Tux Machines

Open source software host Fosshost shutting down as CEO unreachable (UPDATED)

Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 04, 2022,

updated Dec 07, 2022

today's leftovers

Best Steam Deck Games Released in the Past Week - 2022-12-05 Edition

↺ Fosshost

The vague notice and the tweet generated much confusion among the community members who were unable to understand the real reason behind Fosshost's shut down.

"We are unable to pay for co-location costs, and that's why our servers will go offline as [Thomas Markey our CEO is unreachable," a purported Fosshost volunteer is seen commenting on a YCombinator Hacker News post.

The commentator suggests that Markey, who has been unresponsive over the past six months, is the only person with access to bank accounts with funds required to operate Fosshost.

It is worth noting that Fosshost is a Community Interest Company (CIC) formally registered with Companies House, England. As such, its management is still responsible for filing annual regulatory paperwork. Failing this, Fosshost, like any other incorporated organization, could be stricken off from the companies register with additional penalties incurred for the directors.

BleepingComputer has approached both Fosshost and Markey in advance for comment.

Read on

↺ Read On: Bleeping Computer

UPDATE

Fosshost, an Open-Source Project Hosting, Is Closing Down as Its Leader Disappeared

↺ Fosshost, an Open-Source Project Hosting, Is Closing Down as Its Leader Disappeared

> Volunteers of the open-source project hosting Fosshost, whose services are used by GNOME, Armbian and Debian, and the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), have announced the imminent closure.

> The fact is that the head of the project, Thomas Markey, did not get in touch for more than six months, but only he had access to bank accounts and infrastructure

> [...]

> Shortly after this post was posted, YCombinator Hacker News got a clarification from one of the project’s supposed volunteers. He writes that Fosshost’s problems arose due to the sudden disappearance of the head of the project, Thomas Markey. It turned out that Marky had not been in contact for about six months, and he was the only person who had access to the bank accounts necessary for the work of the host.

gemini.tuxmachines.org