Andover.Net and VA Linux Join Together

As you may have heard, VA Linux and Andover.Net are gonna be joining up. We thought it would be dishonest not to say something about it, but as you probably understand, we're sorta restricted in what we can say. Of course, you can say whatever you want, and you can read the press release if you're curious about some of the details. Creative control of Slashdot will remain where it always has been.

server51 and sourceforge?

How does this affect the server51 [freshmeat.net] (Andover) and sourceforge [sourceforge.net] (VA) projects, since they both appear to have similar goals?
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A few thoughts...

First, I like the idea of Andover and VA Linux marrying. Both companies seem to be to be of the rare breed that "get it", and seem to do the right thing in almost all circumstances.

I'm wondering how this would affect the potential for Slashdot in the future to on it's own, or in partnerships, expand into other subject areas with its brand of site design and format. Granted, with the emergence of the open source Slash engine and PHPSlash, dozens of Slashlings are sprouting up everywhere (my own site included).

I guess I was just thinking at some point down the road that a "portal" or "index" of Slash-based sites covering a wide array of subject areas would emerge, either under the direct auspices of SlashDot, or some other party...I'm not sure how this acquisition would affect that scenario, tho.

Either way, I'm not disaffected. I think it's a great merger and I can't wait to see the results of the open Slash engines on the 'net.

The Future of Slashdot?

-- Consolidate the complementary networks of VA (including Linux.com, Sourceforge.net, and Themes.org) and Andover.Net (including Slashdot.org and Freshmeat.net) to create the Internet's leading destination for Open Source developers, with nearly two-thirds of the total traffic of major Open Source sites and putting the combined network in the top 100 web destinations worldwide;

Oh boy, here it comes. All this is well and good, but how does it affect /.? This is not intended as flamebait but I think that since Andover bought /. The quality has gone downhill, mostly due to the increased traffic which also increases the trolls and the fray. When VA Linux takes over I'm curious how the flavor of /. Will change. Will added participation and content value come through more participation (on a massive scale)? Will the /. model change, part of what make slashdot so successful is the simplicity of the model. Time will tell, but I think that VA will add bureocracy and overhead to the site and change it in a way that takes it furthur from what has made it so great.

Never knock on Death's door:

Congrats, guys...

But of course you're now going to have to fire Jon Katz, because now you're one of those big media conglomerates... ;-)

Steven E. Ehrbar

First haiku!

Creative control stays
with Anonymous Cowards,
Natalie Portman

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Re:The Future of Slashdot?

but I think that since Andover bought /. The quality has gone downhill, mostly due to the increased traffic which also increases the trolls and the fray

I disagree. I think it's fashionable to wax nostalgic once something loses its "newness" or feeling of exclusivity. All I know is I keep coming back here 20 times a day to see what's going on becuase Slashdot does it better than any other site I know. Let's give them credit for working very hard to handle the explosive growth. They're working very hard and, in my estimation, getting better all the time.

Re:The Future of Slashdot?

you're not making sense...how does the ownership of a site make any difference when the site itself is created by its users.

I don't want to denigrate the good Cmdr, Hemos et al, but their role is actually quite limited to keeping the thing running...it's the users that make the content. VA linux - or anyone else -can't change any of that.

If the quality has gone downhill because of increased traffic, that isn't because andover is driving the traffic here - just that slashdot is good, and people just want to come along and join in.

wowsers

I thought the reason you guys (Rob & Jeff) decided to be bought (or whatever the technical term is) by Andover was because it wasn't a Linux company, so it wouldn't seem like you would be losing any partiality. I realize you guys and VA have been buddies for a long time (IIRC, most of Slashdot runs on VA Hardware, bought through the barter system [they get free ads, you get free hardware]... right?), plus, Rob's (one of) the webmaster(s) (or some dang thing) for Linux.com, which they own. So VA and Andover were probably already pretty chummy... but what prompted this? I.e., why?

I don't know what you all are allowed to say, what with SEC restrictions and all that kinda stuff, but (how) will this affect Slashdot? Will we get even more editors (like the advent of Roblimo when Andover took over)?

I'm just guessing, but I assume Mr. Malda is pretty high on the Andover totem pole. What's going to be his new position at VA Linux, or is he going to remain at his current position inside Andover?

I think the Andover aquisition was a Good Thing, and VA seems like a nice company, so I guess this will also be a Good Thing. Then again, you know how the Open Source Community(tm) feels about monopolies...

Any info from higher-ups would be appreciated... and if you can't say anything, then say that you can't say anything! Otherwise I will have hurt feelings...
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Really Disturbing, Not Unexpected

Okay, I'm all for shameless capitalism, but...

It seems to me that having a major community hubs like Slashdot and Freshmeat owned by a parent media company was bad enough. Having them owned by a particular producer of Linux products is downright scary. I'm sure that Rob & Co. will argue that content won't be effected. While they might believe this, I sort of doubt the reality of the claim.

Bear with me here: It figures that Slashdot and Freshmeat are the main portals for Linux information. Therefore, they are the prime ground for advertising by Linux-related companies (especially OEMs). How many Penguin Computing or Indybox ads are we going to see here when VA is fully entrenched? They might not vanish outright, but smart money says that VA will slowly muscle them out.

Not allowing (or rather, making it difficult for) other OEMs to post up their banner ads is just as bad as if VA imposed editorial restrictions. It also makes perfect sense from a business point of view to keep your competitors from advertising on your channels -- how many ABC superbowl ads did you see on FOX?

I hope I'm wrong. It could be that the people at VA are more idealistic than the average business types. Even so, management can change -- this cloud will forever hang over Slashdot, Freshmeat and any other major community site which ever gets aquired by a large company.

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