The Bukowski forum is closing

Hannah

Hannah

Your host
Moderator
Founding member
This forum is closing at the end of 2020 or very early 2021.

If anyone knows of a good candidate to take it over, I'm all ears.

Taking it over means taking it over. The domain name, the hosting, the forum software, the backups -- everything. Once I leave it, I don't want to touch it again. It's a commitment, and I don't expect that anyone will want to do it. Which is why I opened this by saying the forum was shutting down.

If anyone is considering taking over or knows someone who might, here are the numbers:

Website hosting: it should run on a VPS or dedicated server with at least 2BG RAM and a MySQL server with at least 2GB RAM. At the host I use, Dreamhost, that's $150 a month. It's the biggest expense, but it can't run on some $3 or $4 shared account somewhere. It won't function properly.
Website and database backups: I use dropmysite.com, and it's not expensive, $30 a year. The site backup size is currently 3.25 GB, the database is about 250 MB.
The forum software is Xenforo, which is state-of-the-art software and is up to date with the latest version. I wouldn't recommend migrating to different software. A license for the first year is $160. Renewal each year after that is $55.
Domain renewal is about $15 a year.

Around $1600 a year. Maybe $1700 the first year, because of the higher forum software fee. The biggest part of the cost is the server, so if you already have something up and running that you could add the forum to, your financial costs would be pretty low.

The time spent, on the other hand, depends on a lot of other things. But it is definitely not set it and forget it. It's a very hands-on, check-it-everyday kind of thing.

The forum software expires on February 2nd. The domain name is registered through March 15th, 2022.
 
the only good poet

the only good poet

One retreat after another without peace.
Ouch. Well, I haven't been much of a contributor here, but I was here at its inception, or nearly so, only a familiar arrogance kept me from founding member status. Anyhow, thank you, the administrators, and all those who kept it going by turning it into the lively and knowledgeable place it has become. I don't think there could be a better tribute to the man and his writing. And thank you, Hannah, for initiating this place and steering it so admirably in the right direction. I wish you all the best.

Now I am conscious of being one more addition to the many responses you will doubtless receive.

Take care.
 
Aficionado37

Aficionado37

First of all, whatever the reason for closing it down may be, thanks Hannah for everything you’ve done with the forum, and thanks to anyone else who may have contributed as well. I know there’s still some time before the party is over, but I just wanted to express how grateful I am that I was able to find it and be part of it, at least for a while (and will continue to do so until it closes, so expect more from me?)

Thanks to everyone here, I was not only able to expand my knowledge of Bukowski, but also learn about other things I would've never heard about if it wasn’t for all the contributions from every memeber here. Above all, it gave hope, seeing such well-crafted, inclusive place truly dedicated to an artist and the arts in general.

Thanks again Hannah. Rock on!
 
Pogue Mahone

Pogue Mahone

Officials say drugs may have played a part
Does this include the database?

I could possibly come up with the finances and go through the infrastructure transition.

But there is NO WAY I could do what Hanna and the rest of the moderators do. I have a kid, a full-time job, and a respectful drinking problem.

If the database goes silent, that's a tremendous loss for future research.
 
J

jonz

The ArchiveTeam has fully archived the forums and bukowski.net resources (including stuff like the images themselves of the manuscripts). So there's already a backup of all the webpages themselves. However, it's just an archive of the webpages in the Wayback Machine, something where you have to directly navigate to and know exactly what you're looking for. Meaning for future readers (people who haven't even been born yet), any useful forum posts wouldn't show up in a Google search.

So having someone take over and keep things alive is definitely a good thing. The costs themselves could be lowered by choosing more affordable hosts like OVH (perhaps at the expense of stuff like dedicated support that Dreamhost may provide). However as Hannah mentioned it would always be a commitment with stuff like updating software, community management, spam bots etc.
 
Hannah

Hannah

Your host
Moderator
Founding member
Pogue Mahone said:
Does this include the database?
Click to expand...
No. The bukowski.net site isn't going anywhere.

jonz said:
The costs themselves could be lowered by choosing more affordable hosts like OVH...
Click to expand...
Yes, there are less expensive hosting options, but they come at a different cost. The forum wouldn't perform well on shared hosting, and a dedicated server is a whole other bag of fish. Most "normal" people aren't cut out to manage a dedicated server.

A VPS is a manageable middle ground. The increased cost comes from the resources the forum, and the forum database server, require.
 
tony walton

tony walton

Could we not piggy back the Bukowski chat onto another forum such as http://www.online-literature.com/forums/forum.php - it's got a scarce population and no mods to mention - and well run. Even if it is just a section, hell just a thread will do, this way we can stay in touch in a barren forum.

With a Bukowski dedicated thread on there, we could at least can continue to hang out.
 
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Otto jr

Otto jr

What about the University Archive that has all the Buk items? Can someone reach out to them?

This has been an absolute treasure trove of information and pleasure for me over the years. I am forever grateful to Hannah (MJP) for all of the hard work and dedication. I could never tell you how important this has been for me. THANK YOU!
 
roni

roni

NobodysGoinAnywhere_1a.jpg
 
Rekrab

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
Hannah, thank you for keeping this forum up and running for 15 years. It's been an amazing experience. There's nothing else like it on the planet, and I feel lucky to have been a part of it. I've been reading many posts I missed and rereading old favorites since you announced your plan to close the forum. And thanks for committing to keeping the main site running and up to date.
 
roni

roni

Hannah,
I AM DEEPLY GRATEFUL and can't thank you enough for what you've created und run here.
I always said that and I mean it.
I also thank you enormously for your will to keep the public forum accessible in read-only mode. It will remain a priceless source for thousands of people.
Not to mention all the fabulous non-forum content, like timeline, database, etc. that will be kept intact.

And to all my friends ;-))
This place is a Living Miracle. It is Magic. Marvelous. Deiform.
YOU ALL made it this.
Every One of you here, who I had the grace too meet and exchange with through all these many years:
It's been a pleasure, it's been a wild ride, it's been enriching in so many ways.
You'll live forever in my heart.

"Just Remember, that Death is Not the End"


this will never leave me:
that I had love
and love died;
a photo and a piece of tape
is not much, I have learned late,
but give me 15 days or 15 years,
I will kill any man
who would touch or take
whatever’s left.

.
 
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