Re: Oolite.org website, wiki, BB maintenance options analysi
Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:45 pm
For information and discussion about Oolite.
https://bb.oolite.space/
Reactions to that were actually positive. Until now.Selezen wrote:Implementing a proposed solution then pushing it as an acceptable solution without any feedback from others on the forum (not including PMs) is what I would describe as heavy handed. Several posts (which I am not going to troll across the bb to find at this stage) implied that you felt that your solution was acceptable and the act of forging ahead with the download and implementation of content from the Wiki AFTER proving the point that it could be easily copied over is one example off the top of my head.maik wrote:Heavy handed? Care to elaborate? I'm implementing to show what I'm talking about. Do I need somebody's blessing to implement something on my server?
Read my post again. I proposed that Giles/Ahruman check identity. Also, checking identity does not necessarily mean copies of IDs. cim proposed a GPG-signed mail together with links to his online identity which was good enough for me. From Ahruman/Giles I can see the whois records of their servers which link their forum personae to their RL identities. None if this is perfect, but better than nothing. Technical know-how I take on good faith if someone tells me he has it. Oolite Management involvement in my asking for identification when asking for access to my server? Seriously? And who is Oolite Management precisely?Selezen wrote:Your server access is determined on people (apologies for the heavy handed nature of this phrase) jumping through hoops to get authorisation from you. You want people to send you copies of their passports or other photo ID before granting them access. None of their credentials related to technical know how have, to my knowledge, been vetted. In addition, these people who have sent their information to you have done so without Oolite Management being involved in the decision making process, which is another issue related to your perceived "heavy handedness". If you have involved Giles and/or Ahruman in this process then I apologise, but no evidence of this has been seen to my knowledge.
You know where it comes from?: Your opinion didn't change a bit on how this should be done, namely give all user credentials away without any restriction. I tried to include your goals by not making it dependent on me but allow Aegidian/Ahruman to administrate user credentials. You just come back with your radical demand again.Selezen wrote:I applaud your efforts in making server space available in whatever way YOU feel is fit. I, however have a DIFFERENT OPINION. I did, however, offer an idea for improvement, which is that the security of it should not be dependent on you receiving copies of driving licenses, passports or whatever and that it should be based on forum standing and merit as well as the objective opinions of the Oolite Management. If you want to call that "doing it my way" then fine, do so. I feel you are battering me from both ends here, as in one breath you ask me to offer suggestions or alternatives and when I do you say that I am criticising or that I am "locked into my way of doing things".
I find it interesting that you avoid the point I was making. Also, there is no contradiction. He talks about putting everything under one roof which is not what we are discussing.Selezen wrote:I find it interesting that you edited out the part of Aegidian's quote that highlights the contradiction you have introduced.maik wrote:See his first sentence. Regarding opening the search: it is open. We just don't get many proposals. Which solution are you talking about at the moment that I am locked into? BB backup? The one cim and I manage to discuss in a civilized, matter-of-fact way in this thread? "Unwilling to bend" doesn't quite nail it and is just another insult.Aegidian wrote:The aim of securing access to Oolite, oxps, and the bulletin board is a noble one. [...] let's open the search for solutions to the whole community and see how many ideas we can genereate.Aegidian wrote:...However, since the threats to these mostly arise out of the fact that the main sites are maintained by fallible individuals, putting all these sites under one roof would crystallise those threats into a single point of possible failure.
However I'm not sure what to suggest in terms of decentralisation that could help with ensuring access...
No, they were not. Nor was there any reason. Talking about the Wiki: There was discomfort with Winston being gone and the Wiki left unmaintained. I created a backup server, some people supported me keeping it in sync with the Elite Wiki. Since when does anyone of us need to ask permission from "Oolite Management" to create a backup or choose who to give admin access to the backup? I stated quite clearly that I am happy to continue keeping it in sync as long as is necessary. Again, no permission needed.Selezen wrote:Were Ahruman and/or Giles involved in selecting those who are "able to be an administrator"? If so, then your whole argument on that point is moot, and would have been rendered moot long ago if that had been made public. Apologies if I missed a message. To be honest, I haven't had a strong opinion on WHO should be made an administrator or even how many there should be. That's Oolite Management's decision to make, not yours or mine. If it makes any difference to your interpretation of what I am saying, then change the phrase "the community needs to be able to resolve" to "the selected members of the community..."
Yes. Well. As I said, if no one is around then implement something else. No big deal. You point out another backup option yourself below.Selezen wrote:I disagree strongly with your opinion that there will always be someone around with the required knowledge. The more disparate technologies that are used, then the less likely it is that someone on the forum will have all the required knowledge.
Yes, this is why I asked for it. It would also be nice to hear other peoples opinions.Selezen wrote:You ask what my requirements are for the data loss and restore time. Do you want to hear/read my opinion
Aegidian included the BB in his now much quoted post. Feel free to ignore it.Selezen wrote:To be honest, as I (and others) have said, I don't feel that the BB requirements are relevant as part of this discussion other than as a knee-jerk reaction to the relatively inconsequential downtime that was experienced over the weekend.
He did not ask me to poll the forum. As I said, I PMed him with a suggestion after his post. In addition I wanted to open the discussion, hence my post in this thread.Selezen wrote:If Giles wants to task you with implementing a backup strategy then that's between you and him. Since he has asked you to poll the forum
Execept cim nobody else made a suggestion. As you can read, we are discussing it. As you also haven't made a suggestion before, there is no reaction to you personally.Selezen wrote:then you need to be willing to take other opinions on board, and from our conversation so far I see no evidence of you doing that, or maybe that's just your reaction to me personally.
This is a good option if it is acceptable to lose posts that have been made since the last backup. This is why the question about data loss requirements is important.Selezen wrote:I have no experience of backing up phpBB installations. The phpBB admin panel has a backup option there that allows the database to be backed up and restored quickly and easily. Maybe that would be a good option?
Sorry I did not comment on your exhaustive lists of professional experiences and certifications. It is certainly relevant.Selezen wrote:I find it interesting that after you asked for some reason why I think I know what the community needs you had no comment to make on the response to that. Again, this reinforces my opinion that no matter what I say, you will disagree with me as a matter of principle, which saddens me. Contrary to maik's opinion, I have no emotional baggage related to this conversation. It has neither made me angrier or more frustrated than my usual background levels of irritation at the world in general. I have no responsibility to the community and no power to change anything. I just made a suggestion and wanted to share my experience if it would be useful.
I agree that it would be nice to have a CMS for oolite.org. While I like cim's go at creating an oolite.org homepage within the wiki I rather lean towards the decentralized approach of keeping things separate, but don't have a strong opinion here. Having a template based solution like textpattern makes managing content very easy, but I also don't have a strong opinion on the solution here. For the BB, I think that there should be a backup solution that minimizes data loss in the event of failure. And for the Wiki, in my opinion a daily backup to some other server is sufficient. Main servers and backups should be accessible by more than one person and there should be consensus on who hands out the keys under which circumstances to whom. I don't have much of an opinion on the file hosting as it doesn't bother me the way it is now.Selezen wrote:Just to recap. In my opinion the website needs a simple CMS (textpattern, gpEasy or whatever other options someone likes) in order to be easier to update. The Wiki should stay where it is, unless there is a continued drive to make cim's (I think) idea of using the wiki as oolite.org the accepted one. I have no opinion on the BB backup strategy as this was not something raised in the initial "updated media" discussion. I feel that the disparate file hosting needs to be consolidated somewhere. And I feel that access to the back end servers needs to be opened up to whoever Oolite Management feel would be appropriate. That's it. If others have other opinions then I have absolutely NO objection to them but WILL respond if I think something is a bad idea. Likewise I have no issue dealing with someone thinking that my ideas are bad ones but, as noted, will defend them if I feel my personal experience differs from someone else's.
What he said.Okti wrote:Shall I propose to sleep over the discussed topic for a while, I do not see any point this discussion is going to have a solution at the end by the way it is going.
No sarcasm meant, it was in all honesty. Your professional experience means I respect your opinion on web tech topics, not that you know what the community wants.Selezen wrote:One thing that stands out though is your very sarcastic comment about the relevance of "professional qualifications".
That seems to be the consensus of the discussion at this point, to be honest. Seems like the sensible option, all things considered.Commander McLane wrote:To re-phrase my last post: by and large, what we currently have is working. No harm is done in leaving it like that for the moment. No harm is done in letting go for a while. Please.