Hi everyone. Longtime lurker here. I have been visiting these forums on a very regular basis for years, but never created an account, because I preferred to read rather than post. The discussions here have been truly insightful and helpful to my photography.

Today I arrived to catch up on the latest discussions and found out DPReview is shutting down. That really, really, really bothers me.

In terms of alternatives, I know there's mu-forums, but I also know many folks aren't a fan of their terms of service. There's lots of comments here asking, "where do we go now?"

I have IT knowledge and know how to spin up websites quickly. So, I made a Discourse server in case folks here want someplace fresh and new to migrate to.

You'll find the server at micro43.org.

(I was shocked the domain was available, but it was, so I registered it!)

There are no ads on it and no surveillance scripts. No affiliate links. You don't have to agree to onerous terms to use it. It's just a nice, clean Discourse server, ready for users to make their home.

If this sounds appealing to you, please sign up. I'm happy to keep it going, find co-admins and enlist moderators to ensure it's not a one-person show.

Why'd I make it? Well, I just could not sit still after I read the DPReview announcement and all of the comments here. It's so infuriating that a rich and vibrant community would just get dumped and abandoned like this, so I used my expertise to build something that might be capable of possibly replacing it. This is an experiment.

Your participation will decide whether it's a success or not.

I'm really impressed with Discourse and what it offers, it's well thought out software that has a future. The interface is modern and the signup process is pretty straightforward. This can't fully replace what Amazon is killing off here, but it can be part of the solution. It won't be owned by a giant corporation, that's for sure! If it takes off, perhaps we can form a community association to ensure its long term health and governance.