Website (again)

[Sam Kuper]

2009/4/7 Julian Price <clug at jul17pri.co.uk>
>
> 1) At least, we need someone with administrator access to the website.
> The last mention I can find is here:
> Jon Green
> http://lists.infowares.com/archive/clug/2006-October/005696.html
>
> Mark Roberts
> http://lists.infowares.com/archive/clug/2006-October/005704.html
>
> Jon, Mark, are you reading these messages?
>
> Who has access to the domain names / DNS?  Is the site still on Thomas
> Horsten's server?

There's a much more recent message from Mark Roberts here:

http://lists.infowares.com/archive/clug/2009-February/007450.html

It looks as though he still has shell access to the server.

If Mark is able to use that server to replace the existing site with a
new one (e.g. a Semantic MediaWiki one, which shouldn't take long to
set up with reCaptcha, judging by my own experience of doing this on a
shared host a couple of years ago), then this would obviate the need
to alter the DNS.

However, if that server is problematic in any way (limited expected
remaining lifespan; only one CLUG member with an account; etc), then
it may be better to make the DNS change and use a different server.
Hopefully this won't be deemed necessary, but if it is, I can also
offer the use of a hosting package I've already paid for, which has
three years left on it and plenty of room for a MediaWiki instance.
Because this is with Dreamhost, I think I should be able to set up a
shell (or at least sFTP or WebDav) account for CLUG use, meaning I
wouldn't be the sole admin. Clearly, Dave Briggs and Joe Czucha also
have some hosting capacity, so I'm not the only one offering this; if
we decide to abandon the existing server for whatever reason, Dave,
Joe, me and anyone else who might be able to host the site should
probably each give a breakdown of what we could offer so that the
group can decide which option they prefer. This would, anyway, only be
possible if we can find out who is able to update the DNS and persuade
them to do so...

So, if Mark can pick up the baton at this point, archive the existing
site and replace it with either a static page pointing to the mailing
list or else a MediaWiki install, that would, I think, be the simplest
solution.

Best,

Sam

PS. One final note about MediaWiki: if we end up with a MediaWiki
instance, whoever is responsible for maintaining it should sign up to
the MediaWiki security/updates mailing list, as vulnerabilities do
arise in MediaWiki occasionally, and updates have to be installed if
the instance is to remain secure.