[WLUG] Fwd: Re: The reserve chute
Thomas Valerio
tjv at westwood-tech.com
Tue Aug 20 09:53:14 EDT 2013
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Fwd: Re: [WLUG] The reserve chute
From: "Ethan Allen" <lodis4 at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, August 20, 2013 8:58 am
To: jjn at nuge.com
tjv at westwood-tech.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please share this with the rest of the list. I attempted to send it a
few minutes ago but received the following:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the server
for the recipient domain lugwash.org by lugwash.org. [198.87.15.41].
The error that the other server returned was:
550 5.7.1<lugwash at lugwash.org>... Relaying denied. Proper authentication
required.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [WLUG] The reserve chute
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 08:55:21 -0400
From: Ethan Allen <lodis4 at gmail.com>
To: lugwash at lugwash.org
Greetings,
Can someone please give me the Cliffs Notes version of what is going on
here? I get that there have been problems with the server and the
mailing list and we had to move those items in order to restore service.
What I assume is happening here is an attempt at finding a permanent
solution to reliability and management. Providing those assumptions are
accurate I offer the following opinions:
* Any server hosting the mailing list and / or the lugwash.org website
should remain physically located at WCC.
* Database, backups, mailing lists, etc. should be kept at WCC except
where LUG approved offsite backup/archiving is concerned.
* SysAdmins: there should be a succession plan for a changing of the
guard to ensure the skills and knowledge necessary are passed along;
there should always be at least two SysAdmins in case one is unavailable
or has decided to do some not-so-nice things, it would be prudent to
have another keeper of the keys.
* Access to the CMS at a guest level could be granted to most any member
that has a "moderate amount" of tenure with the group; extended
permissions could be granted upon request and evaluation.
* Mailing list information should remain with the SysAdmin group and the
successors as necessary. Encrypted passwords should follow the same logic.
* DNS should not both be located in the WCC datacenter, however, one
could be hosted there and another with a mutually agreed upon hosting
provider.
I don't come to meetings due to logistics but I enjoy the mailing list,
if meeting attendance is a prerequisite for having an opinion I
apologize. That said, I have offered in the past to provide hardware for
a new server, my only stipulation is that the server would remain at WCC
and not in a private datacenter. I have some HP ML370 G4 units, which I
know are a little past their prime, I also have a HP DL180 G5 available
soon.
Being that the LUG is a WCC club, and some resources can be made
available, do they not have a NS we could place our zone file into?
Ideally I would like to see a hosting setup where members have access to
the hardware; we are all Linux folks after all and some even have skills
that are useful in these types of situations. Putting our zone files in
a WCC machine would mean we don't get access I am sure but that could be
a group decision.
Again, I apologize if this has already been decided against. I feel that
a little more open access would calm some tensions and distribute the
load a bit such that one or two people are not fielding all requests for
change. I notice the September meeting has an opening, would it be
logical to open the meeting to discuss some of the leadership and
resource issues instead of conducting it over email? Hell, I might even
attend for the first time. :)
For the record I have seen this statement a couple times:
What I have told Kevin, et. el repeatedly, what I will not do is put any
effort into a web site when I don't have control of the domain name
and it bothers be. Why does one person need to be in control of the
domain name to work on a site? Why not put work into something for the
group and not worry about who's name is on the contact list? I work on
several websites for organizations and my name is not on any of the
domain registry info for any of them. I don't want to fuel the flames
with all this and would like for someone to tell me this does not sound
like a control-grab.
These are the opinions of a non-attending member of the mailing list.
Thanks for reading,
Ethan
On 8/20/2013 4:20 AM, Jay Nugent wrote:
> Greetings Tom (et al),
> Again, keeping everyone in the loop by copying to the mailing list...
>
>
> On Mon, 19 Aug 2013, Thomas Valerio wrote:
>
>> Actually, that email went out by accident, I didn't even realize it went
>> out until just now. At any rate Jay, just go blow it out your bunghole, I
>> frankly don't give a flying ... what you do.
> Well said - well put - VERY professional (yet despite that, I'll
> continue to work with you)
>
>
>> What I have told Kevin, et. el repeatedly, what I will not do is put any
>> effort into a web site when I don't have control of the domain name, the
>> web site that was up on washlug.org is our plan b. It was simply a
>> straight restore with a different domain name to see if my sed script
>> could properly change the domain name. Kevin wanted to continue to use
>> lugwash.org and I told him to let me know when you had transferred the
>> domain name to us.
> And I agree with Kevin wholeheartedly!!! The club *should*
continue to
> use the LUGWASH.ORG namespace. And as I stated in my last email to you
> (and it is at the bottom of this email):
>
> "BTW, I stand by my email of August 6th - let's get the DNS zone
> files moved over to reliable nameservers and THEN transfer control of
> the domain over to yourself and Mike Bernson. Any problem with
> that???"
>
>
> I guess perhaps you missed that, eh? Just tell me the IP addresses of
> the Master and Slave authoratative servers you would like the glue records
> at the TLD to point to???? Let's get this process moving forward, shall
> we?
>
> Just edit your named.conf files and I'll send you the db.lugwash.org
> file to populate your Master - and you'll be in control of the namespace!
> Once that proves sucessful I'll make changes to the Tech, Admin, and
> Billing contacts. And finally I'll transfer the zone from my control to
> your Admin contact (on Dotster) as I don't care to pay for the annual
> renewal on my account.
>
>
>
>> I am still waiting for a current member to have ownership,
>> administrative and technical control of the domain name which you could
>> have done at any time.
> You said there are over 259 "members" on the mailing list. I
seriously
> doubt that each and every one of them show up any more often than I do?
> I consider myself just as much a member as any of those fine folks, thank
> you very much :)
>
>
>> It is you that is poking sticks, at the whole group as well, when it is
>> obvious from repeated experience that you never lift a finger unless
>> prodded.
> Your opening paragraph clearly shows the attitude you have shown
> towards me. I'm sorry you feel this way, but I'm sure others within the
> WLUG wouldn't be jumping with joy to every demad you throw at them, under
> such circumstances? What say you folks? Is this civil behavior???
>
> As for never lifting a finger:
>
> o Spent 9-1/2 years running the WLUG before handing the reins over to
> Ken and later Kevin.
>
> o Helped to SysAdmin the lugwash server going on 10 years. With the
> help of Ken Coe, Rick Green, and Steve Gladden.
>
> o Responded countless times to reboot and/or fix problems when the
> server was down or not functioning correctly. Many times having to
> gain access to the WCC campus after-hours.
>
> o Responded several times when the UPS batteries had failed. Asked
> the WLUG to simply "replace" the batteries (so no changes would
need
> to be made to the UPS<-->Server interface and software) and got
> nothing but complaints from you when you turned the UPS back to me
> for re-installation. I never did understand your gripe - it was
> simply 4 screws, two fast-on connectors, and it was done!
>
> o When the lugwash server overheated, Ken responded and replaced the
> fans. Hans made a backup image. And all the sysadmins spent
> time cleaning up bits and pieces of the file system.
>
> o One year later when the lugwash server finally went belly up, I
> responded and worked on the system for hours. Rick and I finally
> pulled the box and I hosted the lugwash server from my home for the
> next 3 months! New hard disks and a couple OS installs, total
> re-install of the mailing lists (plural, as there were several
> hosted on the machine), and restores of the websites (I think there
> were 3 on the server). Each time the hardware (motherboard and RAM
> sticks) would fail and trash the filesystems :(
>
> o When we (the sysadmins) determined that the lugwash server hardware
> was too far gone, we pulled all the services off and moved them to
> other hosts. This included moving the lugwash mailing list to my
> own server - where it has been since APRIL 10th, 2013.
>
>
> You are correct, Tom. I have never lifted a finger in support of the
> WLUG. The evidence is overwhelming that I am a skanky, no-good, POS!
> A'yup. You win. (TIC)
>
>
>
>> If you are really serious about transferring the domain name then do it,
>> as in now, like TODAY, like right this MINUTE!!!! We can change the DNS
>> pointers ourselves. I am sick of your stupid walls of text defending
>> what basically amounts to a passive aggressive defense of an
>> indefensible position. If you put even 1/100th of the effort into
>> transferring the domain name to us and giving us data that we asked for
>> this would have been done weeks ago. You have basically turned a couple
>> of afternoons worth of work into this long drawn out saga.
> The threaded email archives are on the hard drives (RAID) on the old
> lugwash server. These filesystems are not completely intact, and many
> directories simply no longer exist. I am *not* going to extract them for
> you, sorry. I will however, turn the old server over to Mike Bernson (who
> originally provided it to the WLUG) and he may then decide who is going to
> invest the time in recovering the email archives from the disks.
>
> I *trust* Mike to properly wipe the passwords off the disks. You on
> the otherhand, have already proven yourself as someone the past SysAdmins
> cannot place their trust in - my appologies to you in advance... :(
>
>
> --- Jay
>
> P.S. Fellow WLUG members -- be aware that WCC still offers a convienient
> room to house the Lugwash server, on a static IP address, as it has
> for many years. WCC may also be able to host a VM (of any Linux OS
> you choose) and place it in the campus datacenter. The Washtenaw
> Linux Users Group *is* a WCC campus club, and certain services can
> be made available in support of the club.
>
>
>
>
>>> Greetings,
>>> Keeping everyone in the loop....
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, 19 Aug 2013, Thomas Valerio wrote:
>>>
>>>> All,
>>>> It seem pretty clear that Jay is not going to live up to the
agreement
>>>> that he made with Kevin, oh well.
>>> In your email you said "any time". Then you email me 12 hours later
>>> and bitched me out that I haven't responded? What exactly does "any"
>>> mean???? If you meant in the next 12 hours, you should have said so.
>>>
>>> The WLUG already has a working mailing list - so there is no urgency
>>> to
>>> move it. But that seems to be your MAJOR focus. What the WLUG doesn't
>>> have is a website!!! And hasn't for a long long time. Not until I did a
>>> little digging...
>>>
>>> On July 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th, Aug 5th and 12th, I have
received
>>> the Wordpress backup file of the WLUG website - and it was mailed FROM
>>> "washlug.org" (IP address from within MarcDatabase.com's range).
>>> Apparently you installed the Wordpress package yet made NO changes to the
>>> passwords/security and configuration files??? Obviously I'm still listed
>>> as a sysadmin for the website and have been receiving the weekly backup
>>> images. PLEASE FINISH the job and PROPERLY install the package. If you
>>> are having trouble understanding Wordpress, I am certain there are others
>>> in the LUG who can help you. This doesn't shine well for SysAdmining a
>>> web-server - especially when even the company you work for
>>> (MarcDatabase.com and westwood-tech.com) have blank default websites just
>>> sitting out there :(
>>>
>>>
>>> The WLUG Wordpress website has been online for the past SIX
WEEKS, and
>>> is just sitting there un-used. Exactly when were you going to let the
>>> membership know that the website was back online? All you had to do was
>>> *ASK* me to change the WWW resource record to a new IP address and it
>>> could have been quickly done. But you witheld that simple (and well
>>> understood process by any qualified HostMaster) and let the WLUG sit all
>>> the longer without a website. So I took it upon myself and went ahead a
>>> pointed the WWW 'A' record to 198.87.15.41 and now the URL
WWW.LUGWASH.ORG
>>> resolves to the Wordpress website on your server. A long witheld service
>>> has now been restored :)
>>>
>>>
>>> As for the Mailman mailing list - the instructions you sent don't in
>>> any way match the instructions the Mailman website says to follow when
>>> moving a mailing list from one server to another. I saw no urgency to
dig
>>> into determining how to transfer the list as a working list is already
>>> running and there were other, more important tasks that needed to be
>>> completed.. Only you seem to feel any urgency here.... and that urgency
>>> always comes with a snarky ATTITUDE.... which further slows down any
>>> desire on my part to match your level of urgency. It is also now
>>> resulting in my returning some attitude, as well.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Unless anyone has any huge objection(s) I think I am going to pull the
>>>> ripcord on the reserve chute today or Tuesday. Googling "Washtenaw
>>>> Linux Users" already points to the new domain so it shouldn't be too big
>>>> of an issue. As I already mentioned at Steak & Wait on Thursday I have
>>>> the complete current subscriber list of 259 unique addresses including
>>>> first and last names except for 5 individuals.
>>> And now you say you already HAVE the names/addrs of everyone
>>> subscribed! So all you appear to be doing is just poking sticks at me
and
>>> testing me. I guess the test is over - you have what you want - no need
>>> for me to transfer the Mailman config.pck to you any longer. Thank You!
>>> That task is now off my TODO list :)
>>>
>>> Just let me know when your Mailman server is up and I can shut down
>>> the
>>> Lugwash mailing list on my Mailman server (after the MX record has been
>>> properly adjusted).
>>>
>>>
>>> BTW, I stand by my email of August 6th - let's get the DNS zone
files
>>> moved over to reliable nameservers and THEN transfer control of the
domain
>>> over to yourself and Mike Bernson. Any problem with that???
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>> --- Jay
>>>
>>> () ascii ribbon campaign in
>>> /\ support of plain text e-mail
>>>
>>> Averaging at least 3 days of MTBWTF!?!?!?
>>> The solution for long term Internet growth is IPv6.
>>>
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