From owner-freebsd-isp Fri Apr 18 10:33:34 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) id KAA20314 for isp-outgoing; Fri, 18 Apr 1997 10:33:34 -0700 (PDT) Received: from house.multinet.net (house.multinet.net [204.138.173.37]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id KAA20307 for ; Fri, 18 Apr 1997 10:33:30 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from graydon@localhost) by house.multinet.net (8.6.12/8.6.12) id NAA16306; Fri, 18 Apr 1997 13:33:24 -0400 Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 13:33:24 -0400 (EDT) From: "Graydon Hoare ()" To: freebsd-isp@freebsd.org Subject: Re: News... In-Reply-To: <199704181657.JAA02594@root.com> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-isp@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk On Fri, 18 Apr 1997, David Greenman wrote: > I must be seriously missing something here. I thought ISPs were in business > to make money? There's a market for porn and spam which includes pricey, sluggish, short-expiry newsservice. it costs a lot to get into that market. Once in, there may be very high returns, but only if you are reliable in all other departments. Otherwise, your charming newsserver is simply dead from overwork, and you have nothing. There's also a market for on-topic news and discussion in a moderated environment. It's cheaper, easier, less maintenance, higher-quality (in most reasonable measurements) and caters to a wider audience. It is also not frowned upon by many 'morality czars' like your parents, your teachers, your wife, your kids (if you have 'em), the police, and your boss. The returns in this market may be slightly less (in terms of connect hours) or slightly more (in terms of more free lines, less overhead) but you will surely continue to get payed for administering the system. Mere presence in either market will not determine if an ISP 'makes money', and many ISPs do not need any further growth anyway. _________________________________ nightly news, with john aquaviva.