Dr. Brian Leverich wrote: > > > <snip> > > > RootsWeb to be Moved to Ancestry.com. > > > > > > As a more-or-less skeptic, I wonder when the other shoe will drop > > > and RW will be either terminated or become a for-a-fee service, > > > despite Sullivan's claims to the contrary.. > > > > > > Suspicious Ol' Bob > > > "Robert Melson" <melsonr@aragorn.rgmhome.net> > > It was some time ago so my memory may be fuzzy, but I seem to recall > > the originators of RootsWeb (when, due to economics were forced to > > use Ancestry as a host) included as part of the contract that > > RootsWeb would stay a free resource in perpetuity. > > > > Gary Templeman "GaryT" <gtemplemanPAINT@proaxis.com> > > Having signed the contract, I'm kinda aware of the details. ;) > > There was no requirement that RootsWeb stay free or persist in > perpetuity. > > On a practical level, though, we certainly expected that. The user- > provided RootsWeb content almost by definition has to stay free, > because the users can always take it elsewhere. And it's hard to > imagine Ancestry not supporting RootsWeb's functionality, because > RootsWeb is relatively inexpensive to operate and serves to grow the > customer base for Ancestry's commercial products. > > From my perspective, there's nothing particularly good or bad about > moving RootsWeb's content inside the Ancestry domain. It clears up > some statistical difficulties associated with tracking traffic at the > two sites, at the cost of vaguely blurring the line between the free > community site and the the commercial data provider. > > On the balance, that's a yawn. > > Again from my perspective, the thing that has surprized me is how > little effort Ancestry has put into improving RootsWeb over the last > seven years. Technology has changed a lot, these days there's a whole > variety of powerful new social networking tools and such, but most of > RootsWeb has been stagnant or (arguably) has deteriorated. > > Karen and I have been kinda sitting on the sidelines for some years > now, just operating Linkpendium to stay involved. We have lately > started gathering the resources to build a next-generation site for > genealogists that fully exploits current technology. too late Brian BTW how much did Ancestry pay you for RootsWeb? [ Not enough that I could retire the 1989 Ford Aerostar van that I still drive. The heater doesn't work and I've had to recover the seats with slipcovers from Costco, but it still runs good. - Mod ] Hugh W -- For genealogy and help with family and local history in Bristol and district http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Brycgstow/ http://snaps4.blogspot.com/ photographs and walks GENEALOGE http://hughw36.blogspot.com/ MAIN BLOG Hugh Watkins <hugh.watkins@gmail.com>