Question for otseng about this site . . . . .

achilles12604 · Post by **achilles12604** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 8:27 am

Otseng - if it is not personal in nature would you tell us all how much it costs to create and maintain this site, everything included?

Post by **otseng** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:10 am

The forum software, phpbb, is free, so there is no license cost associated with that.

Web hosting runs $10 a month. And I place Google ads at $30 a month. So, total out of pocket is $40 a month.

I also have 6 domains pointing to this site, so that runs $54 a year.

I do get some money to offset this through ads and donations, but I still have a negative cash flow. But, I consider this site a personal ministry, so I treat it like I'm giving money to a worthy cause.

Vladd44 · Post by **Vladd44** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:05 pm

Noticed your comment about MySQL database connection errors on your blog.

Also noticed them when it happened.

If you ever want the option, I could give you hosting space/bw . I have plenty of space and bw left. I only use about 100 of 600gb of bw they allot to me.

And I still have about 30 gigs of space left as well.

VPS linux virtuozzo with plesk 8.0.

It would also eliminate $10 a month from your expense.

I also have another VPS I use that uses 3 of 100 gigs tranfer and about .5 of 10 gigs storage. It has some of the best anti DDOS protection out there. It is also VPS linux virtuozzo but no Plesk, it has an inhouse hosting control panel.

Both have full root access.

Post by **otseng** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 11:46 pm

Vladd44 wrote:I also have another VPS I use that uses 3 of 100 gigs tranfer and about .5 of 10 gigs storage. It has some of the best anti DDOS protection out there. It is also VPS linux virtuozzo but no Plesk, it has an inhouse hosting control panel.

Actually, this forum was hosted for a while on a VPS that another forum member provided for free. And it was only recently that I went to a paid hosting provider. The main reason was that I wanted 24x7 support when something went wrong. And I was willing to pay $10 a month in order to get that.

MrMalone · Post by **MrMalone** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:46 am

It's cool you have set up this discussion board. I'm curious how you feel the the mission and intended results of this ministry would be? Perhaps you just like to talk about God stuff?

There have been many, many forums that "discuss" Christianity, most to all of which become dominated with logic that works against Christianity except of course under heavily, heavily monitored discussion threads which really is simply the blind leading the blind.

It's good that folks like yourself have and in the future will continue to start up your own discussion threads because it will get more and more people talking about Christianity. I personally hope, as it did for me, that it will cause Christians to more critically evaluate their faith and cause them to let go of the various delusions Christianity presents as reality.

I know you are supremely confident that God will be faithful to you and this ministry and the seeking soul that needs to hear God in a manner that discussions like this can offer. I suspect probably a few that are confused or are on the brink of needing something and just need that extra push may lean to want to believe more. I suspect your Christian only threads and the heavily moderated ones can keep the cult alive.

I would predict, however, just as many Christian discussion forums in the past, that not only with faith be weakened for those willing to discuss and investigate Christianity, but that such threads or topics will be shut down due to the overwhelming sense that Christianity fails on so many levels of logic, history, philosophy, and sheer likeliness, that many will lean out of "revival hungry" faith.

Those that want or need their faith to be in tact, will make sure that they decide to believe what they believe no matter what. To be fair, that seems to go for both sides, but as far as terms of ministry, unless you have apologeticists on hand as resources, the average non-Christian or ex-Christian can easily take down the average Christian argument, except of course where the best answer is, "I just believe" as nobody can touch that.

That's how I see it, how do you see it?

(I just want to clarify that I love sites like this. Thank you for your work.)

Post by **otseng** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 12:12 pm

MrMalone wrote:It's cool you have set up this discussion board. I'm curious how you feel the the mission and intended results of this ministry would be? Perhaps you just like to talk about God stuff?

I wrote a little bit about why I started this forum here:
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... =7125#7125

There have been many, many forums that "discuss" Christianity, most to all of which become dominated with logic that works against Christianity except of course under heavily, heavily monitored discussion threads which really is simply the blind leading the blind.

I think the forum participants here can attest to the fact that threads are generally only shut down for lack of civility.

It's good that folks like yourself have and in the future will continue to start up your own discussion threads because it will get more and more people talking about Christianity. I personally hope, as it did for me, that it will cause Christians to more critically evaluate their faith and cause them to let go of the various delusions Christianity presents as reality.

There are certainly aspects of Christianity that needs to be critically examined and reevaluated.

I suspect your Christian only threads and the heavily moderated ones can keep the cult alive.

Your suspicions then would be unfounded.

I would predict, however, just as many Christian discussion forums in the past, that not only with faith be weakened for those willing to discuss and investigate Christianity, but that such threads or topics will be shut down due to the overwhelming sense that Christianity fails on so many levels of logic, history, philosophy, and sheer likeliness, that many will lean out of "revival hungry" faith.

Your prediction would also be false based on how this forum has operated since its inception over 3 years ago. You can ask any moderator, Christian or non-Christian, past or present, if this has been the case.

Those that want or need their faith to be in tact, will make sure that they decide to believe what they believe no matter what. To be fair, that seems to go for both sides, but as far as terms of ministry, unless you have apologeticists on hand as resources, the average non-Christian or ex-Christian can easily take down the average Christian argument, except of course where the best answer is, "I just believe" as nobody can touch that.

Yes, most people will remain on their own side no matter how logical and convincing the argument is.

(I just want to clarify that I love sites like this. Thank you for your work.)

Thank you for joining. And I look forward to engaging in debates with you. Perhaps I can persuade you to join our upcoming book debate on The God Delusion?