2/27 Stupid question -- I know I've been away for a while, but has
anyone ever discussed something like a CSUA phpbb or similar
setup? I get the impression hardly anyone uses wall anymore,
and I'm surprised the motd is still active. -John
\_ Yes. I played around with it for a while, but people raised
such bitching about the evils of phpbb that I opted to not
implement my own forum software. I agree it would be nice
for people to get persistent discussions going. -mrauser
\_ I have no idea about phpBB, but I would like something to
replace the motd that new students can get into. -jrleek
\_ I had an idea at lunch with Ausman today -- motd
anonymity is good, so create a dummy user. Let people
log in with either their regular account (PAM auth
or something) or via the dummy user -- which then
requires an authentication process with CSUA
credentials to a user's account (to avoid anonymous
non-CSUA hosers.) Don't log these accesses (or
maybe just "bob authenticated to the dummy acct. on
xyz date") and let authenticated users then post
anonymously. Problem solved. BTW, phpbb was just
an example -- anything web-based would do. If this
is of interest to anyone, I can look into it. -John
\_ I don't understand. The whole point of the internet
discussion is to have transparency and open discussions.
Why do you want to limit yourself to a few selected
CSUAers? A closed systems usually turns into flame-fest
with a bunch of same old cranky farts like holub.
\_ I don't think anonymous access is desirable or
aligned with CSUA goals. It's basically a historical
accident, and it's not currently providing any
value to the CSUA. It's not necessary. -tom
[Some anonymous twink deleted this message--why is it
important for the CSUA to support that kind of
behavior?]
[Some anonymous twink deleted this message, twice
now--why is it important for the CSUA to support that
kind of behavior?]
\_ I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that this is
not a troll. The CSUA used to be a good platform (I
have been out of the loop for a while) for connecting
students with alumni, among others. MOTD is a
functional but archaic method for posting stuff, and
I don't think many people have the time or patience
to deal with it. If you're interested in getting
students in contact with graduates regarding know-how,
jobs, whatever, you'll go for whatever works. Second,
there are people such as you (since you didn't sign
your post) who want anonymity. That's fine, and I
respect that. Forced transparency stifles discussion.
I like the CSUA, it got me started with computers in
my career, and it'd be nice to give back; regarding
limiting discussion to CSUA members, I also maintain
stronger ties with alumni from my b-school because I
am pretty sure that they're of reasonably high quality.
Anyway, this all is moot if nobody's interested. I am
happy to invest the time and effort if someone wants
to let me know. -John
\_ There seems to be quite a bit of interest in this,
I'm interested, mrauser seems interested, tom is.
Even the current politburo seems interested. There
was some talk about this last semester. They
redesigned the website, but I guess they didn't get
around to the forum. (Much harder, after all)
If you want to take it on, it seems like there
would be plenty of people to cheer you on. :)
-jrleek
\_ s/they/I/i. I redesigned the site because while I
could easily maintain the site, it required some
level of comfort with UNIX and the command-line
which quite simply most students nowadays lack. In
other words, I decided supporting Movable Type was
easier than supporting the older (and more flexible
IMO) system, since the current secretary isn't as
experienced with HTML, Markdown, Python, etc.
easier than supporting the older (and more
flexible IMO) system, since the current secretary
isn't as experienced with HTML, Markdown, Python,
etc.
Re: the forum - I wanted a forum, but politburo
last semester, while not actually opposed, lacked
any interest in me setting one up. Some people on
motd complained about it and nobody stepped up to
offer to do it, so it died a quiet death. John is
100% correct on lack of time and patience to wade
through motd; my usage drops off significantly
when I have work to do, especially with all the
polticial-economic discussions I have no interest
in reading (that's not to say I'm not generally
interested in the topic, but let's not get into
that or start a flame war). I still would like a
forum. If someone here is willing to set one up,
I'd like that. --toulouse
\_ Someone at work set up a Simple Machines Forum
in like 1 day. I can't say how secure it
is, but it works. There are others.
\_ Do whatever you want to set up new and
alternative forums, but leave the motd
and wall alone for those who wish to
continue to use them in spite of their
limitations. The arent doing harm or
sucking major resources, and they have
value to some, so no reason this should
be XOR instead of AND.
\_ Paranoid much? Why would we destroy
motd or wall? They have basically no
overhead. The point is to set up
something that serves the CSUA's
needs better, not to take MOTD away
from alumni. --t
\_ who is paranoid? a reasonable
comment since turning these off
has been proposed before and
csua leadership has often gotten
"no brainer" issues wrong. asked and
answered.
\_ Except for the fact that I've
made it abundantly clear before
that I won't be shutting down
motd. The fact that I'm using
motd should tell you something,
too. Looks like you got a "no
brainer" issue wrong. :P --t |
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