PSA: The Importance of Backup, Golden Parachutes, and Don't Panic

[fourzoas]

So the big news on my F-List today regards the announcement that SUP (LJ's owner) has laid off a significant portion of its US support workforce. I gather that the general concern is for a decrease in support for the platform, which I think is valid.

I thought I'd make a post to gather up some links for my own future reference and that might be of use to some of you.



The Importance of Getting Your Back(up)

There are a couple of clients that make it easy to backup your LJ--with comments, even!

I've just downloaded and tested ljArchive (Windows). The link takes you to the SourceForge download page. I just downloaded the .exe file, installed, and it seems to work fine on my Vista machine. YMMV.

Another option is LJBook--this is a web-based site that compiles your LJ into a pdf using LaTeX. The drawback? Well, I've tried to make a book today, and the site is overloaded with people doing the same thing. I do think I've done one of these in the past, though, and it never hurts to have another backup--just know you may have to wait a while to get it.

I don't know about Macs; one of my buds suggested MacJournal, which appears to be a journaling program that will download posts for you, but I can't say that it's good or worthwhile since I don't have a Mac.

It's a good idea to backup your stuff regardless and I encourage you to do so in whatever way you find comfortable.

Golden Parachutes

If you decide to bail on LJ (which I'm not even remotely considering at this point), there are a couple of clones you may consider:

DeadJournal
InsaneJournal

They're built on the same platform as LJ, but veered off into their own parallel worlds ages ago. I'm actually considering just generating accounts for my main LJ spaces to hold in reserve, but I'm not jumping ship.

Don't Panic

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm not going nuts over this. Yes, I'm concerned, and I've already made my backups; I needed to do that anyway, and I'm glad that this kerfuffle has given me reason to do so. But I'm not going to freak out until I really see the need to freak.



ETA: A post on no_lj_ads regarding the layoffs

ETA 2: Backing up your LJ (Windows)

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I've downloaded ljArchive, but not installed it yet (will do so once I've finished work for the day).

I've got another journal at Greatest Journal, but haven't posted anything there for over a year! However, now might be a good time!

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

Well, like I said, I'm pretty mellow about it all.

I had forgotten about GreatestJournal--thanks for reminding me! *heads over to peek*

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Welcome!

I've got a journalfen account too, I believe - must look for my login details!

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

I tried to get an account there ages ago (journalfen), but it appears to be closed to new members?

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I think only members with paid accounts can get you a free one (that's what happened with me, anyway). Alas, mine is a free account, so I can't help. (Will check how much a paid account costs, though...)

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't do that on my account! I'm just glad to know what the deal is with the membership there.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Oh - I just meant I'd check the price in case of LJ becoming untenable (a 6 month basic a/c is $15).

[supremelurker.livejournal.com]

This must suck for those that just bought the permanent accounts that were advertised during the holidays.

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

Yes, I believe it does, although we get some dust up like this fairly regularly (every year-ish or so).

[jinxed-wood.livejournal.com]

About two years ago, the vast majority of my list opened both a greatestjournal and an insanejournal. Since then, most of them have seemed to have gravitated towards insanejournal as their backup (It's always my first port of call when LJ is down!)

I'm still waiting for the OTW to finish their beta phase for their archive (and add the journal platform they mentioned at the beginning)

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

I think I'm just going to grab my username and wait to see what happens. I just looked at greatestjournal, but the main page looks fairly unkempt.

[supremelurker.livejournal.com]

Haha, greastestjournal sent me to insanejournal.

[syien_island]

Soooo, I take it insanejournal might be the way to go for a backup?

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

It seems to be the most likely candidate for our "demographic" to shift to in the (highly unlikely) event that LJ eats itself.

As for backup, I'd recommend one of the options that actually creates a backup file for your journal that you save on your own computer.

[syien_island]

I see. You did mention Archive. Thank you!