com failure; nobody ever solved the problem of easy, fast and trustworthy electronic transactions.

    Until that problem is solved, slashdot won't get my money.

  21. Some positive thoughts (just to be a rebel) by freeweed · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wow, FAQs, multiple stories, 3 hours of IRC chat, and people still have 50 million questions, and at least half the comments so far are nothing more than whining and/or trolling.

    Lighten up, people! It's a WEBSITE. A good one, one that I happen to find entertaining and informative, but it's still a website. 300,000+ users a day ain't chump change in the bandwidth game. Keeping a system alive to support that with very little downtime is itself quite an accomplishment (think of how many 'big name' sites have themselves been Slashdotted).

    I have yet to actually see any of these 'new' ads, and something tells me I'll be ignoring them just as I would any other ad within a week. Don't like them? Cough up some dough. Don't like that? LEAVE. Why exactly do people keep posting 'I will not pay for a message board'? Fine, then go. Just please stop whining about it.

    Every time I visit /., I still shake my head in wonder. Geeks who've made money online, and are still making money. Sometimes I wonder if it's just sour grapes from a lot of formerly-employed dot-commers... but let's face it: if Rob was such the uncaring asshole people make him out to be, he would have just sold Slashdot for a big chunk of change. Taco made something cool, made himself at least something of a career out of it, and is STILL DOING IT. Find me more than a handful of people who can claim that over the past 5 years. AND still will take 3 hours to sit on IRC of all the godforsaken holes in the universe to answer the same 5 questions repeatedly.

    Oh well, that was rambling enough. Long story short, if you don't like it, make your own. Whining won't make it any better.

    --
    Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
  22. Karma Whores, only Better by Wanker · · Score: 5, Funny

    Remember the Karma Whores? People would compete to see who could come up with the most Karma points for the sheer joy of saying "my score is bigger than yours".

    I say let's ressurrect this annoying facet of human nature and turn it to Slashdot's advantage. Why not include a symbol along with each subscriber's comments that represents his/her "devotion" to Slashdot, as measured in US Dollars. (Kind of like the "community supporter" program on EZBoard, and similar "marks of recognition" found on other discussion boards.)

    The catch-- these are not earned, they're bought! People could mindlessly compete to see who could get the most impressive widget associated with their name. Hemos could spend hours thinking up new and more interesting associations.

    They would give no special privileges, just bragging rights (and revenue for OSDN).

    For example:
    $10 gets you "open source leech"
    $100 gets you "linux bigot"
    $1000 gets you "kernel hacker"
    $10000 gets you "alpha geek"
    $100000 gets you "better than Hemos"
    $1000000 gets you "new owner of Slashdot"

  23. Just read the entire IRC log... by FrozenFrog · · Score: 5, Interesting


    Some observations/questions which I found interesting (TI = Time Index):

    TI 15:12 - Someone asks about the costs of running Slashdot. Lots of "it's hard to tell", "hard to calculate", etc from the Slashdot crew. CmdrTaco says they have 12 servers + test boxes and stuff.

    TI 15:43 - Again someone asks how much is costs to keep /. going. And again we get "It's not that simple", "There's no easy answer", etc. Hemos mentions 30 servers. Hemos and Taco start throwing out numbers, and seem to agree that it's "about" $1.5 million per year.

    TI 16:14 - Someone asks if the money from subscriptions will go to help improve infrastructure, bandwidth, costs, etc. Hemos says the money will go into the OSDN bank account. He then says "But the money for Slashdot is tracked". Taco says "The thing is we don't need *more* we just need to keep what we have".

    TI 16:15 - A question is asked about how long /. can keep going at current funding levels, and what happens when the funding runs out. Taco says "I really don't know what happens", "If I were to *guess* I would say VA would sell Slashdot". Hemos says "Basically, VA has 18-24 months, OSDN is near cash flow positive".

    TI 17:16 - Someone asks how much bandwidth /. uses per day. Taco responds "12-20 megabits on the main box, probably half that on the images box", "we were spiking at like 35 (megabits) total".

    Is it just me, or does it seem profoundly odd to anyone that the people who run Slashdot have no idea how much money it costs? Maybe this is the reason they're in financial trouble? They say that /. is part of OSDN, fine. But in *my* company, I know how much money each separate *division* is costing me, and how much revenue it's bringing in. Isn't OSDN a real business with accountants that figure this stuff out and produce quarterly reports and all that other accounting stuff? And if you're a division/section head, like CmdrTaco and/or Hemos are, I find it very hard to believe they don't know how much money they're spending/taking in.

    Slashdot of course has absolutely no obligation to reveal their costs to their users, whether they're subscription based or not. But answering as they did above really makes them look unprofessional IMO. If they don't want to answer, or are prohibited from answering, they should simply state that.

    Personally, I won't pay for a subscription. I'll likely install JunkBuster or something similar. As someone posted on another thread, it's *my* right to choose what's displayed on *my* computer, and if I don't want to see ads, I won't. Just like it's the choice of Slashdot to remove itself as a freely accessible site and become completely closed and subscription only based if they want. If that happens, then I have a choice to pay, or not pay and get my news on the multitude of other tech news sites. It's all about choices, as it should be.

    So exactly how much DOES it cost to run Slashdot per year? :)

    Frog

    1. Re:Just read the entire IRC log... by Hemos · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Basically, we run the site. I don't run the company. I'm not the CFO - that's the person who tracks all of that data. I attempted to answer as best I could. If I had to say, 1.5 million is it.

      I also wanted to make my clear my statement about 18 - 24 months; that's current burn rate. That rate has been rapidly getting better - but please look at the filings with the SEC, and make your own judgement.

      --
      Yeah, I'm that guy.
    2. Re:Just read the entire IRC log... by cybrthng · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Hemos,

      Guess what, i'm not the CFO of the company i work for either, but i understand our SEC fillings, our budgets, our requirements and what is involved to make our cost center profitable.

      Are you saying you don't bother with it or that people are telling you what to do and slashdots "Creative control as promised from the aquisition" is just trying to hide this?

      Heck, i'd subscribe if i knew it was a well thought out and developed process. The problem is i don't see any announcements, i don't see any marketing, i don't see anything accept a few "cocky" people giving mixed answers and then saying "next".

      I'm sorry, but when WE PAY YOUR BILLS, you DON'T TELL US WHAT IS WRONG OR RIGHT. After all, without the "collective us" you wouldn't have advertising revenue or your quasi famous ego's

      Have you already forgotten the customer is always right? Have you forgotten slashdot wouldn't exist without "customers" or visitors in your case?

      Why not just move from advertising all the way? Fire your marketing deparment, drop your "ad servers", loose the image hosting bandwidth costs and just use a self service text add system. Move to an NNTP based system where the content is aggregated much the way any NNTP system is.

      Everyone has opinions, like everyone has an asshole, so there is no wrong or right. The adds have never been obtrussive, if they get obtrussive then i will leave. I'm not paying just to remove advertising simple as that. I would pay however if i saw you cared about the numbers, you cared about revenue, you cared about cost cutting and your cared about the bottom line.

      Instead you guys are still complaining about estimated costs, how you need health care, how you don't sell all your adds how you don't do this or that, but you have never stated HOW YOU COULD MAKE THIS PLACE MORE VALUEABLE AND INCREASE YOUR REVENUES FROM PROVIDING A BETTER PRODUCT.

      That is how business is done my friend. LIke i said, i love slashdot, it was worth supporting in adds, it was worth supporting if subscriptions added value, but you guys chose to remove ads over adding value.

      I buy magazines for the content and Ads, i like to drool over toys i can't afford, it is part of the whole picture. I liked slashdot for the targeted ads, because they notified me of new products and kept me informed of market trends.

      Paying to get rid of part of slashdot is just.. rediculous.

    3. Re:Just read the entire IRC log... by vena · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Basically, we run the site. I don't run the company. I'm not the CFO - that's the person who tracks all of that data.

      then why were we talking to *you* on irc?

  24. My favourite Taco comment.... by not_cub · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I joined the IRC channel, and read up to this point, when I left in disgust:
    A Score:5 comment, perhaps a few thousand.
    The value of comments is questionable.
    Considering the percentage of readers who care.

    Amazing... Slashdot is composed of two things, the front page, with all the spelling errors and factual mistakes, and the comments pages, with all the user submitted corrections. Now, if you take away the comments pages, you are left with the front page alone, and to me, slashdot becomes almost worthless. With the current levels of fact checking, I could never believe anything posted.

    The value of comments is questionable. If the value of comments is less than the cost of transmitting pages to people, then slashdot will ultimately fail, because it will throw money away with every page served. This is true whether the cost is paid by advertising or by paypal. However, the value of the frontpage alone, is a lot less than it is allied with the comments. The value of the frontpage is almost certainly less than the cost of transmitting it.

    Taco comments clearly indicate that he does not see this value. That he sees comments.pl, not as an integral and important part of slashdot, but as a burden on bandwidth and processing power. Wake up, Taco: you are not the only person with valuable content contributions to make to slashdot.

    As to hemos, he comes across as a guy seriously unable to do his job. If you've ever worked with one, you know what he mean. He does not seem to be contributing at all to helping slashdot stay afloat. He doesn't have any idea of what to do, or what direction to take. Taco seems to be carrying him.

    Good luck keeping slashdot going guys, but I doubt you are the people to keep it afloat. It will probably die when the .com cash runs out, maybe before if VA kills it first.

    not_cub

    --
    q='echo "q=$s$q$s;s=$b$s;b=$b$b;$q"';s=\';b=\\;echo "q=$s$q$s;s=$b$s;b=$b$b;$q"
  25. slashdot vs alterslash.org by autopr0n · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Alterslash is actualy a pretty cool site, now that I've seen it. I don't really see how you guys can go after them for the comments when you said yourself you don't have any rights to them, perhaps you should leave it up to the individual posters to take it up with that site if they have a problem with being reposted.

    Of course, the site does give everything the "82%" take from /.

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
    1. Re:slashdot vs alterslash.org by Hemos · · Score: 4, Informative
      Read the IRC log. When someone posts a comment, they are granting permission for it to appear on here. If it's taken from here, and mposted some place, we're liable. That's bad. That's how it works - the commenter would take it up with them, but the way the legal system works, we bear responsbility.

      I want to try and find a solution.

      --
      Yeah, I'm that guy.
    2. Re:slashdot vs alterslash.org by Arker · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I may not be a lawyer, but I certainly have had to deal with enough legal mumbo-jumbo to have a fair grasp of it, and I just don't see what you're talking about. Comments are owned by the posters. Obviously we have given slashdot permission to publish them. That hardly creates any liability on your part, or obligation on your part, to police our copyright.


      Put another way, a slashdot poster could conceivably go after them, but I don't see how slashdot has any standing to do that independently, and I certainly don't see how you have any liability or obligation to do that.

      --
      =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
      Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
  26. alterslash by akb · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Good forum, it made me nostalgic thinking about how the 'net has grown up.

    Rather than having the suits go after alterslash, wouldn't a much better outcome be to incorporate the value that is added into the site? I think its damn cool and useful, like kernel traffic and its obviously a fan site. He's not making any money.

    If the suits are so uptight then just rip off what's he's doing into slashdot or have him and a few people be editors for stuff.

    The logic you used is scarily like what GM and Walmart say when going after fan sites that have their trademark's in the domain name.

  27. Re:my question by RestiffBard · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ok boob. did you read the log? were you online for the chat? taco said that any money that comes in is tracked and tagged for /. only

    troll.

    --
    - /* dead coders leave no comments */
  28. Run it like a business. by The+AtomicPunk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't mean to insult, but this will probably come across that way. I'm a loyal surfer and certainly appreciate Slashdot as an information source. However ...

    You say that 10-12 people work on Slashdot as their job, plus support from NetOps (which I'm guessing is third party? Exodus?)

    Honestly - I don't get it. What do all these people do? It seems to me that Slashdot isn't run as a business, but instead is still run by a couple of geeky types that had a Fun Idea (TM) that they rode the Dot-Com boom on and don't want to give it up.

    The content is submitted by the readers, the moderation is done by the readers...

    The application is worked on by the community ...

    Stories are posted by 4 "story type people", but the posts are so frequently duplicates, have misspellings, poor grammar, broken URLs, etc - I can't really believe that anyone puts any serious time into it!

    $100-$200k per year of bandwidth at 10mbps? You're getting ** raped **.

    12 machines and some test boxes? C'mon. Most readers have that much in their home. Is the setup that poor that it requires that much hands on maintenance?

    I'm also guessing that the geeks that founded it aren't able to admin machines, configure routers, etc... since we've all read the stories about all the people that get jerked out of bed when the site goes down. :)

    It seems to me that Slash could run with about 3 employees, provided they had breadth of skill.

    Yes, I've done all this before - including the part where you re-evaluate and realize you can do it a LOT cheaper.

    Yes, I could be VERY mistaken in my observations and I welcome corrections.

    I also have no beef with subscriptions. I'll even consider paying. This is just a tangent. :)

    I'd hate to see Slashdot go away, and it seems a great way to do that would be for VA/Andover to take some serious looks at cost cutting... a lot larger companies have run with less.

  29. GENITAL GNAWING by waldoj · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm glad that an archive of this exists on slashnet.org -- I started logging the IRC session when I saw:

    <Questions> elsie asks: are these gonna be popout ads?
    <hemos> I WILL GNAW OFF MY OWN GENITALS FIRST

    Though I'm not looking forward to popup ads appearing here, I must say that I will enjoy calling Hemos on this one a couple of years down the line. :)

    -Waldo

  30. So what size nail do want with your coffin? by GiMP · · Score: 4, Funny

    Bring out your dead. Bring out your dead.

    OSDN: Here's one -- nine pence.
    Slashdot: I'm not dead!
    AC: Here -- he says he's not dead!
    OSDN: Yes, he is.
    Slashdot: I'm not!
    AC: He isn't.
    OSDN: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
    Slashdot: I'm getting better!
    OSDN: No, you're not -- you'll be stone dead in a moment.
    Slashdot: I don't want to go in the cart!
    OSDN: Oh, don't be such a baby.
    AC: I can't take him...
    OSDN: Oh, do us a favor...
    AC: I can't.
    OSDN: Well, when is your next round?
    AC: Thursday.
    Slashdot: I think I'll go for a walk.
    OSDN: You're not fooling anyone y'know. Look, isn't there
    something you can do?
    Slashdot: I feel happy... I feel happy.
    [ AC clubs slashdot to death]
    OSDN: Ah, thanks very much.
    AC: Not at all. See you on Thursday.

  31. Why not Survey the Readership about subs? by Manic+Miner · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've just been reading the IRC log, and I noticed a type of phrase which I have been taught to avoid uttering myself... "I think what users will want more personalized stuff. E.g. gold star based on what people ahve said me"

    Some people out there might think.. what is wrong with that? Well, the answer is that this isn't reader research, or really asking the slashdot population in general what they really think. It's the same as someone without and UI design training saying.. "I know what users want, I don't need to get a UI expert in"...

    I really think that slashdot ought to put together a proper web survey, not just a silly little poll and some stories where people post comments, a properly survey. Present the options, ask for peoples opinions, find out their views on ad's.. store and analyse the results. Then let make those results public so you have some facts to back up your arguments.

    I like slashdot, and given the right subscription package I probably would subscribe, but please survey the readers, find out what would work the best, and present some real figures and reasons rather than the handwaving we've all had so far

    If I'm going to pay to become part of a user forum, I want some say / influence over the way I pay / what I can pay for. A properly constructed survey will give you the information you need to make a decent informed choice about subscriptions, I think assuming you know what the readership want / like is a dangerous assumption to make, and if you get it wrong a large number of users will either not subscribe, or just walk away.

    --
    If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let'em go, because, man, they're gone.
  32. Comment Reading Small Fraction Slashdot Audience by pjrc · · Score: 3
    Just wanted to point out this little bit from the IRC logs, at 16:31:

    An accepted story submission is seen by 300,000 people.
    A Score:-1 comment is seen by a few hundred.
    A Score:5 comment, perhaps a few thousand.
    The value of comments is questionable.
    Considering the percentage of readers who care.
    Submissions, I could see a reward.
    Comments, I have a harder time.

    Just want to try and keep things in perspective... or at least keep some view of Taco and Hemo's perspective.

  33. What REALLY sucked... by Vortran · · Score: 3

    Was that, instead of taking questions one at a time, in the order they came in, our two hosts only answered questions they wanted to answer. At one point, they were ASKING for more questions and rejecting the ones that were coming in. I stayed for the whole thing, waiting for one of my questions to come up. A lot of other people did too.

    Respect for CmdrTaco & Hemos has reached on all-time low in my book. I mean, why didn't they just write their own bloody questions like politicians do?

    I was looking forward to a real IRC dialog. I was very disappointed.

    --
    Knowledge is like ignorance.. too much can be just as bad as not enough.