Slashdot Mirror
Perens Launches 'OpenSourceParking'
miller60 writes "Open source evangelist Bruce Perens has launched OpenSourceParking, a service designed to boost domain parking on open source software. The project is a response to a large gain by Microsoft in the April Netcraft survey, with Windows' share jumping 5 percent as domain registrar Go Daddy moved 4.5 million parked domains from Linux to Windows Server 2003. To regain that share, Perens is calling on open source users to park undeveloped domains at OpenSourceParking, with the advertising revenue being used to fund political advocacy efforts on behalf of open source software. Parking-for-profit has grown into a significant business in recent years. Despite ambivalence over the value of these sites, Perens appears to believe it merits a focused effort for the open source community."
Seriously - is this worth Bruce wasting his time on?
We all know that all the vast majority of high performing websites run Apache on a free unix-like O/S.
Who cares if Microsoft can claim an extra 5%? Do such stats ever influence companies choosing a platform?
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
a service designed to boost domain parking on open source software.
Er... and how is this a good thing? Parked domain are an atrocity, something that should be eradicated off the face of the public namespace; the only legitimate use is an "under construction" marker before a real service gets put onto that name.
Somehow, I wouldn't want to push the stats of people who pee on the street the most. The "market presence" isn't always good.
The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
Every time Microsoft gains ground, they drive that point home with advertising campaigns and news releases. This adds to consumer confidence for their products. If IIS is serving on more than 50% of all websites, there must be something to it. Or so the logic goes.
So the thing to ask yourself is, do you want Microsoft to get those wins? Do you really think anyone besides you is looking at the realities of webserving? Or is your manager going to buy into the press release hype and make IT decisions for you to implement?
It is absolutely necessary and useful to block Microsoft wins in this area if you value your freedom to choose Apache. If you're posting here on Slashdot, you're most likely not the guy who is signing the paychecks in your company, and since you're not that guy, you're beholden to his decisions. Better to cut MS off at the pass than to face them down once they've got their foot in the door.
The real problem with this plan (idealogical arguments aside) is that the vast majority of those who will bother to switch will naturally be the open source advocates. These are the ones who are most likely to be running an open-source web server on an open-source OS anyway, so the stats will hardly be shifted at all.
Burns: We're building a casino!
McAllister: Arrr. Give me 5 minutes.
their attitude is quite the oppopsite
http://www.google.com/domainpark/
Mebbe they aren't 'perfect' after all.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Symptoms are information. Why did "Go Daddy" change from Linux to Windows Server? Can something be done about it? Those are IMHO the questions.
If the Netcraft survey is clouded by artificial parking, then the survey loses utility (assuming it has any in the first place, as the domain parking numbers make seeing usage statistics difficult). You can correct with Photoshop your bank account receipt, and that won't make you any richer.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
I first thought: You have a large field, paved with asphalt. There are cans of paint all around. You park your car, and paint the lines around it.
Do such stats ever influence companies choosing a platform?
Such stats are the reason Windows is in the place it is today.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
90% of the things you do in life just flop or simply do not bring the success you expected. That's no problem as long as you keep trying.
Also, you can not really tell, until you have tried an idea.
Bruce has been doing great things and maybe this is another big story. Maybe not. At least he tries.
Netcraft's job is to be the foremost provider of information about what's running the Internet. Anyone who takes the time to actually read what the numbers say will realize that what Netcraft paints as a huge shift is actually a fairly insignificant change. How many servers does it actually take to run all those parked domain names with almost the exact same content? If you look at the data provided on the same page about active sites, you'll see that Apache only dropped 2.32%, while Microsoft gained only 0.92%. Frontloading articles with dubious data while hiding the relevant numbers deep in their charts is extremely misleading and only serves to tarnish Netcraft's reputation. Netcraft's own report states that registrars have a disproportionate influence in market share numbers measured in this way, so what exactly is the value of the data other than to mislead?
Is BSD really dying?
Convince Netcraft that parked domains are irrelevant and have them identify the bulk of the parked domains and remove them from the statistics.
So where's the "OpenSourceParking Girl"?
I think it's pretty clear that this is perhaps the dumbest idea that has ever been put forward by anyone, ever. I would be a little ashamed to have mentioned it as an idea to some reporter, a little bit more ashamed to have actually coded something to do it, and finally I wouldn't ever even consider wasting thousands of people's time by putting it up as a news story.
.com TLD. Duh.
First of all, if Apache is at the top of the Netcraft survey *because* of domain parking, why would any "open source advocate" draw attention to this fact by staging some sort of war to see who can get the most unused domains to show a useless page with AdSense links on it? The massive disaster that is ICANN's UDRP requiring everyone to have some horrible "under construction" web site is not a reason to choose a web server; and the people who would choose a web server by raw numbers are probably too dumb to do even that much research.
Second of all, why would anyone attempt to remedy the problem by asking open source users who are almost certainly already using Apache if they have a domain in the first place to park their unused domains at an Apache parking service? What? Furthermore, it's not like real people are parking huge numbers of empty domains, it's resellers who are looking to auction off single dictionary words in the
I own around 70 domains , many of which are parked through Sedo because many of the domains are for sale . Frankly speaking , parking is one of the most idiotic and pointless services on the internet . ,I dont see a reason for OS devs to take any pride in providing the platform for Domain Parking .
In an ideal world , a person that parks a domain name without stating explicitly why it isn't used but parked(like me) , should get a refund and the domain should be taken away , just in case someone actually wants to use it . This is my honest opinion . I get barely 3$ a month from accidental traffic and clicks and once in a while a domain gets sold to a person , for no less than x500 the price I paid .
The only upside of a parked domain is that it gives even more (usually cheaper) advertising space for merchants , and since parked domain traffic usually comes from people that just type a meaningful domain name ( Old Sites for instance )into their Address bar, these are usually very targeted visitors .
But still
My Starcraft 2 Blog
If it's so important to fight Microsoft's publicity machine, why not simply discredit it? Sure, it's hard to get through to some people, and some will never get the message. If you just try to mislead them further, though, you're not getting through to them at all, and those people will just go scurrying back to Microsoft again after its next media release.
A good way to start would be to compile some real information that's backed up by verifiable and reputable citations, clearly and concisely demonstrating that Microsoft's claimed advantage is due to a small number of large companies that use IIS to host vast numbers of identical, useless parked websites that contain no information. After this, it might be useful to compile and present additional information that shows the real distribution between Apache, IIS, and whatever else, based on a clearly stated and reasonable definition of what makes a useful production website. ... and if you happen to go this far, make it look more reputable than Microsoft's arguably baseless claims.
Throw it together on a straightforward, direct-to-the-point website that gives Microsoft credit where it's due, but explains clearly where and why credit isn't due. Provide the information so that people can easily be referred to it, and it'd be much more helpful than trying to beat Microsoft at it's own spin and misleading of the consumer.
If there's a weakness in Microsoft's marketing techniques, it's not that someone else can out-market them by providing even more fluff. The biggest weakness is that Microsoft's claims often don't really have any substance. If it's important to you to stop Microsoft from misleading consumers, you should really start by pointing out to them that they're being misled.
I have a lot of respect for what Bruce Perens has done in the past and the stances that he's taken on issues, but I don't really understand this one at all.
I would like to congratulate godaddy.com on their fantastic new parked domain name "turbocow.com".
In order to test the trustworthyness of a potential new web host for my site I put that domain name in my shopping cart then cancelled the order. The next day I went back and the domain name was parked.
So, congratulation to godaddy on their fantastic new parked domain name and the loss of a potential customer.
This is horribly counterproductive for the open-source movement. Consider how this campaign will appear to the media. All that is certain is that stats for Apache hosting will be artificially high because of this campaign. And moreover, the article presents no hard evidence that MS is carrying out any manipulation themselves.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but isn't this a dumb thing to do? "Oh noes! Windows got 5% more market share in the 'not actually hosting a website' demographic!"
I can't help but wonder if, by choosing battles like this one, the OSS community as a whole is doomed to fail against microsoft; an enemy who often establishes victory first, then fights the appropriate battles.
It's been a long time.
"The point is that IIS came from 0% to 25% in 5 years, and is still growing."
Uh, apart from this blib in the radar, IIS has been pretty stable at around 20% since october 2003 (and before that date, IIS's share was DROPPING). And if you look at stats at Netcraft, you will see that IIS made an entry to the list back in 1996. So it's 10 years, not 5. In about 18 months, IIS rose to about 20% and now, over EIGHT years later, it's STILL at that 20%!
Oh, be still my beating heart!
Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
There is a bigger issue here... Netcraft should not be counting parked domains at all. It should be counting sites that actually have valid content. The big registrars parking services are well known and easily identifyable. You don't need to weed out 100% of parked domains, just the majority. When netcraft counts parked domains, the results lose meaning.
It's like a pollster calling phone numbers sequentially, and claiming that all unanswered calls indicate that the person has "no opinion" on the subject.
We know that.
Unfortunately, it is still the case that most people in the world do not think like us, do not follow the same news sources as us, and don't have your heartfelt belief in Apache's superiority.
It would be nice if the world would just leave us alone to code and run our own software. Unfortunately, they don't. We have to face software patenting, DMCA, TCPA, and whatever new law and technical hurdle they choose to make. To fight these things, we need to get our message to people in general and especially to legislators. Having users is key to this, because no legislator is going to care a bit about your hobby project. Unfortunately, lots of those people who don't think like us count mindshare when they make a technical choice, and the domain parking statistics are just one way that MS makes mindshare.
Bruce
Bruce Perens.
There have been many accounts of whois searches being spied on by godaddy and many other registrars.If you do not purchase the domain immediately some company will register it and offer to sell it to you at 10 times the normal price.
Highly unethical but it is happening.A lot.
I guess the best bet is using services like dnsstuff.com or doing it yourself through the command line.