A Year Since the Big Switch - Part II - Early Discussions About More DDoS- and Censorship-Resistant (Robust to SLAPP) Hosting
This started around 2021 or 2022
IN Part I we covered the technical reasons for the site's move (away from PHP), which we had envisioned in 2013 but only implemented a decade later (in 2023, after development began in summer 2022).
Today marks exactly one year since we started using the new system! So the time is perfect for this series.
Around 2022 or early 2023 the host and occasional system administrator (since 2018) spoke to me about future hosting. She offered to help move the site to hosting in some large company where everything including the operating system (OS) could be modernised and brought up to date (we used CentOS as the OS in all sites when it nearly ran out of official support). Linode was mentioned as a decent option, but I personally do not trust Linode and don't personally know people there (which can turn out to be a disadvantage). The host had already said she was receiving highly threatening letters for material that's published or republished lawfully. It's not fair to her (to become a punchbag because villainous people cannot take criticism). This material usually came from Daniel Pocock.
In prior years pressure was similarly applied, resulting in threats for merely republishing material from Daniel Pocock. He seemed like he was striking some nerves and by early 2021 we could not publish his article at all (under the current host). The issue was discussed a lot in IRC at the time. It caused a bit of a stir in our community. It would take more than 2 years for us to regain the "permission" to catch up with his work and reproduce it here. We're enjoying more freedom now.
One thing I clearly recall the host saying wasn't that Pocock was wrong (she said she was thankful for him blowing the whistle at FSFE) but that his articles were upsetting some very powerful people. Consider the Edward Brocklesby mini-series.
In the next part we'll start discussing the move and what finally triggered the migration to hosting that's more SLAPP-resistant, i.e. robust to thin-skinned bullies (who cannot tolerate criticism).
I must frankly wish to add that I totally understand why - after a lot of outside pressure - the prior host succumbed to this pressure regarding Daniel Pocock's articles. It's regretful, far from ideal, but sort of understandable given the circumstances. She wasn't the problem; the problem was the people leaning on her, pressuring her, sometimes lying to her and sending threatening communications. On several occasions assurances that I gave kept us on track; it wasn't easy, but it was a diplomatic/bureaucratic effort. I understand that as a former Debian Developer she was subjected to pressure from friends or former "comrades"; so there was a battle of loyalties, sort of. It cannot be easy!
Do not assume that just publishing something - however true - it easy and meets no obstructions. Sometimes these obstructions are invisible or barely visible.
We don't live in Russia. We don't live in China, either. But we have issues that resemble those of reporters who live there. █