(Pandagon is on the ExpressionEngine CMS platform, btw, in case anyone was wondering…)
NOTE: I was interviewed about the Soapblox hack a couple of days ago by Jeffrey Toobin of The New Yorker for the January 19th Talk of the Town column, It hits newsstands Monday. You can read it here.
In the days since the hacking of the blogging platform Soapblox’s server on which Pam’s House Blend, OpenLeft and many state blogs reside (my reporting here), there have been a lot of discussions around the blogosphere about the fate of the content management software and its hosting service (Soapblox provided both).
One development has been the launch of a “Save Soapblox” fundraising campaign on Friday by Chris Bowers of OpenLeft (administered through BlogPAC). BlogPAC was alreadly deeply involved with Soapblox, paying the service fees for most of the state blogs on the platform each year, so that existing relationship was in place. Donating to “the cause,” as defined in the DKos diary, is to deal with the short-term issue of migrating the data and making it secure.
—Recharge ten servers
—Perform a full security audit of the SoapBlox server/unix infrastructure to prevent hackers from gaining access
—Ensure all backup processes are working and functional to guarantee that if hacking happens, data is preserved
—Perform a security audit on the SoapBlox code itself so that hackers cannot exploit the SoapBlox code itself.
—Migrate to new, secure serversThe good news is that, in addition to restoring full service for Soapblox, Paul has already found a system administrator who lives in his area and is able to help. All of the work listed above is currently underway. Here is what it will cost:
—Recharging ten servers at $100 apiece: $1,000
—Purchasing new, secure severs, and migrating the data: $8,000
—One month of full-time work at $50 / hour in order to complete all of the tasks listed above: $8,400
A big caveat here—nothing about the above is a long-term solution for a to-date closed-source, run-on-a-shoestring by one person effort, and they know it. Evolving a business based on the programming savvy (and the health and well-being) of Soapblox owner Paul Preston is not a business plan, particularly in crisis management mode, and without transparency.
The question needs to be asked—what is in the best long-term interest of supporting the progressive blogosphere? More below the fold, and it’s about more than just one content management system and hosting service.