SoylentNews - User contributions [en]

SoylentNews

2014-02-11T20:43:01Z

Cactus:

[[FAQ|Frequently Asked Questions]]

'''Site Announcements'''

'''Feb 11, 2014 12:01PM EST:''' We need some CSS and sphinx help

As part of the SlashCode rollout we need to fix a lot of broken CSS and to install [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx_(search_engine) sphinx (search engine)]. We need 2+1 volunteers to help with the conversion this afternoon via IRC. Two to fix CSS issues, and one familiar with install and config of the sphinx software package.

We need people who are fast, so I'll choose based on experience.

If you're interested, please send ONLY a one liner of the number of years you've been doing CSS or sphinx. Something like this:

''3 years doing CSS professionally''

This will be on IRC, coordinating with robin and our tech lead.

Thanks go to everyone - it looks like we're on the final stretch!

If interested, send E-mail to: John (at) SoylentNews (dot) org

P.S. - Check out the logo.

'''3:01PM EST:''' Status

We have a working system, and two people fixing the CSS (sadly, none for sphinx). As far as I can tell, we're trying to get the high-bandwidth aspects of the site running: Varnish, MySQL configuration options, and such. We want the system to be able to withstand a tsunami of visitors 10 meters high.

The system team has been working around the clock to get things running, and I mean that literally. I have to as-much-as order people to break off at night and go to bed. They *really* want to see this thing work. Send them some love in chat if you can.

Note that these are not "deadlines", nor do I particularly care if we miss them: We're reporting when we "predict" things will be ready. The first 90% of the project is done, now we're working on the remaining 90%.

Stand by for launch...

----

'''The Slashcott is getting attention'''
:A selection of Slashcott/Beta comments from around the web.......

::* https://community.republicwireless.com/thread/23151 <== "How not to treat your community"
::* http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2014/2/7/183544/0702
::* http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/442346-trouble-at-slashdot
::* http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/916373-pc/68540288
::* http://www.tuicool.com/articles/bmUvMj
::* http://www.reddit.com/r/socialmedia/comments/1x77zt/user_backlash_to_slashdotorg_beta/
::* http://www.fark.com/comments/8133044/Since-when-was-Slashdot-a-Fark-Beta-site-Since-Dice-started-redirecting-25-of-its-users-to-a-failed-site-redesign

----

'''Feb 10, 2014:''' We are still working on getting the &^#$*$%^ code to run. If everything comes together, we hope to open the doors on Wednesday. Cross your fingers everyone! When we are ready for "soft launch", we'll invite a bunch of people to use the site and see how things hold up.

There may be some teething problems in the first couple of days. We will bump the server to whatever level is needed, but it may take some hours of slow access before we decide to do that.

The Slashcode group has been working very hard to get things up and running. Consider that SlashCode is 5 years old - it's got sharp edges and rough spots. Please have patience.

Check out the [http://imgbin.org/index.php?page=image&id=16688| look and feel] of the new site!

----

'''To everyone involved... THANK YOU!'''

We are building a news site alternative to Slashdot. We have started only a few days ago, and this wiki is a temporary measure so that volunteers can coordinate and others can see what's happening.

The idea is to build a news aggregation site that delivers what's important - better articles, less fluff, and all the functionality you expect from the moderation system. We are still looking for volunteers so stop by the boards and the IRC and let us know you want to help!

* The proposed business model is [[Finances|here]] 
* Some business planning is [[Business|here]] 
* A statement of functionality (turn into a requirements document?)--- [[FeatureList]]

''' Get Involved '''

'''Hop in to IRC!''' - [[SoylentNews:IRC|IRC]]: ##altslashdot on chat.freenode.net ([https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=##altslashdot Webchat], we are growing in [http://irc.netsplit.de/channels/details.php?net=freenode&room=%23%23altslashdot strength!])

'''Register on the forums''' - http://forums.SoylentNews.org
* Go to forums.SoylentNews.org and register a user
* Read [http://forums.soylentnews.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=38&sid=e55255cb6dfe68b28c8cf5f2b9697a64| this] post if you are having problems. (Thanks MrGuy)
* Add yourself to whichever groups you are interested in
* For tech issues with the forum software, please Email Joel: soylent (at) finite (dot) ms

'''Slashcott''' Organized boycott of the Dice-owned Slashdot pages
* Show your support for the "Get rid of Beta" crowd by avoiding Slashdot during the week of February 10-17

'''Tell Somebody''' A friend, a colleague, any major news source....
*Do what you can to get the word out

'''Contact:'''
If you want to send the project lead a message: John (at) SoylentNews (dot) org

'''Mumble (Voice / Text Server)''' : voice.whackperiod.org <--- Does not appear to be working ??

==Status==

Check out the [[FAQ]]

* Forums are available at forums.SoylentNews.org
* We upgraded the hosting by two tiers - this should fix the problems people were having yesterday accessing the system.
* The System team is working on installing SlashCode. If all goes well, we expect to have a working system by Monday. Everyone believes this goal is achievable.
* The site now has forums with four user groups: Code, Content, Style, and System.
* Probably won't be non-profit, see [[Finances|business model]].
* We won't poach from Slashdot. This includes articles and logos, also "style" to a reasonable extent.

Mailing list update Messages are [[MailingListUpdates|here]]

== Site Name ==
We have a '''temporary''' name!

Thanks go out to everyone who made suggestions - some of them were
absolutely brilliant! For example, it hadn't occurred to me to choose a name based on a
non-English word, or a palindrome, or a puzzle. Many of the entries were quite clever.
(Adies, it took me more than a day to figure yours out. Bravo!)

I won't post the runners up because squatters might take the names before we hold the real
contest. We'll figure out a way to prevent this somehow - at worst case we can choose judges
and do it privately (like I did, but with more people).

Jerry had the winning entry.

The temp name is: '''SoylentNews''' with the tagline: '''SoylentNews is people!'''

Does this rock? It hits the trifecta of website goodness:

* Descriptive in a way that mundanes will understand (compare "Photoshop" with "GIMP", "Internet Explorer" with "Firefox", and "MediaPlayer" with "VLC")

* It's part of Nerd culture, a pun, and slightly twisted

* It's suggestive of being community driven

* It is attached to some movie about eating corpses and implies "News fresh as processed corpses" (??)

* Trademark issues

* We are getting some community flak on the name

This will be a hard act to beat. Start thinking up names for the contest, or throw your weight
behind this one. The contest will be held soon after we open the doors.

(And it was poutine (from IRC) who suggested we use a temporary name. Others may also have suggested it, but it was his post that I noticed. Be sure to thank him if you see him on IRC.)

==ToDo==
[[SlashcodeTodo|Slashcode Todo list]]

* Install SlashCode on the production site
* Get some people to help with the site
* Run a contest for a better name [[NewName|New name discussion]]
* Incorporate
* Consult a lawyer
* How to handle Advertising (necessary evil) - Opt Out, Limited, Typical(box with ads in the top-right corner)?
::Why can't we have an advertising cookie with things we are in the market for? I.e. if I'm in the market for a computer, I see computer-related ads. If I opt out, then I don't see any ads. An interest-centric (not user centric) cookie. <=='''+1 Insightful'''
* Improved Mod/Meta-Mod/Story-Selection system to minimize required editor input
* Provide a voting system to decide which articles hit the main page (Mod point related?)
* Find and submit some stories

== List of Discussion Pages ==
*[[NewName|NewName]]
*[[MailingListUpdates|MailingListUpdates]]
*[[Finances|Finances]] -- which model would allow to minimise and/or distribute hosting costs
*[[Business|Business]]
*[[Monetization]] -- Discussion on how to cover costs to make this thing happen (and grow)
*[[FeatureList]] -- Discussion of required/desired characteristics
*[[Submission guidelines|Submission guidelines]]
*[[Content]]
*[[Style]]
*[[Migration of users from Slashdot]] -- How to handle Nicks and UIDs
*[[Licensing]]
*[[WhosWho]] -- Points of contact in different project areas

== Noteworthy Comments==
*Grabbed the Domain Names: AltSlashdot.org, Soylentnews.org
*Other potential website solutions
::Bruce Perens (created "technocrat.net") is aware of Soylentnews.org and is considering contributing (Relaunch ?? stay tuned)
::/. user 'dotancohen' registered the domain "slashdotan" and is looking to build a new Slashdot (He is willing to coordinate and has cloud experience)
::Add info on Pipedot...[http://pipedot.org/ pipedot.org] by 'Bryan'
::User somenickname (1270442) has registered bangslashdot.(org|net|com)
::Usenet was also suggested as an alternative 'comp.misc is the new Slashdot'
*Scrapping content from old Slashdot suggestion made. benefits/drawbacks ? Overall I think this is a thumbs down
::Content is easier to "find"
::Moral/Legal objections were brought up (Even if it was initially "our" content)
::We should build our own brand
::Pointless to scrap, since it is the comments that draw people in
::Editors should be in multiple timezones to cleanup/improve/multi-source submissions for presentation to the main page
*Initial code build will be from Slashcode... Available (Git?), Old:(5 years) Workable:(maybe)
*Alternate choices for code base: Wiki, Discourse, Usenet
*Non-profit vs For-profit discussion should go here ( [[Business]] )
:: Debian style project organization ?
:: Community driven projects need strong leadership or they tend to flounder
*Codebase
:: Code should be in the public domain
:: Allow the entire website (Stories+Comments+Code)? to be created as a Creative commons work - codebase also available ?
:: AGPL
*Keep the former Slashdot community together

[[Comment History]]

== Comments ==

* Do this as a non-profit, user-run organization '''please'''. From what you write it looks like you want replace the regime, not giving the users the control over the website. Why should we trust you not to sell the website to a DICE-like company after it becomes successful? I applaud your efforts to change things, but I really believe that a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian#Organization Debian Project] like institution that is both non-commercial and controlled/run by the community has a much higher chance of securing the goals we fight for right now in the long-term. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* Relevant Slashdot stats from 2011 [[http://www.dbasoul.com/2011/992.html]]
:::5.5 million user visits per month.
:::7,000 comments are added every day.
:::Over 9 million pages views daily.
:::Over 21 million comments.
:::Average monthly bandwidth usage is around 40-50 mbit/sec (450GB/day)

* From Hacker News on Slashdot: 'When you have the same group of minds selecting the content that gets seen, over the course of years, the users eventually get burnt out seeing the same type of stuff, chosen by the same people over and over again. The content becomes stale even if its fresh <--- A really good point

== IRC ==
General Slashdot Discussion: Come on IRC channel #slashdot at irc.slashnet.org. Or use the web client: http://www.slashnet.org/webclient

AltSlashdot Discussion: Head to IRC channel ##AltSlashdot on irc.freenode.net, Web client is here: https://webchat.freenode.net/

== Stories from former Slashdot users ==

[[Confessions of an Ex-Slashdot Beta User]]

[[Banned from Slashdot]]

[[Dice is killing Slashdot]]

== An interesting Idea ==
Check this out while it's still available. feedback appreciated
* http://slashdot.org/submission/3324011/a-modest-proposal-re-beta-vs-classic?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed&sbsrc=firehose

== Telling the world about SoylentNews.org ==
*Please mention SoylentNews.org as much as possible.
*It seems like the word is spreading (over 45,000 views in <1 week) Good job everyone!
**Any idea on how and where to make sure people know about this project, please post them here?
:::I'd send a note along to Ars Technica & BoingBoing. (That would get some attention) 
:::Anyone have a Reddit account with a reasonable activity level? 
:::The Register, Digg, Hacker News and anything else you feel would help get the word out there
* Contacted:
** The Register:: No word back
** Ars Technica:: Was passed along to one of the writers
** Hacker News
::: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7193251 Submission from when AltSlashdot just started]
::: Due for an update once we get an actual site up and running
:::: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7209927 Similar thread from today] [[User:Yahwotqa|Yahwotqa]] ([[User talk:Yahwotqa|talk]]) 10:05, 10 February 2014 (MST)

WhosWho

2014-02-11T20:28:15Z

Cactus: /* Wiki */

In the interest of getting questions to the right people on IRC, this is a summary of who is involved in SoylentNews. Please add yourself or others if you can field questions about the topic.

==The Man Behind The Curtain==
* Barrabas
==Code==
* robinld
==Style==
==Content==
* LaminatorX
* Dopefish
* Cactus
* mattie_p

==Forums==
==Wiki==
* Cactus
* FunPika
* sfm

==IRC==
* Landon

SoylentNews

2014-02-11T16:41:47Z

2014-02-10T00:36:48Z

Cactus:

SoylentNews

2014-02-10T00:36:15Z

Cactus:

2014-02-09T21:56:20Z

Cactus:

SoylentNews

2014-02-07T02:42:24Z

Cactus:

'''A little less terrified...'''

I'm building a news site alternative to Slashdot. I've only started a couple of hours ago, this wiki is a temporary measure so that volunteers can coordinate and others can see what's happening.

I intend to run a site much like Slashdot used to be - better articles, less decoration and less "in your face" functionality. I'm looking for volunteers to help with setup and running the site. If the site becomes profitable, I intend to hire from the pool of volunteers. If you've ever wanted to participate in a site like Slashdot, here's your chance!

The summary of the financial model is: People who help run the site will get an annuity ''in perpetuity''. This means that the annuity will survive after the death of the recipient, it can be inherited, and so on.

The proposed business model is [[Finances|here]].
Some business planning is [[Business|here]].

I'm particularly in need of people who can:

* Set up and manage a high-traffic site (servers, load-balancers, data sites, &c)
* Edit story submissions
* HTML, CSS, and script creation/bugfix/repair

Is anyone really good at getting big packages up and running? Slashcode has not been updated in several years (as far as I can tell) and it may be a little clunky at first. It's based on MySql, Apache, and perl. I have "passing familiarity" with these, but an expert could probably blast through it in a couple of hours... Another issue might be security vulnerabilities. Anyone want to audit the code?

Contact me if interested

John (at) AltSlashdot (dot) org

AltSlashdot Discussion:
Head to IRC channel ##AltSlashdot on irc.freenode.net, Web client is here: https://webchat.freenode.net/

==Status==
* We need a new name, see [[NewName|New name discussion]]
* Probably won't be non-profit, see [[Finances|business model]].
* We won't poach from Slashdot. This includes articles and logos, also "style" to a reasonable extent.
* We won't monetize our readers (ie - we won't sell contact info to spammers)
* The site is intended to make money - in the same way Slashdot does (ads, merchandise, job postings)

Mailing list update Messages are [[MailingListUpdates|here]]

==Done==
* Registered "AltSlashdot.org", also ".com" and ".net".
* Purchased hosting through BlueHost
* I'm wading through SlashCode, learning the install procedures.

==ToDo==
[[SlashcodeTodo|Slashcode Todo list]]

* Install SlashCode on the production site
* Get some people to help with the site
* Run a contest for a better name
* Incorporate
* Consult a lawyer
* How to handle Advertising (necessary evil) - Opt Out, Limited, Standard ??
* Find and submit some stories
* Improved Mod/Meta-Mod/Story-Selection system to minimize required editor input
* Profit! ???

== List of Discussion Pages ==
*[[Finances|Finances]]
*[[MailingListUpdates|MailingListUpdates]]
*[[Submission guidelines|Submission guidelines]]
*[[Business|Business]]
*[[NewName|NewName]]
*[[SlashcodeTodo|SlashcodeTodo]]
That's all I see at the moment, please add more as you start or find new pages.

== Comments ==
*Wait, I just read about slashcott! Are you saying you're all going to be gone on Feb 10-17?? Oh my, glory, glory days, we can actually read stories without being bombarded with you idiots blathering on about your principled stances about whitespace and font kerning.

* I'm a professional web developer and can help. I was about to register a domain on my VPS to start something like this. If you want, I'll do what I can to help. I've built a few CMS from scratch and am downloading slashcode right now. Incidentally I'm a hybrid as I am also a digital artist (namely in UI). We need an IRC channel to talk about this I think.--[[User:Hedgie|Hedgie]] ([[User talk:Hedgie|talk]]) 18:34, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* I don't know about other people, but I think I would be more liable to stick with an alternative if it scraped content from original /. in addition to whatever else you do. [[Special:Contributions/173.13.21.65|173.13.21.65]] 09:21, 6 February 2014 (MST)

''I'm against this. I don't consider it fair - they've put a lot of effort into building up their brand and community. If we are to succeed, we need to do it on our own merits."

** Scraping bad. Having editors dotted around the timezones that create their own better versions of the summaries, even if they contain just the same links as the /. story that inspired them, not bad. [[User:FatPhil|FatPhil]] ([[User talk:FatPhil|talk]]) 14:14, 6 February 2014 (MST)

** Agree with scraping bad. The general trend for the summaries has gone downhill badly over the past few years so better to have editors (re-)publish articles even if they use the same (or better) links ([[User:Qwade|Qwade]])

* Maybe a wiki is the best way to do this? I see you've started with slashcode, but that might be a misstep. You have noticed by now that slashcode hasn't been updated in many years, hence it will be way behind the current slashdot. I think you might be better off hacking a wiki into slashdot-style functionality.

''I agree, this may be a misstep (and this occurred to me independently of your note). My best guess is to attempt installing slashcode and see where that goes, and try for a new system if it's unworkable. We'll see.''

**[[https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikinews]] is Wikimedia's attempt to turn a wiki in to a news site. Not sure how easy that would be to mold in to a more Slashdotty site

* If you don't want to use the old slashcode, have you considered looking at '''discourse''' as the site server? AFAICT, it's a reasonably new project which being developed intended to address the authors' perceived flaws in the status-quo of forum software. It's written in JavaScript, but it might serve as a starting point for a new codebase, or worth a look to get some inspiration:
** http://www.discourse.org/faq/
** https://github.com/discourse/discourse

* '''Do this as a non-profit, user-run organization please'''. From what you write it looks like you want replace the regime, not giving the users the control over the website. Why should we trust you not to sell the website to a DICE-like company after it becomes successful? I applaud your efforts to change things, but I really believe that a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian#Organization Debian Project] like institution that is both non-commercial and controlled/run by the community has a much higher chance of securing the goals we fight for right now in the long-term. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* I like the comment on a Debian like project organization, also, maybe we can create a freenode IRC channel to further organize?

* see Freenode, #slashdot-refugees for real time discussion.

'''UPDATE:''' ''My proposed [[Finances|business plan]] should allay these fears.''

''You make some good points.''

''In my experience, community-driven projects don't usually do well. This is not to say that no such projects succeed, but the balance of probability does not favor group management.''

''There is a wide selection of projects which are successful because one person had a vision and the drive to make that vision happen - every successful business starts this way.''

''I've run businesses that use a lot of volunteer help, so I've got some experience there.''

''As far as selling the website, it's crossed my mind. I don't want to "sell out" and destroy the community, but it would be nice to have an "exit strategy". Commenting on Slashdot fun, but doing it as a day job will probably get tedious.''

''I don't know what the answer is - it's something that we'll have to work out.''

* (I put in a topic with a suggestion on the discussion page so this doesn't get too cluttered. ~ElectricTurtle)

* Additional points: Make the whole website (including stories/comments) available under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ CC-BY-SA] to retain the [http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/RightToFork right to fork]. You should also reconsider the name. I imagine "AltSlashdot" could get you into all sorts of legal trouble, since it is very close to the "Slashdot" trademark. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* John@AltSlashdot.org seems to be bouncing. I'd like to help.

''It's fixed now - please try again.''

''(I created the E-mails through the registrar and tested them. When I pointed the DNS to BlueHost the E-mail target changed along with the web. Didn't expect that to change, so never bothered to check after initial test.)''

* Attempt to '''coordinate and combine''' the parallel efforts. E.g. Slashdot user [http://slashdot.org/~dotancohen dotancohen] has [http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4757151&cid=46171009 apparently] registered the domain "slashdotan" and is looking to build a new Slashdot there. There are probably a dozen people hacking away separately on similar efforts. Competition is probably good, but combining efforts should be considered. --Slashdot user [http://slashdot.org/~JustinOpinion JustinOpinion].

* [https://github.com/digilord DigiLord] - I would like to help

* I'm the dotancohen mentioned by JustinOpinion. I have some limited experience with Amazon Web Services to run cloud servers for sites with very dynamic load profiles. Altslashdot seems like the perfect application of that technology, as we can expect to get slashdotted at any time. I also agree that we should coordinate efforts, as the whole premise is to keep the /. community together. [[User:Dotancohen|Dotancohen]] ([[User talk:Dotancohen|talk]]) 08:38, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* Re: combining efforts. User somenickname (1270442) has registered bangslashdot.(org|net|com) [[http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4757113&cid=46169131]]

== IRC ==
General Slashdot Discussion: Come on IRC channel #slashdot at irc.slashnet.org. Or use the web client: http://www.slashnet.org/webclient

AltSlashdot Discussion: Head to IRC channel ##AltSlashdot on irc.freenode.net, Web client is here: https://webchat.freenode.net/

== Banned ==
Anyone else get banned from Slashdot? I did a few 'Fuck Beta' posts and a Beta submission, and apparently this was enough to get a temporary ban. - Robotron23

== Features ==
What features worked and what features did not work during the lifetime of Slashdot? I would like to create a section about this but there's no link to do so.

IE: Feature that worked was the karma system allowed users to voluntarily disable the advertisement, made them feel happy even though it did nothing different for the business.

Feature that did not work: Adding a sponsored poll / slashvertising

Historic:Finances/Archive

2014-02-07T02:40:06Z

Cactus: /* Comments */

'''Note:''' this is only a proposal! This has never been done before, and I have no idea at this time whether it's feasible, or even legal.

You can leave comments in the space below

==Synopsis:==

The financial intent of the business will be to make people independent. To that end, the company will fund $52,000 annuities to be given to people who help build and maintain the system.

==Overall description:==

The purpose of the fund is to take people out of the workforce without leaving them in poverty. A fund participant receives a weekly income large enough to live on, by which they may (if they choose) leave the workforce.

Income is paid in perpetuity: payout continues after death of original recipient, can be willed, inherited, sold or given away. Income is strictly one per person.

The proposed fund account returns $52,000/year ($1000/week). Fund amount needed to attain that level is hypothetically $1 million per participant:

* 10% Overall return (Indexed fund returns over 40 years == 12%. [http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2013/04/04/index-fund-returns-get-better-with-age/ source])

* -3.5% Inflation adjustment

* -0.5% Management fees (Similar to Fidelity Portfolio Advisory Service. [https://www.fidelity.com/managed-accounts/portfolio-advisory-service/overview source])

* -5.2% Annual payout

With these numbers, fund will gain 0.8% annual value over time, which can be used as hedge against poor market performance.

==Participation==

AltSlashdot will employ N people for site management. Site will accrue profits until N times $1 million is attained, and then award each employee with one annuity.

This is the weak point 'site will accrue profits' but how? Advertising? advertorials? Donations? In general, I'd suggest that we use a standard template that deals with cash flow, income etc.

== Comments ==

This is very good for 'employees' but it does nothing to prevent the same thing as happened to Slashdot 1.0. How is this new endeavor going to protect its users and be accountable to them? What prevents this from being a pump and dump? ~ElectricTurtle

* Agree with Electric... Primary purpose of any fund should be to cover operating costs, then worry about paying the people who run the place. To get a true quourum of /. here, I think it needs to be more open source than that, with assurances that the community won't lose out again... -- CoolHnd30

* I suppose it means that those involved in running this venture will bust their asses to make sure the fund hits that magic number. It would mean keeping visitors happy for how ever long that takes, spreading the word, and making that $$ come in. If the community isn't happy, people wont see ads / buy merch, and retirement never comes. I'm just assuming that's the thought process. - Cactus

** And once the goal is reached, the oligarchs can just turn on the community again, cash out, and say "Deuces!" while they get paid in perpetuity. ~ElectricTurtle

*** True enough. Any suggestions on what would allay community fears while letting Okian Warrior do something at least similar to what he wants to try? I really think this idea could be a very strong motivator to those involved... but I don't know what would keep it from possibly going down in flames once the goal is reached. - Cactus
**** I had made a suggestion [http://www.altslashdot.org/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:AltSlashdot#Group_or_Business] about establishing some guarantees in a charter that can only be changed with buy-in from the userbase. (Unlike the sundry TOS where terms can be changed at any time without notice bullshit.)--[[User:ElectricTurtle|ElectricTurtle]] ([[User talk:ElectricTurtle|talk]]) 13:23, 6 February 2014 (MST)
*****I'm all for a "Bill of Rights" thing. If people are to switch over wholesale from Slashdot, the general community will need to come up with a list of demands, or a charter or something. We can't completely ruin any desire to run this site, but I think there are things a userbase can reasonably expect from a community driven site.

* Well, if you want to do this and not succumb to the "sold out" aspect, then the 'annuities' need to be in the form of shares - then the people who contributed to make the site get a say in how and what happens to it, and if the majority think selling out is a bad thing, then it will not get sold off. Sure, you need income to pay hosting and other things, but I think that can come with a subtle bit of advertising stuck off the bottom. Or you can sell the userbase's details to the marketeers .. like "not evil" Google does. Anyway, I think it should be more concerned with being more open source and idealistic from the start.
**I second this motion of shares; the meme du jour is that The Users are Slashdot - let's make it literally true. If you buy a sub, you buy a share in the profits of any advertising after expenses, plus a vote on the future direction of the website. --Kell

*micropayments for highly rated posts? --CoolHnd30

*What about using a "premium" model, as arstechnica does? People paying like 1$ or 5$ a month don't get ads. Plus a pdf of the most insulting comments that month :)

*Have you thought of created a cooperative? You would be CEO but managed by a board of directors. Board of directors would be elected by members. Members would be anyone who wants to pay for *premium* membership (no ads) with a $5 annual membership share. Members have a right to vote for the board of directors who make decisions about how the organization is run. One member one vote. You're still profitable but DICE-type heavy handed decisions are impossible because in most cooperatives, major decisions require a referendum by the membership. Something to consider, NCBA in the USA or ICA internationally have tons of resources on setting them up.
** I like this idea. There are piles of resources online that will direct you in setting up a co-op. - Cactus

SoylentNews

2014-02-07T02:32:47Z

2014-02-06T21:47:40Z

Cactus: /* List of Discussion Pages */

'''A little less terrified...'''

I'm building a news site alternative to Slashdot. I've only started a couple of hours ago, this wiki is a temporary measure so that volunteers can coordinate and others can see what's happening.

I intend to run a site much like Slashdot used to be - better articles, less decoration and less "in your face" functionality. I'm looking for volunteers to help with setup and running the site. If the site becomes profitable, I intend to hire from the pool of volunteers. If you've ever wanted to participate in a site like Slashdot, here's your chance!

The summary of the financial model is: People who help run the site will get an annuity ''in perpetuity''. This means that the annuity will survive after the death of the recipient, it can be inherited, and so on.

The proposed business model is [[Finances|here]].
Some business planning is [[Business|here]].

I'm particularly in need of people who can:

* Set up and manage a high-traffic site (servers, load-balancers, data sites, &c)
* Edit story submissions
* HTML, CSS, and script creation/bugfix/repair

Is anyone really good at getting big packages up and running? Slashcode has not been updated in several years (as far as I can tell) and it may be a little clunky at first. It's based on MySql, Apache, and perl. I have "passing familiarity" with these, but an expert could probably blast through it in a couple of hours... Another issue might be security vulnerabilities. Anyone want to audit the code?

Contact me if interested

John (at) AltSlashdot (dot) org

Come on IRC channel #slashdot at irc.slashnet.org.
Or use the web client: http://www.slashnet.org/webclient

==Status==

* We need a new name, see [[NewName|New name discussion]]
* Probably won't be non-profit, see [[Finances|business model]].
* We won't poach from Slashdot. This includes articles and logos, also "style" to a reasonable extent.
* We won't monetize our readers (ie - we won't sell contact info to spammers)
* The site is intended to make money - in the same way Slashdot does (ads, merchandise, job postings)

Mailing list update Messages are [[MailingListUpdates|here]]

==Done==

* Registered "AltSlashdot.org", also ".com" and ".net".
* Purchased hosting through BlueHost
* I'm wading through SlashCode, learning the install procedures.

==ToDo==

* Install SlashCode on the production site
* Get some people to help with the site
* Run a contest for a better name
* Incorporate
* Consult a lawyer
* How to handle Advertising (necessary evil) - Opt Out, Limited, Standard ??
* Find and submit some stories
* Improved Mod/Meta-Mod/Story-Selection system to minimize required editor input
* Profit! ???

== List of Discussion Pages ==

*[[Finances|Finances]]
*[[MailingListUpdates|MailingListUpdates]]
*[[Submission guidelines|Submission guidelines]]
*[[Business|Business]]
*[[NewName|NewName]]

That's all I see at the moment, please add more as you start or find new pages.

== Comments ==

* I don't know about other people, but I think I would be more liable to stick with an alternative if it scraped content from original /. in addition to whatever else you do. [[Special:Contributions/173.13.21.65|173.13.21.65]] 09:21, 6 February 2014 (MST)

''I'm against this. I don't consider it fair - they've put a lot of effort into building up their brand and community. If we are to succeed, we need to do it on our own merits."

** Scraping bad. Having editors dotted around the timezones that create their own better versions of the summaries, even if they contain just the same links as the /. story that inspired them, not bad. [[User:FatPhil|FatPhil]] ([[User talk:FatPhil|talk]]) 14:14, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* Maybe a wiki is the best way to do this? I see you've started with slashcode, but that might be a misstep. You have noticed by now that slashcode hasn't been updated in many years, hence it will be way behind the current slashdot. I think you might be better off hacking a wiki into slashdot-style functionality.

''I agree, this may be a misstep (and this occurred to me independently of your note). My best guess is to attempt installing slashcode and see where that goes, and try for a new system if it's unworkable. We'll see.''

* If you don't want to use the old slashcode, have you considered looking at '''discourse''' as the site server? AFAICT, it's a reasonably new project which being developed intended to address the authors' perceived flaws in the status-quo of forum software. It's written in JavaScript, but it might serve as a starting point for a new codebase, or worth a look to get some inspiration:
** http://www.discourse.org/faq/
** https://github.com/discourse/discourse

* '''Do this as a non-profit, user-run organization please'''. From what you write it looks like you want replace the regime, not giving the users the control over the website. Why should we trust you not to sell the website to a DICE-like company after it becomes successful? I applaud your efforts to change things, but I really believe that a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian#Organization Debian Project] like institution that is both non-commercial and controlled/run by the community has a much higher chance of securing the goals we fight for right now in the long-term. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* I like the comment on a Debian like project organization, also, maybe we can create a freenode IRC channel to further organize?

* see Freenode, #slashdot-refugees for real time discussion.

'''UPDATE:''' ''My proposed [[Finances|business plan]] should allay these fears.''

''You make some good points.''

''In my experience, community-driven projects don't usually do well. This is not to say that no such projects succeed, but the balance of probability does not favor group management.''

''There is a wide selection of projects which are successful because one person had a vision and the drive to make that vision happen - every successful business starts this way.''

''I've run businesses that use a lot of volunteer help, so I've got some experience there.''

''As far as selling the website, it's crossed my mind. I don't want to "sell out" and destroy the community, but it would be nice to have an "exit strategy". Commenting on Slashdot fun, but doing it as a day job will probably get tedious.''

''I don't know what the answer is - it's something that we'll have to work out.''

* (I put in a topic with a suggestion on the discussion page so this doesn't get too cluttered. ~ElectricTurtle)

* Additional points: Make the whole website (including stories/comments) available under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ CC-BY-SA] to retain the [http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/RightToFork right to fork]. You should also reconsider the name. I imagine "AltSlashdot" could get you into all sorts of legal trouble, since it is very close to the "Slashdot" trademark. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* John@AltSlashdot.org seems to be bouncing. I'd like to help.

''It's fixed now - please try again.''

''(I created the E-mails through the registrar and tested them. When I pointed the DNS to BlueHost the E-mail target changed along with the web. Didn't expect that to change, so never bothered to check after initial test.)''

* Attempt to '''coordinate and combine''' the parallel efforts. E.g. Slashdot user [http://slashdot.org/~dotancohen dotancohen] has [http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4757151&cid=46171009 apparently] registered the domain "slashdotan" and is looking to build a new Slashdot there. There are probably a dozen people hacking away separately on similar efforts. Competition is probably good, but combining efforts should be considered. --Slashdot user [http://slashdot.org/~JustinOpinion JustinOpinion].

* [https://github.com/digilord DigiLord] - I would like to help

* I'm the dotancohen mentioned by JustinOpinion. I have some limited experience with Amazon Web Services to run cloud servers for sites with very dynamic load profiles. Altslashdot seems like the perfect application of that technology, as we can expect to get slashdotted at any time. I also agree that we should coordinate efforts, as the whole premise is to keep the /. community together. [[User:Dotancohen|Dotancohen]] ([[User talk:Dotancohen|talk]]) 08:38, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* Re: combining efforts. User somenickname (1270442) has registered bangslashdot.(org|net|com) [[http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4757113&cid=46169131]]

== Less Political Bullshit ==

Will your site have less global warming bs on it? That would be an improvement...

I think the climate change discussions land pretty squarely in the Science area. It's only "Political Bullshit" when people move it that way. - Cactus

It wouldn't be slashdot without hot-button topics generating hundreds of posts in areas on the more political charged side of science (global warming, nuclear energy, weapons, evolution, etc.)

[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080229083202/girlgenius/images/8/86/Dimoportrait.jpg|Yez!]

''Slashdot might cave and go back to the original layout, so where would that leave us?''

''I've noticed that the quality of articles on Slashdot has gone down a lot in recent years. Even if Slashdot goes back to the original format, I think we can make a much better site by having better articles.''

''I've some ideas on how to do this, but right now I'm pressed for time. Perhaps someone could start a separate discussion page for submission guidelines?'' - [[Submission_guidelines|here]]

:Yeah... no, your petty political censorship won't make for a better site. Thanks. [[Special:Contributions/159.45.129.14|159.45.129.14]] 14:42, 6 February 2014 (MST)

SoylentNews

2014-02-06T21:43:52Z

Cactus: /* List of Discussion Pages */

'''A little less terrified...'''

I'm building a news site alternative to Slashdot. I've only started a couple of hours ago, this wiki is a temporary measure so that volunteers can coordinate and others can see what's happening.

I intend to run a site much like Slashdot used to be - better articles, less decoration and less "in your face" functionality. I'm looking for volunteers to help with setup and running the site. If the site becomes profitable, I intend to hire from the pool of volunteers. If you've ever wanted to participate in a site like Slashdot, here's your chance!

The summary of the financial model is: People who help run the site will get an annuity ''in perpetuity''. This means that the annuity will survive after the death of the recipient, it can be inherited, and so on.

The proposed business model is [[Finances|here]].
Some business planning is [[Business|here]].

I'm particularly in need of people who can:

* Set up and manage a high-traffic site (servers, load-balancers, data sites, &c)
* Edit story submissions
* HTML, CSS, and script creation/bugfix/repair

Is anyone really good at getting big packages up and running? Slashcode has not been updated in several years (as far as I can tell) and it may be a little clunky at first. It's based on MySql, Apache, and perl. I have "passing familiarity" with these, but an expert could probably blast through it in a couple of hours... Another issue might be security vulnerabilities. Anyone want to audit the code?

Contact me if interested

John (at) AltSlashdot (dot) org

Come on IRC channel #slashdot at irc.slashnet.org.
Or use the web client: http://www.slashnet.org/webclient

==Status==

* We need a new name, see [[NewName|New name discussion]]
* Probably won't be non-profit, see [[Finances|business model]].
* We won't poach from Slashdot. This includes articles and logos, also "style" to a reasonable extent.
* We won't monetize our readers (ie - we won't sell contact info to spammers)
* The site is intended to make money - in the same way Slashdot does (ads, merchandise, job postings)

Mailing list update Messages are [[MailingListUpdates|here]]

==Done==

* Registered "AltSlashdot.org", also ".com" and ".net".
* Purchased hosting through BlueHost
* I'm wading through SlashCode, learning the install procedures.

==ToDo==

* Install SlashCode on the production site
* Get some people to help with the site
* Run a contest for a better name
* Incorporate
* Consult a lawyer
* How to handle Advertising (necessary evil) - Opt Out, Limited, Standard ??
* Find and submit some stories
* Improved Mod/Meta-Mod/Story-Selection system to minimize required editor input
* Profit! ???

== List of Discussion Pages ==

*[[Finances|Finances]]
*[[MailingListUpdates|MailingListUpdates]]
*[[Submission guidelines|Submission guidelines]]
*[[Business|Business]]

That's all I see at the moment, please add more as you start or find new pages.

== Comments ==

* I don't know about other people, but I think I would be more liable to stick with an alternative if it scraped content from original /. in addition to whatever else you do. [[Special:Contributions/173.13.21.65|173.13.21.65]] 09:21, 6 February 2014 (MST)

''I'm against this. I don't consider it fair - they've put a lot of effort into building up their brand and community. If we are to succeed, we need to do it on our own merits."

** Scraping bad. Having editors dotted around the timezones that create their own better versions of the summaries, even if they contain just the same links as the /. story that inspired them, not bad. [[User:FatPhil|FatPhil]] ([[User talk:FatPhil|talk]]) 14:14, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* Maybe a wiki is the best way to do this? I see you've started with slashcode, but that might be a misstep. You have noticed by now that slashcode hasn't been updated in many years, hence it will be way behind the current slashdot. I think you might be better off hacking a wiki into slashdot-style functionality.

''I agree, this may be a misstep (and this occurred to me independently of your note). My best guess is to attempt installing slashcode and see where that goes, and try for a new system if it's unworkable. We'll see.''

* If you don't want to use the old slashcode, have you considered looking at '''discourse''' as the site server? AFAICT, it's a reasonably new project which being developed intended to address the authors' perceived flaws in the status-quo of forum software. It's written in JavaScript, but it might serve as a starting point for a new codebase, or worth a look to get some inspiration:
** http://www.discourse.org/faq/
** https://github.com/discourse/discourse

* '''Do this as a non-profit, user-run organization please'''. From what you write it looks like you want replace the regime, not giving the users the control over the website. Why should we trust you not to sell the website to a DICE-like company after it becomes successful? I applaud your efforts to change things, but I really believe that a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian#Organization Debian Project] like institution that is both non-commercial and controlled/run by the community has a much higher chance of securing the goals we fight for right now in the long-term. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* I like the comment on a Debian like project organization, also, maybe we can create a freenode IRC channel to further organize?

* see Freenode, #slashdot-refugees for real time discussion.

'''UPDATE:''' ''My proposed [[Finances|business plan]] should allay these fears.''

''You make some good points.''

''In my experience, community-driven projects don't usually do well. This is not to say that no such projects succeed, but the balance of probability does not favor group management.''

''There is a wide selection of projects which are successful because one person had a vision and the drive to make that vision happen - every successful business starts this way.''

''I've run businesses that use a lot of volunteer help, so I've got some experience there.''

''As far as selling the website, it's crossed my mind. I don't want to "sell out" and destroy the community, but it would be nice to have an "exit strategy". Commenting on Slashdot fun, but doing it as a day job will probably get tedious.''

''I don't know what the answer is - it's something that we'll have to work out.''

* (I put in a topic with a suggestion on the discussion page so this doesn't get too cluttered. ~ElectricTurtle)

* Additional points: Make the whole website (including stories/comments) available under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ CC-BY-SA] to retain the [http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/RightToFork right to fork]. You should also reconsider the name. I imagine "AltSlashdot" could get you into all sorts of legal trouble, since it is very close to the "Slashdot" trademark. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* John@AltSlashdot.org seems to be bouncing. I'd like to help.

''It's fixed now - please try again.''

''(I created the E-mails through the registrar and tested them. When I pointed the DNS to BlueHost the E-mail target changed along with the web. Didn't expect that to change, so never bothered to check after initial test.)''

* Attempt to '''coordinate and combine''' the parallel efforts. E.g. Slashdot user [http://slashdot.org/~dotancohen dotancohen] has [http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4757151&cid=46171009 apparently] registered the domain "slashdotan" and is looking to build a new Slashdot there. There are probably a dozen people hacking away separately on similar efforts. Competition is probably good, but combining efforts should be considered. --Slashdot user [http://slashdot.org/~JustinOpinion JustinOpinion].

* [https://github.com/digilord DigiLord] - I would like to help

* I'm the dotancohen mentioned by JustinOpinion. I have some limited experience with Amazon Web Services to run cloud servers for sites with very dynamic load profiles. Altslashdot seems like the perfect application of that technology, as we can expect to get slashdotted at any time. I also agree that we should coordinate efforts, as the whole premise is to keep the /. community together. [[User:Dotancohen|Dotancohen]] ([[User talk:Dotancohen|talk]]) 08:38, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* Re: combining efforts. User somenickname (1270442) has registered bangslashdot.(org|net|com) [[http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4757113&cid=46169131]]

== Less Political Bullshit ==

Will your site have less global warming bs on it? That would be an improvement...

I think the climate change discussions land pretty squarely in the Science area. It's only "Political Bullshit" when people move it that way. - Cactus

It wouldn't be slashdot without hot-button topics generating hundreds of posts in areas on the more political charged side of science (global warming, nuclear energy, weapons, evolution, etc.)

[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080229083202/girlgenius/images/8/86/Dimoportrait.jpg|Yez!]

''Slashdot might cave and go back to the original layout, so where would that leave us?''

''I've noticed that the quality of articles on Slashdot has gone down a lot in recent years. Even if Slashdot goes back to the original format, I think we can make a much better site by having better articles.''

''I've some ideas on how to do this, but right now I'm pressed for time. Perhaps someone could start a separate discussion page for submission guidelines?'' - [[Submission_guidelines|here]]

:Yeah... no, your petty political censorship won't make for a better site. Thanks. [[Special:Contributions/159.45.129.14|159.45.129.14]] 14:42, 6 February 2014 (MST)

SoylentNews

2014-02-06T21:36:27Z

Cactus:

'''A little less terrified...'''

I'm building a news site alternative to Slashdot. I've only started a couple of hours ago, this wiki is a temporary measure so that volunteers can coordinate and others can see what's happening.

I intend to run a site much like Slashdot used to be - better articles, less decoration and less "in your face" functionality. I'm looking for volunteers to help with setup and running the site. If the site becomes profitable, I intend to hire from the pool of volunteers. If you've ever wanted to participate in a site like Slashdot, here's your chance!

The summary of the financial model is: People who help run the site will get an annuity ''in perpetuity''. This means that the annuity will survive after the death of the recipient, it can be inherited, and so on.

The proposed business model is [[Finances|here]].
Some business planning is [[Business|here]].

I'm particularly in need of people who can:

* Set up and manage a high-traffic site (servers, load-balancers, data sites, &c)
* Edit story submissions
* HTML, CSS, and script creation/bugfix/repair

Is anyone really good at getting big packages up and running? Slashcode has not been updated in several years (as far as I can tell) and it may be a little clunky at first. It's based on MySql, Apache, and perl. I have "passing familiarity" with these, but an expert could probably blast through it in a couple of hours... Another issue might be security vulnerabilities. Anyone want to audit the code?

Contact me if interested

John (at) AltSlashdot (dot) org

Come on IRC channel #slashdot at irc.slashnet.org.
Or use the web client: http://www.slashnet.org/webclient

==Status==

* We need a new name, see [[NewName|New name discussion]]
* Probably won't be non-profit, see [[Finances|business model]].
* We won't poach from Slashdot. This includes articles and logos, also "style" to a reasonable extent.
* We won't monetize our readers (ie - we won't sell contact info to spammers)
* The site is intended to make money - in the same way Slashdot does (ads, merchandise, job postings)

Mailing list update Messages are [[MailingListUpdates|here]]

==Done==

* Registered "AltSlashdot.org", also ".com" and ".net".
* Purchased hosting through BlueHost
* I'm wading through SlashCode, learning the install procedures.

==ToDo==

* Install SlashCode on the production site
* Get some people to help with the site
* Run a contest for a better name
* Incorporate
* Consult a lawyer
* How to handle Advertising (necessary evil) - Opt Out, Limited, Standard ??
* Find and submit some stories
* Improved Mod/Meta-Mod/Story-Selection system to minimize required editor input
* Profit! ???

== List of Discussion Pages ==

[[Finances|Finances]]
[[MailingListUpdates|MailingListUpdates]]
[[Submission guidelines|Submission guidelines]]
[[Business|Business]]

- That's all I see at the moment

== Comments ==

* I don't know about other people, but I think I would be more liable to stick with an alternative if it scraped content from original /. in addition to whatever else you do. [[Special:Contributions/173.13.21.65|173.13.21.65]] 09:21, 6 February 2014 (MST)

''I'm against this. I don't consider it fair - they've put a lot of effort into building up their brand and community. If we are to succeed, we need to do it on our own merits."

** Scraping bad. Having editors dotted around the timezones that create their own better versions of the summaries, even if they contain just the same links as the /. story that inspired them, not bad. [[User:FatPhil|FatPhil]] ([[User talk:FatPhil|talk]]) 14:14, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* Maybe a wiki is the best way to do this? I see you've started with slashcode, but that might be a misstep. You have noticed by now that slashcode hasn't been updated in many years, hence it will be way behind the current slashdot. I think you might be better off hacking a wiki into slashdot-style functionality.

''I agree, this may be a misstep (and this occurred to me independently of your note). My best guess is to attempt installing slashcode and see where that goes, and try for a new system if it's unworkable. We'll see.''

* '''Do this as a non-profit, user-run organization please'''. From what you write it looks like you want replace the regime, not giving the users the control over the website. Why should we trust you not to sell the website to a DICE-like company after it becomes successful? I applaud your efforts to change things, but I really believe that a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian#Organization Debian Project] like institution that is both non-commercial and controlled/run by the community has a much higher chance of securing the goals we fight for right now in the long-term. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* I like the comment on a Debian like project organization, also, maybe we can create a freenode IRC channel to further organize?

* see Freenode, #slashdot-refugees for real time discussion.

'''UPDATE:''' ''My proposed [[Finances|business plan]] should allay these fears.''

''You make some good points.''

''In my experience, community-driven projects don't usually do well. This is not to say that no such projects succeed, but the balance of probability does not favor group management.''

''There is a wide selection of projects which are successful because one person had a vision and the drive to make that vision happen - every successful business starts this way.''

''I've run businesses that use a lot of volunteer help, so I've got some experience there.''

''As far as selling the website, it's crossed my mind. I don't want to "sell out" and destroy the community, but it would be nice to have an "exit strategy". Commenting on Slashdot fun, but doing it as a day job will probably get tedious.''

''I don't know what the answer is - it's something that we'll have to work out.''

* (I put in a topic with a suggestion on the discussion page so this doesn't get too cluttered. ~ElectricTurtle)

* Additional points: Make the whole website (including stories/comments) available under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ CC-BY-SA] to retain the [http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/RightToFork right to fork]. You should also reconsider the name. I imagine "AltSlashdot" could get you into all sorts of legal trouble, since it is very close to the "Slashdot" trademark. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* John@AltSlashdot.org seems to be bouncing. I'd like to help.

''It's fixed now - please try again.''

''(I created the E-mails through the registrar and tested them. When I pointed the DNS to BlueHost the E-mail target changed along with the web. Didn't expect that to change, so never bothered to check after initial test.)''

* Attempt to '''coordinate and combine''' the parallel efforts. E.g. Slashdot user [http://slashdot.org/~dotancohen dotancohen] has [http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4757151&cid=46171009 apparently] registered the domain "slashdotan" and is looking to build a new Slashdot there. There are probably a dozen people hacking away separately on similar efforts. Competition is probably good, but combining efforts should be considered. --Slashdot user [http://slashdot.org/~JustinOpinion JustinOpinion].

* [https://github.com/digilord DigiLord] - I would like to help

* I'm the dotancohen mentioned by JustinOpinion. I have some limited experience with Amazon Web Services to run cloud servers for sites with very dynamic load profiles. Altslashdot seems like the perfect application of that technology, as we can expect to get slashdotted at any time. I also agree that we should coordinate efforts, as the whole premise is to keep the /. community together. [[User:Dotancohen|Dotancohen]] ([[User talk:Dotancohen|talk]]) 08:38, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* Re: combining efforts. User somenickname (1270442) has registered bangslashdot.(org|net|com) [[http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4757113&cid=46169131]]

== Less Political Bullshit ==

Will your site have less global warming bs on it? That would be an improvement...

I think the climate change discussions land pretty squarely in the Science area. It's only "Political Bullshit" when people move it that way. - Cactus

It wouldn't be slashdot without hot-button topics generating hundreds of posts in areas on the more political charged side of science (global warming, nuclear energy, weapons, evolution, etc.)

[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080229083202/girlgenius/images/8/86/Dimoportrait.jpg|Yez!]

''Slashdot might cave and go back to the original layout, so where would that leave us?''

''I've noticed that the quality of articles on Slashdot has gone down a lot in recent years. Even if Slashdot goes back to the original format, I think we can make a much better site by having better articles.''

''I've some ideas on how to do this, but right now I'm pressed for time. Perhaps someone could start a separate discussion page for submission guidelines?'' - [[Submission_guidelines|here]]

SoylentNews

2014-02-06T21:29:13Z

Cactus:

'''A little less terrified...'''

I'm building a news site alternative to Slashdot. I've only started a couple of hours ago, this wiki is a temporary measure so that volunteers can coordinate and others can see what's happening.

I intend to run a site much like Slashdot used to be - better articles, less decoration and less "in your face" functionality. I'm looking for volunteers to help with setup and running the site. If the site becomes profitable, I intend to hire from the pool of volunteers. If you've ever wanted to participate in a site like Slashdot, here's your chance!

The summary of the financial model is: People who help run the site will get an annuity ''in perpetuity''. This means that the annuity will survive after the death of the recipient, it can be inherited, and so on.

The proposed business model is [[Finances|here]].
Some business planning is [[Business|here]].

I'm particularly in need of people who can:

* Set up and manage a high-traffic site (servers, load-balancers, data sites, &c)
* Edit story submissions
* HTML, CSS, and script creation/bugfix/repair

Is anyone really good at getting big packages up and running? Slashcode has not been updated in several years (as far as I can tell) and it may be a little clunky at first. It's based on MySql, Apache, and perl. I have "passing familiarity" with these, but an expert could probably blast through it in a couple of hours... Another issue might be security vulnerabilities. Anyone want to audit the code?

Contact me if interested

John (at) AltSlashdot (dot) org

Come on IRC channel #slashdot at irc.slashnet.org.
Or use the web client: http://www.slashnet.org/webclient

==Status==

* We need a new name, see [[NewName|New name discussion]]
* Probably won't be non-profit, see [[Finances|business model]].
* We won't poach from Slashdot. This includes articles and logos, also "style" to a reasonable extent.
* We won't monetize our readers (ie - we won't sell contact info to spammers)
* The site is intended to make money - in the same way Slashdot does (ads, merchandise, job postings)

Mailing list update Messages are [[MailingListUpdates|here]]

==Done==

* Registered "AltSlashdot.org", also ".com" and ".net".
* Purchased hosting through BlueHost
* I'm wading through SlashCode, learning the install procedures.

==ToDo==

* Install SlashCode on the production site
* Get some people to help with the site
* Run a contest for a better name
* Incorporate
* Consult a lawyer
* How to handle Advertising (necessary evil) - Opt Out, Limited, Standard ??
* Find and submit some stories
* Improved Mod/Meta-Mod/Story-Selection system to minimize required editor input
* Profit! ???

== Comments ==

* I don't know about other people, but I think I would be more liable to stick with an alternative if it scraped content from original /. in addition to whatever else you do. [[Special:Contributions/173.13.21.65|173.13.21.65]] 09:21, 6 February 2014 (MST)

''I'm against this. I don't consider it fair - they've put a lot of effort into building up their brand and community. If we are to succeed, we need to do it on our own merits."

** Scraping bad. Having editors dotted around the timezones that create their own better versions of the summaries, even if they contain just the same links as the /. story that inspired them, not bad. [[User:FatPhil|FatPhil]] ([[User talk:FatPhil|talk]]) 14:14, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* Maybe a wiki is the best way to do this? I see you've started with slashcode, but that might be a misstep. You have noticed by now that slashcode hasn't been updated in many years, hence it will be way behind the current slashdot. I think you might be better off hacking a wiki into slashdot-style functionality.

''I agree, this may be a misstep (and this occurred to me independently of your note). My best guess is to attempt installing slashcode and see where that goes, and try for a new system if it's unworkable. We'll see.''

* '''Do this as a non-profit, user-run organization please'''. From what you write it looks like you want replace the regime, not giving the users the control over the website. Why should we trust you not to sell the website to a DICE-like company after it becomes successful? I applaud your efforts to change things, but I really believe that a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian#Organization Debian Project] like institution that is both non-commercial and controlled/run by the community has a much higher chance of securing the goals we fight for right now in the long-term. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* I like the comment on a Debian like project organization, also, maybe we can create a freenode IRC channel to further organize?

* see Freenode, #slashdot-refugees for real time discussion.

'''UPDATE:''' ''My proposed [[Finances|business plan]] should allay these fears.''

''You make some good points.''

''In my experience, community-driven projects don't usually do well. This is not to say that no such projects succeed, but the balance of probability does not favor group management.''

''There is a wide selection of projects which are successful because one person had a vision and the drive to make that vision happen - every successful business starts this way.''

''I've run businesses that use a lot of volunteer help, so I've got some experience there.''

''As far as selling the website, it's crossed my mind. I don't want to "sell out" and destroy the community, but it would be nice to have an "exit strategy". Commenting on Slashdot fun, but doing it as a day job will probably get tedious.''

''I don't know what the answer is - it's something that we'll have to work out.''

* (I put in a topic with a suggestion on the discussion page so this doesn't get too cluttered. ~ElectricTurtle)

* Additional points: Make the whole website (including stories/comments) available under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ CC-BY-SA] to retain the [http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/RightToFork right to fork]. You should also reconsider the name. I imagine "AltSlashdot" could get you into all sorts of legal trouble, since it is very close to the "Slashdot" trademark. --[[Special:Contributions/141.84.69.20|141.84.69.20]] 03:20, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* John@AltSlashdot.org seems to be bouncing. I'd like to help.

''It's fixed now - please try again.''

''(I created the E-mails through the registrar and tested them. When I pointed the DNS to BlueHost the E-mail target changed along with the web. Didn't expect that to change, so never bothered to check after initial test.)''

* Attempt to '''coordinate and combine''' the parallel efforts. E.g. Slashdot user [http://slashdot.org/~dotancohen dotancohen] has [http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4757151&cid=46171009 apparently] registered the domain "slashdotan" and is looking to build a new Slashdot there. There are probably a dozen people hacking away separately on similar efforts. Competition is probably good, but combining efforts should be considered. --Slashdot user [http://slashdot.org/~JustinOpinion JustinOpinion].

* [https://github.com/digilord DigiLord] - I would like to help

* I'm the dotancohen mentioned by JustinOpinion. I have some limited experience with Amazon Web Services to run cloud servers for sites with very dynamic load profiles. Altslashdot seems like the perfect application of that technology, as we can expect to get slashdotted at any time. I also agree that we should coordinate efforts, as the whole premise is to keep the /. community together. [[User:Dotancohen|Dotancohen]] ([[User talk:Dotancohen|talk]]) 08:38, 6 February 2014 (MST)

* Re: combining efforts. User somenickname (1270442) has registered bangslashdot.(org|net|com) [[http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4757113&cid=46169131]]

== Less Political Bullshit ==

Will your site have less global warming bs on it? That would be an improvement...

I think the climate change discussions land pretty squarely in the Science area. It's only "Political Bullshit" when people move it that way. - Cactus

It wouldn't be slashdot without hot-button topics generating hundreds of posts in areas on the more political charged side of science (global warming, nuclear energy, weapons, evolution, etc.)

[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080229083202/girlgenius/images/8/86/Dimoportrait.jpg|Yez!]

''Slashdot might cave and go back to the original layout, so where would that leave us?''

''I've noticed that the quality of articles on Slashdot has gone down a lot in recent years. Even if Slashdot goes back to the original format, I think we can make a much better site by having better articles.''

''I've some ideas on how to do this, but right now I'm pressed for time. Perhaps someone could start a separate discussion page for submission guidelines?'' - [[Submission_guidelines|here]]

Submission guidelines

2014-02-06T21:27:39Z

Cactus:

As asked for on the front page: Discussion of Submission Guidelines.

Will your site have less global warming bs on it? That would be an improvement...

I think the climate change discussions land pretty squarely in the Science area. It's only "Political Bullshit" when people move it that way. - Cactus

It wouldn't be slashdot without hot-button topics generating hundreds of posts in areas on the more political charged side of science (global warming, nuclear energy, weapons, evolution, etc.)

''Slashdot might cave and go back to the original layout, so where would that leave us?''

''I've noticed that the quality of articles on Slashdot has gone down a lot in recent years. Even if Slashdot goes back to the original format, I think we can make a much better site by having better articles.''

''I've some ideas on how to do this, but right now I'm pressed for time. Perhaps someone could start a separate discussion page for submission guidelines?''

== Categories ==

As is stands now OldSlashdot has the following categories on the front page.
* Ask Slashdot
* Book Reviews
* Games
* Idle
* YRO
* Cloud
* Hardware
* Linux
* Management
* Mobile
* Science
* Security
* Storage

Is this the same format people would want on a new site? Expand the list, or focus more on fewer categories?

Submission guidelines

2014-02-06T21:23:49Z

Cactus: Created page with "As asked for on the front page: Discussion of Submission Guidelines. Will your site have less global warming bs on it? That would be an improvement... I think the climate ch..."