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Author Topic: The future of Ghacks (2018)  (Read 9302 times)

mouser

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The future of Ghacks (2018)
« on: March 23, 2018, 06:51 AM »
Martin Brinkmann over at ghacks.net has posted an essay about his site moving forward in 2018.  I've actually been appreciating ghacks more lately.  Definitely a site that should be in your bookmarks for daily reading and deserving of your support.

« Last Edit: March 23, 2018, 02:33 PM by mouser »

irkregent

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Re: The future of Ghacks (2018)
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2018, 01:27 PM »
Agreed, that's a great site.  It's one of my favorites in my stack of RSS feeds.

mouser

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Re: The future of Ghacks (2018)
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2018, 01:27 AM »
I just want to point out that Martin over at ghacks has been writing prodigiously lately -- ghacks is really covering the Windows software world well these days.  :up:

rgdot

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Re: The future of Ghacks (2018)
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2019, 12:47 PM »
Has been acquired by Softonic, Martin and all about the site will remain but site is now run by Softonic

wraith808

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Re: The future of Ghacks (2018)
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2019, 02:56 PM »
So I wonder if I cancel my patreon sub...?

From the patreon (I just don't keep up as much as I should)

Ghacks has a new owner, and that is a good for everyone

TLDR; Softonic acquired the site ghacks.net. I remain editor of the site and all writers remain on board. We have full editorial control over the content and articles will be published just like before. Ghacks remains Ghacks.

When I started Ghacks.net back in 2005 I never thought about the possibility that it could become a highly respected well visited technology news website. I wanted to share my findings and information, and it happened almost by accident that the site came to some popularity weeks after I set it up.

I quit my day job to start working on the site full-time in late 2006 and never looked back. Almost 15 years is a very long time for a site on the Internet, and especially once that is run by an individual without the backing of an organization or team.

I worked on the site seven days a week, even when I was on holiday, and stayed awake plenty of nights trying to figure out display errors and other site issues.

Fiddling around with technology was always my passion and writing about things that interested me came naturally. In the past couple of years, I noticed that administrative tasks would consume more and more of my time, sometimes more than writing and researching did. 

There were new regulations, e.g. the EU cookie law and GDPR that caused sleepless nights. The changing advertising landscape did not help either, and the desire grew to go back to the roots and focus my efforts on the researching and writing part again.

Softonic contacted me about a potential partnership and talks evolved quickly to a potential sale of the site with me and the other writers staying on as staff.  We came to terms quickly as Softonic met all my requirements for a sale of the site.

I remain editor on Ghacks and publish articles just like before. Ashwin and Mike continue to write articles for the site as well and everything in that regard stays just like before. We have full editorial control over the articles and you can expect the same level of quality, if not better..

Softonic takes over many of the administrative tasks including managing the domain and hosting, advertisement, and communication with partners.

It was not an easy decision but in the end, it was the right one. I can focus on what I want to do – write and fiddle around with tech – and Ghacks’ future is secured.

About Patreon

I would like to thank you for your support in the past years. It has not been easy to start asking for donations and your support ensured that I could pay the server using donation money.

Donations are not necessary anymore and the requests to donate are removed from the site as a consequence. I’m also going to close the Patreon account .

Again, I cannot thank you enough for your support over the years and I’m looking forward to supply you with great tech articles in the years to come on Ghacks.

You can send me an email any time at [email protected] and I try my best to get back to you as soon as possible. Your help was fundamental in keeping the site up on the Internet when other sites in the tech niche vanished or were not updated anymore.


Someone suggested keeping the patreon up for other things in relation to ghacks and he stated "[closing] it is part of the deal!".  He assured the person that asked that it wasn't anything nefarious, but I still have to wonder...
« Last Edit: October 07, 2019, 03:02 PM by wraith808 »

mouser

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Re: The future of Ghacks (2018)
« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2019, 03:21 PM »
Fascinating.. I wouldn't read anything into the closing of the patreon.  Maybe just softonic lawyers deciding it was necessary for some reason..
It's good to hear Martin can keep doing what he is good at, and leave the unfun stuff to someone else!