Re: Unidentified subject!
Well, my jig goes something like this: Advertisments *always* affect the
editorial stance of a publication. From the layout to the content, you
will always keep the ads (and the advertiser's intentions) in mind. The
demise of most indy zines happens a few months after they get
advertisements and they have to publish more and more issues to sate the
businesses's appetite for larger markets.
Sooner than not, the added baggage causes the bottom to fall out of that
creative liferaft. It's the thoughts that count.
If we recieve advertisements from commercial GNU/Linux distributions,
would we run/write editorials that criticized them if (or when) they begin
to threaten the spirit of the free software community? We probably would,
however, their ad dollars would to an (even small) extent be present in
our rational processes. Do you think that PBS's Macneil/Lehrer news hour
doesn't think about their own funding when reporting on the latest ADM
scandal? (ADM being one of their largest sponsors)
In the end, the real question we have to ask is whether or not such a
resource will *require* the funding that a mass-market, high traffic
website needs to operate.
I mean, I can get us space/admin rights on a colocated Debian server; if
not my server, somebody else's. If it is a question of bandwidth and
whether or not such a site will saturate a T-1, we can always find other
hosts to mirror the site and then use a server-redirect script (like the
one used on perl.com) to help manage our bandwidth issues.
Before we fret about whether or not it is aesthetically acceptable to
accept corporate sponsorship, let's figure out whether or not we'll *need*
funding, and of what scale that funding needs to be.
Just the opinions of professional indy.
-----------------
Charles Esteban Paul
http://www.bluelight.net
The Revolution Will Be Multicast
On Wed, 3 Feb 1999, Lalo Martins wrote:
> On Feb 02, epsasnova decided to present us with:
> > The only problem I have with a site like this are the banner ads on the
> > side. I understand that bills need to be paid, but I can only work on a
> > site that can operate without any sort of corporate/commercial support.
> >
> > Yes, I know that sounds idealistic.
>
> I think you're stuck in the "free speech vs. free beer" problem.
> Why should such a project depend on donations to maintain its
> bandwidth and hardware running? Perhaps if there was a
> compromise to split all the eventual remainder between SPI and
> FSF you'd feel better? [ Not that I'm planning to use banners,
> I'm only trying to figure why not ]
>
> []s,
> |alo
> +----
> --
> I am Lalo of deB-org. You will be freed.
> Resistance is futile.
>
> http://www.webcom.com/lalo mailto:lalo@webcom.com
> pgp key in the web page
>
> Debian GNU/Linux -- http://www.debian.org
>
>
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