Mild Criticism

[Edward]

It is probably advertising that has allowed the entire internet to be free, let alone any single site.

No probably about it. The culture of the internet is that everyone wants everything for free... sites have to make the money to keep going somehow. As a non-commercial venture, we can be sure that the FL's motivation is purely funding, rather than any [insert web-based company you despise]-style information grab. This place is genuinely one of the few places left online which is an exception to the rule that if you do not pay, you are the product.

 

[Gregg Axley]

I don't see the ads, or I log in so quickly I miss them.
If I could fund the Lounge entirely for a year, I'd gladly do that.
But I can't, plain and simple.
I'm on another board that has had private doners to support it, because the board is religious, and they feel the message needs to get out there to anyone and everyone that will read it. The cost is great, but the amount of service it provides cannot be calculated. Same with the Lounge. Nathan knows the cost, but there is no way to calculate the service (and entertainment for some of us) it provides. If advertising has to be used to keep this going, so be it.