[DECtalk] Status of the archive

[Jayson Smith]

I've seen a decline in the interest in making DECtalk sing. For a while 
before I decided to hand the archive over to Tony, I didn't get any uploads. 
And yes, I did turn it over to him because of bandwidth issues, which is the 
strange thing. People seem to be infatuated with the archive. I don't know 
what it is, but it seems either tons of people discover the archive 
constantly, which seems rather unlikely. Or the same people download the 
same files over and over and over again. I know that shouldn't be it either, 
as it's rather simple to save a local copy of a downloaded file so you can 
play it whenever you want, as many times as you want, forever, without ever 
downloading it from anyone else again.
     Sad though this may seem, I pretty much agree with Tony that the 
DECtalk archive has outlived its usefulness. When making DECtalk sing was a 
hugely popular thing to do, there needed to be an archive of people's 
creations. But now that's died off. That having been said, I don't think the 
archive should be totally destroyed. Any time there has been an archive like 
this one, I think it ought to exist in one form or another as long as 
there's someone out there willing to allow it to do so. What I envision 
happening to the archive is possibly a DVD ISO being made, or something 
similar. That way, it can continue to exist, and be available in its 
entirety if someone is willing to host it, as an archive now closed to new 
submissions. That is, the archive is what it is, and will forever more stay 
the same.
Thoughts? Comments?
Jayson

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tony Baechler" <tony at baechler.net>
To: <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 1:54 AM
Subject: [DECtalk] Status of the archive


> 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
>
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