4 ms·

Forms are sadly dead. They cost a lot to operate and maintain security updates for so without a critical mass of users they are dead

samplatt 2mo ago
Just like with VR, you can keep on claiming forums are "dead" all you like. Me and all my friends will keep on using them daily. therearedozensofus.gif
- soperj 2mo ago
  "Good thing you're the majority of people, then." - samplatt [0] [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49002685 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49002685
  - samplatt 2mo ago
    I was a hypocrite even writing that comment; my latest phone ALSO has an FM radio. Guess that reddit-quippiness infected me too much that day, sorry.
    - soperj 2mo ago
      I wish my phone had FM radio.
- nothercastle 2mo ago
  They are dead the same way newsgroups are dead. Some local communities survive some might even thrive but in aggregate more are lost than created
b112 2mo ago
Cost a lot to operate? apt-get install forum-software. All security updates with apt-get updates. Use something like Debian, and you keep the same forum software for years with zero config changes, but with security updates. I know endless local groups. Bike clubs. Hobby groups. They still all run on forums and mailing lists. No ads. No tracking. No doom-scrolling or this and that. Cost? For many of them, a $5/month VM.
- inigyou 2mo ago
  You have to moderate it
  - debugnik 2mo ago
    Reddit mods are volunteers as well.
    - inigyou 2mo ago
      Reddit's system ends up giving them enough dopamine (somehow, probably related to how users get it) to do it for a while. Forums aren't as addictive.
      - nothercastle 2mo ago
        My forum mods loved the power they had as well seemed to work well. The real problem is money. Forums cost time and money to administer, Reddit is “free”. Those of us that ran the forums grew up and have better shit to do and spend money on
  - b112 2mo ago
    Seeing as people have been self-moderating some of these forums for more than 20 years, it's a solved, non-issue. Just because you're not familiar with this, doesn't mean it doesn't work. It's worked since the 70s with bulletin board systems. Yes, those required moderation too. Again, solved problem for community sites.
- graemep 2mo ago
  They are cheap to operate now. This is something governments and big tech will fix. As I said in another comment they are no longer as cheap to operate in the UK because of regulatory requirements, and this sort of regulation tends to get copied and extended around the world. All for the sake of the children, of course. How much will it cost with UGC requires age verification and round the clock moderation? When its a risk to do it without a company to shield you from liability?
inigyou 2mo ago
Some are alive, eg. LowEndTalk. They are not as general as Reddit.
- graemep 2mo ago
  They do not need to be. They are one of those things that governments and big tech do not like. They are too easy for just anyone to operate, so I think we can see more legislation aimed at making running forums harder or more expensive, like the Online Safety Act in the UK.
  - inigyou 2mo ago
    As programmers we assume we have to preemptively comply with every possible rule, which is a heavy burden, but I think in every case that isn't completely egregious (like 4chan) the government asks you nicely first. When I look at people with successful projects they only seem to be concerned with following the most obvious laws and the ones they have been warned about following. An exception is copyright law. Because of massive corporate pressure, you can go to jail quickly for sharing a copyrighted work. Fortunately there's still section 230 which immunizes intermediaries.
somat 2mo ago
And yet here we all are.
Melatonic 2mo ago
Subaru forums are all somehow going strong
numpad0 2mo ago
How did vBulletin/phpBB came to dominate the forum space in the English internet? To me, that seem like the source of a lot of problems for the forum culture and centralization into Reddit.
- cheschire 2mo ago
  I used to run a few forums. Did some work for SMF 1.x back in the day too. The thing that got vBulletin to succeed over UBB was themes and customizations/hooks. The thing that made phpBB popular was it didn’t require a license like vBulletin. Honorable mention is SMF. It replaced YaBB SE, was also free, but had an amazing mod system that didn’t require any manual file editing. And [Unknown] and his team did a great job on the database keeping it way more performant than phpBB was in the free space.
- nothercastle 2mo ago
  vBulletin Did a better job with security. PHPbb kept getting trashed by spammers but they were the primary tools at the time for self hosting. The ease of customization and the availability of skins made it a big selling point

samplatt 2mo ago

Just like with VR, you can keep on claiming forums are "dead" all you like. Me and all my friends will keep on using them daily. therearedozensofus.gif

soperj 2mo ago
"Good thing you're the majority of people, then." - samplatt [0] [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49002685 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49002685
- samplatt 2mo ago
  I was a hypocrite even writing that comment; my latest phone ALSO has an FM radio. Guess that reddit-quippiness infected me too much that day, sorry.
  - soperj 2mo ago
    I wish my phone had FM radio.
nothercastle 2mo ago
They are dead the same way newsgroups are dead. Some local communities survive some might even thrive but in aggregate more are lost than created

b112 2mo ago

Cost a lot to operate? apt-get install forum-software. All security updates with apt-get updates. Use something like Debian, and you keep the same forum software for years with zero config changes, but with security updates. I know endless local groups. Bike clubs. Hobby groups. They still all run on forums and mailing lists. No ads. No tracking. No doom-scrolling or this and that. Cost? For many of them, a $5/month VM.

inigyou 2mo ago
You have to moderate it
- debugnik 2mo ago
  Reddit mods are volunteers as well.
  - inigyou 2mo ago
    Reddit's system ends up giving them enough dopamine (somehow, probably related to how users get it) to do it for a while. Forums aren't as addictive.
    - nothercastle 2mo ago
      My forum mods loved the power they had as well seemed to work well. The real problem is money. Forums cost time and money to administer, Reddit is “free”. Those of us that ran the forums grew up and have better shit to do and spend money on
- b112 2mo ago
  Seeing as people have been self-moderating some of these forums for more than 20 years, it's a solved, non-issue. Just because you're not familiar with this, doesn't mean it doesn't work. It's worked since the 70s with bulletin board systems. Yes, those required moderation too. Again, solved problem for community sites.
graemep 2mo ago
They are cheap to operate now. This is something governments and big tech will fix. As I said in another comment they are no longer as cheap to operate in the UK because of regulatory requirements, and this sort of regulation tends to get copied and extended around the world. All for the sake of the children, of course. How much will it cost with UGC requires age verification and round the clock moderation? When its a risk to do it without a company to shield you from liability?

inigyou 2mo ago

Some are alive, eg. LowEndTalk. They are not as general as Reddit.

graemep 2mo ago
They do not need to be. They are one of those things that governments and big tech do not like. They are too easy for just anyone to operate, so I think we can see more legislation aimed at making running forums harder or more expensive, like the Online Safety Act in the UK.
- inigyou 2mo ago
  As programmers we assume we have to preemptively comply with every possible rule, which is a heavy burden, but I think in every case that isn't completely egregious (like 4chan) the government asks you nicely first. When I look at people with successful projects they only seem to be concerned with following the most obvious laws and the ones they have been warned about following. An exception is copyright law. Because of massive corporate pressure, you can go to jail quickly for sharing a copyrighted work. Fortunately there's still section 230 which immunizes intermediaries.

somat 2mo ago

And yet here we all are.

Melatonic 2mo ago

Subaru forums are all somehow going strong

numpad0 2mo ago

How did vBulletin/phpBB came to dominate the forum space in the English internet? To me, that seem like the source of a lot of problems for the forum culture and centralization into Reddit.

cheschire 2mo ago
I used to run a few forums. Did some work for SMF 1.x back in the day too. The thing that got vBulletin to succeed over UBB was themes and customizations/hooks. The thing that made phpBB popular was it didn’t require a license like vBulletin. Honorable mention is SMF. It replaced YaBB SE, was also free, but had an amazing mod system that didn’t require any manual file editing. And [Unknown] and his team did a great job on the database keeping it way more performant than phpBB was in the free space.
nothercastle 2mo ago
vBulletin Did a better job with security. PHPbb kept getting trashed by spammers but they were the primary tools at the time for self hosting. The ease of customization and the availability of skins made it a big selling point