Re: [libreplanet-discuss] helping newcomers start blogs - but where?

[Thadeu Lima de Souza Cascardo]

On Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 08:24:34PM +0200, Daniel Pocock wrote:
> On 17/08/17 20:17, Thadeu Lima de Souza Cascardo wrote:
> > On Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 07:52:51PM +0200, Daniel Pocock wrote:
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> blogger.com and wordpress are well known platforms for people to create
> >> free blogs.  Github pages have also become popular with developers 
> >> recently.
> >>
> >> What are the recommended alternatives for people who want to adhere to a
> >> more free / libre approach?
> >>
> >> In particular, I'm looking for solutions I can recommend to students
> >> getting into Outreachy and GSoC.  They often have a lot of things to
> >> think about at the start of their project and need to start blogging
> >> quite quickly.
> >>
> >> For now, I'm tempted to recommend github pages with Jekyll static
> >> content generation because at least the git repository (and full
> >> history) behind these sites can be easily migrated to any other hosting
> >> platform.  Are there other alternatives people recommend?
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >>
> >> Daniel
> > I love ikiwiki, and there is branchable [1].
> >
> > [1] https://www.branchable.com/
> 
> The fees there - $9.99 per month - are actually quite expensive in some
> of the countries where we attract students and interns
> 
> I'm going to a hackathon event this weekend where there will be 25
> students and it would be great if all 25 start a blog but if they need
> to get out their credit card, I suspect some will be reluctant to try it.
> 
> Are there similar options without cost?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Daniel

Well, at least I am glad cost is the first issue you have with using
branchable.com. There is ikiwiki-hosting at Debian, so setting up
something that allows all those 25 to use a single cheap VPS host should
not be a year's work. I have no idea how simple it is, but I understand
you don't have time for that, and it's something that you need to be
maintained and involve some money cost.

Still, there is the first free month, and then you can test how the
migration really works out.

Also, http://www.branchable.com/news/free_hosting_for_Free_Software/.

The other way of thinking about it is: what is the sustaining model for
a "free" hosting?

Cascardo.