Is hate site Free Republic on the verge of collapse? (+ link to hilarious Fisking of Freepers)

[johnfunk]

Tommy at First Draft has the story:

Well, faithful readers, the Free Republic website has been up and down like a yo-yo over the past couple of weeks. I thought that maybe the hampster just died, but it seems to be more serious than that.

Apparently the entire steam-powered server system needs new copper tubing!

If FR dies, that’s that." - Jim Robinson
freerepublic.com ^ | 1/11/11 | paulycy

Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:28:06 AM by paulycy

FYI -

Here are statements from Jim about the future of FreeRepublic.com for those who missed them. They are quite serious.

===

"Well, I can say that there are definitely two things that will never happen. 1) Banner ads. 2) Oracle And a third is a total replacement Don’t have the financial wherewithal."

"To those who wish to leave because of it, see ya."

"If FR dies, that’s that."

===



Hey, you want us to get an all new system with all new software and add a few more pricey techs, system programmers and database administrators to keep it all working 100% of the time 24/7/365? Well, start coughing up the big bucks.

It’s going to take tens of thousands of donations and many with at least three zeros each after the comma to accomplish the task. And that would be EVERY month like clock work to make the payroll. Once you take on a big load of expensive overhead, there’s no going back. As it is, we get a couple thousand donations per quarter averaging about $30 bucks each and there’s no guarantees we can cover this quarter’s expenses much less next quarter. We’re on a pay as we go system and we have zero employees.We just ask for enough to pay the bills.

Throwing more money at the problem won’t solve it. was a technical issue and we just had to keep troubleshooting until we found it. And no, we’re not going to invite a bunch of strangers in to get their hands on our secure systems. John has been programming since he was 14 and he’s pushing 40 now. He built these systems and he’s an expert in them.

And no, we are not going to throw out our software and rewrite it and no we’re not going to move on to some other database system. There are no guarantees that any other system can do a better job and not without hiring a staff to build and maintain it and that’s for sure. And we don’t have the financial wherewithal to do any of that anyway. Maybe if we had a couple million bucks at our disposal and a couple years to do it in we could build an iron-clad system. And maybe not.

All I can say is, if someone else can do it better and cheaper, then please step right on up and get ‘er done!! I’ll bow out and retire. Thankyouverymuch.

Hit it boys:

https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/

And no, we have no plans of taking FR commercial. I like it the way it is. Not sure I could handle getting rich.

===

- Jim Robinson

[You'll love the graphic just below the excerpt...]

Full story here.

[FSogol]

1. Just Jimbo's latest Grift. The Rubes will steal some money from their Mom's purse. n/t

[K8-EEE]

17. +1

[Cali_Democrat]

35. LOL. n/t

[old mark]

2. I keep hearing the rumors, but I want to see the grave.....K&R...nt

[Jester Messiah]

11. Dunno, might be hard to see it what with the long lines...

of people waiting to piss on it.

[old mark]

34. Better wear old shoes, then...nt

[malaise]

32. I wasted one wreath already

Over and out Freepers.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Maybe RimJob could pawn his govt.-provided wheelchair.

Of course the stains on the seat would diminish it's value.

[K8-EEE]

21. Oh that was rude!

rofl.....

[johnfunk]

4. They've been offline many times for the last three weeks

Something tells me Jim Rob is serious -- or looking to sell the site. Tragic: no more snookerthons to mock!

[meegbear]

5. John has been programming since he was 14 ...

and he’s pushing 40 now. He built these systems and he’s an expert in them.

But he can't upgrade them. Don't sound like an "expert" to me. Unless you count the fact that the code they used was probably conceived/copied in the late '90s, when BBS and forums were becoming vogue.

Sorry sunshine, but as a developer, there's one hard and fast rule with us ... EVOLVE OR DIE!

[johnfunk]

7. Sounds to me like they're trapped in PERL hell and can't escape.

I've been modding BBS code for 15 years, first in the clumsy PERL language, now in the much more flexible PHP language with MySQL or PostGRE databases.

Even given the size of the database, there is NO reason the Free Republic couldn't go to a modern open-source system. And no, it DOESN'T cost tens of thousands of dollars. As for the "secrecy" surrounding their code: most of it is likely obsolete, filled with patches, and STILL vulnerable to hacking because of a failure to asee the advantages of that "socialist" Open Source movement.

[Jester Messiah]

13. Never saw a web app written in BASIC before... [lol]

Seriously though, I could hack together a site in Grails in an idle afternoon that would blow that duct-tape-and-bailing-wire job of theirs out of the water. Might do it just for grins. And then I'll delete it and laugh.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

51. "He built these systems...He built these systems on rock & roll, He built these systems..."

And they've aged just as well as "that song."



:rofl:

[Xithras]

57. FR is written in PERL with flat files on the back end.

It's been discussed before.

I know the kind of "expert" he's dealing with. I walked into a company a number of years ago that was wanting a major update to some of their web systems. I was FLOORED when I learned that most of their WEB systems were written in fugging DELPHI!!!(gasp)!!! They had a single in-house programmer, and that was all they knew. When we pointed out that it would be next to impossible to put together a Delphi web development team for their project, they kindly declined our services. Their in-house programmer/IT guru had them convinced that Delphi was the best language to run the site in, and that any attempts to change it to something else were simply "fad following programmers trying to make a buck".

I found out later that the guy was a CC dropout and that Delphi was the only language he knew. They eventually fired him when one of their network techs rewrote a couple of their apps in PHP on the sly because he was tired of dealing with them. We bid on another project with them in 2007 and I was happy to learn that the WinNT/Delphi architecture had been replaced with LAMP. Not perfect, but far better.

Unfortunately, a lot of small business owners are clueless when it comes to technology and simply follow whatever marching orders their "tech guy" gives. They lack the skill to determine whether that "tech guy" is actually any good.

Then again, there are still a lot of old school PERL hackers out there who swear by it. I started out as a PERL hacker, but quickly moved on to superior languages. PERL hackers are the conservatives of the computing world..."Dangnabit, get yer newfangled innovations and progress away from me! I want it to be 1995 forever!"

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. I don't know for sure, but it seems their budget is like three times what DU's is,

and that site is utterly unreadable shit.

[BlueIris]

15. I balked at that "couple thousand donations averaging $30 a piece" comment.

WTF. I still can't believe anyone would donate money to that hate infested piece of crap.

[Skittles]

47. and KEEP donating, knowing it DOES NOT EVOLVE

sheer IDIOCY

[alfredo]

19. Aren't Republicans supposed to be good with money?

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. They're good at taking money and keeping it. Not good at spending it wisely,

or spending it in the way that they tell their donors they're using it.

[alfredo]

37. That's what they are doing now, they are hoarding nearly

$2 trillion while our economy falters.

[MedicalAdmin]

41. 20 G a month doesn't go so far when you got these guys on the payroll.

Rim jobs gonna have to leave the basement for his blow and ho. No more delivery sucka.

[pinboy3niner]

8. "FRinquisition"

I hadn't heard that one before, but it's a keeper! :rofl:

[bushisanidiot]

9. He knows his site is dying because he's bled his loyal 20 or so donators dry

i don't believe for a second that a crappy site like FR takes more than one server. Hell, the thing could be run on a laptop. It's that lowsy. There's only 20 or so hateful people who post there. They all have multiple id's to push the numbers up. Losers. Their "leader" is taking advantage of their stupidity.

Go tell hell, FR. Just keep your losers away from us.

[Jester Messiah]

12. And half of those he lost in the ban-fest following the DADT repeal. [nt]

[travelingtypist]

10. If it does indeed die, we should have a very respectful wake.

Then a really fun party after.

:evilgrin:

[BlueIris]

16. Yeah, with a special reading of all the idiot names they've called us over the years.

Remember "$kinner"?

[ingac70]

14. kick.

[toddwv]

18. Typical right-wing approach to a simple problem.

Let the infrastructure crumble until it can't adequately service demand
Cut oversight or fail to increase oversight to keep pace with demand.
Complain when the service fails and blame the "libruls".

This all usually leads down one path: the Democratic Underground should prepare for a right-wing invasion.

[stubtoe]

26. +1

succinct and accurate

[toddwv]

30. I like to call it cut, gut and complain.

It seems to be the "fix" for everything that they don't agree with.

[K8-EEE]

20. LOL he is always grifting the Freepers for more money to "maintain" THAT?

And the site looks and performs like an intranet experiment at a bank in 1990 or something -- a complete fossil that he constantly needs another 90000 to "maintain?" FREEPERS WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!

Suckers...!!

[K8-EEE]

22. The "Underground Campaign By Unknown Disgruntled Freeper"

is cracking the hell out of me!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[K8-EEE]

23. LOL that he thinks "taking FR commercial" would "get him rich"

Oh puleeeze like anybody would advertise on that cesspool!! He's doing fine just "funding" that freeware he uses....

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

25. Notice how tough guy conservatives who don't like to be told what to do....

....simper like cowards when RimJob tells them to shell out some more money.

[felix_numinous]

27. Then we should prepare for FR refugees

--where would they go, is there another site that would fill the vacuum?

[workinclasszero]

49. Stormfront?

I'm sure the freeps would fit right in at that cesspool!:evilgrin:

[Arkana]

28. They'll send him money which he will promptly spend

on spinners for his wheelchair.

Which was probably bought for him with government money.

You know, that BIG GUMMINT WHAT CAIN'T DO NOTHIN RIGHT.

[TroglodyteScholar]

29. The Market has spoken! n/t

[Cheap_Trick]

31. When Free Republic finally does us all a favor and dies

I will take a massive dump on it's grave.

[calimary]

33. The only problem is - what would replace it?

Better the devil you know, and all that.

[Taverner]

38. I'm sure Stormfront will welcome them with open arms

[calimary]

42. They all give me the creeps.

And they make me feel sad, and bewildered. How on earth can they really, truly, honestly, embrace the shameful, utterly indefensible feelings and opinions they hold?

[Taverner]

46. If you harbor hate, it consumes you

Think of FR being a loose confederation of Travis Bickles, each with varying degrees of madness

[Buns_of_Fire]

36. But... but... think of the PortaPotties!

No single organization has done more for the PortaPotty industry than FR! Is JimRob willing to be personally responsible for the collapse of an entire, indispensable segment of the economy? Not to mention pissing off (no pun intended) the PortaBotty Guards Union (Local 116)?

:hurts: :hurts: :hurts: :hurts: :hurts: :hurts: :hurts: :hurts: :hurts: :hurts: :hurts: :hurts:

[K8-EEE]

39. K&R and rec people go to the "First Draft" link...

That guy is really making me LOL, literally!

[Stinky The Clown]

40. Where might the rats leaving that sinking ship wind up?

What discussion sites will benefit (I use the term loosely) from the demise of FR?

[JNelson6563]

44. They'd fit in anywhere hating Obama was a prerequisite

[Buns_of_Fire]

43. "Donate or God will zot me!"

Well, it worked for Oral Roberts...:shrug:

[Heywood J]

45. He has interesting math.

It’s going to take tens of thousands of donations and many with at least three zeros each after the comma to accomplish the task. And that would be EVERY month

Really? Let's assume small numbers here - ten thousand donations on the nose. By "many", let's assume 99% of them are less than his figure of $1000 and that they're closer to the $30 he mentions. Let's assume the remaining 1% are just the minimum of $1000 he picked.
9900 x $30 = $297,000
100 x $1000 = $100,000

Now, let's assume that 99.99% give the $30 and only 0.01% give the $1000.
9999 x $30 = $299,970
1 x $1000 = $1,000

Rim Job thinks he needs $300,000 to $400,000 a month to run a decent site? Maybe if he's using solid gold servers.



When he says he gets a "couple thousand donations per quarter averaging about $30 bucks each", let's do more math.
2000 x $30 x 4 = $240,000 per year.

That's hardly something to sneeze at. Methinks he's just too paranoid to let a professional company host his "secure systems" (if one will even touch it).

[freeplessinseattle]

48. are these people gullible or what? n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

50. That dinosaur they've got running on the treadmill over there is probably getting tired.

Hmmm. Since they don't believe in science, upon which the internal structure of modern electronics (and hence computers, and the internet) is based, perhaps they should pray? Verily, God will bless their sacred mission and fix their problems.


Right?

[Contrary1]

52. Look what I came across:

Yeah, yeah...it's another dubbed Hitler youtube video, but I laughed out loud all the same.

"We must eliminate any questions about why it costs $350,000. a year to run a text chalkboard for cat ladies!"

Hitler discovers antifreepers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_tNCkJU7x0

[workinclasszero]

54. Loved it!

ROTFLMAO!

[cherokeeprogressive]

53. I can't really find a reason to care one way or another. n/t

[Frank Cannon]

55. He's been crying wolf for years. I'm sure some "angel" will step in and save him.

Fool and his money, and all that.

[LynneSin]

56. he's already getting rich since I have no clue what they spend the money on from those fundraisers

Because it's a piece of shit software system that has not been touch since the late 1990s.

And who would advertise on a crap site like that other that Glen Beck's food hoarding products and Glen Beck's Gold scamming products?

[Erose999]

58. They don't make vacuum tubes like they used to... not to mention, its hard to find IT guys who are

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CfQsLbtlpHQ/TIznmrmmIKI/AAAAAAAAGVc/mAXQPUvhvPM/s1600/punched+card+reader.jpg

familiar with punch card programming, or internet connections of this type: