openAdmin
08-19-2009, 07:11 PM
URL shortening service Tr.im (http://tr.im/), has exasperated many recently by taking the company in a zillion different paths. After a failed attempt to sell tr.im, it announced that it was shutting down the service, and then it was back up in a renewed selling attempt. Now the parent company, Nambu Networks says it wants to take the open source route with tr.im.
Eric Woodward, president of Nambu Network (http://nambu.com/), apologised (http://blog.tr.im/post/165049236/tr-im-to-be-community-owned#disqus_thread) to tr.im users for the confusion, but blamed Tr.im ‘s dilemma on Twitter’s decision for picking Bit.ly (http://www.bitly.us/)over Tr.im as its URL shortener of choice
Woodward said that tr.im had no hope of challenging bit.ly's superior market share.
"It is my personal opinion, after last week, that the use of URL shorteners needs to transition into the public domain, or the need for them within social networks such as Twitter and Facebook needs to be eliminated," Woodward said.
"But by so clearly favouring the URL shortener bit.ly, Twitter is able to control this flow of shared link data (http://www.pcmag.co.uk/v3/news/2248031/tr-im-becomes-first-open-source##) in a way that it would not otherwise be able to.
Currently, no one outside the chosen few can access this data, and that is just not right."
Woodward also exposed bit.ly’s offer to buy tr.im for $10,000 (£6,000) which he said he rejected.
Woodward's blog post was not well received judging by the comments it has provoked. Many have interpreted Woodward’s blog as bitter, whiny and accusatory.
"I understand why some people see it as bitter, but it really is not. I see it as a reality that must be faced. As I have said, I don't see it as a personal exclusion at all, but it is an exclusion nonetheless," he explained.
Woodward added that he would personally guarantee any shortfall in tr.im's operating expenses on an indefinite basis. He also said that tr.im would begin publishing all statistics and information related to its use, such as operating cash flow, redirects and URL creation counts, "so that the community can have confidence that it is on a solid footing". He is looking for donations to tr.im in order to help meet operating expenses.
Eric Woodward, president of Nambu Network (http://nambu.com/), apologised (http://blog.tr.im/post/165049236/tr-im-to-be-community-owned#disqus_thread) to tr.im users for the confusion, but blamed Tr.im ‘s dilemma on Twitter’s decision for picking Bit.ly (http://www.bitly.us/)over Tr.im as its URL shortener of choice
Woodward said that tr.im had no hope of challenging bit.ly's superior market share.
"It is my personal opinion, after last week, that the use of URL shorteners needs to transition into the public domain, or the need for them within social networks such as Twitter and Facebook needs to be eliminated," Woodward said.
"But by so clearly favouring the URL shortener bit.ly, Twitter is able to control this flow of shared link data (http://www.pcmag.co.uk/v3/news/2248031/tr-im-becomes-first-open-source##) in a way that it would not otherwise be able to.
Currently, no one outside the chosen few can access this data, and that is just not right."
Woodward also exposed bit.ly’s offer to buy tr.im for $10,000 (£6,000) which he said he rejected.
Woodward's blog post was not well received judging by the comments it has provoked. Many have interpreted Woodward’s blog as bitter, whiny and accusatory.
"I understand why some people see it as bitter, but it really is not. I see it as a reality that must be faced. As I have said, I don't see it as a personal exclusion at all, but it is an exclusion nonetheless," he explained.
Woodward added that he would personally guarantee any shortfall in tr.im's operating expenses on an indefinite basis. He also said that tr.im would begin publishing all statistics and information related to its use, such as operating cash flow, redirects and URL creation counts, "so that the community can have confidence that it is on a solid footing". He is looking for donations to tr.im in order to help meet operating expenses.