RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] several items concerning the archives.

There is a web forum software that I like. It is presently in use across
the net. It is called vbulletin.

I first found it through my involvement with FIRST Robotics. You can see it
at http://www.chiefdelphi.com Here is a link to the vendor:
http://www.vbulletin.com/

It would probably only cost a few thousand dollars to set up a capable
server with RAID, a fast CPU and this software. After the hardware, there
is the cost of the software licenses (Less than $500 ) and the expertise to
set it up. I am guessing that the company that does our linux work would
probably charge reasonably to set this up. There may even be someone in the
group that is doing this presently.

As a business model, I would consider hosting the group or archive on a
dedicated box and T1 however it would have to make financial sense - at
least cover its own. Note, I said I would consider. I am not rushing into
any new projects at this time as I have a full time business of my own
(http://www.ica.com) Nor am I looking to get rich off the group. I have
been in business 20 years. I am not looking for another worthy cause. I
just want to see the group continue and I would like to get rid of the ads
and commercial aspects. The venture would have to cover its own costs, etc.

I'm not sure that folks would be willing to pay a small amount a year for
this to happen. That is probably why the list remains at Yahoo.

Any way, the next forum that I set up for clients will be using the
vbulletin package.

Just my thoughts.

-Eric Mack