Am 24.07.2018 um 17:34 schrieb Chris Cason:
> On 25/07/2018 01:27, clipka wrote:
>> Um... yeah... I guess ;)
>>
>> Now what we need is some elegant way to /get/ that link from any given
>> message.
> 
> From the web view, just right-click on the message ID underneath the
> date and copy the link.

Unfortunately the message ID is only visible in the thread view, not the
single-message view.

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Am 24.07.2018 um 11:45 schrieb Chris Cason:
> You mean like this? http://news.povray.org/5b56ede4$1@news.povray.org

BTW, did you just set this up, or has it always been around?

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On 25/07/2018 01:27, clipka wrote:
>> What I'm saying basically is that when this machine eventually has to be
>> replaced and I replace the OS and everything with shiny new bits, it's
>> likely the NNTP server will not be part of it and we'll migrate
>> everything to some sort of standard forum software (or just keep the
>> existing one without the NNTP link).
> 
> You mean the web interface without newsreader access?
> That would be pathologically perverse. The only advantage of the current
> system over a modern(!) web-based forum system I see is the newsreader
> access. (Well, that and the vast archive of existing messages.) The web
> front-end of the current system is maximally crappy by today's standards.

Yep, which is why my first preference was for standard forum software,
however that involves a fair bit of work if we want to preserve history
(which I definitely do).

While I could import all the old messages one way or another,
associating them with their original authors (in terms of account setup)
is a bit of a nightmare given that the NNTP interface requires no auth.

Realistically apart from messages known to be posted by those with
logins on the current web interface all the old messages would be
considered 'orphaned' and auto-assigned to dummy accounts, as modern
forum software doesn't really understand the concept of allowing random
people to post messages without accounts :-/

An alternate option is to split the forums into 'old' and 'new' and run
a process which generates a set of static HTML pages from the existing
web view just prior to shutting it down. The static pages can then serve
as a permanent, read-only archive.

While the above is probably the most logical option it's probably only
acceptable if I can ensure the new forum's search function works across
both sets of data.

-- Chris

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On 25/07/2018 01:45, clipka wrote:
> Am 24.07.2018 um 11:45 schrieb Chris Cason:
>> You mean like this? http://news.povray.org/5b56ede4$1@news.povray.org
> 
> BTW, did you just set this up, or has it always been around?

It's been there for as long as I can remember. I'd have to check the
change history in perforce to see exactly when but it'd be at least ten
years.

-- Chris

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On 25/07/2018 01:43, clipka wrote:
> Unfortunately the message ID is only visible in the thread view, not the
> single-message view.

I could probably add that if it was needed.

-- Chris

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clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 24.07.2018 um 11:50 schrieb Chris Cason:

> >
> > Sometime in the last decade or so I decided the storage issue was no
> > longer important (new server, more disk space ...) so changed it.
> > There's possibly still some limit on it but it's certainly not two weeks
> > like it used to be.
>
> p.o.t. currently seems to have a retention period of 4 weeks, give or take.

By that, do you mean that off-topic threads and messages disappear after 4
weeks? Using the web interface, I just pulled up a URL that I saved from
December 2017, and the off-topic thread is still there.

Or maybe I'm completely off-topic with this comment??

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Am 24.07.2018 um 21:40 schrieb Kenneth:
> clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
>> Am 24.07.2018 um 11:50 schrieb Chris Cason:
> 
>>>
>>> Sometime in the last decade or so I decided the storage issue was no
>>> longer important (new server, more disk space ...) so changed it.
>>> There's possibly still some limit on it but it's certainly not two weeks
>>> like it used to be.
>>
>> p.o.t. currently seems to have a retention period of 4 weeks, give or take.
> 
> By that, do you mean that off-topic threads and messages disappear after 4
> weeks? Using the web interface, I just pulled up a URL that I saved from
> December 2017, and the off-topic thread is still there.

Hm... oh, yeah, you're right: That's just my setting in T'bird for this
newsgroup ;)

(And it's 30 days, not 4 weeks.)

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Chris Cason <del### [at] deletethistoopovrayorg> wrote:

> I try not to touch that code too much as it's legacy (though it works
> currently of course) and wasn't written by me. I do fix things from time
> to time if it's important, but at some point we will have to face
> changing it completely. The NNTP server we are using is a long
> discontinued commercial product and I don't feel confident that it will
> still work (or even be re-installable) when this server is finally
> retired (the hardware is over ten years old now).

Just out of curiosity, what type of machine is it running on?
You're in Australia, correct?


> What I'm saying basically is that when this machine eventually has to be
> replaced and I replace the OS and everything with shiny new bits, it's
> likely the NNTP server will not be part of it and we'll migrate
> everything to some sort of standard forum software (or just keep the
> existing one without the NNTP link).

What would you like to replace it with?   What would be the cost?
Also - how is the server and the electrical cost financed?

I'm asking because we routinely get retired equipment in at work - everything
from loose memory sticks to entire server racks and all the goodies inside.  I
doubt shipping to the other side of the globe is cost-effective, but maybe
something could be set up on this side of the sphere{}.
I'd certainly love to set up something more than a laptop to run something
massively CPU and memory intensive on.



Perhaps something to consider for the future is for some of the POV-Ray
development and newsgroup operating costs could be financed with paid accounts,
and access to a server / cloud for intensive supercomputer-level rendering.

8 Xeon processors and 256 GB of memory might just make that thing you've been
wanting to render for the last 5 years feasible....   ;)
Not to mention we have Mr. Balaska.  {cough} #hardcorerenderjunkie {cough}

I really am just curious about the behind-the-scenes info.

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On 7/24/2018 9:21 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> Chris Cason <del### [at] deletethistoopovrayorg> wrote:
> 
>> I try not to touch that code too much as it's legacy (though it works
>> currently of course) and wasn't written by me. I do fix things from time
>> to time if it's important, but at some point we will have to face
>> changing it completely. The NNTP server we are using is a long
>> discontinued commercial product and I don't feel confident that it will
>> still work (or even be re-installable) when this server is finally
>> retired (the hardware is over ten years old now).
> 
> Just out of curiosity, what type of machine is it running on?
> You're in Australia, correct?
> 
> 
>> What I'm saying basically is that when this machine eventually has to be
>> replaced and I replace the OS and everything with shiny new bits, it's
>> likely the NNTP server will not be part of it and we'll migrate
>> everything to some sort of standard forum software (or just keep the
>> existing one without the NNTP link).
> 
> What would you like to replace it with?   What would be the cost?
> Also - how is the server and the electrical cost financed?
> 
> I'm asking because we routinely get retired equipment in at work - everything
> from loose memory sticks to entire server racks and all the goodies inside.  I
> doubt shipping to the other side of the globe is cost-effective, but maybe
> something could be set up on this side of the sphere{}.
> I'd certainly love to set up something more than a laptop to run something
> massively CPU and memory intensive on.
> 
> 
> 
> Perhaps something to consider for the future is for some of the POV-Ray
> development and newsgroup operating costs could be financed with paid accounts,
> and access to a server / cloud for intensive supercomputer-level rendering.
> 
> 8 Xeon processors and 256 GB of memory might just make that thing you've been
> wanting to render for the last 5 years feasible....   ;)
> Not to mention we have Mr. Balaska.  {cough} #hardcorerenderjunkie {cough}
> 
> I really am just curious about the behind-the-scenes info.
> 
> 

If he's starting over from scratch, he could set up a virtual server in 
the cloud. Then he wouldn't need to worry about hardware failure. And if 
someone were to take over his job, all that person would need is a login 
versus the machine itself.


Mike

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On 07/24/2018 09:21 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:

> 
> Just out of curiosity, what type of machine is it running on?
> You're in Australia, correct?
> 
> 

The machine's in Hartford CT.

I middle-manned one twenty years ago. (Chris shipped it to my house, I
bootstrapped it, he set it up from afar, I dropped it off in Hartford.)

http://www.ntplx.net/
"Andy's house" is this amazing place. A classic 1850s New England
colonial near the Mark Twain house.  In the '90s, it was the most
connected building in CT and most CT traffic went through his basement.
(These days Comcast routes most traffic.)



-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

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