[SummerlyMars]

A former coworker of mine went to work there, and my immediate thought upon learning of this was "The download site?"

It turns out they're doing pretty well for themselves. They might not have much brand recognition these days, but they're a much bigger company than I thought.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucows

[quietbritishjim]

> In 2000, Tucows acquired Linux Weekly News.

What? I had no idea.

There's a reference too [1]. The next article [2] in that series (which was a retrospective about five years later) goes on to say:

> Meanwhile, by this time [2002], Tucows had come to terms with the fact that its acquisition (and ongoing operation) of LWN was not helping it, given the directions its business was taking. So, after some discussion, LWN was unacquired - it was given back to its creators, with Tucows holding on to a small piece just in case.

[1] https://lwn.net/Articles/264980/

[2] https://lwn.net/Articles/265813/

[corbet]

That was a while ago at this point, back when the download site was still a significant part of what they did.

The acquisition was at the end of the dotcom boom, and we had several options to choose from. We ended up with Tucows for a number of reasons, but right near the top was the fact that they seemed like truly decent and honest people. That decision, I think, is a big part of why LWN still exists today.

The end of the download site is definitely a moment in nostalgia...but in truth I didn't know they were still running it. Tucows has long since moved on; I'm glad they are doing well.

[snoshy]

Reading TFA, that was exactly the sense I got: a wistful announcement that a cherished part of the Internet was maintained for years beyond most of its users even noticed, and is being closed down. It seems readily apparent from their actions and words that they truly seemed to care about Tucows Downloads, whatever it might be worth financially.

Glad to get to the comments and see further reinforcement of that feeling. It seems you had a great read on them as people. Kudos.

[breck]

Seeing "TUCOWS" was like smelling something I hadn't smelt in decades. I barely remember what it was, just have positive associations with that word from my child hood. Very cool to read that I'm not alone in that.

[mikejarema]

Union Square Ventures invested in them a few years back, and blogged about their rationale and some info on where Tucows is/has been headed as a business:

https://www.usv.com/writing/2017/02/tucows/

[slg]

I have used Hover for years. I don't really do anything too complex with them, but I have no complaints which is basically the best endorsement I can giver for a domain registrar.

[selimthegrim]

They did sell their Ting Mobile division to DISH the other month though, so some retrenching has apparently been in order.