[FFML] Fic archiving and FF.net

[Kalle Blomster]

Craig wrote:
> Perhaps, but it's possible (and simple) to post to moderated newsgroups 
> without Usenet access.  Usually, this wouldn't be very useful (`What's the 
> point of posting if I can't read anything?'), but RAAC is an exception, 
> since the main point of posting (at least nowadays) is to get the fic 
> archived.  Even if Usenet is dying, FTP certainly isn't.  Again, a 
> text-based FTP archive is *very* simple to mirror (I've maintained a 
> complete copy of the RAAC archive for nearly 10 years).  I'm not 
> suggesting everybody who starts a fic should post it chapter by chapter to 
> RAAC (as tended to happen in the 90s).  What I'm asking is that everybody 
> who has finished a fic (whether now or years ago), and who once posted 
> portions to RAAC without completing that posting, now finish doing so, so 
> that at least the RAAC-Archive version is complete.

While the FTP archives may stay around, what good are they if nobody knows where 
to find them? Usenet these days is only used by warez kiddies, oldschool 
opensource beards and some random people who didn't want to move. If you want an 
archive that people will actually be able to find and search in, you need a 
website (no, a HTTP browsing interface does not qualify). Your average reader 
probably won't even be able to open the gzipped text documents. Also, I'd 
contend that 90% of all current fanfiction isn't ever posted to the RAAC.

Say what you will, but this list (with probably less than 50 active posters) and 
the RAAC are probably the last remnants of the 90's anime boom era fanfiction 
writer community. The vast majority of the current community doesn't even know 
they exist, and even if they did they wouldn't care. The only big group of 
people (other than old school fanfic writers) who still use mailing lists and 
Usenet are open source developers, and I'd wager there aren't too many of those 
who are interested in reading or writing fanfiction.

Basically the point I'm trying to make is that you can either stick to trying to 
keep the old fanfics for the old readers by storing them in the RAAC archives, 
or you can try keeping them for the next generation and the generations to 
follow by posting them elsewhere in a manner where people can actually find and 
read them. Elitist trolling regarding this will not be appreciated.

Craig wrote:
 > Unfortunately?  Hmm; there I must disagree.  Protection of an author's
 > creative endeavours and respect for their wishes must, in any final
 > analysis, be paramount.  We need to remember that fanfic _isn't_ (and IMO
 > should _never_ be) a *right*; it should always be considered a
 > *privilege*, subject to the continuing good will and acceptance of the
 > original creator.

please tell me you are trolling and don't actually believe in this, it's 
actually hard to tell if you're being sarcastic or not

Gary Kleppe wrote:
 > Speaking as someone who has espoused the viewpoint that Richard
 > described, I'd point out that web hosting is fairly cheap these days.
 > It's possible to maintain a personal web site for around $50/year. A
 > multi-author site could pool costs and end up spending even less than
 > that per person.

Personal web hosting with personal traffic demands is cheap, yes. Running a 
large scale archive with a lot of traffic is not, and it has already been 
pointed out that a personal site is not particularly useful for archiving purposes.

Regards,
Karl