I propose that we shut Grex down permanently.

Usage has declined significantly, and no one is
maintaining it.  There are other spaces online that
have grown to subsume its original mission.  The
non-profit behind it has been defunct for 7 years.

My suggestion is that we state publicly that it'll
be taken down, then give folks six months or so to
login and get whatever data they want to keep.  At
the end of that, we have an online party where we
shut it down for the last time.

We hang on to the domain names for another six
months or so, and then sell them; in accordance
with the bylaws, we donate the proceeds and whatever
money is in the PayPal account to charity.

Thoughts?

18 responses total.

    I would be sad to see it go but I understand that there
are costs associated with Grex on-line.  If we have to say
goodbye, a managed shutdown is a better fate than some other
places experience.

I agree with ball.

I too would be sad to see it go, but understand the costs
involved and agree with ball.

Shut it down; everything ends eventually, even industrial civilization.

Just some thoughts:

I think the few of us who are still around understand that the
decommissioning of Grex is inevitable, but looking at the situation from
the opposite perspective, what would be necessary to evit the end of Grex?

  - More active users. Could that be achieved, how, and at what cost?

  - Time and money to maintain the server, network connection, etc. What do
the current maintainers think of decommissioning?

I think Dan is just about the last remaining active staff member. If he says
it's time to shut down . . .

I think six months to get the files you want is reasonable.

As for what to do with the money, I lean towards either Food Gatherers or the
American Red Cross. If the latter, I'd be inclined to say, "In memory of Rane
Curl."

I'd also add Jan Wolter to that.

I agree with the proposal. Grex had a great run but time has passed it by and
shutting it down gracefully seems appropriate.

I agree with the proposal too.

For the procrastinators among us:  when will a hard date be set & 
announced?

Sad to see it pass into history, but if it is time...

Sorry, I thought it had been announced.

Grex will be shut down for good on April 15, 2023.

Thanks for the announcement.

And thanks for keeping Grex going these last few years.

Pay your taxes and watch Grex die.  Nice.
  ;)

Isn't grex in Todd P's basement on a VM along with m-net? Has anyone spoken
with Tony Publiski? What's next, precious m-net?

I read the lore on the split between M-Net and Grex back in the day. Ironic
if they've ended up co-hosted on the same machine.

The last I heard they were on the same machine down in Tony's basement. he
was doing all the upkeep at that time. I formally protest the decommisioning
of grex..where else could I go for my granola?

I found and logged into Grex in the mid-90s while I was still a teenager. I'm
sad to see it go and will always have a fond memory of it. Thank you to the
staff and people I have interacted with along the  way.

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