Swad Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Update: The site has sold. The new owners are fellow OS X fans and have a great vision for the site in the next few years. You'll get the chance to meet them over the next few days. Stay tuned! First, the great news. I found out last week that I’ve been accepted into a one-year Masters program at the University of Chicago. I’ll be seeking my degree in Political Theory at the school where so many great minds have gone before me. I’m honored to follow their footsteps. Now, the rest of the story. InsanelyMac, along with the OSx86 Project wiki and OnMac.net, is for sale. Over the course of many sleepless nights, I’ve come to the realize that the schedule required by such a program won’t allow me to devote the time required to see InsanelyMac grow into the future. It’s been a struggle to do so over the past year, and all indications would point to a school load that’s 3-4x what I’m currently carrying at the end of my Senior year. A community such as this needs a strong leader who will do whatever is necessary to fight for the continued strength of that community. I have served in that capacity as I was able, but fate now takes me on a much different path. I thought I’d try to answer a few of the questions that I’ve received over the past few days in discussing the matter with the staff: What will you be selling? Simply the things for which I have paid from my own pocket – the server, the domains, the site design and databases, etc. Who will you sell it to? This is an important point – I will only sell to a buyer who is willing to “carry the torch” and continue to serve InsanelyMac in a manner that we would want. I will not sell to anyone – regardless of money – who does not have the best interests of the community in mind. You can count on that. Will you leave? No, not at all. I’ll be around for as long as InsanelyMac is here (forever?), although my schedule for the foreseeable future won’t allow the amount of involvement I’d like. I’ll also be here to help with the transition to new ownership. Will the staff leave? The staff has agreed to stay on through the transition as well. As always, they’re free to leave whenever they’d like. Real life often comes calling when we least expect (or want) it. Why sell? Ideally I’d just be able to hand the forum over one of the other Administrators of the site, but cmoski, the other remaining Admin, wants to spend his time with IRC-related pursuits. I could give it over to a group who wanted to manage it, but 2 years of running this place have taught me that rule by committee rarely works well. Eventually I came to the conclusion that selling the site would be the best idea. It would give a new owner a stake in its success… and it ensures that he is committed to seeing it forward (or else he wouldn’t spend the money to buy it). It’s a little bit of insurance that my successor will be accountable to both himself and the community, which is exactly how a forum like this should run. Where's the auction? The SitePoint auction can be found here. Obviously, I'll give preference in bidding to InsanelyMac community members, even if they are not the highest bid. Although I'll still be around in the months to come, let me say this: it's been one wild ride with all of you, and I thank you for all the times we've shared so far. I consider you my friends... and that's one that won't change, regardless of who owns the rights to the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoski Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 I believe this is a good move for not only the community, but for all of the admins involved currently. I realize many may see this as a sad day for insanelyMac, however, I believe that this offers a great deal of hope for the future. I’ll admit as the admin team we have been lacking a lot of time to work on insanelyMac because of that pesky thing called real life, and this up and coming site sale will be just what the site needs to push new life into things and start rolling once again with the great base and premise we had when we started insanelyMac. This sale may be the end of one era, but it is the beginning of a new era of prosperity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soündless Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 off topic, i'm @ university of chicago. on topic: please make sure the buyer cares about the community Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenctuary Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 I'm with cmoski on this one. Hopefully all will work out for the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macFabri Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Please dont sell it to Bill Gates or Steve Jobs ! Really hope the (next) buyer keeps it as it are now ! Good lucky Swad and thank you for all you did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 off topic, i'm @ university of chicago. on topic: please make sure the buyer cares about the community Off topic: I'll PM you - we should meet up in a few weeks when I'm up there. On topic: You have my word that I will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prawker Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 off topic, i'm @ university of chicago. on topic: please make sure the buyer cares about the community Yes, please! I would hate to see this site fall into the wrong hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REVENGE Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 This was unexpected, but I respect and understand your decision. And yeah, lets make sure the next owner is one who will take care of this site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detosx Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 It would be a desperate shame if someone bought it to then very deliberately kill it. How do you avoid that? Great job you have done, though. Great job you have all done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prawker Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 It would be a desperate shame if someone bought it to then very deliberately kill it. How do you avoid that? Great job you have done, though. Great job you have all done. You're on the suspect list xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 swad will you still be an admin here? Most likely - it'll be up to the new guy, but I'll certainly be around here to help for as long as I possibly can. It would be a desperate shame if someone bought it to then very deliberately kill it. How do you avoid that? Great question. First, I'm very careful who I take serious bids from - preference goes to InsanelyMac members and other well established members in the Mac community (and I'm in talks with several). Secondly, I won't sell to anyone who doesn't have a track record of administering healthy communities. Finally, I won't necesserily take the highest bid - the bidder must be someone I think can take InsanelyMac into the future. It's my baby - I want to see her grow up big and strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REVENGE Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 It would be a desperate shame if someone bought it to then very deliberately kill it. How do you avoid that? Great job you have done, though. Great job you have all done. Aren't there ways to make sure this doesn't happen? Like a contract of some sore? IE: In purchasing this site/domain, you agree that you will, within 3 years, help the OSx86 project take over Apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac-mini Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 what about the history of osx86 will you still do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 Well, I'll obviously make the next owner promise me he (or she) will steer this ship in the right direction. However, at the end of the day, since no contract like that is binding, it'll take me getting to know the buyer before I'll be willing to sell it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignorantcow Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Nevermind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AriX Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Wow this is big. If I had that kind of money, and if I was older I would've considered buying it. Good luck to the bidders, and I hope Swad stays admin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asap18 Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Good luck with your program. Maybe you should submit this to Digg? I will miss having such a user oriented forum owner. Hopefully the next owner will do the same (ie listen to our requests, non obstructive ads). http://digg.com/apple/InsanelyMac_OnMac_ne..._Up_for_Bidding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teeching Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 sad sad so sad .. mash please man be careful .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Bond Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 While it may definetly appear as a shame at first, I don't think it's as bad as we'd all like to initially think. The site has become what it is today because of it's strong community of helpful and insightful users...you can't build something like that overnight, nor can you change it in such a time. That's not to say that Swad hasn't been one of the driving forces behind the community. I remember all 10-or-so of us sitting in that IRC channel over 2 years ago, eagerly awaiting some sort of OS X for intel leak...and look how far we've come since; a site with over 80,000 registered members that has become one of the foremost resources for Mac news, opinions and discussions. And it definetly couldn't have been done with Swad, and all the time and dedication he's commited to it's growth. And even though he says he's passing on his head Admin duties...I think it's because of this dedication and love for the site that we certaintly won't be seeing the last of him. He'll still be around (I hope). And like Swad stated...it definetly gives us the chance to introduce a lot of new and improved features and aspects to the site, things that we just haven't had the ability to accomplish as of late. In the end...(warning: cliche ahead) we shouldn't look at it as any sort of end of InsanelyMac, but just another chapter in the community.So thanks for all you've done, Swad, and a big good luck and congratulations to you at Chicago University! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james2mart Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Swad, you do realize that you can't leave until you have 5000 posts, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swad Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 Swad, you do realize that you can't leave until you have 5000 posts, right? Ok. Done deal. I can't promise I'll still own everything, but I plan on being here for 10,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yossarian Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Good luck. Your efforts with this site are appreciated by all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabr Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Good luck. Your efforts with this site are appreciated by all. Yup. Thank you Swad for starting this community. It's absolutely amazing to see what this has grown up into, and if it was not for you and everyone else on this forum, we wouldn't be here right now. So once again, thank you Swad. - Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Fogge Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 This truly is a sad day for the community, however I completely understand why you are doing this. Sites like this are a real... pain to maintain, cost quite a bit in up-front expenses, and all that other stuff. Either way, congrats on being able to create such a great site that actually manages to turn a profit. Better to see it change hands than to simply die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe75 Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 Swad, I thought you said hypothetically speaking Anyways you know what I think, good luck and thanx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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