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 ? ;-)