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[WheelyFixed]

Perhaps the site owners were not clear. Those of us who have been moderators and owners are tired and ready to move on. For what it's worth, I was not told this was happening ahead of the announcement, but at the same time I'm not surprised.

No, the owners were QUITE clear, and certainly have earned the right to retire and move on - I can't express my thanks for all their efforts enough, and I'm sure others feel the same way... I am NOT attempting to change anyone's mind about stepping down! I don't think anyone else I've seen posting about this is either.

The Eunuch Archive is stored on a server in a private home. We know where, and there are two folks mainly in charge of it. One is incredibly ill, physically, and the other has moved on some time ago but offered some basic technical support if anyone had wanted to pick up the mantle and run with it. At least this is how I understand things and I'm happy to be corrected if I am wrong on this.

But one thing I know for certain as I know these individuals personally is...

It's over.

They're done.

I get that - and if some of that possible tech support is offered, I'm more than happy to accept the offer, but am not counting on it... I was not aware the server was privately stored, I had gathered the impression from mentions of fees that we were being asked to help cover that there was a some sort of commercial ISP / hosting service involved that we were talking to when we logged in...

My understanding of how this stuff works is that while the 'master copy' of a site can be on a home server, the typical setup is that the home server uploads it to the hosting service which actually ships the bits out to members using the site... The home server just backs up and maintains the copy on the host service to keep it running. I may be wrong about this... (probably am!)

My vague thought was that given the potential issues due to 'subject matter' if there was a hosting service involved, it might make sense to continue using them for whatever RESURRECTED version of EA got created...

If we were to end up with the domain names, or at least a page was maintained w/ a pointer to whatever new thing we have, that would be ideal, but it doesn't have to happen....

That the server is housed in a private home by an individual who has been kind enough to keep it running, is the main issue. They shouldn't have to support it, and nobody else has stepped up despite repeated attempts and asks in the past (http://forums.eunuch.org/showthread.php ... -of-Google!). So while offers to help moderate are kind and generous (thank you FLeunuch), the time for these kind of offers to have an impact has unfortunately passed. The time to offer new server space has passed.

In short, the ship has sailed.

I either never saw those asks, or felt they exceeded my technical abilities - I'm good at turning wrenches and waving soldering irons or welding guns, but I'm not an IT guy... Some ways this effort of mine feels like stepping out of a plane - without a parachute....

I backed off as "the voice of reason" which has caused me to be a punching bag for the past 20 years, beaten up likely for no other reason than those folks viewed me as a killjoy to mastubatory pursuits where they stroke their dick in one hand whilst huffing glue with the other. I severely backed off because we have a relatively new member who has mostly taken on that role, and as far as I'm concerned was doing a great job, despite the fact he and I have differences outside the EA subjects. Thanks to WheelyFixed for doing that. He's been a good voice of reason here for the past couple years or so.

Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad that you think I was doing a good job!

But again, while I'm sure all of you offering help at this point are well intentioned, the decision has been made. Those of us who are moderators but not owners of the site are comfortable with it as we're all ready to move on ourselves.

The Eunuch Archive IS CLOSING on Jan 1, 2025.

If someone has ability to write a script and resurrect the site themselves in the time there is left, I say they're welcome to do so... I won't object. But as far as I'm concerned I'm finished with the moderation, and it's been a LONG time coming. I'm glad I no longer have such widespread moderation responsibilities these days other than a couple of discussion groups on another site. It's freed up a LOT of my personal time. I have more time to spend with my husband, and to do the things outside of here I want to. I want time to go out and drive my classic Mustang out in rural areas of the east coast USA. I want to travel abroad and not be concerned if a website is falling into a huge pit of dumbassery whilst I'm on holiday outside the US.

There are other places eunuchs and nullos gather, but the EA and the business model/platform it runs on have long ago run their course. People just don't consume online content today the way it was done back when the site started. So now the access to honest and reasonable information is left to chance. Again, if others wish to pick up that job I'm happy to see it, because I think it's important. However at this point in my life I'm worn out being the "someone" in the phrase "Isn't there someone to do this for us?" It's time for the younger folks to pick this up and run with it.

I wish any of you well in that endeavor.

I certainly wish you the best of times and happy travels! If your Mustang ever makes it to the Boston area (it's on the East coast, last I checked... ) let me know as I'd love to meet you in person and buy you a beer or other beverage of your choice.... Whether you do or not, have a great time and enjoy your well earned retirement!

I guess perhaps what I'm thinking in terms of is sort of like the old time days of royalty when the old king dies and the prince steps up... The King is DEAD, Long live the KING.... I am OK with the existing EA shutting down, but that doesn't mean it can't be resurrected...

WheelyFixed

[NaturalEunuch (imported)]

If there's a backup of the forum, can we use that on a new install? Otherwise maybe we can somehow scrape or clone everything. Unfortunately, VBulletin doesn't seem to have a mass copying ability and 22,000 threads would be a chore. Would the owners be willing to give the server and/or domain name to someone else?

[WheelyFixed]

I don't know about the server and domain name, but it would be nice...

I'm NOT a technical expert, but from what I've gathered in messages with Paolo, a big part of the problem is that the forum is made up of threads that were created with several different VB versions / generations as the software evolved over time. The result is a bit of a "Frankenstein's Monster" with a lot of baling wire sewing it all together... I know that a while back I looked into what options might exist for copying the existing corpus into Discourse, and the posts I found (many from professionals) seemed to say that it was possible, but difficult, and the wider the time span involved the harder and more difficult it got...

My opinion is that what might be the best compromise is to have a static frozen (but searchable?) version of the existing forum, and start from scratch with something new. It might then be possible to selectively copy in a few threads as appropriate. (of that 22,000 threads, how many are actually worth re-reading? My guess would be on the order of a few hundred...)

WheelyFixed

[fhunter]

My understanding of how this stuff works is that while the 'master copy' of a site can be on a home server, the typical setup is that the home server uploads it to the hosting service which actually ships the bits out to members using the site... The home server just backs up and maintains the copy on the host service to keep it running. I may be wrong about this... (probably am!)

-----8<-------8<------

WheelyFixed

As long as ISP makes it possible to get public IP - you do not need the hosting service.

For example chat is hosted this way (out of my closet, on more or less consumer grade hardware).

Regarding thread copying - if you do it via "web scraping" - doesn't matter if it is 22000 or 2000, effort is approximately the same.

[dandelion]

It seems like a few of us here are willing to at least discuss possible EA 2.0? Like I said before although I'm not an IT professional, I hack around stuff a lot and can probably learn how to get a new forum running (no promises on migrating old posts), either on a private server or on a hosted server.

Do we have enough volunteers here that can maybe set up a group chat to at least discuss, if not commit to figuring somethings out?

I totally respect that the current moderators want nothing to do with EA anymore, and I 100% respect their decisions. What I am hoping though is get some detailed insights of the challenges they face. A few questions come to mind:

1. Are they hosting it on a private home server because no web hosting services would take us on?

2. Do they know what the bandwidth consumption is? Would a regular business internet connection be enough?

3. As for workload... maybe WheelyFixed would know. What are the main challenges that the existing moderators face? Are there a lot of spam posts that get deleted before us regular members see them? User sign ups? Server crashing? If there is to be a new team, it would be reasonable for them to want to know what they are dipping their hands into.

4. Are they willing to give us control of the domain name, whatever archives that can easily retrieve, or the hardware that the server runs on?

[Neutrum260725]

Since I have not been a registered user on this great and wonderful website for long and am still at the beginning of my "test phase", I am very sad that the end of the year will also mean the end of this website. By chance I came across the actual archive and discovered so many interesting posts that I cannot read them all in such a short time. Therefore it would be great if someone knew a way to save the archive with the old posts on private data storage devices so that I can read it in peace. I happen to have a NAS (QNAP TS419U) with 4*4TB hard disks and RAID5, which has about 10TB of free storage space. I have not yet looked into this part (seems a bit complicated) but it should be manageable. SuSE Linux Tumbleweed runs on my PC, but I am actually just a user and not a guru or nerd. I would also be willing to provide copies of the posts. I would be very grateful for any kind of help. By the way, I live in Germany.

Da ich noch nicht lange als User auf dieser tollen und wunderbaren Website angemeldet bin und mich auch noch am Begin meiner „Testphase“ befinde bin ich sehr traurig, dass Ende des Jahres auch das Ende dieser Website bedeutet. Durch Zufall bin ich in das eigentliche Archiv gelangt und habe so viele interessante Beiträge entdeckt, dass ich die in der Kürze der Zeit gar nicht alle lesen kann. Deshalb wäre es super toll, wenn jemand eine Möglichkeit wüßte, wie man das Archiv mit den alten Beiträgen auf privaten Datenträgern sichern könnte um es in Ruhe lesen zu können. Zufällig habe ich ein NAS (QNAP TS419U) mit 4*4TB Harddisks und RAID5 zur Verfügung, welches etwa 10TB Speicherplatz frei hat. Ich habe mich mit dem Teil zwar noch nicht beschäftigt (scheint ein bischen kompliziert zu sein) aber es sollte hinzukriegen sein. Auf meinem PC läuft zwar SuSE Linux Tumbleweed, aber da bin ich eigentlich reiner Anwender und kein Guru oder Nerd. Ich wäre auch bereit Kopien der Beiträge zur Verfügung zu stellen. Würde mich sehr über jede Form der Hilfe freuen. Ich lebe übrigens in Deutschland.

[Castor (imported)]

As sad as the end of the Eunuch Archive in this form may seem to many, it is also an opportunity for a new beginning. In my view, the new beginning should include critical reflection on some fundamental decisions of the past. For example, we could take the justified part of the criticism of the Eunuch Archive seriously, such as the mixture of very different reasons for the interest in the topic of castration. For example, the fictional stories should be strictly separated from the forum. For everything that has to do with fetish, masturbation and especially SM (e.g. castration videos), I think there are more suitable websites such as FetLife, Reddit & Co.

Instead, well-researched information could be made available for men who either want to be castrated voluntarily on the basis of SOC 8 (MTE, physical dysphoria, hormonal reasons) or for whom castration is recommended for medical reasons (prostate or testicular cancer, testicular torsion, accidents, etc.). For these men, the exchange with others is extremely important. Serious information and recommended endocrinologists, surgeons and psychologists that you don't have to fish out of scattered threads would also be important.

And last but not least, it could be made clear right from the start that the forum only supports surgical castration and that topics about DIY instructions, cutters and tools such as elastrators will be deleted immediately and lead to immediate exclusion. If we want the subject of castration to be removed from the taboo and not continue to be perceived as a freak show, I believe we should think critically about the points mentioned. But that's just my opinion and suggestion.

[Losethem (imported)]

No, the owners were QUITE clear, and certainly have earned the right to retire and move on - I can't express my thanks for all their efforts enough, and I'm sure others feel the same way... I am NOT attempting to change anyone's mind about stepping down! I don't think anyone else I've seen posting about this is either.

I think the reading between the lines of the statement I made is contained in my comment about appeals have been made for years with a lukewarm response at best. The shuttering of the site until now has always been conceptual to people. These appeals were going on long before you were here, so the comment wasn't specifically directed at you.

What I see going on here is nobody wanted to step up until it was clear the resource was going away, because until now, nobody else had to do it. I've spoken of this concept over the years in various ways. Things like:

We don't have the resources of Facebook or Google, but we're expected to perform as if we do.

It's easy to point fingers at the owners and moderators about problems, but entirely something else to propose solutions or offer assistance.

For me, the canary in the coal mine that this was coming was when the personals system failed. While we were not severely beaten up over that, we had numerous folks letting us know how horrible we are, and it was, that the section had gone away. Once again, complaining with little offer of help or solution.

After 20 years of this, those of us who have moderated or kept the site open/running as owners (I'm not the latter), have simply grown weary of continuing. I know appeals were made as long as 15 years ago for help, and the drumbeat got more consistent about 10 years ago.

Still, nobody offered to step up until it was too late.

I really do wish success to others who wish to make an EA v3.0. I hope it's successful, a bastion of truth about how to navigate this subject in reality, and a place of hope for those who have felt hopeless about getting comfortable in their bodies.

[Castor (imported)]

@LT: I can gladly offer the owners of EA to continue the forum. However, this only applies to eunuch.org and only under the legally compliant conditions mentioned in post #37. I would not support the continuation of eunuchworld.org. The site/stories could be moved to FetLife etc. for this purpose.

@Neutrum260725: Storage space is probably the least of the problems. Every hoster provides tonnes of it. You have to take over the domain (change provider with auth code) and find a provider who is not surprised by the expected high traffic. In addition, the provider must agree to the content of the forum. In other words, the content published in this forum must comply with the laws of the country where the server is hosted.

In addition, new community software would have to be purchased (commercial) or obtained (open source) and installed. The old EA software is like Paolo's nice comparison with the old VW Beetle. Also, a domain called eunuch.org - sorry again - attracts loads of weirdos. Moderating a forum like this is extremely time-consuming because of these people. I wouldn't underestimate that.

I could take over the domain, get newer software and install it. The costs would have to be discussed. That would leave the much more time-consuming moderation. Paolo can certainly tell you how much time he has invested in this over the last few years ...

[Elizabeth (imported)]

I would be willing to pay a membership fee. I understand the time commitment that this has taken.

Some technical internet expert could charge fees for a new eunuch resource and make some money?

I too have found the EA a valuable factual resource, with real experiences.

Other websites are peopled by mostly sexual kinksters.