Following up now.
The willingness to put up cash is good to know. We don't talk about it openly because our benefactors choose not to be public about it, but to date every monetary need we have ever had has been met, and that pretty much without even being asked.
Yes, there is more to it than money. Entrusting our database to somebody means giving them access to everything that is MM. Entrusting our server to somebody means quite literally putting a big part of my own life on the line. We have been blessed through the years with technically brilliant people who we are able to trust completely. That combination is hard to come by.
Short of that, such as in the case of using a hired consultant/programmer, the project still has to be managed. We need a trusted, capable individual here taking care of the live stuff while the consultant takes care of the programming and whatnot off-site. This may well end up being the way it goes.
At the same time, however, things are happening in my life that may increase my availability in the foreseeable future. At this point I really don't know. All of this really comes down to the fact that I am the only even remotely technical person paying attention to what goes on here on an administrative level, and my life has been complicated lately. (This is taking NOTHING away from others who take care of administrative functions here, just recognizing that nobody else who is here regularly anymore is capable of dealing with the system-level stuff.)
As I tried to point out in the opening of this thread, this is something that needs to be discussed and prepared for, but not (at this point) something that has to be dealt with as if it is an immediate crisis. The discussion is good, knowing our options is great, and knowing the community's willingness to be part of the solution is excellent.
So please continue discussing options and possibilities, and thank you.
