Re: [Gnu-arch-users] New feature at the mirror + request for help

[James Blackwell]

> That makes good sense.  Suppose we guess that ads on /. bring in the
> most ad money:  even so, events on other properties like NewsForge and
> SourceForge generate /. stories, helping to raise the value of /. ads
> and generating more impressions when people click back and forth.

My understanding is that slashdot and freshmeat bring in a good amount of
money (but not enough to offset the other costs). 

I think I remember a couple years ago reading that sourceforge was
officially a cost center that they run in order to market the proprietary
version of their sourceforge product. True or not, its a heck of a bullet
point to say "We run the software that makes free software possible". I 
understand that they are finding it increasingly difficult to keep paying
to run it. 

In my humble opinion, the main reason that they keep sourceforge running
is an unspoken but anticipated massive backlash against OSDN if they shut
it down. They're rightfully scared, if you ask me. When the slashdot
community found out that EV1 had licensed SCO, I understand that a lot of
their customers walked, and they're taking a not insignificant hit to
their revenue... Yeah. they're stuck keeping sourceforge going because if
they didn't, the /. community would turn around and do its best to destroy
OSDN if they did....

> VA ain't exactly rolling in dough but, on the other hand, the on-line
> part of their business appears to be a profitable aggregate and,
> indeed, they're starting to report it separately from software sales.
> 
> In other words:  it's not a bad guess that SF is barely or not quite
> self-sustaining, but regarded as part of the overall OSDN package,
> it's just fine.

I disagree. Look at their cost of business. It's *huge*. And if I read
their 10Q right, they've only got two sourceforge customers.

> To answer your question about SF, they pay for its processing,
> storage, bandwidth, and R&D expenses _maybe_ through just the ads but
> more likely by being part of the larger OSDN.

-- 
James Blackwell      Using I.T. to bring more             570-407-0488
Owner, Inframix      business to your business     http://inframix.com

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