The future of aussiefrogs > The Proposal For Keeping aussiefrogs (post#288) > Subscriptions/ Donations Active (post#392) - All threads Merged

geekpeak,
You were not successful during the interview process. Your line of questioning was considered rude & if you were in IT you would already know or have fair idea the answers to any running costs anyway. You are not entitled to make an "offer".
I do not entrust you with our data & the potential direction you would take 'ole AF. Gerry

Gerry,

This “wondering” is prompted by the (considerable) response to your announcement of impending closure of this Forum,

It is apparent from the responses to that announcement that, not surprisingly:
a) there is considerable anguish at the idea of this group disappearing into the ether, and;
b) there are many offers/ideas/suggestions as to how the Forum might carry on.

These latter seem to primarily involve some form of purchase from you - as current owner/funder of the Forum. Said purchase might either be an individual or a consortium. The latter might be for-profit, or a not-for-profit cooperative.

The key question, it seems to me, is this: are you willing to pass on the Forum to another (group or individual)?

Your post (above) indicated that you found the questions/propositions from another Forum member to be rude. I hope you do not find this wondering to be so. It is driven by a desire to maintain what is a valuable, and much valued, resource for those of us who own/are interested in French cars.

Ian
 
I just signed into the pommie forum. Not the old A/F but might have to do.
 
geekpeak,
You were not successful during the interview process. Your line of questioning was considered rude & if you were in IT you would already know or have fair idea the answers to any running costs anyway. You are not entitled to make an "offer".
I do not entrust you with our data & the potential direction you would take 'ole AF. Gerry
I call it due diligence rather than being rude. I'm not sure how I'm supposed make any kind of decent estimate of the running costs without any real data.
I'm pretty sure I know who hosts the site, and found their various hosting prices. I can see how many members and posts there are, but nothing about daily/monthly/annual traffic volumes, stored attachments etc or DB size.
I have something like 20 websites that I run. Some are on $40 shared hosting, and others I'm paying upwards of $1000 a month.
There's no way I was going to make an offer on a website that doesn't even cover it's own costs let alone my time, without knowing what those costs are.

I'll concede that I was persistent, pushy even, but at least I made the effort to spell your name/pseudonym correctly.
I won't apologise for asking the question, nor for raising some of the previous, well known issues the forum has experienced over the years in my earlier post - something I've never done up until now, given the free nature of the forum.

So, I'll re-iterate that I'm disappointed in the prospect that the forum will be done with.
I've met some people I now consider good friends in real life through this forum, and it's a shame that won't happen (here) in the future.

I have attached our conversation, which I don't think includes any private information that hasn't already been covered in this thread.
People can decide for themselves. If I'm rude, then that's something I'll have to live with.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2021-06-07 at 15.27.49.jpg
    Screen Shot 2021-06-07 at 15.27.49.jpg
    155.5 KB · Views: 241
  • Screen Shot 2021-06-07 at 15.28.08.jpg
    Screen Shot 2021-06-07 at 15.28.08.jpg
    157.8 KB · Views: 239
  • Screen Shot 2021-06-07 at 15.28.18.jpg
    Screen Shot 2021-06-07 at 15.28.18.jpg
    132.5 KB · Views: 236
I guess when a group and the owner have put so much into the making and maintaining of the forum, it would take some humungus amount to compensate for that ( and one of the reasons that I haven't taken the step to try and elicit an outright selling price as a first step towards building an entity to continue the site as an ongoing proposition) I guess there a few of us that could put together the working capital if we knew the outright or bottom line sale/changeover price just as a starting business deal.

The other thing that comes uppermost to mind, is the prospect of becoming a new tyrant or dictator to both keep the ship on course and satisfy the grizzles that tyrants and dictators have to solve..:p Though that is not as easy as some think! I have gently suggested a benign style of trustees that don't directly dictate but guide as a board of directors in the background, and probably better for those that have some spare money to invest or donate to participate in. The wider the spread of the Capital the less influence that is exerted by one individual, I think there are members here who would for instance be upset with myself having absolute say over opinions expressed! ;) :eek: shock horror!, though over the years I have at times toyed with contributing by way of purchasing a sponsorship package with nothing to sell but goodwill and seeing the site continue with the same diversity of opinion, and NO personal influence.

Best way of keeping deliberate disrupters out is to have all participants have someone responsible to vouch for them and as most of us have done over the years work behind the scenes to settle down the bruised ego's that seem inevitable even between people that we have met personally and by instinct know they are both great people, and would like each other if they could get the current chip off their shoulder(y)with respect of course.

P.S. I am happy to contribute/donate, and help, but not control, but I well understand after years of being involved in Car Clubs and other organisations that herding cats probably needs a benign dictator or founder in the mix.

In the end it is up to Gerry, perhaps the best is just like it is!

Cheers Ken
 
Putting pms up in public is probably not the best way to assuage any concern about the potential use of 20 years of collected user data. Users should be confident that, whatever the outcome, the intent is not to expose or exploit their collected personal information.
 
Putting pms up in public is probably not the best way to assuage any concern about the potential use of 20 years of collected user data. Users should be confident that, whatever the outcome, the intent is not to expose or exploit their collected personal information.
Clearly, that discussion is done. I'm not going to persist where I know I'm not wanted. There's no private information in there anyway.
 
Last edited:
Putting pms up in public is probably not the best way to assuage any concern about the potential use of 20 years of collected user data. Users should be confident that, whatever the outcome, the intent is not to expose or exploit their collected personal information.
Yes I agree, it's pretty tacky and of no benefit.
 
If anyone reads todays papers the frontpage news as to police raids as a result of operation ironside a covert surveillance of organised crime, reveals in part the huge amount of monies available to such criminal groups to attempt to "invest" and it is only the "tip" of the huge iceberg of criminal assets floating about in the untaxed economy of Australia, just looking for even loss making fronts to be used to launder those ill gotten gains. Very wise for Gerry to be wary and cautious as we have already been subject to one brush with a similar bikie associated group penetrating the benign French car fraternity (just ask one of our members Matthew who is still re-building his love of his life French car after suffering almost total loss with the alleged bikie personage heading overseas for sanctuary from Australian Authorities).

And no one or noone as some say, would want this wonderful site to fall into such hands and it used for such activities and laundering of black money. It has been so good to be able to communicate and meet with many good people through this site and I commend the thought and caution of the founder.

Gerry, retirement might be a good time to relax and write a book on the experience and of course your close involvement with the car clubs, particularly the early days of the Citroens and personalities.

That might be the best way of making at least a small income from the sales of an "insiders" book - perhaps we could subscribe to get it underway! Could even have a competition to title it. :unsure::) Perhaps that small income might permit extension of it's operations as is. ?

Ken
 
Such a shame that things can get lost in communication. One persons request for additional information has been seen as rude.

Having met and spent time outside of this forum with Angus ( Speaksgeek) his passion for Peugeots, racing his 206 and the general car community is evident. If it wasn't for this forum we would probably would have never met as we live in different states.

Gibgib, please reconsider your discussions with Speaksgeek, this forum gives so much to so many that it would be a shame for it not to continue.
 
While still hoping for a better outcome we should prepare for the worst by setting this up to be the best possible resource for posterity, as a static wiki-type, maybe.
I suggest cross-references would have to improve searchability, and there must be more that we will wish for when, Heaven forbid, it’s too late.
 
While still hoping for a better outcome we should prepare for the worst by setting this up to be the best possible resource for posterity, as a static wiki-type, maybe.
I suggest cross-references would have to improve searchability, and there must be more that we will wish for when, Heaven forbid, it’s too late.
Yes the search function here is pretty crappy, however I've had success out-sourcing it to google, using the search within site command (site: "enterwebsite" "what you are searching for") when I need to find something here. ie.

"site:aussiefrogs.com renault 12 turbo"
 
For those who would rather use almost any search engine but Google, (duckduckgo, qwant, startpage, etc) the same syntax usually applies.
 
Last edited:
Wow my PM’s are posted public!

Speaksgeek, I apologise for being so abrupt with you.
Selling does not appear an option though sorry.
Something more like what Ken is suggesting with a committee structure would be better suited but would still require $ input via subscription. Subscription requires work/ time, & depending on how it is received, another entity will take a piece as well.
Someone would need to be allocated a role to handle this stuff.
Our current & past moderators have done a great job at keeping the site going in the right direction.
I have provided very little input in the last few years, participating only to keep the forum engine running.
I would actually be ok to keep the technical part of the forum sorted, but would love to delegate away the contact us form & general email enquiries.
Some of you are fully freaking out about the close pending. Just reminding you that it’s over 7 months off & I’m pretty sure we will come out the other side ok & stronger.
Having said all the above, there’s a very workable solution afoot already, but awaiting an outcome.

Gerry
 
Wow my PM’s are posted public!

Speaksgeek, I apologise for being so abrupt with you.
Selling does not appear an option though sorry.
Something more like what Ken is suggesting with a committee structure would be better suited but would still require $ input via subscription. Subscription requires work/ time, & depending on how it is received, another entity will take a piece as well.
Someone would need to be allocated a role to handle this stuff.
Our current & past moderators have done a great job at keeping the site going in the right direction.
I have provided very little input in the last few years, participating only to keep the forum engine running.
I would actually be ok to keep the technical part of the forum sorted, but would love to delegate away the contact us form & general email enquiries.
Some of you are fully freaking out about the close pending. Just reminding you that it’s over 7 months off & I’m pretty sure we will come out the other side ok & stronger.
Having said all the above, there’s a very workable solution afoot already, but awaiting an outcome.

Gerry

Some of us here might already have the business software and acumen to track subscribers, payments etc and ensure that they are employed in the manner required by the "new" forum's constitution. Moderation is something else. People could take note of the current "speaker of the house" in his efforts to lift the standard of debate in our house of representatives but he's probably a bit busy trying to change things. Trying to keep the lid on the various boiling pots that comprise A/F would not be difficult, just constantly engendering criticism, something that a moderator with big balls could handle with equanimity.
 
It is frustrating to watch and read and offer help that is completely ignored , and that is made completely frustrating when no data is allowed to be known publicly, in terms of how much this site costs and how much effort is required to maintain it.
So it's not surprising that some who really care about this place are beginning to lose their tempers.
It's not as if there is a lack of technical expertise around here, and also many willing to get out their wallets to help out if needed.
But what really gets people riled up is a continuous secrecy with occasional hints that maybe things might work out, and that they[Gibgib] are working on it but there's no information given apart from the initial announcement of impending doom.
That's why I decided from the start to pull my head in and sit back and observe and whatever happens is what happens and I am not interested in trying to offer any ideas or help because all offers are being ignored. I am annoyed of course because there is a total control aspect and quite possibly a Captain going down with the ship aspect that is unnecessary and quite frankly irresponsible. But that's only how it seems from the outside and most likely Gibgib is actually working very hard behind the scenes to try to save the Titanic. Still, if that's the case, it is still incongruous because if it were so much trouble why can't anybody lend a hand. I think Gibgib needs to have some counselling all about delegating and letting go because it would be very sad if the whole thing is too much while many hands were on deck willing to bail her out.
I hope you will take this in the spirit I intended Gerry. I am simply trying to illustrate how it feels out here in the trenches and I sincerely respect what you have done for the entire community for so long and to such a huge extent. Long live Aussiefrogs!
 
Last edited:
I think this place is doomed anyway without the pond and the entertainment it provides. Having said that, if I owned the place I wouldn’t keep it open if there were nothing in it for me. Que sera sera
 
Top