Hi, This is my first time writing to the list. I've noticed that the www.lyx.organd wiki.lyx.org websites are often down. I've done some searching on this list and the developers list and the most common response to reports of "the website is down" is: "It's back up now". I'm very curious why this happens. I don't know much at all about servers. Is it because of increased traffic? Is it because LyX does not get enough donations?
This might not seem like a big deal, but I am writing this email to tell a quick story. There is a new edition of a book being planned and the author is going to make her Scientific Word slides available for teachers. I wrote a very detailed email about how it would be nice if she provided LyX slides and how LyX is multi-platform and that many teachers are starting to use it and a few of the advantages that LyX offers over Scientific Word. I received a surprisingly enthusiastic reply from her along the lines of "Sounds great! I'm convinced. I'll check it out." I just received another reply from her saying "The website is down. I'm sorry but I don't have time to look into this." The email I wrote lost all credibility. I'm sure that she was thinking "This software must not be as great as Jeremy said if the website doesn't even work". In any case, it's not that big of a deal, but a website that is not consistent is a signal to a lot of people. I think it is reasonable to think "The website is not reliable. Why should I think that the software is?" Would donations help or is this a different problem? What is the problem, if I may ask? Or do we not know? I'm not a developer nor a donator so I have no right to demand anything, but I just wanted to make it known that an unreliable website does scare users away. Highest Regards and thanks for this excellent software! You guys are really great!!! And you make my life a lot easier and fun! JJ
