[2016-Goal#1] A NEW Server for Ubuntu GNOME

[Alan Pope]

On 4 January 2016 at 10:13, Ali/amjjawad <amjjawad at gnome.org> wrote:
> Thanks for your reply and good to see you here :)
> I had to approve your emails as you haven't subscribed yet to this list ;)
>

Yeah, sorry, I'm not subscribing from this address. I use my work
address for mailing lists. Have subscribed from there and subsequent
mails will come from that address.

>> is there anything specific I can help with?
> So, to be specific here:
> Myself as the community manager of Ubuntu GNOME and Tim as the co-founder of
> Ubuntu GNOME both have no access even to update our website, nor install a
> new plugin, nor do anything special except create new posts and pages. That
> said, our hands are so tight here and we can't do much with such very
> limited access.
>

Have you put in an RT for the specific changes you want to make? If
not, then do that first, and we can chase them up and get them
implemented.

> A side from the fact that we need to change the look and feel of Ubuntu
> GNOME website with totally different theme, as mentioned above, our access
> is very limited.
>

Right, and that comes as the trade-off in having Canonical host it. We
have been bitten in the past with community websites which Canonical
hosted and were not well maintained. They were compromised.

> Also, a good friend of mine has given me a great offer:
> https://austenite.co.uk/
>
> One month for free and he just added 'more' bandwidth and more domains so we
> get great more value for money.

There are many places you can get cheap / low cost hosting for a
simple relatively static site like yours. However the crux is who
maintains it, and when it goes unmaintained, it will almost certainly
be compromised and you'll look bad.

> Tell you the truth, I have zero idea whether it's good to host with
> Canonical given the previous situation or host outside? what are we going to
> lost? what are we going to gain?
>

Maintenance burden vs speedy access to make changes.

> And, since you're here, there is always one Q that has remained unanswered
> and I'll take this as a good chance to ask:
> Can we add "Donate" to our website just like Ubuntu MATE did?

Sure. Why wouldn't you?

> If Yes, is there anything we should be aware of?
>

As soon as you start asking for money things get (more) complicated.
There's legal (tax) obligations for a start. There will also be a
desire from some who donate that they have a say in what the money is
spent on, and you need to consider how you manage that. Further there
may be a desire for transparent reporting on who donated and where the
money went. People may also want to donate anonymously, or not via the
systems (like paypal) that you put in place.

So it's not always as simple as throwing a donate button on the site.
But perhaps get in touch with Martin from Ubuntu MATE and see what he
thinks about it.

Cheers,
Al.