The end of season brings thoughts again about the future of my website, which you might know has been on my mind for many years. Back in 2017 I made an effort to seek a successor (it even made the local papers), but there were no takers. The more I've thought about it since then, the more I realise that it's a huge ask, and I can see very few realistic options. But equally, Steve Dean won't last forever.
So I have made a decision, and the only way to settle the matter in my head is to make it public. GoS has just seen the end of its 22nd full season, and I will aim for 25 and then stop. Not only does that seem like a good number, but, all being well, I'll be 72, an age when GoS will be far from the exciting hobby of the early days and much more like a ball and chain.
What will happen then? Unless an unexpected solution comes forth, I'll freeze the site but continue to pay the annual fees to the hosting provider for as long as I can, so it will still be available on the internet as a reference for 138 years of Argyle. But sadly, only 138. No more matches, no new players, no further updates of any form.
Why am I giving three seasons' notice? Perhaps I still hold out hope that a rescuer will come riding over the horizon, but I can't stress enough how enormous the job will be for that person (or group), and that three years to learn the data, code, processes and the underlying technology that I've moulded over 22 years is not that daft. Needless to say, no one will be more delighted than me if a serious commitment emerges. More realistically, I want to use the remaining time to tidy up a great deal within the site, to reduce it down to what I think will be worth freezing (mostly GoS-DB and history of the club), and even to improve matters, such as attempting to finish the history chapters and add to the team photo collection.
Whatever happens, it won't be for a while, but having thought about it for some years, I now feel the time has come to make a decision. Not good news and I'm sorry about that, but I hope you understand.
So I have made a decision, and the only way to settle the matter in my head is to make it public. GoS has just seen the end of its 22nd full season, and I will aim for 25 and then stop. Not only does that seem like a good number, but, all being well, I'll be 72, an age when GoS will be far from the exciting hobby of the early days and much more like a ball and chain.
What will happen then? Unless an unexpected solution comes forth, I'll freeze the site but continue to pay the annual fees to the hosting provider for as long as I can, so it will still be available on the internet as a reference for 138 years of Argyle. But sadly, only 138. No more matches, no new players, no further updates of any form.
Why am I giving three seasons' notice? Perhaps I still hold out hope that a rescuer will come riding over the horizon, but I can't stress enough how enormous the job will be for that person (or group), and that three years to learn the data, code, processes and the underlying technology that I've moulded over 22 years is not that daft. Needless to say, no one will be more delighted than me if a serious commitment emerges. More realistically, I want to use the remaining time to tidy up a great deal within the site, to reduce it down to what I think will be worth freezing (mostly GoS-DB and history of the club), and even to improve matters, such as attempting to finish the history chapters and add to the team photo collection.
Whatever happens, it won't be for a while, but having thought about it for some years, I now feel the time has come to make a decision. Not good news and I'm sorry about that, but I hope you understand.
