From: rbs{at}snippets.org
To: c_echo{at}yahoogroups.com

On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 Charles Angelich wrote:

> I've never been in favor of email-listed echos. FIDO has always been a
> separate message system for the BBS community and not a part of Usenet
> or WWW. I'm surprised that any active FIDO sysop, a 'ZC' no less, would
> be in favor of sucking FIDO echos dry to augment the Internet or become
> a revenue source for one individual.

1.  FidoNet exists and deserves to survive. However, the reality of online
    life is that it's obsolescent (not the same as obsolete!) FidoNet is
    diminishing, the Internet continues to grow. Wishing this weren't so
    won't make it change. Ultimately, I prefer FidoNet for this sort of
    conference, but I spend a lot of my life on the Internet, so I use
    what's most convenient

2.  What's proposed is what's already implemented - a gateway between a
    Fido EchoMail conference and its closest Internet analog, a mailing
    list. I'm offering nothing new except an ad-free host. This was also
    what happened when I began hosting the DIYspeakers mailing list. It
    had been hosted at the University of Texas for several years, but had
    lost support (and willing administrators!) from the faculty and
    students. The options were Yahoo, a couple of speaker-related
    commercial sites, and the SNIPPETS server. The membership voted to
    move to my site since it's a non-profit site with no ads and is
    independent of vendor influences.

3.  How does a gateway suck an echo dry? Fido users will still connect via
    Fido. Internet users will continue to connect, only through a new mail
    server.

4.  In the past 15 years, I've never turned a profit from *any* SNIPPETS
    activity. I get the occasional donation from folks who want to help
    defray expenses, but nothing that even compensates the out-of-pocket
    expenses, much less the cost of my time involved. The SNIPPETS server
    is subsidized by a single sponsor who sells speaker components. I
    seriously doubt the day would ever come when I would make money on it.
    The principle reason is that I don't *want* to make money on it! (Keep
    re-reading that until it sinks in!) This is a hobby. Once it becomes a
    paying job, it's no fun any more. In short, there's nothing in the
    proposed relationship that would generate any significant revenue
    stream for me or anyone else.

SNIPPETS is a non-profit, free educational resource that I created and
maintain for strictly personal, non-financial rewards. I do it because I
enjoy it and it makes me feel good when folks write to thank me for any
assistance I may have provided them. I feel a sense of accomplishment and
satisfaction at being able to create and nurture an online community where
I facilitate people helping one another. I'm an archivist and educator,
collecting information and trying to present it in a useful way. Along the
way, I try to contribute some original content. Without SNIPPETS, most of
the same information would still be available - I simply make it easy to
find and free.

The only way I guess I could convince you that it's not a money machine
would be to die so you could see how quickly the site disappeared. (I've
tried to enlist others in helping with it, but they usually bow out once
they see the amount of work involved. Auke helped me the most, but it was
a challenge for him, and especially so toward the end.)

Maintaining SNIPPETS and the LDSG are both equivalent to full-time jobs
(for example, the LDSG site comprises some 76+ Mb in some 2,800 files).
Trying to balance both with working and a life is difficult. The few
people who've tried to dive in and help have found that out quickly.
Given my normal contract rates, the SNIPPETS server would have to generate
a revenue stream in excess of $150k/yr to pay for the time I spend on it.
Currently, it generates a subsistence revenue of $2,400/yr plus around
$250/yr in contributions. All that money goes back into connection fees,
site maintenance, and research expenses.

Try to comprehend this before engaging your paranoia!

-------------------------------------------------------------
Consulting: http://www.MicroFirm.biz/
Web graphics development: http://Image-Magicians.com/
Software archives: http://snippets.org/snippets/
Audio and loudspeaker design:
  http://LDSG.snippets.org/
  http://www.diyspeakers.net/

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