<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><!DOCTYPE article  PUBLIC '-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN'  'http://www.docbook.org/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd'><article><articleinfo><title>OurHistory</title><revhistory><revision><revnumber>9</revnumber><date>2008-07-07 04:28:16</date><authorinitials>localhost</authorinitials><revremark>converted to 1.6 markup</revremark></revision><revision><revnumber>8</revnumber><date>2008-02-20 18:57:14</date><authorinitials>MichaelOlson</authorinitials></revision><revision><revnumber>7</revnumber><date>2008-02-20 18:45:29</date><authorinitials>MichaelOlson</authorinitials></revision><revision><revnumber>6</revnumber><date>2008-02-20 18:40:13</date><authorinitials>MichaelOlson</authorinitials></revision><revision><revnumber>5</revnumber><date>2007-11-13 01:53:09</date><authorinitials>RyanMikulovsky</authorinitials><revremark>use InterWiki link instead.</revremark></revision><revision><revnumber>4</revnumber><date>2007-11-12 19:34:20</date><authorinitials>MichaelOlson</authorinitials><revremark>Started paying Peer1 in November 2006</revremark></revision><revision><revnumber>3</revnumber><date>2007-11-12 18:56:39</date><authorinitials>MichaelOlson</authorinitials><revremark>Add some recent history, TOC, and some colo-related subpages</revremark></revision><revision><revnumber>2</revnumber><date>2005-11-02 16:46:51</date><authorinitials>AdamChlipala</authorinitials><revremark>Get your scales right. ;-)</revremark></revision><revision><revnumber>1</revnumber><date>2005-11-01 16:30:46</date><authorinitials>NathanKennedy</authorinitials><revremark>Draft, NathanKennedy</revremark></revision></revhistory></articleinfo><para>This page describes the events that shaped the history of HCoop and its predecessors. </para><section><title>Prehistory</title><section><title>Teen Programmers Unite!</title><para>HCOOP traces its earliest roots back to a group of youths who frequented the <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USENET#">USENET</ulink> newsgroup <code>rec.games.programmer</code>.  On July 29, 1996, one Matthew Busigin made the following post: </para><screen><![CDATA[Say, there are a bunch of us teen programmers! 
Why don't we get to gether and form a mailing list (i'll host it) 
We can share info, and maybe, heaven forbid, create a game (-: 
If you are interested in this indeavor, mail me. 
]]><![CDATA[
               Matthew (14)]]></screen><para>In classic USENET style, the first response came from Fabio Bizzetti: </para><screen><![CDATA[Get a life. 
]]><![CDATA[
Fabio (3). ]]></screen><para>From this inauspicious beginning and the flurry of responses that followed, both positive and negative, an association called Teen Programmers Unite was conceived.  Over the course of its existence, TPU has consisted of various mailing lists, websites, and chat rooms with several thousand participants.  A more detailed history of TPU can be found at <ulink url="http://www.hprog.org/fhp/TpuHistory"/>, and the current TPU website is still at <ulink url="http://www.tpu.org/"/>. </para><para>TPU underwent a series of reinventions, and meantime many of its original members were no longer &quot;teens.&quot;  One long-time member and TPU webmaster, Adam Chlipala, began a number of other projects.  Among these were the <ulink url="http://www.devlocus.org/">Software Developer's Locus</ulink> and the <ulink url="http://www.hprog.org/">Fellowship of Hobbyist Programmers</ulink>. </para></section><section><title>The Internet Hosting Cooperative</title><para>In 2002, a small group of TPU members, led by Adam Chlipala, joined together to purchase a server affectionately named <ulink url="https://wiki.hcoop.net/OurHistory/Abulafia#">Abulafia</ulink> and hosted on the devlocus.org domain in an informal cost-sharing arrangement.  As time went by and more people chipped in, Adam formed a larger goal of creating a nonprofit cooperative providing a wide range of hosting services.  Abulafia was moved to the hcoop.net domain, &quot;Fyodor&quot; became the main machine, and the group became known as &quot;The Internet Hosting Cooperative.&quot;  Membership grew, both from other former TPU members, by word of mouth, by IRC, and via the web.  Various ideas for incorporating or otherwise filing for formal legal recognition were kicked about, but nothing much happened with regards to organization.  Adam legally owned all the cooperative's assets and operated as the informal leader, frequently polling the membership for decision-making purposes.  In the meantime, by January 2005, the cooperative grew to about 40 members, and Adam had automated many tasks with custom software written in SML. </para></section></section><section><title>HCOOP, Inc.</title><section><title>HCoop v1</title><para>Finally, concerned about legal issues and the lack of progress on that front, Adam announced a freeze on new membership applications.  At the same time Nathan Kennedy, who had joined in December 2004, volunteered to handle the incorporation process, with the result that in February 2005 HCOOP, Inc. was organized in Pennsylvania as a nonprofit corporation.  The first board of directors was elected and held meetings.  A second server was then leased, and new members were free to join. </para><itemizedlist><listitem override="none"><para>Needs more on the role of various other members in helping set up hardware etc as well as prehistory. </para></listitem></itemizedlist><itemizedlist><listitem><para><ulink url="https://wiki.hcoop.net/OurHistory/OurHistory/HcoopV1HardwareSpecs#">/HcoopV1HardwareSpecs</ulink>: Hardware specs for our systems at this time. </para></listitem></itemizedlist></section><section><title>HCoop v2</title><para>It became apparent that Fyodor would no longer be enough to meet our long-term needs.  We went through a period of deliberation about which colocation providers to choose. </para><itemizedlist><listitem><para><ulink url="https://wiki.hcoop.net/OurHistory/OurHistory/CurrentSystemGripes#">/CurrentSystemGripes</ulink>: List of gripes with Fyodor. </para></listitem><listitem><para><ulink url="https://wiki.hcoop.net/OurHistory/OurHistory/ProspectiveHostsQuoteRequest#">/ProspectiveHostsQuoteRequest</ulink>: Draft of quote request sent to different providers. </para></listitem><listitem><para><ulink url="https://wiki.hcoop.net/OurHistory/OurHistory/ColocationPlansServiceProviders#">/ColocationPlansServiceProviders</ulink>: List of colo providers that we sent quote requests to. </para></listitem><listitem><para><ulink url="https://wiki.hcoop.net/OurHistory/OurHistory/ColocationProvidersEvaluation#">/ColocationProvidersEvaluation</ulink>: List of colo providers who responded in a timely manner to our quote requests. </para></listitem><listitem><para><ulink url="https://wiki.hcoop.net/OurHistory/OurHistory/HardwareAppraisal#">/HardwareAppraisal</ulink>: Hardware that we were considering at the time. </para></listitem><listitem><para><ulink url="https://wiki.hcoop.net/OurHistory/OurHistory/HardwareDonations#">/HardwareDonations</ulink>: Hardware donated to us by some of our members. </para></listitem></itemizedlist><para>At some point around August 2006, we decided to choose Peer1.  We began the setup phase (paying Peer1) in November 2006.  <ulink url="https://wiki.hcoop.net/OurHistory/NathanKennedy#">NathanKennedy</ulink> became our on-site guy, and set all of the hardware up.  Our main machines were Deleuze and Mire. </para><para>After 15 or so months of heavy hacking, the admins built a solid setup based on AFS and Kerberos, which should allow for easy expansion in the future. </para><para>In November 2007, we finished making the <ulink url="https://wiki.hcoop.net/OurHistory/MemberManual#">MemberManual</ulink>, and subsequently began the migration process from Fyodor to Deleuze and Mire. </para></section></section></article>