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Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 17:54:21 -0400
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Subject: Re: Bring back the distributors page!
From: Donald Whytock <dwhytock@gmail.com>
To: ooo-dev@incubator.apache.org
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Not a committer here, but I've been following the list, and have seen
much kvetching about pages containing outdated, inoperable and/or
fraudulent links to outside sites, and how much trouble it is to go
through them and clean out the trash.

It may be helpful to people who want to buy support services for OO,
but it's also a burden to the people who maintain the site, and little
to no burden at all to a service vendor who places a link on the site
and then goes out of business.

Starting with a clean page at this point would simply mean the problem
will come up again later.

I know this is introducing work, but I'd like to make a suggestion: a
distributor sign-up form that accepts a name, a link, an email address
and a text blurb.  Sign-ups get stored in a database and await review.
 The distributor page is either generated dynamically each time or is
re-generated every night, from the database entries that have been
reviewed and approved.

Sign-ups should have timestamps, and should only last for X amount of
time.  At X minus some reasonable Y, an email is sent to the address
in the sign-up advising them to renew.

This reduces the burden on ASF volunteers, doesn't unduly burden
distributors, and ensures users/buyers have timely information.

Though I still think this might be better in a user forum.

Don