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  #1  
Old 01-12-2025, 03:36 AM
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Default Forum For Sale

The headline is clickbait, the forum is not really for sale. I'm just thinking about the best way to hand it off.

The hosting is only $34.95 a month and the domain name registration is like $12 a year. The tricky part is figuring out how to ensure that whomever takes ownership is (and remains) committed to the principles we hold and handles the data respectfully.

One thought I had was to create a legal entity ala an LLC and designate a few owners (if a few people are interested) so at least one person losing their mind wouldn't result in the loss of the data for everyone.

If anyone has other ideas or wants to throw their name in the hat feel free to do so here or via DM.
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  #2  
Old 01-12-2025, 03:56 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

I guess I didn't think much about the cost, probably assuming it was quite a bit less than that - but I'm used to bare metal hosting rather than the php-included levels.

Definitely up for contributing.
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Old 01-12-2025, 03:57 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Quote:
Originally Posted by viscousmemories View Post
so at least one person losing their mind wouldn't result in the loss of the data for everyone.
What if one had already lost their mind? :shiftier:
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  #4  
Old 01-12-2025, 06:10 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

I'm with Joep on both counts, I didn't realise you were fronting like $400+ a year and I would be willing to help contribute.

I love this place :ffglomp: and all the weirdos that come with it.

I probably read more than post, but I check in here pretty much every day.

Places don't last forever on the internet, but this has been a pretty sweet spot for 20+ years.
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Old 01-12-2025, 06:19 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

The cost is negligible compared to what we were paying in the early years. Our first hosting provider kept blackmailing us with performance throttling until we were paying over $200 a month. Ironically, one of the clues that I was correct about being gaslit came when the CEO of the company took the time out of his day to explain in detail why it was unavoidable. Not long after that I switched to the host we have now who has been charging the same rate for well over a decade. People have donated to defray the cost over the years so it hasn't been a burden for me, especially when I was making money. I'm more concerned about what if I die or decide I want to move on and I don't have a succession plan in place.
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  #6  
Old 01-12-2025, 07:59 PM
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Our first hosting provider kept blackmailing us with performance throttling until we were paying over $200 a month.
:freakout:
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Old 01-12-2025, 09:42 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Quote:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by viscousmemories View Post
so at least one person losing their mind wouldn't result in the loss of the data for everyone.
What if one had already lost their mind? :shiftier:
One?
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  #8  
Old 01-13-2025, 12:38 AM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

BTW you're looking really hot, VM
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Old 01-13-2025, 01:24 AM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

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BTW you're looking really hot, VM
:laugh: thanks. I had AI reimagine my selfie and I liked that it was a) similar to my actual features, b) James Bondish, and c) professional (for irony).
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Old 01-13-2025, 11:06 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

It has a young Hans Gruber vibe.
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  #11  
Old 01-16-2025, 03:25 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Pretty sure I am still the youngest person here so I should be promoted to admin b/c I potentially have the longest time left on this planet plus I still post more often than liv does but also this should come at no cost to me.
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  #12  
Old 01-17-2025, 01:42 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

I'm up for some kind of role in ownership, but I don't want to be the only one. Any other takers?
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  #13  
Old 01-17-2025, 05:22 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Another idea is the Perpetual Purpose Trust, which I learned about from a great company I used to work for that decided to go that route.
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Old 01-17-2025, 08:40 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Quote:
Originally Posted by viscousmemories View Post
Another idea is the Perpetual Purpose Trust, which I learned about from a great company I used to work for that decided to go that route.
I was thinking about suggesting something like this, or just incorporating and have a board, like my extended family's cabin in Minnesota.
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Old 01-18-2025, 04:24 AM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeP View Post
I'm up for some kind of role in ownership, but I don't want to be the only one. Any other takers?
We would be amenable to splitting the responsibility.
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Old 01-19-2025, 12:40 AM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Quote:
Originally Posted by specious_reasons View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by viscousmemories View Post
Another idea is the Perpetual Purpose Trust, which I learned about from a great company I used to work for that decided to go that route.
I was thinking about suggesting something like this, or just incorporating and have a board, like my extended family's cabin in Minnesota.
Will the board meetings be in fabulous locations?

Or will they be in a random cabin in Minnesota?
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Old 01-19-2025, 01:32 AM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Quote:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by specious_reasons View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by viscousmemories View Post
Another idea is the Perpetual Purpose Trust, which I learned about from a great company I used to work for that decided to go that route.
I was thinking about suggesting something like this, or just incorporating and have a board, like my extended family's cabin in Minnesota.
Will the board meetings be in fabulous locations?

Or will they be in a random cabin in Minnesota?
I would 100% offer the family cabin in Minnesota for board meetings, just don't schedule it between October and March.
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Old 01-19-2025, 10:41 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Maybe I’m the only one not clued in here, but … whatever happened to the admin of THIEVES and SLUGABEDS? :shrug:
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Old 01-20-2025, 12:40 AM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Where's the cabin? Is there good fishing there?:fishing:
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Old 01-20-2025, 02:06 AM
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Where's the cabin? Is there good fishing there?:fishing:
It's by Bob Dylan's hometown, up in the Iron Range. The fishing is generally poor, especially by the dock, but it doesn't stop the fishermen in my family. The advantage of the cabin is the large property and the very shallow water by the beach — good for young swimmers.
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  #21  
Old 01-21-2025, 11:47 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

I guess I could take a part of the ownership, be a trustee, be a member of the board, or the single all-powerful autocratic dictator. Which ever you decide to go with.
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Old 01-22-2025, 06:52 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

Placing this into an LLC or a trust seems like a lot of effort for all involved to manage a fairly non-substantive risk. Like, do you really want to set up a business bank account, do all the accounting, move the hosting over to the entity, and do all the things an LLC manager would have to do (assuming everyone else is a non-managing member), particularly where this is not a revenue-generating forum? It could serve to limit liability, but liability for what? The costs of the hosting?

Trusts are fine, but they do more than protect the interests of beneficiaries - they also impose obligations on trustees. I guess if somebody wants to incur a legal duty to maintain, or do anything else with respect to, :ff: that's fine, but that requires coordination and involvement. People drift away, lose interest, and die all the time. If the forum simply withered away, it would be weird to be down to 1 or 2 people with an (at least theoretically enforceable) legal obligation to steward it. Without engaged trustees, it might be hard to sunset that obligation.

Basically, why would anyone incur an obligation to sustain a forum that people aren't using?

These would not be expensive things to do, but are also not free. It seems like those resources could more directly serve the interests of the forum by defraying its operating costs. If you're concerned about succession planning, why not just set up a couple of suckers trustworthy co-admins with access to the hosting account who can take it over if you're hit by a bus or get lost in a crowded supermarket or whatever. You could even do a basic little contract without all of the other hassle.
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Old 01-22-2025, 06:57 PM
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Default Re: Forum For Sale

I'm already drawing up some plans to make it revenue generating. :greed: I think we could launch our own cryptocurrency and really clean up. :capitalistpig:
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Old 01-22-2025, 07:08 PM
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$LOLHOG
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Old 01-22-2025, 08:55 PM
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Two words. Non-fungible smilies. :blank:
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