
Rackspace to discontinue discounted services for open source projects - Sir_Cmpwn
https://twitter.com/ericholscher/status/920396452307668992
======
davidkuhta
PSA for others potentially looking for an off-the-rack solution, here were
some of the companies mentioned:

 _Netlify_ \- See CTO comment above/below [https://www.netlify.com/open-
source/](https://www.netlify.com/open-source/) [Kubernetes, Docker, React]

 _BlueHost_ \- [https://www.bluehost.com/open-
source](https://www.bluehost.com/open-source) [Wordpress, Joomla!, Drupal,
phpBB, among 80 others]

 _Linode_ \-
[https://www.linode.com/sponsorships](https://www.linode.com/sponsorships) [23
companies listed]

 _UpCloud_
[https://www.upcloud.com/pricelist/](https://www.upcloud.com/pricelist/)
(Didn't see an explicit mention of open source projects, but 'Custom' plans
exist)

 _Oregon State University Open Source Lab_ \-
[http://osuosl.org/](http://osuosl.org/) [Apache Software Foundation, the
Linux Foundation and Drupal]

 _OVH_ \-
[https://www.ovh.com/us/hosting.xml](https://www.ovh.com/us/hosting.xml)
(Didn't see an explicit mention of open source projects)

 _DigitalOcean_ \- [https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/is-
there-a-...](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/is-there-a-
discount-promo-for-non-profit-organizations-or-charities)

 _vexxhost_ \- [https://vexxhost.com/](https://vexxhost.com/) (Didn't see an
explicit mention of open source projects)

Disclaimer: I'm not commercially affiliated with an of these (nor are any of
the links 'sponsored'), although I have utilized some of these companies for
hosting.

------
calavera
Hi, CTO of Netlify here,

let us know if you need any help moving out docs, websites or any other web
property from there, we'll be super happy to help. Projects like Kubernetes,
Docker and React are already using our free offering for Open Source.

~~~
masklinn
FWIW ReadTheDocs is probably looking for a new host, though they're a…
substantial system:

[https://readthedocs.org/sustainability/](https://readthedocs.org/sustainability/)

> Serve over 20 million pages of documentation a month

> Have 10 servers and serve over 2 TB of documentation a month

> Host over 18,000 projects and support 25,000 users

> Are supported by two dedicated engineers

~~~
agj
Correct, Read the Docs isn't going away, and maintainers certainly don't need
to worry about moving their documentation. We'll just be switching hosts
before the end of the year.

We actually got hints of the fact that Rackspace was axing their F/OSS program
back in May, and have been slowly prodding folks in the Python community about
sponsoring hosting since then. Rackspace never confirmed if/when the program
was going away, but we were anticipating this since their acquisition.

------
ramereth
Director of the OSUOSL here.

We can certainly help as many projects as we can that are impacted by this.
Situations like this is why we are still important today despite all the in-
kind public cloud services projects can get. We provide a neutral hosting
environment supported by various sponsorships (we can always use more!)

------
moocowtruck
things must be getting bad at rackspace

~~~
pm90
Yep. Luckily I left before the acquisition. Every single person in my (ex) 11
person team left for other opportunities, including managers. And it was a
pretty awesome team :(.

Even the best recruiters left. I mean come on.

They're trying to be a support company for other cloud providers. I'm sure
there is a market for that kind of service but not sure how much margin there
is to be made.

I keep saying this but: if your company has been acquired by private equity
firms, consider moving asap. Most of these firms will strip the company bare,
cut expenses to the bone and try to sell the company to someone else for a
profit. While this strategy may work very well for traditional manufacturing
firms, I'm highly skeptical of software/tech companies.

Its a real shame. Rackspace had some of the best systems engineers I had
worked with...

~~~
Chaebixi
> Most of these firms will strip the company bare, cut expenses to the bone
> and try to sell the company to someone else for a profit. While this
> strategy may work very well for traditional manufacturing firms, I'm highly
> skeptical of software/tech companies.

I don't think it works well for any industry. My understanding is private
equity has a really bad track record of ruining the long term future of the
business it touches. They're just skilled at getting the cash out and selling
the business to a chump before things get bad.

~~~
ubernostrum
I don't think the parent comment disagrees with you on the effect private
equity has on the targeted company.

I think the question they were asking was whether a primarily tech company can
produce the profits the private equity wants from destroying the company,
since tech companies don't have the kinds of assets that, say, a manufacturer
does (factories, tools, etc.).

~~~
rpedela
If Rackspace has a decent patent portfolio, then that would be just as
valuable as factories, tools, etc if not more valuable.

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fniephaus
Are there any good comparable alternatives?

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zeveb
For some reason I'm reminded of [https://steveblank.com/2009/12/21/the-elves-
leave-middle-ear...](https://steveblank.com/2009/12/21/the-elves-leave-middle-
earth-%E2%80%93-soda%E2%80%99s-are-no-longer-free/)

------
kapauldo
How is Rackspace still in business?

