[DECtalk] Status of the archive

[Tony Baechler]

Hello all,

Please read this carefully.  Nothing has been decided yet.  I am seeking 
input from the list before I do anything.  Your thoughts are appreciated.

To give a little history, the archive was first managed by Andre Louis.  
He abandoned it and it was taken over by Jayson Smith who still manages 
this list.  Finally, I took it over from him because of bandwidth 
issues.  I've noticed a decline in new files since Jayson took it over 
with only one or two people regularly uploading.  Since I've taken it 
over, no mention has ever been made of anyone wanting to upload 
anything.  Therefore, I'm thinking that perhaps the archive has reached 
the end of its interest and usefulness.  The main reason why I never 
bothered to set up ftp uploading is because no one asked.  Likewise, I 
didn't set up rsync for the same reason.

Here are some things that I'm considering.  When I originally took it 
over, I had great plans for it.  I wanted to go through every file and 
do some reorganizing, such as by creator or author.  I wanted to move 
some of the text files and software around.  As you can see, that didn't 
happen.  The fact is that I really don't have time to deal with it 
anymore.  I have severe health problems and am undergoing evaluation for 
a kidney transplant.  My kidney function is 25%.  I have way too much 
stress right now to give it the time it deserves, especially if people 
start uploading again.  That's why I've been quiet on the list and 
haven't asked people to upload.  Also, something that I wasn't planning 
on was a lot of hardware problems.  The machine it's on seems better now 
but was very unstable for months.  That's why the archive would go down 
for days at a time.  That should be permanently resolved now.

I would like to make something very clear.  I am not immediately closing 
the archive.  Bandwidth isn't a problem for now.  I'm undecided what to 
do which is why I'm asking for input.  If I don't hear anything, I'll 
probably retire the archive in a couple weeks and eventually remove it.  
If someone else wants to take it over and can give it the time it 
deserves, feel free to volunteer.  It still gets a lot of hits and will 
suck your bandwidth without a limiter.  I guess I'm leaning towards 
closing it by the end of the year, but for now it isn't going anywhere 
and nothing will change immediately.

Finally, there's something else to consider.  That is that a lot of the 
archive is either illegal or adult material.  I'm taking a big chance by 
making it available for download.  So far it has been fine but that 
could change without warning if my provider finds out.  It's low profile 
enough that I'm not too worried, but keep that in mind if you want to 
take it over.  I'm putting myself and others living here at risk because 
we could lose our Internet if I get caught.

In conclusion, I haven't done anything with it since I took it over from 
Jayson and I have no immediate plans to change anything.  I'm looking 
for input on what to do, but I'm thinking of closing the archive due to 
lack of interest.  I can't really keep maintaining it and no one has 
asked to upload anything.  Unless I hear otherwise, I'll probably close 
it by the end of the year.

Tony Baechler, current DECTalk archive maintainer
tony at baechler.net