Summary: Loads of requests have been blocked for the past two weeks and connectivity issues caused due to an overly aggressive firewall (there are still zombies knocking on the Web site every now and then, so it's better to serve poorly than not to serve anything at all due to downtime); We also adopt ethical means for paying the hosting bills from now on
MANY readers have said that they experienced issues accessing this Web site since
the DDoS attacks began. Our Web host has just changed the settings in such a way so that not so many legitimate visitors will be treated as suspect zombie PCs that still hammer on the server. On top of that we also have smear campaigns and mod-bombing campaigns against us, but we won't draw attention to these. Those who still experience issues can hopefully
pop into IRC and let us know about it because if disruption persists, then opposers of this Web site will get their way.
The more important news is that Google ads are gone for good. They were used only to pay the old Web host and Google was assigning proprietary software ads to pages (it's beyond our control), which did a bit of harm. We now advertise with AdBard, whose official launch has just been announced in the form of an FSF endorsement (as per the press release below).
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FSF welcomes AdBard network for free software advertising
The Free Software Community now has an ethical alternative to ad networks that promote proprietary software
BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Tuesday June 2, 2009 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) today welcomed the launch of AdBard a new advertising network for technology based websites based upon the promotion of Free, Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) friendly products and services.
The AdBard Network has been created by Tag1 Consulting to serve websites dedicated to free software ideals, helping them connect with companies selling products and services targeting a FLOSS audience. AdBard solves the problem that more generic advertising has led to the display of proprietary software products on sites that otherwise promote computer user freedom.
"The Free Software Community now has an ethical alternative to ad networks that promote proprietary software" said Peter Brown, Executive Director of the Free Software Foundation. "This is a huge win for many of the sites that serve our community. And we wish AdBard and the websites that display AdBard adverts every success. We also hope this will inspire other ad networks to adopt similar policies."
"AdBard is a great way for advertisers and publishers in the free software community to come together and help grow the free software services market." said Jeremy Andrew, CEO of Tag1.
The FSF receives no money from AdBard and has no financial interest in Tag1 Consulting, but is making this announcement to help the advertising-supported web sites in the free software community to stop legitimizing proprietary software by advertising it.
Websites already using AdBard include
http://Kerneltrap.org,
http://Libre.FM and
http://BoycottNovell.com. For a complete list visit
http://adbard.net/adbard/websites.
Advertisers can find out more by visiting
http://adbard.net/advertise.
About the Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
About Tag1 Consulting, Inc.
Tag1 Consulting, Inc. is a distinguished professional consulting company headquartered in sunny Florida, with an international presence providing computer consulting services worldwide. Tag1 focuses on performance and scalability consulting of GNU/Linux and *BSD, using Apache, PHP, MySQL and PostgreSQL, specializing on Drupal performance. For more information visit www.tag1consulting.com.
Media Contact
Matt Lee Campaigns Manager Free Software Foundation
PHONE +1 (617) 542 5942 x25 campaigns@fsf.org
Comments
Shane Coyle
2009-06-02 23:08:33
I was so frustrated with them, I had hatched an idea to start freefossads.com, but like so many of my ideas - I haven't had the time.
Roy Schestowitz
2009-06-02 23:12:08
The Director of the Free Software Foundation contacted me to suggest we join. I hope it's OK.
Many people shoot to messenger/s by falsely claiming that we profit from ads.
Shane Coyle
2009-06-03 00:53:41
If you have good results, I'll likely look up my old adbard account info and give them another try on some of the sites I still host.
David Gerard
2009-06-03 10:37:25
Roy Schestowitz
2009-06-03 10:40:02
David Gerard
2009-06-02 20:52:11
Roy Schestowitz
2009-06-02 21:00:53
They seem to have just started a heavy advertising campaign for SLE. I spotted some large ads today in IDG (ComputerWorld) and Linux Magazine. Big green lizards...
NotZed
2009-06-03 01:30:45
Why not?
As a visitor to your site, I have absolutely no legal or moral obligation not to 'click' on adverts I'm not interested in, even if I know the clicks are being used to move money around.. You as the owner of a site may have a legal obligation not to do it, and not to encourage your users to do it, but no such relationship exists for your site visitors.
Infact one could argue visitors to any site have a moral obligation to upset the numbers. After all, they are gaining significant private information (e.g. site visiting habits) for no cost and with no agreement in place - unlike 'physical' ratings companies.
Jose_X
2009-06-02 20:59:18
I wouldn't have minded Microsoft+friends ads so much if they were paying very big bucks since I think advertising on this site has a lot of value to them and if boycottnovell was getting a decent share of that pie.
First Ad Bard ad I see here is for eRacks Open Source Systems.
Roy Schestowitz
2009-06-02 21:02:00
twitter
2009-06-03 05:30:10
Ethical advertising and ethical software should do very well together and there are many other organizations that can be helped. Long term success in business never comes from unethical behavior as the demise of so many big evil companies demonstrates these days. Other ethical businesses that could benefit include the whole foods movement. There are a host of other organizations that will rise in prominence as media is freed from broadcast monopolies. Free software is instrumental and necessary for this liberation. People crave it and now have a way to tell the difference. Traditional media is falling on it's face because of this and ethical media is a rising star. From diversity and freedom comes truth, which always favors diversity and freedom.