LFGSS Collective

Ok so first and foremost if we want to try to keep this functioning in the UK through compliance with the OSA, and Velocio has decided to step out, then someone has to actually be responsible for LFGSS and put their name on a register. Is there anyone here who is actually willing to step up to that and be committed for the long haul? Even if a company/CIC is incorporated it'll still need directors.

If that piece isn't in place then we can do all the thinking and put all the pieces together to ensure compliance and minimise risk and this still won't go anywhere. But if that can happen then there is a world in which the OSA is a fucking PITA but not the end of the online world as we know it which we can try to find.

I don't see how I can help technically as I effectively rather tech backwards, but I am more than happy to donate £10 every few months to help keep things going.

Happy to volunteer in some capacity. Have helped run a hackspace.

I think the other option is to move the servers overseas, join (or start) an Open Collective in Europe and carry on that way out of the jurisdiction of the OSA.

I think both options have advantages and disadvantages, but we should probably decide which route to take, then start making it happen.

I think moving to Open Collective will be relatively easy and makes sense to put the site outside of the UK's jurisdiction so that would get my vote. If the EU decide to implement something similar to the OSA in the future, then we can look into compliance and mitigation then.

The website is a very old version of Django (no longer supported, difficult to install)

I could probably put together a React version. SPA, client side rendering which interacts with the api directly

I’d started taking a look a few months ago, somewhat inspired by @cyclotron3k Android app

Out of the jurisdiction of the OSA doesn't really mean anything if UK people continue to access the forum because it's designed with extraterritoriality in mind, although in practice risk of enforcement is probably lower. Ultimately someone has to be responsible for running the thing and it's not going to be Velocio (even if servers get moved overseas). So someone still has to step up to actually keep the place running, then we can discuss implications of moving operations overseas.

OK, so either option, we probably need something like this:

Directors: somewhere between 3 - 10 directors of the CIC/not-for-profit/Ltd company or whatever we decide to take over administrative decisions for the site
Supporters: At least 250 people willing to donate £10 every 3 months to ensure the sites financial security
Admins/moderators: 5 - 10 power users who can keep the site clean and troll free
Legal compliance: People to help with policies/toolkit if we need to comply with the OSA
Tech: Team of x number of devs to keep the site running. Offer from @duncs to build a new React frontend, @cyclotron3k make the site easily deployable and just generally make the maintenance easier for everyone.

Happy to donate whats mentioned above, or more if needed

Spend a lot of time on here so i could be a admin/mod (got loads of spare time with my current job)

I think before you can even strategise on what is needed there need to be multiple people working through the Ofcom guidance as well as the legislation. That is unfortunately going to be hundreds of pages. The interpretation as applied to LFGSS needs to be documented somewhere. Possibly there then needs to be some actual legal advice.

It seems like it would be very easy to put together a moderation team as there are plenty of highly-engaged, somewhat-responsible users. I would suggest way more than 10 though, as we probably need round-the-clock cover. With 10 mods, if the only US moderator is on holiday and a troll shows up at 3 AM, no one's going to catch it.

A one-off crunch effort on the tech side to build things like a report function, checking content, etc. is probably easily achievable too, with a smaller amount of ongoing maintenance effort

Edit: the guidance does say that a single named person needs to be accountable for online safety as well. So someone has to take that burden.

Good work.

We will also need named people for Co Sec duties and Finance for this org.

Word from Velocio is that the reading of the guidance seems to be happening. And yes precisely what I mean by someone having to be willing to step in and have their name on a register. TBF any directors of a company will have their names in public as well.

@Lebowski we are agreed there.

I've created a thread for anyone who is interested in being a director.
DM anyone you think may want to help out or would make a good director. Some of the forum OG's or big hitters would be good, but probably more preferable is people willing to do a bit of work and take responsibility.

There are also other good, low-cost options in Europe, eg a stichtling (I think it's called) in the Netherlands

I'm happy to get stuck into code if I can help on that front

Fullstack web dev very happy to contribute time to keeping this alive

I do make a regular donation to the site.

Am happy to put myself forward to be a Director, or some other public facing head on the block role,at the behest of the Forum. I like the idea of having these positions elected.

I know jack shit about techy stuff.

stichtling

'Stichting'. It just means 'foundation' ("Stiftung" in German).

If I can offer sonething as a permanent resident of Switzerland (address, bank account…) I would gladly do so.

You guys are amazing

@skydancer and I are going to run through this thread in the next few days and get a list of all those people generously offering their time and skills.

So if you are a dev and can help maintain the forum, please reply here.

We will also need a bunch of mods, so if you are 'on here' all the time and can help out, please put your name down.

And if you are happy to handle the legal jeopardy that may come with being a named director of the famous lfgss, please put your name down here

We'll also set up a meeting early Jan irl or more likely online (Google meet?) to agree roles and next steps.

I'll speak to @Velocio to see when they're available to meet

Happy to mod, happy to do some kind of administrative role.

I could do some mod stuff, it's miles more fun than my actual job.

As mentioned above id be more than happy to be a mod also!

Also happy to mod