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by dcurtis 3770 days ago
It's not a marketing gimmick--it's a promise. It's how I want my own blog to be treated.

We announced this publicly so that you now know: if you write on Svbtle, your content is vastly more likely to survive for a long time than if you used your own server (probably) or if you used another publishing startup.
5 comments
palakchokshi 3770 days ago
Ok I understand your motivation, I really do. However announcing something publicly with fine print that says you can't be held liable for that announcement basically negates that announcement. Either you promise and stick to it (no fine print) or you announce something that catches someone's eye because they wish there was something out there that worked this way and you get them as a paying member but has a way for you to go back on your promise (thus making it a marketing gimmick).
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zimbatm 3770 days ago
I think that you mean a pledge.

Anyways, I think that it would have been more effective if there was an actual plan associated to it. For example explaining that all the static content is stored on S3 and there is money set aside to fund the static serving for 5 years. And that users can get a dump of their website for after that period.

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hotcool 3770 days ago
your content is vastly more likely to survive for a long time than if you used your own server (probably)

I had to chuckle.

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calinet6 3769 days ago
I could see it as substantial if it was attached to a public strategy of longevity, but sans a sweeping organizational shift designed for sustainability over the long term, this amounts to nothing more than words.

I'm thinking something on the level of changing into a non-profit organization with a backing trust to support the continued existence and maintenance of the product. Similar models have worked throughout history, and it would be ground-breaking to do something similar for the concept of digital content.

(Edit: apparently this is what Posthaven is trying to do, and has taken steps to at least attempt to set up. Sounds difficult!)

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deegles 3770 days ago
What if you published monthly dumps of (public) Svbtle content and distributed them by bittorrent? Then in the event of an acquisition, someone else could host the content. Much like how Geocities was mirrored.

You could even set up a separate legal entity that would have a trust set up to keep these backups alive, or partner with e.g archive.org.

Edit: looks like you're already doing something like that :)

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