# An offer to the SDMB and the Teeming Millions **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 30, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156 "2009-09-30T20:35:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/41 "2009-10-01T15:14:35Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Perhaps. > > But I fear it may have exactly the opposite effect. Far better that the offer had been made behind the scenes. Due respect, aldiboronti, but behind the scenes to _whom_? Who among the admins has the expertise necessary to comprehend the offer Seven has made? Using the car analogy again, it’s like the mechanic offering to fix your brake pads. If you don’t know what those are and why you need them, how can you make an informed decision? Among the “teeming millions” are lawyers, doctors, and Indian chiefs. And a few IT professionals. We are saying that this offer is a once-in-a-lifetime complete car overhaul. You drive in with a junker; you drive out with a Rolls Royce. Seven is the [Chip Foose](http://www.chipfoose.com/) of computers. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/42 "2009-10-01T15:41:50Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > If he (Seven) is successful (and given the chance, he will be) the board’s problems will be solved almost from A to Z. Blinding fast responses, searches, and far more efficient use of bandwidth. No more timeouts. No more database errors. I think this is a bit over-optimistic. I don’t think he’s offering to provide new servers or run the board on his servers (nor would I expect them to accept if he was), so at best, he’s going to be at the mercy of whatever underpowered hardware they’re running the board on. There are usually some good optimizations to be made, and we know of at least one big one that vBulletin recommends and apparently hasn’t been tried, but don’t expect every problem to get solved without throwing some money at it. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/43 "2009-10-01T15:47:22Z")
This is the most buggy message board I’ve ever posted on. But I guess if the bugs aren’t going to send me away by now, they won’t later. Clearly the SDMB is not a high priority for Creative Loafing. The most attention it got from Zotti was to institute new decorum edicts so that he could sell out. I mean honestly how hard can it really be to run a message board on presupplied software? Why aren’t vBulletin and phpBB sites all around the world going down like this one? I know the SDMB has a huge number of posters, but I’ve never been to the DailyKos and been unable to access it. I think the clear answer for the technical problems is apathy. This could’ve been fixed years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/44 "2009-10-01T15:51:16Z")
DURRRRRR. Yet another board timeout a few seconds ago. This board’s performance is a fucking joke and a slap in the face to the paying members. There are boards all over the internet with the same exact format as this one that run like a Swiss watch and don’t make you wait 300 fucking seconds between searches. This is absolutely ridiculous; it’s like riding a horse and buggy when everyone else has a Ferrari. Please, please, please fix it, because I’m getting sick and tired of this shit. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/45 "2009-10-01T16:02:17Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > DURRRRRR. Yet another board timeout a few seconds ago. This board’s performance is a fucking joke and a slap in the face to the paying members. There are boards all over the internet with the same exact format as this one that run like a Swiss watch and don’t make you wait 300 fucking seconds between searches. This is absolutely ridiculous; it’s like riding a horse and buggy when everyone else has a Ferrari. Please, please, please fix it, because I’m getting sick and tired of this shit. I’d settle for a beige 89 Volvo. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/46 "2009-10-01T16:18:52Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > He’s got a whole level of a building just dedicated to a board. 😕 There is a whole level of one building dedicated to running one vBulletin message board? Is this a small building? Like a closet-sized building? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/47 "2009-10-01T16:30:05Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > Hey, the dude pretty much put Domebo’s house in order, and that was _while_ they were shitting on his lawn. I think **Seven** ’s offer is remarkable and **Ed** should jump on it. This board had some serious tech issues that **Jerry** clearly does not have the time to fix. understandable as I doubt the board is a major portion of his job. All that said, can you please tell me, what **7** did to help us? **elmwood** is the one that rescued us and did the migration to [Mellophant.com](http://Mellophant.com) and vBulletin. I got some great advice from **Giraffe** and **Fenris** who I have long considered a friend and some lesser advice from **7**. But **7** did not put Domebo’s house in order. He has been friendly and helpful and he is a true mensch, but let’s not spread false information. Jim (In case you did not know Domebo is defunct and the small spin-off community has moved to Mellophant and vBullentin with me now technically running things to some degree but elmwood doing the heavy tech work. CRSP did not have enough time to keep Domebo going and it was fading fast.) ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/48 "2009-10-01T16:52:07Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > All that said, can you please tell me, what **7** did to help us? Well, he was the one who alerted me and did some troubleshooting when the server was returning 500 errors that one weekend. He also offered to help out in fixing the server, and I took it seriously enough that I created him an account with all the appropriate access in case I needed to accept his offer. As well as generally being a good sport about hosting the domebo refugees. Saying he “put our house in order” is overstating it a bit, but denying he helped is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/49 "2009-10-01T17:07:26Z")
> [@ntucker](#): > > Well, he was the one who alerted me and did some troubleshooting when the server was returning 500 errors that one weekend. He also offered to help out in fixing the server, and I took it seriously enough that I created him an account with all the appropriate access in case I needed to accept his offer. As well as generally being a good sport about hosting the domebo refugees. Saying he “put our house in order” is overstating it a bit, but denying he helped is wrong. True, he was a huge help to domebo (as were several others, but this isn’t a thread about them) and could be an equally huge help here if the higher ups take him up on his offer. Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of people who think this is an insanely generous offer and that the board administration/ownership would be foolish to pass it up. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/50 "2009-10-01T17:54:45Z")
> [@ntucker](#): > > Well, he was the one who alerted me and did some troubleshooting when the server was returning 500 errors that one weekend. He also offered to help out in fixing the server, and I took it seriously enough that I created him an account with all the appropriate access in case I needed to accept his offer. As well as generally being a good sport about hosting the domebo refugees. Saying he “put our house in order” is overstating it a bit, but denying he helped is wrong. In no way did I deny he helped. I was asking for what he did do in response to what appeared to be an overstatement. I did in fact say he helped. I only objected to the “put our house in order” part which in no way was something **7** said but only \*\*Scissorjack. \*\* As I said, \*\*7 \*\*was and is a mensch. That is high praise. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/51 "2009-10-01T17:57:58Z")
Chiming in in support of this offer. Seven has been a help to domebo/mellophant (he was all ready to do the fix himself that weekend when ntucker was out of town…if he hadn’t taken the initiative to try to get a hold of him, we would have been down for several days). He did that just to help us out, because he knew we needed it. I don’t think there’s any risk here, and I do see huge benefits. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/52 "2009-10-01T18:13:27Z")
I thought **Seven** here had been banned or suspended lately? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/53 "2009-10-01T18:17:14Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > I thought **Seven** here had been banned or suspended lately? And what does this have to do with hot naked redheaded Wiccan chicks dancing in the forest? ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/54 "2009-10-01T18:18:53Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > hot naked redheaded Wiccan chicks dancing in the forest? Seven who? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/55 "2009-10-01T18:25:35Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Seven who? 😉 There’s seven of them. That’s a powerfully mystic number. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/56 "2009-10-01T18:39:22Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > There’s seven of them. That’s a powerfully mystic number. “7’s the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that’s the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin’ on a branch, eatin’ lots of sunflowers on my uncle’s ranch. You know that old children’s tale from the sea. It’s like you’re dreamin’ about Gorgonzola cheese when it’s clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office.” ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/57 "2009-10-01T18:41:16Z")
Most of these replies have been predicated on the assumption that TPTB mind about the performance of this board. I’m not convinced they do. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/58 "2009-10-01T18:44:14Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Most of these replies have been predicated on the assumption that TPTB mind about the performance of this board. I’m not convinced they do. Do you mind? We’re trying to have a discussion here about the mystical powers of hot redheaded Wiccan chicks damn it. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/59 "2009-10-01T19:34:26Z")
> [@ntucker](#): > > I think this is a bit over-optimistic. I don’t think he’s offering to provide new servers or run the board on his servers (nor would I expect them to accept if he was), so at best, he’s going to be at the mercy of whatever underpowered hardware they’re running the board on. There are usually some good optimizations to be made, and we know of at least one big one that vBulletin recommends and apparently hasn’t been tried, but don’t expect every problem to get solved without throwing some money at it. Those are good points. Somehow, I assumed that he was offering to host the site as well. I think I might benefit from remedial reading lessons. ☹ > [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Most of these replies have been predicated on the assumption that TPTB mind about the performance of this board. I’m not convinced they do. I think the mods and admins do. The board of directors, maybe not so much. Maybe it requires a power higher than Ed to make this decision. Starving Artist, thankfully, helped me understand what the mods and admins were saying. They’re not commenting about the chances of it happening. Although, it must be said, they aren’t commenting either on whether they like the idea or not. It is the silence in that regard that is so conspicuous, at least to me. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156/60 "2009-10-01T20:42:44Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Those are good points. Somehow, I assumed that he was offering to host the site as well. I think I might benefit from remedial reading lessons. ☹ No. I don’t want to host the site. If the dope wanted to move their servers to my datacenter and pay for hosting.. fine. What I’m offering is to review the configs, offer assistance in figuring out the best methodology for the server hardware and load and implementing the new config, getting a monitoring system in place to maintain an overview of the systems, and configure a test bed in a virtual server running to help maintain future upgrades and config changes. The worry about me touching the server… I don’t really need to actually. I just need to know the details of what they’re running and I can duplicate it here and work out the process. Someone up thread wondered about what if I wasn’t around in 3-4 months time. Ideally, getting the system tuned up will work wonders. Jerry and crew can continue from there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-offer-to-the-sdmb-and-the-teeming-millions/512156.md?page=4)