Hi Folks,
auDA (au Domain Administration) are tightening up their management of
.org.au domains. I have previously registered and paid for the Free
Software Melbourne/Australia website domain freesoftware.org.au myself,
but that's likely no longer possible. They need an ABN of a non-profit.
This brings forward a few questions about the website such as whether we
shut it down or try to transfer the domain to someone else. I'll make
some notes here and would be interested to hear any reactions.
Background
----------
FSM has always been an informal group. It's not incorporated so isn't a
business entity in a technical sense. This means it can't register a domain.
The group has been inactive for a while. It started up back in 2010 to
talk about the ethics and social aspects of free software and open
source, rather than just the technology. It met regularly for more than
10 years and a lot of interesting discussions were had.
With the explosion of interest in open source, it's also become harder
to run a group with a broad subject. There's a lot competing for
people's attention.
The website is currently three things:
1. A Django/Mezzanine CMS with all the event details and pages
(https://freesoftware.org.au/). It's been OK, but if the group did take
off again, a static-site generator might be easier to maintain long-term.
2. A MoinMoin wiki (https://freesoftware.org.au/wiki/). This was unused
even when the group was still active.
3. A MediaGoblin site hosting talk videos
(https://media.freesoftware.org.au/).
The mailing lists have always remained on the original domain I
registered way back in 2009, https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/ so no
immediate action required there.
Options
-------
The options that come to mind are:
A) Shut it all down. I would feel a bit bad about turning off the
website, but I guess the value was really in the relationships and
experiences that people had, not so much in an asset like the website.
B) See if Linux Australia will accept the domain. This would be
deferring the hard decision about the future of the group.
C) Switch to a non .org.au domain. Similar compromise to B.
I'm probably leaning towards A. I think there's something healthy in
calling a clean end to something and making way for the new things that
might fill its place. Happy to be convinced otherwise.
Regards,
Ben
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