Coin,
Hold your breath...
=== Toushirou's Unplanned Reboot ===
Bad news first, Toushirou was rebooted Saturday at 13:10, due to
kernel problems. This is quite infrequent nowadays, and often improved
by new kernels and system tools. So the next one should be a planned
one, we hope.
=== Orfeo's Planned Reboot ===
The machine will be rebooted for kernel upgrade tomorrow, 2008-09-29
(as we change day at 05:00 in the pond), after midnight (exact time
would be announced on IRC).
=== IPv6 Migration ===
Our transit provider needs to use a new range of addresses, so we need
to give back our IPs and use new ones in their new range. The first easy
step of the migration, HQ and IPv6 tunnels, has already been done
successfully. The second and final step is to change the IPv6
connectivity of our main servers. This will be done soon, and you'll be
advertise when to take this into account (DNS masters, SSH known hosts,
...)
=== Backup ===
The backup system is back alive. We took the necessary time to change
and improve things a bit. it should be stable by now.
In order not to fetch generated files, or big files which you already
have backed-up in another location, the following filenames are
excluded from the files backed-up :
- Data-Secondary
- *-nobackup
- cache
If you have programs, or websites, with temporary, cache, or
template-generated files, which can be regenerated by the software and
does not need to be saved, please tell us, so we can add an exclude
pattern.
If you have big growing files (like irc logs from epoch), and as our
software is not yet able to fetch the diff only, we'd like you to split
the files regularly, so as not to fetch tens of megabytes per file, per
software, per user, per day (incremental daily backup). This is to save
our backup capacity, thanks.
=== Mail ===
Saturday, you might have experienced, if not taking advantage of the
shining sun, a few hours of unavailable incoming mails, and unavailable
roaming outgoing mails. This was due to a migration i was unable to plan
with the current amount of work at office, sorry.
Our mail delivery software, as long as our anti-SPAM software, were
upgraded. Along with a few interesting bug fixes and performance
enhancements, we've gained the following new features :
- full IMAP namespace support (the old 'INBOX.' private namespace is
replaced by the '' namespace, inherited from our old architecture
using Courier-IMAP, thus getting rid of this ugly prefix; the old
one is still working, even if hidden, to allow smooth migration,
but is gonna be removed in a month or two, so please update your
IMAP clients)
- new IMAP extensions (see Dovecot 1.1.x changelog for details)
- new SIEVE extensions (include, body, copy)
- SPAM filtering enhanced message analysis (new OSB tokenizer)
In the past, i advised you to use 'sieve-connect' to manage your SIEVE
scripts. So you'd be happy to know recent sieve-connect software (the
one in Lenny at least), does not require a patch anymore, and is working
quite well.
=== Webmail ===
(webmail.duckcorp.org and webmail.hurdfr.org)
A few enhancements have been done:
- a working spellchecker (finally!) (just ask if you need extra
languages)
- visual enhancements and flag management
- alternative (and experimental) filters using SIEVE (can only edit
its own scripts, no active script selection, own script
auto-selected)
=== Webdesk ===
(webdesk.duckcorp.org)
A few enhancements have been done (a few weeks ago, indeed):
- global upgrade with many fixes and a _slight_ speed enhancement
- a working spellchecker (finally!) (just ask if you need extra
languages)
- DIMP now available (dynamic version of IMP, still incomplete)
- MIMP (light IMP for mobile phones) was available but broke; it has
been repaired, but not all phone browsers can be detected yet (just
ask if you want one to be added)
- a bug triggered when people logged in with different cases of their
login resulted in calendars/tasks//notes/... data to be considered
owned by multiple accounts; it has been fixed
=== Quotas ===
In the DC world, quotas does not mean you have to swim in a glass or
die. We have a limited amount of space, this is true, but we'll try to
give you as much space as you need. If you don't ask for huge amounts,
you'll never have to give us a reason. The goal for quotas, is to give
you a report on the resources you're using, and asking you gently to
tidy your room once in a while. Then, try first to do with your current
amount, and if you need more, just ask, we'll give you more if possible
with great pleasure.
Quotas have been activated for mails this week. The default is 512Mo.
People already above this value have been automatically given a higher
amount suitable for their needs. The webmail and webdesk have been
updated to display your quota usage.
Filesystem quotas, for those having a shell account, is to be
implemented in the future.
=== IRC ===
We are experimenting a new version of our dear IRC server software,
with a few interesting features, like secure connections. You can read
more about it, and instructions to help testing it on a dedicated test
server (nevertheless linked to the network), here:
ftp://ftp.duckcorp.org/duckcorp/ircd-test.txt
=== Dev ===
The work on RCS hosting has begun, but at the moment still restricted to
people with shell access.
The tla/baz webdav access is still not working, nevertheless, the git
RCS is now supported. You can find a summary of available tools here:
https://rcs.duckcorp.org/
A project manager has been installed recently, and can host your
Free-software developments if you like (just ask). You can see it
running here:
https://projects.duckcorp.org/
=== Restricted Access Helpers ===
If you have a restricted access to the web at work/school/during
vacation/..., you may still access a few services.
First, IRC access is available using the alternative 6669 port (and i
know you can't live without it ;-). You may also use the web access
using https://irc.milkypond.org/.
Then, SSH access is available through the alternative host
portal.duckcorp.org (both IPv4 and IPv6) using port 80 or 443.
=== Call for Donations ===
Since the first steps of DuckCorp, in early 2000, this is
_the_first_time_ we ask for financial help. As our network is not
very big, we don't need plenty of big machines, but sometimes
disasters occurs, or upgrades are necessary (and even sometimes
our brand new machine is cursed).
Since then, the network has been working as follow:
- main hardware expenses using Duck's personal money (thousands
of euros since the beginning)
- a HD donation from an anonymous donor for our backup machine
(replaced since then)
- bandwidth is completely sponsored by Hivane
- housing of Toushirou is a monthly 41.56€ cost (since august 2007)
- housing of Orfeo was sponsored by Nerim and is now sponsored by an
anonymous provider
- DuckCorp DNS domain is paid by Duck
- MilkyPond DNS domain is sponsored by Rtp
We've been quite unlucky several times, and i had to choose between
stopping a great deal of DC's activities or push things again. I've
always been willing to provide free-of-charge services, and that's
still my wish. DC is not an official association (yet?), and anyhow
we do not want to add subscription fees. Nevertheless, personal
donations are still possible, so, if you feel like it, and if you
can afford it, a small donation would be very helpful for the budget.
=== Call for Help ===
There's another resource we lack much these days: workforce.
The DC's admin team has always been quite small, due to several trust
issues and difficulties to find motivated persons. Currently, Arnau is
quite unavailable since a few months, and i can't personally cope with
all the requested tasks. That's why critical tasks are still done, but
other tasks suffer delay or even are not done. I don't think the
situation is bad, compared to other associations (or even to office),
but that's not completely satisfactory.
If one of you:
- is motivated
- has time to spend in a _regular_ manner
- accept to work on delightful projects as well as boring maintenance
tasks
- has at least basic knowledge in system/network administration
- is able to work in a team led by a demanding(dreadful?) Duck
then mail us explaining the grounds of your motivation, the extent of
your knowledge, and why we should trust you (as we won't just give away
root access). We'll check through any serious application.
How many still alive ? ;-)
--
Marc Dequènes (Duck)
