folkinfo.org expiring

Subject: folkinfo.org expiring
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Jul 25 - 08:46 AM

I've always thought that folkinfo.org is what Mudcat ought to be, but never quite became. Jon Freeman took the lead and hosted folkinfo.org, and it was wonderful but took a lot of work to maintain. When it was about to expire, I offered to host folkinfo.org at my Website. But now my Website is expiring (in July 2027), and the prices to renew it are outrageous and I think I'd like to let it expire. It's available at archive.org, but is that enough? Advice requested.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160719172836/https://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/index.html

Subject: RE: folkinfo.org expiring
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 19 Jul 25 - 09:57 AM

I haven't seen it for years & had forgotten about it (sorry Jon & Joe!)

Subject: RE: folkinfo.org expiring
From: cnd
Date: 19 Jul 25 - 10:21 AM

Joe, I have a website hosted on github, and the process is totally free if you're below a certain threshold of data hosted -- can't recall the exact numbers, but if it's just html files you're hosting you'll likely be below it. You could always break "your" website up into multiple accounts, with one website just folkinfo, one website your website, etc.

Subject: RE: folkinfo.org expiring
From: DaveRo
Date: 19 Jul 25 - 10:37 AM

I see that folkinfo is here
http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/
and that registration expires in July 2027. Are you stopping the web hosting earlier than that?

folkinfo seems to be a static website, i.e. a large collection of webpages. I suggest you zip up the folkinfo part, post a download link, and encourage people to keep their own copy and host it if they have a suitable site. That way it's likely to survive. (More likely than archive.org the way publishers and others are going after it.)

I see lots of people beavering away at collections of tunes in ABC format and wonder what's going to happen to it all once they fall ill or die. It could do with a folk archive site run by a trust.

Subject: RE: folkinfo.org expiring
From: DaveRo
Date: 19 Jul 25 - 11:07 AM

Yes, github pages is a good idea. I use it to host, for example, the Simple linkifier.

GitHub Pages limits

If the github account were 'folkinfo' the site would be 'folkinfo.github.io. You might eventually pass that account to someone else.

Github is owned by Microsoft who could of course discontinue it at any time. Remember Skype? But that's true of any hosting organisation.

Subject: RE: folkinfo.org expiring
From: Reinhard
Date: 19 Jul 25 - 11:36 AM

I'm just testing what I can do. Try my new Folkinfo copy at Mainly Norfolk.

Check e.g. the discussion of Barbara Allen. The links 'Database entry is here' in the 27 Feb 03 02:15 pm post and 'That version was similar to this one' in the 14 Mar 12 08:36 pm post work again.

I'm not sure what the link 'See also Barbry Ellen' in the 27 Feb 03 03:36 pm post to a script forum/topic.php should do.

Subject: RE: folkinfo.org expiring
From: DaveRo
Date: 20 Jul 25 - 05:26 AM

My guess is that those links were to the digitrad database as it was in 2003 when the comments were posted. Note the similarity in the URL
https://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=196
Song 196 is no longer Barbara Allen but it might have been back then.

Jon was working on the DT database in 2022:
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=171470
We subsequently had an email discussion about playing ABCs, songs missing from the Mudcat version of DT, and Songwrite files.