I know this has already been discussed in the past, but I wanted to bring it back up as there have been a few changes that might make it more relevant.
I would like to propose that Cotech uses a .coop domain alongside the coops.tech domain with a Host Header - so that both domains can run in parallel and whichever one the website visitor types in is the one they see.
This would mean that Cotech can have and use cotech.coop - but also retain the original domain alongside it, with all the associated benefits. (search engine optimisation, not changing printed hand-outs etc)
In terms of cost - there are an expanded network of retailers offering the domain for cheaper prices than domains.coop, though I do know that domains.coop are currently offering a first-year-free for apex bodies and networks to help promote the use of the cooperative domain.
I thought I would post this here first to gauge interest.
Hey @TomDotCoop thanks for this. I guess I’d start with asking you to nail down the ‘why?’ behind this.
I’d follow that up with a question about eligibility (potentially revealing my ignorance) given that CoTech is not, itself, a co-op?
I wonder if someone from Outlandish (e.g. @harry) might want to weigh in, given that they don’t use a .coop domain? (This may be for historical reasons, I’m not sure.)
I suppose the reason why I thought Cotech would be a good fit, is as it is a network of 44 co-ops involved in the tech and digital sector (among others) it is well placed to use that influence and reach to improve the visibility of the cooperative movement online. As a network that works digitally a great deal, it makes sense to be using that online space that is solely reserved for cooperatives. As well as have that connection up-front-and-centre so to speak!
In terms of verification, Cotech is definitely eligible - as even though it is not a cooperative, it is a network of them. Any organisation made up of cooperatives, or who primarily work to service the cooperative community, is fine to have the domain.
I think we should do this and I’d be happy to sort it all out, when coops.tech was first registered, almost 5 years ago, it was during one of the very first sessions at our first gathering in order that we had a domain to host the wiki on, it was picked because it was very cheap (however it is no longer cheap, but we are stuck with it) and descriptive, it was registered the day before we agreed on the name, Co-operative Technologists, we could discuss this proposal at the call in a couple of weeks?
In terms of the why? It is simply easier to remember and a better fit – we almost always refer to Co-operative Technologists as CoTech so cotech.coop makes more sense than coops.tech.
Thanks for the link there Chris. I was encouraged by the support shown in this Loomio thread - and thought that the possibility of a better value price, as well as being able to use it alongside coops.tech would be a good way to smooth the path. I’m available to help, when and if needed.
The cost of registering cotech.coop isn’t the issue it was when it was discussed on Loomio in 2018 since we now have the CoTech fund which covers the cost of the CoTech Internet infrastructure, I don’t think we really need to worry about the cost aspect the decision too much.
Thank you for your opinions everyone! It does seem there is support for it, and Chris is willing to make the changes, therefore is there a more formal process to put this through - in order to get the official consent and go-ahead of the network?
I was going to ask what people think at the next CoTech monthly call which is due to take place a week tomorrow, Wednesday 26th May at 4pm BST — if there is a decent turn out at the call I think we could probably make the decision there and then, but if anyone feels that we need to have a vote on Loomio first then I’d be happy to set that up.
If we agree to buy cotech.coop I was going to use HTTP redirects for the coops.tech domain so all the old URLs still work but everybody gets the new ones.
In the past I’ve been of the view that we can wait until we have established a legal entity before registering cotech.coop, there isn’t a great rush as it seems unlikely that another co-op will beat us to it, but we could do it sooner rather than later if we wanted to.
For other domain extensions registration is very much a first-come-first served matter so I have just registered cotech.uk and cotech.org.uk since I noticed that they were available and it would be a shame to see them end up pointing elsewhere, I’ll configure them to point to our existing sites when I get around to it.
