Original Link.

TMO forum started being part of maemo.org more than 3 years ago with funding from Nokia. Previously it was part of the web site Internet Tablet Talk, privately founded by Reggie Suplido and dedicated to the initial Nokia Maemo devices.

The Internet Tablet Talk first and TMO later, have been the glue for this amazing community that we have, providing an efficient way of communication between developers and end users, not just a place for discussion and comments.

Reggie has been the administrator and owner of forums since the very beginning, and thanks to him a lot has been accomplished. However, now that Nokia is stopping activities around Maemo and Meego, continuation of forums was at risk.

The cost of maintenance for current host solution was too expensive ($468/month) to be funded by the Hildon Foundation. Continuing in the same way was clearly difficult so migration to a cheaper solution was somehow mandatory.

Finally, Reggie has decided to donate the forum to the Hildon Foundation:

"I will be stepping down as the TMO administrator effective January 1, 2013. I have decided that I will be donating the database to the foundation."

"I saw my name mentioned in one of the board meetings about the possibility of becoming the admin of maemo.org. I appreciate the offer but I have to decline as of this time."

From the Hildon Foundation we want to thank Reggie for this contribution and for all the time and efforts he has shared with us.

Now we have different constraints that affect the migration of the server:

• Lack of funds to pay a new hosting service and a vBulletin license. Please donate!
• Man power to migrate and administrate the forums. Board and Council are conducting a survey to address it.
• Concerns about data privacy laws if we move the service from the U.S. to Europe.

Migrating to an OSS might be doable in the near future but at this point it could be very difficult to accomplish, as we lack resources and time. However, if anyone with the required knowledge is interested in starting such a project for migration, please contact with Council.

thanks for all the hard work, everyone. how do we donate?

Scan Me (I now work)
Link striaght to PayPal

Added donation link in first post.

FYI fixed the QR Code in post 3 to go straight to PayPal if you wish to use it elsewhere.
Like on HFO for example.

It's been some time since I've posted but I do read through posts still. I'd hate to see this resource go away. Already donated and wanted to wish luck in achieving the funding goal.

I wonder what those might be. A genuine question. I know there is for example a Data Protection Act in place in the UK which, if I understand it correctly (IANAL), states that an organization cannot keep your personal data for longer than 6 moths (which is why my Blockbusters card expired and some headhunters keep calling me every 6 months just to keep my account alive). Is this the kind of thing you have in mind?

i'd like to donate, but i won't touch PayPal with a ten foot pole. is there a more acceptable way?

i, too, like to know what that refers to.
common opinion in this part of the world is, that privacy laws in the US are not much to write home about

I believe that's the issue. Transferring user information to/from parties (eg from Reggie to Board) can be a royal nightmare because of the privacy laws in the EU.

In some cases/countries the laws have special requirements when moving from one service provider to another, even if the data in question is overseen by the same legal entity. So changing from one host service to another could trigger this all over again if we need to hop severs 6, 12, or 18 months down the road. The fact that the US lacks such rigid laws in this case would be a plus, because it allows for easier transfer from one host/operator to another in the event it needs to happen again.

The worry isn't that the laws will allow the spread of user information; the general morality and make-up of the Board, Council, and community volunteers should prevent that. The issue is when countries have such strict laws "for the user's safety", it can become a challenge to move or continue a service without making it a huge hassle for everyone involved (as the "Block Buster" example above shows).

As it stands, after the move right now there's a good chance that lots of personal information will be purged from the database because of current laws. We'll likely have account names, and their current hashed passwords. That means people will need to go back in and re-enter their e-mail address, avatar/icons, and the like after logging in on the new server. Forgot your password and want to use e-mail to validate? To bad, that's gone... Forgot to reset that after the change & need it 2 months later? Oops... We need to move the server again in 6 months because of budget concerns? Let's do all that over again!

So, you need a US host. Is this a problem? US hosts are often quite cheap, and with paypal, you should be able to pay for it from outside the US. If they need a real US address, I'm sure there's a T.MO member who'd be willing to support us that way.

Edit:
also, in a few months when I get my home fiber connection, I'd like to offer up server space & bandwidth towards hosting whatever's needed - be a mirror for the Tablet images or something.

I've also donated $10 in the near term, because I have a job and /can/.