OSDev.org

The osdever.net domain seems to have expired. At this point the register didn't actually drop the name, instead they converted it over to using different DNS servers which point osdever.net to a page of just ad spam. I sent an email to the whois contact and tried to contact the osdever.net admins on IRC. If anyone has a non-osdever.net email address for the admins you might want to give them a shout.

I've created a temporary mirror of the site. http://files.osdev.org/mirrors/osdever/ I used wget and converted the php output to static html files so most of the pages should still work. Some of the content already had broken URLs but if you want to point out anything that is missing I can take a look. We aren't looking to integrate the content with osdev.org at this point, we need to hear from the guys at osdever before talking about that. It's possible this is just a temporary thing.

The website itself is still up at this point so if you want to snag anything just edit your hosts file:

I do believe "Cody Mays" is the person responsible, http://www.codymays.net/contact/ has a contact email..

Whois records provide a phone number and another email address: crxgames AT gmail DOT com

He hasn't updated his website since last year though...

I'm pretty sure the osdever guys aren't interested in it any more. If that wern't the case the site would have been update at least once within the last year.

I asked Cody Mays not to long ago if they still were looking for updaters for the site and he said yes, so I don't think they have lost hope in the site.

Hey guys,
I'm working on getting it renewed. The domain was never transferred to me, so I'm currently hunting down xsism. I'll keep you all posted.

01000101 wrote:I asked Cody Mays not to long ago if they still were looking for updaters for the site and he said yes, so I don't think they have lost hope in the site.

Yeah, we are slowly working on a wiki. Basically, all that's left is moving some of the articles over. If someone wants to volunteer, feel free to pm me.

Why hunt him down? Can't you just go to Network Solutions and buy it now?

bewing wrote:Why hunt him down? Can't you just go to Network Solutions and buy it now?

Technically when a domain "expires" the registar holds onto it for a brief period of time allowing you the chance to renew.

Warning: Long rant about how the dns biz works now.

bewing wrote:Why hunt him down? Can't you just go to Network Solutions and buy it now?

Domain names don't usually work like that anymore. It used to be that after expiration a name would go into a pending delete state for 5 days and on the 6th day it would be released. Now what happens is the register almost always automatically renews the domain for themselves. Some registers give you a buy back period. Usually it's something like within 30 days the original owner can buy the domain for a pretty reasonable price (called a grace periord). 30-90 days after expiration the original owner can buy back the domain name for $100-$200 dollars (they call this an extended grace period). While the name was under the grace period the register typically uses it to serve ads. However there is no guaranty that there is any grace period at all. On a domain by domain basis the register can skip the grace period.

After a grace period (if any) the register may decide to keep using it to server up ads or typically they have, or partner with, a name dropping service. Which means they auction off the domain name to the highest bidder. Sometimes instead of an auction it may be given to someone who has back ordered the domain name. There are several places to back order a domain name and you have to know which one partners with the original register to stand any chance of getting it. If you backorder the domain with the wrong back order company you are basically waiting until the domain really drops. Most of the back order companies allow multiple people to back order the same domain. In that cases the domain name is automatically auctioned off. Sometimes the auction is limited to people that back ordered the domain and sometimes it is open to the public.

If the domain actually does expire it is likely that it will be automatically registered with a domain tasting company. Basically they register the name and server up ads for a couple of days. If the domain will make them more than the cost of registering it then they keep it. Otherwise the domain is "returned" and the tasting company doesn't have to pay anything. Sometimes a company just keeps tasting the same domain over and over, effectively keeping the domain registered without ever having to actually pay for it.

In the case of osdever.net Brenden (xsism) got to renew it because the register decided to do a grace period.

Moved the mirror to a different directory, it is now at http://files.osdev.org/mirrors/osdever/

chase wrote:Moved the mirror to a different directory, it is now at http://files.osdev.org/mirrors/osdever/

Might want to update the robots.txt file to reflect those changes.

Doh! Fixed forever now.

Hmm, osdever.net seems to be working for me....
However, if it ever DOES go down, I'll know where to look

souradipm wrote:Hmm, osdever.net seems to be working for me....
However, if it ever DOES go down, I'll know where to look

The point here is it "did" go down, for quite some time...

I'll be updating the site and cleaning it up soon. See the www.osdever.net front page for more details.

Note to Chase, good job holding up the osdev fort. You've done an excellent job at helping knowledge geeks find the information they need to have fun with low-level code.

That's good news,

Good luck.