SoylentNews - User contributions [en]

Talk:SoylentNews

2014-02-10T15:05:57Z

Seandiggity: /* Hosting and collaboration */

"You have followed a link to a page that does not exist yet. To create the page, start typing in the box below"

Okay, let's see if that works.

And help kill beta by joining the Slashcott

February 10th -17th

unitron

Slashdot UID 5733

== Teething pains? ==

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

John@AltSlashdot.org
SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<John@AltSlashdot.org>:
host mail.altslashdot.org [66.147.244.192]: 550 No Such User Here

...

Is this an "only if Slashdot doesn't back down on beta" contingency, or =
"going to happen no matter what Slashdot does"?

...

== Hot Grits ==

I have poured them down my pants. Thank you. [[Special:Contributions/86.50.93.164|86.50.93.164]] 10:16, 6 February 2014 (MST) Iskender (1040286)

*Why are they down your pants? They should be on Natalie Portman - naked and petrified..

== Group or Business ==

Okian Warrior seems to want to be CmdrTaco all over again. While I am a very, very pro-business sort of person, I don't think we want to just push reset and do Slashdot over again as another build it up and cash out endeavor. It seems like that's exactly what would happen, and on the backs of volunteers no less. The only way I could see supporting this endeavor as a business would be with some sort of codified protection like a charter, whereby certain attributes of the way the site functions would be guaranteed, and those guarantees could only be changed if (the charter could only be modified if) the users were polled and agreed to it. In this way the business could operate but be ultimately accountable to and restrained by the userbase. This seems like a good hybrid solution. ~ElectricTurtle

You could solve this by managing it similar to the debian project.

^ Agree with both sentiments. I'm a bit skeptical of Okian Warrior's business mindset... we need this to resemble a non-profit FOSS project. Can that really be so hard to do (in the beginning, especially, and also with all the cloud services now available to avoid slashdotting?). Some will balk at the Debian-like structure as too codified and rigid, but let's at least discuss this as a FOSS project first, and *maybe* some ad revenue down the line to support it. Although, donations/crowdfunding seems better to me. ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 08:52, 7 February 2014 (MST)

I agree that we shouldn't trade corporate overlord for a new master with the prospect of becoming a corporate overlord. I am not opposed to the project manager making money off the site though. Instead of an exit strategy how about a transitional strategy wherein the founder makes a fixed amount of money and/or profits for a fixed time? Eg $100k or 5yrs, whichever comes first.

As far as monetization, premium accounts with little or no ads is easy. Couple this with paid postings to receive a higher start moderation eg. 5¢ for 0,nuetral if you don't have an account. It shouldn't be hard to get the money to buy the site from the founder. Especially if coupled with annual wikipedia donation drives to cover the site overhead.

:Non-profit or volunteer org is a good approach. If it's owned by a business or corporation, I will not use it. [[User:Mfnickster|Mfnickster]] ([[User talk:Mfnickster|talk]])

==Stories==
*Could there be [[Open Hardware FPGAs]]? http://www.electronicsweekly.com/mannerisms/fpga/will-expiring-patents-boost-fp-2007-03/

== Barrapunto ==

People here should be familiar with the Spanish language version of Slashdot,
Barrapunto.com. It looks like it was forked from older Slashcode, and it does
not appear to be a dice holding. This is the most durable SlashClone with which
I'm familiar. I seem to recall reading about it more than 5 years ago. If nothing
else, we could learn a lot from them about running a successful SlashClone.

We should make a list of any currently running clones.
*http://slashcode.com/www.slashcode.com/

Thanks for posting the link. That looks a lot more like /. Classic. Now we certainly
don't want to knock over the server that discusses SlashCode, so we shouldn't be
posting there... but they seem like an ideal candidate for a bunch to form a non-profit
org. IMHO, that's the answer. We need to form a non-profit dedicated to serving the
users. Worst case scenario we replace ads with something like the annual Wikipedia
begging; but it might be worth it.

The Wikipedia begging beats having advertizes dictating the content of your site or selling the users info for $$$ Wikipedia I believe does it right. [[User:Script Cat|Script Cat]] ([[User talk:Script Cat|talk]]) 14:28, 6 February 2014 (MST)
 (The advertising on barrapunto.com looks fine and unobtrusive to me. My 2 cents, but no, I don't know much about advertising paying the bills, sadly.)(Gaaark)
== Alternate domain ideas? ==

It's come up elsewhere online that a name including slashdot might get this project into hot water with DICE

== Hosting and collaboration ==
make it foss with gpl2 
is there any reason why the site can't be directly hosted by https://github.com/ 
ultra-nerdy, with plenty of linuxy flavor 
no need to worry about dedicated infrastructure, and domain doesn't matter that much if it's something like "github.com/altslash" nerds are gunna find and remember it
: I don't trust Github. I don't think they really care about their community any more than Dice cares about Slashdot's. [[User:Mfnickster|Mfnickster]] ([[User talk:Mfnickster|talk]])
:: I don't think that's a problem, since every repository clone is essentially a full backup, so if they pull something sinister, we can simply stop using them. [[User:Yahwotqa|Yahwotqa]] ([[User talk:Yahwotqa|talk]]) 06:31, 10 February 2014 (MST)
::: Like we "simply stopped using" Slashdot? :) [[User:Mfnickster|Mfnickster]] ([[User talk:Mfnickster|talk]])
:::: There are some similarities, yes. :) [[User:Yahwotqa|Yahwotqa]] ([[User talk:Yahwotqa|talk]]) 07:27, 10 February 2014 (MST)
::::: Yeah, that's the beauty of git, you can move elsewhere in minutes. But at least having the updated Slash code on github is a good advertisement as well, and would allow lurkers (like me!) who are not directly involved with the new codebase clone the repo and try it out. ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 08:05, 10 February 2014 (MST)

== Journals ==
I hope journals are included and hope people use them.

== AGPL licensing ==
If no one's said it yet, I think we need to move the updated version of SlashCode to AGPL and get it in a git repo for people to hack on (preferably github). I'm happy to put it up there under that license but I don't want to see (yet another) fork. Any objections to that license? It's recommended by the FSF for any Web software, or really any that runs primarily over a network. In my view, it will protect us from seeing the fruit of our labors be turned into another locked up DiceDot... how nice would it have been to have at least the updated "Slashdot Classic" interface available now to hack on instead of the circa 2009 version? The AGPL would have made that possible. ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 09:22, 7 February 2014 (MST)
: Can you just re-license someone else's code? How is that legally possible? Also, it might make sense to fork it anyway just to have control over the code base. It could also be ported to another language (don't say .NET or PHP please!). [[User:Mfnickster|Mfnickster]] ([[User talk:Mfnickster|talk]])

:: You can license a modified version of a program under a compatible license, depending upon the terms that the original authors released the source. Many forks end up under a different license through some new mix of code. If the original Slash is licensed "GPL v2.0 or any later version" there's a clear path to GPLv3 and then AGPL. If not, the authors must be the ones to do it, and we might think about asking them (all of whom left Slashdot a while ago AFAIK) rather than stay on GPLv2 forever. Whatever the case, we should be thinking about licensing, esp. because direct competition between this and /. is bound to raise Dice's ire. ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 20:43, 9 February 2014 (MST)

::: FYI, take a look at my [[SoylentNews#Licensing.3F|better-written frontpage post]]... we also should be thinking about things like CLAs and discussing them. Joining the Slashcott now... ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 21:14, 9 February 2014 (MST)

SoylentNews

2014-02-10T14:56:44Z

Seandiggity: /* Comments */

[[FAQ|Frequently Asked Questions]]

'''Site Announcements'''

I'll have status about the first rollout late Monday.

It's not certain whether we will be able to rollout on Monday as planned, but it's not out of the question either.

The slashcode group has been working very hard to get things up and running. SlashCode is 5 years old, heavily dependent on older revs (Apache, Perl, MySQL), and ran as root.

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

----

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'''

And the tagline is: '''SoylentNews is people!'''

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

* It's 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

* Trademark issues

* "News fresh as processed corpses"

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.)

----

'''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!''' - [[AltSlashdot:IRC|IRC]]: ##altslashdot on chat.freenode.net ([https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=##altslashdot Webchat])

'''Register on the forums''' - http://forums.SoylentNews.org
* Go to forums.SoylentNews.org and register a user
* Go to your user panel (UL corner of page) and then "Groups" tab
* Add yourself to whichever groups you are interested in

'''Mumble (Voice / Text Server)''' : voice.whackperiod.org

'''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

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

==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]]

==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)?
* 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 ==
*[[Finances|Finances]] -- which model would allow to minimise and/or distribute hosting costs
*[[FeatureList]] - Discussion of required/desired characteristics
*[[MailingListUpdates|MailingListUpdates]]
*[[Submission guidelines|Submission guidelines]]
*[[Business|Business]]
*[[NewName|NewName]]
*[[SlashcodeTodo|SlashcodeTodo]]
*[[Migration of users from Slashdot]]
That's all I see at the moment, please add more as you start or find new pages.

== Comments ==

* I've picked up the domain altslash.org, and I'm looking to be a part of a join effort to create a slashdot alternative more in the style of the classic slashdot system. I picked up this domain simply because a lot of the alternatives being discussed (e.g., altslashdot.org) may end up being the target of a trademark dispute. The "trademark" for altslash.org would be altslash, with the "dot.org" being merged into .org. It reads the same way as the original "slashdot.org," but looks very clean in my opinion. If anyone wants to setup a group to use altslash.org instead, let me know.

* Have you considered talking with Bruce Parens? He had a site called "technocrat.net" that some people from slashdot were quite fond of not too long ago. It seems some people on slashdot are already trying to get him to re-launch it. I don't know if the two of you would have compatible goals or not, but it might be worth sending him an email. He has a parking page up on technocrat.net right now that has his email address on it.

* 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."

There are no doubt legal as well as moral objections to content scraping, but when you say "...they've put a lot of effort into building up their brand and community...", well, for over 15 years *we* have been that community and if not for us there would be some former college students who used to have a little hobby site.--unitron

** 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]])

** Scraping Slashdot is pointless. It's been said many times, the discussion is the thing, not the articles. Considered purely as a news site, Slashdot is CRAP, always has been. Speaking of discussion, a Wiki is about the worst discussion medium I can imagine - is there anywhere we can move this to? - Mike Baranczak, 2014-02-07

* 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.''

:* I think hacking slashcode into slashdot-style functionality would be easier and better than hammering a wiki into that round hole. [[User:Mfnickster|Mfnickster]] ([[User talk:Mfnickster|talk]])

**[[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)

* 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]]

* I ([[User:Bryan|Bryan]]) also plan on making a slashdot-inspired site. The website will be called "Pipedot" and be reachable at [http://pipedot.org/ pipedot.org] or [http://pipedot.com/ pipedot.com]. The motto will be "News for nerds, without the corporate slant." Get it? A pipe character looks like a slash without the slant! However, I plan on creating my own software instead of using slashcode/mediawiki/etc so it may take a while to get feature complete with slashdot classsic. (Why? Because I've always wanted to scratch that itch. Duh!)

* I think it would be best to just go over to Usenet. It is distributed, uncensorable, scales extremely well, the infrastructure is already in place, and it works. No Javascript, no business models, nothing but pure text-mode comment goodness. [http://www.eternal-september.org Eternal September] is free and works well, but does not allow binaries. That's fine, we have magnet links these days. EDIT: comp.misc is the new Slashdot. It's official now. Join us there and keep it free as in FREEDOM!

* 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)

* I suggest that when updates to the code are made, it should be in the charter (or whatever we are calling it) to make that code public. -- CommonJoe

::* See [[SoylentNews#Licensing.3F|my questions about licensing below]]. The AGPL would guarantee that the code remain public... anyone actually working with the new site/codebase want to weigh in? ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 07:56, 10 February 2014 (MST)

== 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 ==
*I don't know what John wants as far as advertising this page but I'm sure he wants as much exposure as possible.
*Please mention SolentNews.org as much as possible.
*It seems like the word is spreading (over 25,000 in 5 days) 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

== Licensing? ==
Apologies for the repost, but this got buried in a talk page and I think we need to start discussing licensing beyond just the term "open-source".

If no one's said it yet, I think we need to move the updated version of Slash to AGPL and get it in a git repo for people to hack on (preferably github). First step in seeing if that's possible is finding out if it's GPLv2+ (i.e. with something like the phrase "or any later version"). Then you go GPLv3 --> AGPL.

Case for the AGPL: It's recommended by the FSF for any Web software, or really any that runs primarily over a network. In my view, it will protect us from seeing the fruit of our labors turn into another locked up DiceDot... how nice would it have been to have at least the updated "Slashdot Classic" interface available now to hack on instead of the circa 2009 version? The AGPL would have made that possible by requiring the release of modifications to Slash.

Regardless of whether the forked version of Slash goes AGPL, we should still have a clear idea what the license will be. It may require the consent of the original authors to move to a license besides GPLv2 (Rob Malda, Jonathon Pater, Patrick Galbraith, Chris Nandor, Brian Aker, Cliff Wood, Jamie McCarthy), and being stuck forever on GPLv2 would be a shame.

Whether or not the project is going to have a CLA that assigns copyright to some organization, or specifies some other terms, is another question that needs community discussion.

Keep up the great work everyone, very glad to see this materializing! ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 12:36, 9 February 2014 (MST)

Talk:SoylentNews

2014-02-10T04:14:45Z

Seandiggity: /* AGPL licensing */

"You have followed a link to a page that does not exist yet. To create the page, start typing in the box below"

Okay, let's see if that works.

And help kill beta by joining the Slashcott

February 10th -17th

unitron

Slashdot UID 5733

== Teething pains? ==

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

John@AltSlashdot.org
SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<John@AltSlashdot.org>:
host mail.altslashdot.org [66.147.244.192]: 550 No Such User Here

...

Is this an "only if Slashdot doesn't back down on beta" contingency, or =
"going to happen no matter what Slashdot does"?

...

== Hot Grits ==

I have poured them down my pants. Thank you. [[Special:Contributions/86.50.93.164|86.50.93.164]] 10:16, 6 February 2014 (MST) Iskender (1040286)

*Why are they down your pants? They should be on Natalie Portman - naked and petrified..

== Group or Business ==

Okian Warrior seems to want to be CmdrTaco all over again. While I am a very, very pro-business sort of person, I don't think we want to just push reset and do Slashdot over again as another build it up and cash out endeavor. It seems like that's exactly what would happen, and on the backs of volunteers no less. The only way I could see supporting this endeavor as a business would be with some sort of codified protection like a charter, whereby certain attributes of the way the site functions would be guaranteed, and those guarantees could only be changed if (the charter could only be modified if) the users were polled and agreed to it. In this way the business could operate but be ultimately accountable to and restrained by the userbase. This seems like a good hybrid solution. ~ElectricTurtle

You could solve this by managing it similar to the debian project.

^ Agree with both sentiments. I'm a bit skeptical of Okian Warrior's business mindset... we need this to resemble a non-profit FOSS project. Can that really be so hard to do (in the beginning, especially, and also with all the cloud services now available to avoid slashdotting?). Some will balk at the Debian-like structure as too codified and rigid, but let's at least discuss this as a FOSS project first, and *maybe* some ad revenue down the line to support it. Although, donations/crowdfunding seems better to me. ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 08:52, 7 February 2014 (MST)

I agree that we shouldn't trade corporate overlord for a new master with the prospect of becoming a corporate overlord. I am not opposed to the project manager making money off the site though. Instead of an exit strategy how about a transitional strategy wherein the founder makes a fixed amount of money and/or profits for a fixed time? Eg $100k or 5yrs, whichever comes first.

As far as monetization, premium accounts with little or no ads is easy. Couple this with paid postings to receive a higher start moderation eg. 5¢ for 0,nuetral if you don't have an account. It shouldn't be hard to get the money to buy the site from the founder. Especially if coupled with annual wikipedia donation drives to cover the site overhead.

:Non-profit or volunteer org is a good approach. If it's owned by a business or corporation, I will not use it. [[User:Mfnickster|Mfnickster]] ([[User talk:Mfnickster|talk]])

==Stories==
*Could there be [[Open Hardware FPGAs]]? http://www.electronicsweekly.com/mannerisms/fpga/will-expiring-patents-boost-fp-2007-03/

== Barrapunto ==

People here should be familiar with the Spanish language version of Slashdot,
Barrapunto.com. It looks like it was forked from older Slashcode, and it does
not appear to be a dice holding. This is the most durable SlashClone with which
I'm familiar. I seem to recall reading about it more than 5 years ago. If nothing
else, we could learn a lot from them about running a successful SlashClone.

We should make a list of any currently running clones.
*http://slashcode.com/www.slashcode.com/

Thanks for posting the link. That looks a lot more like /. Classic. Now we certainly
don't want to knock over the server that discusses SlashCode, so we shouldn't be
posting there... but they seem like an ideal candidate for a bunch to form a non-profit
org. IMHO, that's the answer. We need to form a non-profit dedicated to serving the
users. Worst case scenario we replace ads with something like the annual Wikipedia
begging; but it might be worth it.

The Wikipedia begging beats having advertizes dictating the content of your site or selling the users info for $$$ Wikipedia I believe does it right. [[User:Script Cat|Script Cat]] ([[User talk:Script Cat|talk]]) 14:28, 6 February 2014 (MST)
 (The advertising on barrapunto.com looks fine and unobtrusive to me. My 2 cents, but no, I don't know much about advertising paying the bills, sadly.)(Gaaark)
== Alternate domain ideas? ==

It's come up elsewhere online that a name including slashdot might get this project into hot water with DICE

== Hosting and collaboration ==
make it foss with gpl2 
is there any reason why the site can't be directly hosted by https://github.com/ 
ultra-nerdy, with plenty of linuxy flavor 
no need to worry about dedicated infrastructure, and domain doesn't matter that much if it's something like "github.com/altslash" nerds are gunna find and remember it

== Journals ==
I hope journals are included and hope people use them.

== AGPL licensing ==
If no one's said it yet, I think we need to move the updated version of SlashCode to AGPL and get it in a git repo for people to hack on (preferably github). I'm happy to put it up there under that license but I don't want to see (yet another) fork. Any objections to that license? It's recommended by the FSF for any Web software, or really any that runs primarily over a network. In my view, it will protect us from seeing the fruit of our labors be turned into another locked up DiceDot... how nice would it have been to have at least the updated "Slashdot Classic" interface available now to hack on instead of the circa 2009 version? The AGPL would have made that possible. ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 09:22, 7 February 2014 (MST)
: Can you just re-license someone else's code? How is that legally possible? Also, it might make sense to fork it anyway just to have control over the code base. It could also be ported to another language (don't say .NET or PHP please!). [[User:Mfnickster|Mfnickster]] ([[User talk:Mfnickster|talk]])

:: You can license a modified version of a program under a compatible license, depending upon the terms that the original authors released the source. Many forks end up under a different license through some new mix of code. If the original Slash is licensed "GPL v2.0 or any later version" there's a clear path to GPLv3 and then AGPL. If not, the authors must be the ones to do it, and we might think about asking them (all of whom left Slashdot a while ago AFAIK) rather than stay on GPLv2 forever. Whatever the case, we should be thinking about licensing, esp. because direct competition between this and /. is bound to raise Dice's ire. ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 20:43, 9 February 2014 (MST)

::: FYI, take a look at my [[SoylentNews#Licensing.3F|better-written frontpage post]]... we also should be thinking about things like CLAs and discussing them. Joining the Slashcott now... ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 21:14, 9 February 2014 (MST)

Talk:SoylentNews

2014-02-10T03:43:08Z

Seandiggity: /* AGPL licensing */

"You have followed a link to a page that does not exist yet. To create the page, start typing in the box below"

Okay, let's see if that works.

And help kill beta by joining the Slashcott

February 10th -17th

unitron

Slashdot UID 5733

== Teething pains? ==

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

John@AltSlashdot.org
SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<John@AltSlashdot.org>:
host mail.altslashdot.org [66.147.244.192]: 550 No Such User Here

...

Is this an "only if Slashdot doesn't back down on beta" contingency, or =
"going to happen no matter what Slashdot does"?

...

== Hot Grits ==

I have poured them down my pants. Thank you. [[Special:Contributions/86.50.93.164|86.50.93.164]] 10:16, 6 February 2014 (MST) Iskender (1040286)

*Why are they down your pants? They should be on Natalie Portman - naked and petrified..

== Group or Business ==

Okian Warrior seems to want to be CmdrTaco all over again. While I am a very, very pro-business sort of person, I don't think we want to just push reset and do Slashdot over again as another build it up and cash out endeavor. It seems like that's exactly what would happen, and on the backs of volunteers no less. The only way I could see supporting this endeavor as a business would be with some sort of codified protection like a charter, whereby certain attributes of the way the site functions would be guaranteed, and those guarantees could only be changed if (the charter could only be modified if) the users were polled and agreed to it. In this way the business could operate but be ultimately accountable to and restrained by the userbase. This seems like a good hybrid solution. ~ElectricTurtle

You could solve this by managing it similar to the debian project.

^ Agree with both sentiments. I'm a bit skeptical of Okian Warrior's business mindset... we need this to resemble a non-profit FOSS project. Can that really be so hard to do (in the beginning, especially, and also with all the cloud services now available to avoid slashdotting?). Some will balk at the Debian-like structure as too codified and rigid, but let's at least discuss this as a FOSS project first, and *maybe* some ad revenue down the line to support it. Although, donations/crowdfunding seems better to me. ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 08:52, 7 February 2014 (MST)

I agree that we shouldn't trade corporate overlord for a new master with the prospect of becoming a corporate overlord. I am not opposed to the project manager making money off the site though. Instead of an exit strategy how about a transitional strategy wherein the founder makes a fixed amount of money and/or profits for a fixed time? Eg $100k or 5yrs, whichever comes first.

As far as monetization, premium accounts with little or no ads is easy. Couple this with paid postings to receive a higher start moderation eg. 5¢ for 0,nuetral if you don't have an account. It shouldn't be hard to get the money to buy the site from the founder. Especially if coupled with annual wikipedia donation drives to cover the site overhead.

:Non-profit or volunteer org is a good approach. If it's owned by a business or corporation, I will not use it. [[User:Mfnickster|Mfnickster]] ([[User talk:Mfnickster|talk]])

==Stories==
*Could there be [[Open Hardware FPGAs]]? http://www.electronicsweekly.com/mannerisms/fpga/will-expiring-patents-boost-fp-2007-03/

== Barrapunto ==

People here should be familiar with the Spanish language version of Slashdot,
Barrapunto.com. It looks like it was forked from older Slashcode, and it does
not appear to be a dice holding. This is the most durable SlashClone with which
I'm familiar. I seem to recall reading about it more than 5 years ago. If nothing
else, we could learn a lot from them about running a successful SlashClone.

We should make a list of any currently running clones.
*http://slashcode.com/www.slashcode.com/

Thanks for posting the link. That looks a lot more like /. Classic. Now we certainly
don't want to knock over the server that discusses SlashCode, so we shouldn't be
posting there... but they seem like an ideal candidate for a bunch to form a non-profit
org. IMHO, that's the answer. We need to form a non-profit dedicated to serving the
users. Worst case scenario we replace ads with something like the annual Wikipedia
begging; but it might be worth it.

The Wikipedia begging beats having advertizes dictating the content of your site or selling the users info for $$$ Wikipedia I believe does it right. [[User:Script Cat|Script Cat]] ([[User talk:Script Cat|talk]]) 14:28, 6 February 2014 (MST)
 (The advertising on barrapunto.com looks fine and unobtrusive to me. My 2 cents, but no, I don't know much about advertising paying the bills, sadly.)(Gaaark)
== Alternate domain ideas? ==

It's come up elsewhere online that a name including slashdot might get this project into hot water with DICE

== Hosting and collaboration ==
make it foss with gpl2 
is there any reason why the site can't be directly hosted by https://github.com/ 
ultra-nerdy, with plenty of linuxy flavor 
no need to worry about dedicated infrastructure, and domain doesn't matter that much if it's something like "github.com/altslash" nerds are gunna find and remember it

== Journals ==
I hope journals are included and hope people use them.

== AGPL licensing ==
If no one's said it yet, I think we need to move the updated version of SlashCode to AGPL and get it in a git repo for people to hack on (preferably github). I'm happy to put it up there under that license but I don't want to see (yet another) fork. Any objections to that license? It's recommended by the FSF for any Web software, or really any that runs primarily over a network. In my view, it will protect us from seeing the fruit of our labors be turned into another locked up DiceDot... how nice would it have been to have at least the updated "Slashdot Classic" interface available now to hack on instead of the circa 2009 version? The AGPL would have made that possible. ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 09:22, 7 February 2014 (MST)
: Can you just re-license someone else's code? How is that legally possible? Also, it might make sense to fork it anyway just to have control over the code base. It could also be ported to another language (don't say .NET or PHP please!). [[User:Mfnickster|Mfnickster]] ([[User talk:Mfnickster|talk]])

:: You can license a modified version of a program under a compatible license, depending upon the terms that the original authors released the source. Many forks end up under a different license through some new mix of code. If the original Slash is licensed "GPL v2.0 or any later version" there's a clear path to GPLv3 and then AGPL. If not, the authors must be the ones to do it, and we might think about asking them (all of whom left Slashdot a while ago AFAIK) rather than stay on GPLv2 forever. Whatever the case, we should be thinking about licensing, esp. because direct competition between this and /. is bound to raise Dice's ire. ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 20:43, 9 February 2014 (MST)

SoylentNews

2014-02-09T19:36:13Z

Seandiggity:

[[FAQ|Frequently Asked Questions]]

'''Site Announcements'''

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'''

And the tagline is: '''SoylentNews is people!'''

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

* It's descriptive in a way that mundanes will understand (compare "photoshop" with "gimp", "Internet Explorer" with "Firefox", and "MediaPlayer" with "VLS")

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

* It's suggestive of being community driven

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.

----

'''To the tsunami of volunteers... thank you!'''

I'm building a news site alternative to Slashdot. I've only started a day 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 proposed business model is [[Finances|here]].
Some business planning is [[Business|here]].
A statement of functionality (turn into a requirements document?)--- [[FeatureList]]

''' Get Involved '''

'''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

'''forums.AltSlashdot.org:''' There will be a forum to discuss various topics: style, content, code, and so on.
If you would like to volunteer, please go to forums.AltSlashdot.org and register as a forum user.
* Go to forums.AltSlashdot.org and register a user
* Go to your user panel (UL corner of page) and then "Groups" tab
* Add yourself to whichever groups you are interested in

Can anyone admin their forum? Let me know & I'll bump up your permissions.

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

'''Wiki:'''
We're starting to get spam on the wiki. (*sigh* - that didn't take very long.)
* To kill all spam we might use [[CryptoPayment]]
* Would anyone like to admin the wiki? It shouldn't take much work - just the admin details.

'''Contact:'''
If you want to send me a note: John (at) AltSlashdot (dot) org

'''Start thinking about what you would like to see at the site. [[FeatureList]]'''

'''Contact information - Project'''
* '''Mumble (Voice / Text Server) : voice.whackperiod.org'''
* [[AltSlashdot:IRC|IRC]]: ##altslashdot on chat.freenode.net ([https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=##altslashdot Webchat])
* Forums: http://forums.altslashdot.org

==Status==

Check out the [[FAQ]]

* Forums are available at forums.AltSlashdot.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]]

* THIS JUST IN: Dice is ''officially'' killing /. : "[...]Therefore, $7.2 million of intangible assets and $6.3 million of goodwill related to Slashdot Media were reduced to zero.".Refer to [http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4766289&cid=46194085 this comment], Report is [http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dice-holdings-inc-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2013-results-243471811.html here] (section Recent Developments), ([www.diceholdingsinc.com/External.File?t=2&item=g7rqBLVLuv81UAmrh20Mp2Z9yWAVjJWpF6SW97D7yy7ubesIOvkAePbEWUnorm83ObsCc9DbaL1YvCCjO18Rfw== pdf] here, page 3).

==Done==
* Registered "AltSlashdot.org", also ".com" and ".net".
* Purchased hosting through BlueHost

==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)?
* 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 ==
*[[Finances|Finances]] -- which model would allow to minimise and/or distribute hosting costs
*[[MailingListUpdates|MailingListUpdates]]
*[[Submission guidelines|Submission guidelines]]
*[[Business|Business]]
*[[NewName|NewName]]
*[[SlashcodeTodo|SlashcodeTodo]]
*[[Migration of users from Slashdot]]
That's all I see at the moment, please add more as you start or find new pages.

== Comments ==

* I've picked up the domain altslash.org, and I'm looking to be a part of a join effort to create a slashdot alternative more in the style of the classic slashdot system. I picked up this domain simply because a lot of the alternatives being discussed (e.g., altslashdot.org) may end up being the target of a trademark dispute. The "trademark" for altslash.org would be altslash, with the "dot.org" being merged into .org. It reads the same way as the original "slashdot.org," but looks very clean in my opinion. If anyone wants to setup a group to use altslash.org instead, let me know.

* Have you considered talking with Bruce Parens? He had a site called "technocrat.net" that some people from slashdot were quite fond of not too long ago. It seems some people on slashdot are already trying to get him to re-launch it. I don't know if the two of you would have compatible goals or not, but it might be worth sending him an email. He has a parking page up on technocrat.net right now that has his email address on it.

* 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."

There are no doubt legal as well as moral objections to content scraping, but when you say "...they've put a lot of effort into building up their brand and community...", well, for over 15 years *we* have been that community and if not for us there would be some former college students who used to have a little hobby site.--unitron

** 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]])

** Scraping Slashdot is pointless. It's been said many times, the discussion is the thing, not the articles. Considered purely as a news site, Slashdot is CRAP, always has been. Speaking of discussion, a Wiki is about the worst discussion medium I can imagine - is there anywhere we can move this to? - Mike Baranczak, 2014-02-07

* 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.''

:* I think hacking slashcode into slashdot-style functionality would be easier and better than hammering a wiki into that round hole. [[User:Mfnickster|Mfnickster]] ([[User talk:Mfnickster|talk]])

**[[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)

* 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]]

* I ([[User:Bryan|Bryan]]) also plan on making a slashdot-inspired site. The website will be called "Pipedot" and be reachable at [http://pipedot.org/ pipedot.org] or [http://pipedot.com/ pipedot.com]. The motto will be "News for nerds, without the corporate slant." Get it? A pipe character looks like a slash without the slant! However, I plan on creating my own software instead of using slashcode/mediawiki/etc so it may take a while to get feature complete with slashdot classsic. (Why? Because I've always wanted to scratch that itch. Duh!)

* I think it would be best to just go over to Usenet. It is distributed, uncensorable, scales extremely well, the infrastructure is already in place, and it works. No Javascript, no business models, nothing but pure text-mode comment goodness. [http://www.eternal-september.org Eternal September] is free and works well, but does not allow binaries. That's fine, we have magnet links these days. EDIT: comp.misc is the new Slashdot. It's official now. Join us there and keep it free as in FREEDOM!

* 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)

* I suggest that when updates to the code are made, it should be in the charter (or whatever we are calling it) to make that code public. -- CommonJoe

== 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

That is surprising, I posted several times today and did not get anything. I wonder if it had something to do with the Beta submission. - Nightbrood

I've posted loudly, angrily, reflectively, snarkily, thoughtfully, sarcastically, and in many other different ways today (classic and beta). Yet, I've not been banned. - cervesaebraciator

== 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

I'm trying to list out all the critical features of Slashdot plus some clarifications and minor changes here: [[FeatureList]]

==== Confessions Of an Ex-SLASHDOT BETA user ====

Day 1: It wouldn't stop, the redirecting. At first I thought it was malware. Had my first drink in a long time.

Day 2: Barely had the strength to carry on as the BETA REDIRECTIONS continue.. trying not to talk to hallucinations at the bar and in the bathroom which laugh at me about these redirections.

Day 3: Discovered the BETA redirections were random, and while at first they looked somewhat usable, when I looked at me and my monitor screen in the mirror, a horrible woman with flesh hanging off of her body looked back, trying to lead me into a dance as the word BETA appeared across her rancid breasts.

Day 4: These BETA corridors go on FOREVER! On the plus side, I've taken up disassembling vehicles to corner this BETA beast and sacrifice myself rather than lead others to discovering it. I ate some red snow.

Day 5: Finding it harder to concentrate. I've ate some more of the red snow. The taste is starting to grow on me.

Day 6: This typewriter is the only entertainment I have, apart from throwing things at the walls, trying to get some response from the BETA which is now taking over my mind.

Day 7: Hahahahahha! Would you believe it? I'M STILL BEING REDIRECTED TO SLASHDOT BETA PAGES! AHAHhahahaah! Type, type, ding, ding! Wooo!

Day 8: The hallucinations are actually real! Would you believe it? They have offered to help me if I agree to work for them. I'm thinking about patenting this delicious red snow, the taste is unreal!

Day 9: Having black out sessions where I cannot remember large passings of time. Found some makeup, thought I'd paint a joker smile on my face to amuse the people only I can see!

Day 10: Productive today, part of what I wrote for my new screenplay:

I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slas

(drops of blood on paper)

(obligatory reference to parsing HTML with regex over on stackoverflow)

== Shameless plug for myself ==

Would appreciate some eyeballs and thoughts on this while it's still available

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 AltSlashDot.org ==
I don't know what John wants as far as advertising this page but I'm sure he wants as much exposure as possible. Please mention altslashdot.org as much as possible. It seems like the word is spreading (about 15,000 overnight?) 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 (2600 :-)

== Licensing? ==
Apologies for the repost, but this got buried in a talk page and I think we need to start discussing licensing beyond just the term "open-source".

If no one's said it yet, I think we need to move the updated version of Slash to AGPL and get it in a git repo for people to hack on (preferably github). First step in seeing if that's possible is finding out if it's GPLv2+ (i.e. with something like the phrase "or any later version"). Then you go GPLv3 --> AGPL.

Case for the AGPL: It's recommended by the FSF for any Web software, or really any that runs primarily over a network. In my view, it will protect us from seeing the fruit of our labors turn into another locked up DiceDot... how nice would it have been to have at least the updated "Slashdot Classic" interface available now to hack on instead of the circa 2009 version? The AGPL would have made that possible by requiring the release of modifications to Slash.

Regardless of whether the forked version of Slash goes AGPL, we should still have a clear idea what the license will be. It may require the consent of the original authors to move to a license besides GPLv2 (Rob Malda, Jonathon Pater, Patrick Galbraith, Chris Nandor, Brian Aker, Cliff Wood, Jamie McCarthy), and being stuck forever on GPLv2 would be a shame.

Whether or not the project is going to have a CLA that assigns copyright to some organization, or specifies some other terms, is another question that needs community discussion.

Keep up the great work everyone, very glad to see this materializing! ~ [[User:Seandiggity|Seandiggity]] ([[User talk:Seandiggity|talk]]) 12:36, 9 February 2014 (MST)

Talk:SoylentNews

2014-02-07T16:22:14Z

Seandiggity:

Talk:SoylentNews

2014-02-07T15:52:11Z

Seandiggity: /* Group or Business */

User:Seandiggity

2014-02-06T20:42:57Z

Seandiggity: Created page with "https://webio.me for more about me. http://slashdot.org/~seandiggity #992657"

https://webio.me for more about me. http://slashdot.org/~seandiggity #992657