So, how did this place get started?

[BarriBurt]

I've only been visiting a couple weeks, but I'm curious. How'd Linux.org get started? When?

It's a pretty obvious domain name to have. Someone was bound to take it, and probably did in the 90s - when Linux was new. This place has it. What's the story?

Just passing curiosity. There's nothing obvious (to me) built into the page UI to explain any of that background.

 

[KGIII]

You'd have to ask @Rob and I have no idea.

I have no idea if our beloved admin, benevolent dictator if you will, cares to share the story.

I too would like to know the story. You can do quite a bit of digging with the Wayback Machine at archive.org if you want.

You can also do some DNS dives, to see this WHOIS history of the domain - but those can be inaccurate, though they're often valuable for deciding this.

Our admin may simply opt to not share.

What I will say, and this is partially for @Rob's benefit (but I'm sure he knows) is that this domain ranks VERY well with search engines and this domain is VERY valuable. If he sold this domain, I'd expect somewhere in the range of six figures, but an auction could make it go even higher - that is well into the six figure range.

All I know is that it was an extremely fortunate domain name purchase by someone.

I'd lowball a five figure offer just 'cause I'm cheap. I'd immediately start flipping it, 'cause I sure as heck don't want to be the head admin here.

Why? Do you want to buy it? LOL

But, really, I don't know. I don't know if anyone knows other than Rob.

This post will ping him, but don't forget that this could be personal information and they may not want to answer the question. We're all entitled to agency and to privacy.

 

[wizardfromoz]

G'day Barri and G'day David

I've only been here since 2017, but what I know can be summarised here

https://www.computerworld.com/article/2723710/linux-org-comes-back-to-life.html

It's in the public domain, so not a secret.

Rob Kennedy probably came in by around the time of that article (2012), I know certainly he was here by or before 2013.

And the success of this place is largely attributable to his hard work behind the scenes.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

 

[The Duck]

@wizardfromoz
The topics at the bbottom of the forum page

• Random Rob: Rob's random stuff
• HomeownerBBQ: Rob's BBQ stuff
• Glock Forums: Rob's Glock stuff

can we login with our existing login and password or do those sights require a new login and password.
I've never noticed them before until this thread and I started looking for an "About" which sometimes explains things.

 

[wizardfromoz]

I haven't been there, so I can't guess.

 

[The Duck]

Guess I'll have to give it a try and see what happens.

Thanks @wizardfromoz

 

[KGIII]

can we login with our existing login and password or do those sights require a new login and password.

Probably not. Rob did an AI domain with a forum for a very brief moment. That required a different account. He killed that site pretty quickly if you're curious. One day it was there, the next day it was gone...

I've only been here since 2017, but what I know can be summarised here

https://www.computerworld.com/article/2723710/linux-org-comes-back-to-life.html

That's about all I know, as I've seen that before. It doesn't really amount to a whole lot of info. I did do a DNS history dig and was able to pull out some WHOIS records from the past. Those are public information.

How it came to be in the hands it is in now, why that happened, etc... Those are all unknown.

BUT...

I'm a big fan of agency and privacy. So, even though I do not have that information, I'm okay.

From a purely objective viewpoint, the domain name is worth a small fortune. It's probably not worth enough to retire. In fact, for many of us it's not worth enough to take a year off from work. But, it's a pretty sweet domain name and that's awesome. I'm glad that it exists and is mysteriously paid for.

What's more awesome is how our admin deals with it. So long as they're not messing with stuff, it's pretty good. Otherwise, we end up with weird new stuff like TuxBot!

 

[KGIII]

Also, having seen a post at one of the linked sites, I'm gonna have to email our admin a pic of my main garage. I say main garage because most of my stuff is stored in 'barns' (climate controlled outbuildings made of metal that look like barns). He mentioned the French cleats and my garage looks like a workshop 'cause I'm really, really anal about that space.

Someone should remind me to do so.

 

[BarriBurt]

Hey @KGIII , take a photo of your main garage.

:lol:

 

[KGIII]

Hey @KGIII , take a photo of your main garage.

:lol:

Good reminder! I'm in the house for the day but I'll write myself a note. I won't ever read the note, but my brain is weird and I remember stuff when I write it down.