Koz, your message gave me an idea: Do you think many people would be interested in paying someone to administer a server (to which they also have complete access, of course)? I can imagine, for example, setting up a virtual private server for code hosting (with a free GNU distribution) for someone, and being available for consultation on, or to be tasked with, further administration. I may not be the best person for it (I already have a full time job), but maybe there's a good business in it, and maybe it's already being done?
On 18 October 2015 at 09:35, Koz Ross <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sat, 17 Oct 2015 16:00:37 +0000 (UTC) > Lori Nagel <[email protected]> wrote: > > > What you haven't addressed is why projects don't host their own code. I > remember starting a free software project back in 2005. I did not have a > lot of money to spend on server hosting or know how to even set up a server > like that. Many free software projects are small hobbyist projects, so > setting up their own server seems daunting and if some people had to do it, > they might give up on contributing to open source altogether. > > I'd like to echo this - I'm a latecomer to this kind of stuff, and don't > have the time, inclination or skills to set up my own hosting for > everything. Sometimes, ready-made and centralized is the right choice, > purely because that way, we can focus on solving the problem we're trying > to code away. I see this as similar to build systems - there are better and > worse choices for sure, but ultimately, that shouldn't be something you > spend more time (and effort) on than the actual code it's meant to be > building. > > If someone could create a 'for dummies' guide to setting such a server up > (or better, an automated script to do this), that would go a long way > toward alleviating it methinks. As an aside, in general, our community > could do with setting up more user-friendly guides - not everyone has hours > to wade through GNU-style manuals or dig online for tutorials of varying > quality that often recommend nonfree software. > > So in principle, I agree that centralized services are something we should > move away from, but we can't do this without offering an alternative for > those who haven't the time, knowledge or inclination to self-host. > -- > Koz Ross <[email protected]> > www.retro-freedom.nz > If you aren't using GPG, you should be! > https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/en. > *** > Please don't send me Word or PowerPoint attachments. See > http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html for why. > *** > Proud member of the Open Wireless Movement. Find out more at > https://openwireless.org/ >
