10.10.10
Steady Ascent of Techrights and Decreased Focus on Microsoft and Novell
Summary: Techrights has managed to climb to 872nd position on the Web (see above), as measured by Netcraft traffic rank; we take a moment to explain future direction which maximises effectiveness when it comes to protecting software freedom
EVER since we started requiring that readers register to leave comments (in order to reduce abuse and trolling) the site saw a decline of about 90% in terms of comments, but the site itself does attract a large and ever-increasing number of people, most of whom grab the full RSS feed and read the content offline. Over the past year or so Techrights steadily rose in terms of reach, based on Netcraft at least (unlike Alexa, for example, it is not biased in favour of Windows and Internet Explorer, which our target audience rarely uses).
“There may not be a company called “Novell” next year, except the jewelery company…”It is safe to say that, thanks to this hugely encouraging support from readers, Techrights will continue to post new commentary for quite some time to come. It is likely, however, due to reasons mentioned in my personal blog [1, 2], that posting volume will decrease. Microsoft no longer appears much in the media, so that, for example, is one area where less coverage will be required (worry not, we don’t take our eyes off Microsoft, we still cover its demise, just like SCO’s). With Oracle and Apple now suing Linux-based platforms using software patents, it becomes abundantly clear that in order to make best use of time, Techrights should hammer harder on core issues like patents and focus less on the two companies which initiated the patent attacks on GNU/Linux (yes, that would be Microsoft and Novell, which were the raison d’être here).
As for the “Boycott Novell” ‘campaign’ (we do not have campaigns per se), it may soon become obsolete as Novell remains standing on its last foot. There may not be a company called “Novell” next year, except the jewelery company (there are several more with the same name).
People can always help us (as they already do) by sending us articles to publish or join the IRC channels where we are far more active than in the blog and comments combined. I always post Techrights-related content in Identica, Twitter, and Digg. Last night I resumed posting in USENET (the Linux advocacy group to be specific) as I very much enjoy it and love the GNU/Linux advocates who are there. Without their encouragement, there would probably be no Techrights. █
kozmcrae said,
October 10, 2010 at 12:06 pm
There is no question that registration reduces comment chaff. I comment much less than I used to and I rarely sign up for any site. When I signed up for Techrights though, I screwed up. I now have two accounts and I have no idea what the password is for my other account. This is not the one I would favor because it uses a nym instead of my real name and the email account it’s connected to is one I am trying to phase out.
Any suggestions/help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Richard Chapman
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
October 10th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
The thing we’ve done in the past is reset the password while talking in IRC (private messaging). That’s where most discussions take place and trolls have a hard time surviving there (only one or two needed to be kicked this year). Seeing what was going on in OpenBytes and Posgon’s blog I realise we probably do the right thing. Their blog posts got defaced so to speak by malicious people whose intent is to do just that. We used to have those too (same trolls, same nyms), but registration put an end to it. Groklaw’s policy is a mixed bag.
Agent_Smith said,
October 11, 2010 at 10:26 am
Congratulations, Mr. Schestowitz. Keep up the good work, nice to see TR’s thriving!!!