Author Topic: Future of RogueBasin  (Read 88929 times)

PaulBlay

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #15 on: July 02, 2009, 07:49:58 AM »
Edit; I absolutely agree that the wikifarm isn't an ideal solution, but I think that this backup script could be put to some very good use. We could maintain a torrent of the most recent backup of Roguebasin, for instance. The backup would only need to be updated every so often, maybe every other month or less, and then as long as the torrent had sufficient seeds, it'd stay alive :D

I'm going to try to import the backup into a temporary second home at a MediaWiki GNU FDL wiki farm.  If nothing else it will be a good "restore check".  I'll edit in progress notes here.

RogueBasin            | MediaWiki 1.6.10 | GNU FDL          |              |
======================+==================+==================+==============+
BusinessWiki          | MediaWiki        | GPL              | Free(3 user) |
EditThis.info         | MediaWiki 1.5.5  |                  | Free         |
Referata              | MediaWiki 1.14.0 | User choice      | Free/paid    |
Russian wiki community| MediaWiki 1.5.8  | Negotiable       | Negotiable   |
Wikia                 | MediaWiki 1.14   | Creative Commons | Free         |
Wiki-site.com         | MediaWiki 1.11.0 | User choice      | Free/paid    |
Wikkii.com            | MediaWiki        |                  | Free         |
YourWiki              | MediaWiki 1.15   | User choice      | Free         |


Any other suggestions?
« Last Edit: July 02, 2009, 07:53:08 AM by PaulBlay »

Scautura

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #16 on: July 02, 2009, 08:17:46 AM »
If it's any help, I could provide hosting for a fully owned wiki on my own server, with full access accounts. I'd even buy a domain name if required, and could ensure the software remains up-to-date - however, if other people are provided with access to the server, then it wouldn't have to be left down to one person.

I realise I'm probably not the most well known member of the rogue community, and I haven't really been an active member until recently (last couple of years), but I do feel it would be sad to see a well known and respected community resource disappear or die to to lack of support.

Because I feel a free community project should remain free, I'm not the sort of person to ask for donations or place adverts - I'm well enough off I can provide more than enough for the community without it.

Edit: (placing adverts) - link exchange like RogueTemple's "adverts" do not count as adverts in my eyes - no money changes hands - but still, I would leave that down to admin.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2009, 09:13:41 AM by Scautura »
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PaulBlay

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #17 on: July 02, 2009, 08:29:59 AM »
If it's any help, I could provide hosting for a fully owned wiki on my own server, with full access accounts. I'd even buy a domain name if required, and could ensure the software remains up-to-date - however, if other people are provided with access to the server, then it wouldn't have to be left down to one person.

I realise I'm probably not the most well known member of the rogue community, and I haven't really been an active member until recently (last couple of years), but I do feel it would be sad to see a well known and respected community resource disappear or die to to lack of support.

Because I feel a free community project should remain free, I'm not the sort of person to ask for donations - I'm well enough off I can provide more than enough for the community without it.

That is a very generous offer, and you're at least a well enough known member of the community that I recognized your name.  So you're 'fame' is greater than you think ;-).  I think it would be great if more than one person could have access as it is entirely understandable that somebody may have unexpected pressure on their time and not be able to keep up with things.

I don't have any real experience with *nix, but I'm willing to help as much as I can bearing that in mind.

[EDIT] If we don't go with Scautura then YourWiki looks like one of the better options for Wiki Farms.  Triangle Wizard has a wiki there and it seems to do alright (including personalized wiki logo).
« Last Edit: July 02, 2009, 09:46:34 AM by PaulBlay »

britzl

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #18 on: July 02, 2009, 12:01:46 PM »
Wow! I thought it was common knowledge that I was the one hosting RogueBasin. Yes, I changed my surname to Ritzl due to marriage, but here I am :-)

First of all: I have no intention of shutting down RogueBasin (or the underlying roguelikedevelopment.org). I can say this with 100% certainty because:

a) It costs me next to nothing to host it.
b) I have a couple of other sites at the same hosting provider
c) People are still downloading and e-mailing me about my now abandoned mobile RL Dweller, hosted at roguelikedevelopment.org
d) Sentimental reasons. I still read r.g.r.dev. I occasionally play RLs. I have very fond memories of all my attempts at coding RLs.

I started roguelikedevelopment.org 7 or 8 years ago, when the previous Roguelike Dev Articles site (forgot the name) closed down. I personally e-mailed each and every article author and got their permission to move the acrticles to the new site. A few years ago roguebasin was set up (by Slashie I think) and I moved the articles to it's new home. Since then Roguebasin has evolved into a really extensive information site about Roguelikes, and I'm very proud of the result. An amazing result of which I take no credit since I haven't contributed more than an article. and as many of you are pointing out, I'm not actively administering the site either.

Anyway, let's move on. What can I do to assist you? Dumping all wiki contents can be done via shell scripts:

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki#Database_dump

Wikipedia (running on MediaWiki takes this a step further):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Database_download

It should be possible to get access to a shell using the subdomain credentials. I'll investigate more. In the meantime I'm willing to help out with more or less anything. I'm on prental leave now and have a reasonable amount of time to spend to help you guys out.

PaulBlay

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #19 on: July 02, 2009, 12:30:00 PM »
It should be possible to get access to a shell using the subdomain credentials. I'll investigate more. In the meantime I'm willing to help out with more or less anything. I'm on prental leave now and have a reasonable amount of time to spend to help you guys out.
Well it's great to hear from you.  I hope you don't feel I was out of line with my concerns. I did email the email address given with the paypal donate button, but possibly you don't check that anymore (as it's under your old name).

There are some minor annoyances that you might be able to help with, but if a couple or so RogueBasin members were given the access needed to fix it themselves that might be better?

Slash, Duerig, Scautura or one of the other more technically minded people would probably be able to give a better idea but here is a quick breakdown of them.

- Two pages cannot be displayed, and cause searches to fail when they are included in the result.  Search on 'Malthener' or 'Bergstrom' to see this.

- Non Ascii characters turn into gibberish (See here for an example).  Possibly this would require a MediaWiki version update?

- Just in the last few days spam has been getting a bit annoying.  On a related note the number of pages in the Delete category has been building up.

Quote
I'm on prental leave now and have a reasonable amount of time to spend to help you guys out.

Congratulations, and take good care of yourself.

Scautura

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #20 on: July 02, 2009, 12:51:42 PM »
Also, a search for "bjorn" will fail (same error as "malthener" and "bergstrom").

Congratulations on becoming a parent!

Edit: Gurf, I can talk English, me...
« Last Edit: July 02, 2009, 02:07:28 PM by Scautura »
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britzl

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #21 on: July 02, 2009, 05:52:27 PM »
Ok, I have no problem helping out and giving out super user access to roguebasin. It is after all on it's own subdomain so the person(s) given access can't mess other things up :-)

I have all the credentials ready for shell script access and admin access to MediaWiki as well. I trust Santiago as he's been at r.g.r.dev for a long time (no offence to the rest of you guys :-). Decide among yourself what person(s) should have access and let Santiago send me an e-mail with your contact details. You can best reach me at bjorn.ritzl@<that email service google has>.com

About the non-ascii thing. Isn't that a MySQL setting?

PaulBlay

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #22 on: July 02, 2009, 06:13:03 PM »
You can best reach me at bjorn.ritzl@<that email service google has>.com

Does the paypal donate button still work?  That seems to be on an older email.

Slash

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #23 on: July 02, 2009, 06:18:08 PM »
Hi Björn, nice to see you around!

I have sent my contact info to Björn, and I have also set up the "Roguebasin Mantainance" project at slashie.net's mantis repository. All bugs and things to fix or enhance would be handled there (http://slashie.net/mantis/) so feel free to go there and report :)

Once I have the access we can start planning how to bash all pending things.

PaulBlay

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #24 on: July 02, 2009, 06:54:16 PM »
I have sent my contact info to Björn, and I have also set up the "Roguebasin Mantainance" project at slashie.net's mantis repository. All bugs and things to fix or enhance would be handled there (http://slashie.net/mantis/) so feel free to go there and report :)

Cheers.  I have reported the issues mentioned earlier in this thread.

britzl

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #25 on: July 02, 2009, 09:31:48 PM »
I have sent Santiago the account details. E-mail me with updates of the progress or if you run into any kind of problem.

Ex

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #26 on: July 02, 2009, 11:12:59 PM »
Wow! I thought it was common knowledge that I was the one hosting RogueBasin. Yes, I changed my surname to Ritzl due to marriage, but here I am :-)

First of all: I have no intention of shutting down RogueBasin (or the underlying roguelikedevelopment.org). I can say this with 100% certainty because:

a) It costs me next to nothing to host it.
b) I have a couple of other sites at the same hosting provider
c) People are still downloading and e-mailing me about my now abandoned mobile RL Dweller, hosted at roguelikedevelopment.org
d) Sentimental reasons. I still read r.g.r.dev. I occasionally play RLs. I have very fond memories of all my attempts at coding RLs.
Hey Bjorn! This is fantastic to hear, and you've done a great job with Roguebasin so far! I hope we didn't seem out of line by suggesting all these mirrors and things without your input. We're just trying to preserve for as long as possible your amazing site :)
Quote

Anyway, let's move on. What can I do to assist you? Dumping all wiki contents can be done via shell scripts:

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki#Database_dump

Wikipedia (running on MediaWiki takes this a step further):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Database_download

It should be possible to get access to a shell using the subdomain credentials. I'll investigate more. In the meantime I'm willing to help out with more or less anything. I'm on prental leave now and have a reasonable amount of time to spend to help you guys out.
First, PaulBlay should definitely also receive admin. Slashie goes without saying :D Slashie should of course have admin, but PaulBlay does an enormous amount of editing and work on Roguebasin, and with admin he'd surely help out even more. So I'd definitely nominate him.

I believe Roguebasin should have (if possible) an automatic backup that is created every so often. An up to date link to a backup copy of Roguebasin would have a number of advantages:

- Easy backup, anyone who wanted to could keep a backup copy of the Roguebasin "just in case"
- Easy mirroring, anyone who wanted to could create a mirror of the Roguebasin, which may help with bandwidth costs, though they don't sound too bad as is.

And most importantly, I'd like to start a torrent of the most recent backup of the Roguebasin. I feel a torrent of the backup of Roguebasin would greatly help with the long term preservation of the archive. It might not be needed, since bandwidth costs are low and all involved are very interested in keeping Roguebasin going.

However, a torrent would allow a community effort to keep an up to date backup of Roguebasin permanently. No matter what happens to any website or individual member of the community, the torrent could keep going indefinitely. And it wouldn't be that hard to keep a torrent around. I'd be more than happy to seed it at 50 kb/s indefinitely. The torrent would also remove the cost of hosting a backup copy of the Roguebasin, since the torrent would be the backup. And this torrent backup would provide all the advantages of backups in general listed above. Thoughts?
« Last Edit: July 02, 2009, 11:15:17 PM by Elig »

PaulBlay

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #27 on: July 03, 2009, 07:52:26 AM »
First, PaulBlay should definitely also receive admin. Slashie goes without saying :D Slashie should of course have admin, but PaulBlay does an enormous amount of editing and work on Roguebasin, and with admin he'd surely help out even more. So I'd definitely nominate him.

I'm grateful for your vote of confidence.  I should note that I don't have any *nix or MySQL experience (although I am familiar with some other database systems).  If the others still feel I am a suitable candidate I promise to do my best.

Slash

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #28 on: July 03, 2009, 11:43:04 AM »
Thank you Björn and be patient gentleman, I will start fixing stuff tonight.

I agree Paul should be apointed as a sysop.

FYI, this is Roguebasin current "staff"

Bureaucrats: Björn, Sheep, Jeff Lait
Sysops: Kisielewicz, Slash

Slash

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Re: Future of RogueBasin
« Reply #29 on: July 04, 2009, 01:53:43 PM »
I am fixing some details on the server access, I plan to do the update tonight