[HLUG] Hosting the LUG Site

[Julian Robbins]

dicegeorge at hotmail dot com wrote:
> yes i know someone who would probably host it
> but i dont want to put the details here...
>
> is it mathew or julian or who??
>   
Well I'm co-ordinating getting our website back up properly, but Matthew
has already offered to set it up, dependent on the time he has. We are
still looking at hosts and type of website CMS to deploy.

Our old /current non active site was fine, setup by Mark Broadbent and
myself. It used Drupal, and we hopefully will be able to get it back
from the lug.org.uk people ..... eventually.
> but all hosts have occassional problems
> so why not wait till whoever used to do it sorts it out?
>   
Well that's the problem. lug.org.uk are generous, but to be honest
hopelessly overworked and thus poorly organised. Lug.org is currently
run completely by volunteers and lack manhours. The lug.org.uk hack
really sunk them for a while, having to wipe their server and starting
again. they have about 70 lug sites to set up. But now, approx 3 months
later, we still have no MySQL access and no word from the last two
months of what is happening. we do have simple SFTP access, so i can add
things, but its certainly not what we want. I asked them on Monday night
to tell me the situation politely, so we can at least get a plan
arranged, but as usual I have heard nothing back so far. I have had to
mail a couple of times to get a response, and the SLUG (Shropshire)
Lugmaster mentioned it took 6 emails to get a response simply about
setting up website forwarding. Many Lugmasters are very frustrated with
the situtaion and many have moved or are moving their sites elsewhere.

It also sounds pretty much like lug.org.uk will not now be able to offer
dynamically hosted websites. I've heard this now from two sources which
goes along with my thinking. I havent heard anything from them on the
lugmaster mailing list for about two months which really doesnt help either.

As far as I see it we don't want to burn our bridges though. Our
herefordshire.lug.org.uk URL is useful, and the mailing list that i am
replying to you on now is also hosted by lug.org.uk, and it has been
reliable, and excellent for our lug. So the plan is just to get another
website setup, pointed to from our herefordshire.lug.org.uk site for
now. Hopefully we can get the dns pointed elsewhere eventually rather
than just a simple redirect, but this will take time, knowing how things
are there.

I would like to use our old drupal site if we can, but

   1. We dont have access to it at the moment
   2. We would need to check it through carefully to see if it had been
      hacked. Its unlikely, but quite possible as the lug.org.uk
      attacker could have compromised our site.

That said, if Matthew is happy, or would prefer to use another CMS, then
it may get things moving quickly. The foremost aim is get another site
up quickly first and even a Wordpress site could suffice for a while ...

> dont change horses int he middle of a stream!
>   
So, it is broken and we will fix it! to quote another proverb.

Julian

>                   
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Matthew Macdonald-Wallace" <matthew at truthisfreedom.org.uk>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 8:12 PM
> To: "Herefordshire Linux Users Group." <herefordshire at mailman.lug.org.uk>
> Subject: [HLUG] Hosting the LUG Site
>
>   
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Before I get started, I want to make it quite clear that this email is  
>> not an offer (although if/when I find a job that allows me to get a  
>> co-lo server it may become one!).
>>
>> At organisations I've worked with in the past, they've had what's been  
>> referred to as a "dirty LAN" - basically a section of the network that  
>> can be used for "external projects" as long as they remain legal.
>>
>> Does anyone on the LUG know of any companies/organisations that may be  
>> able to host/sponsor the LUG website in return for a "hosting  
>> sponsored by" or "hosted by" link back to their own site?
>>
>> Just a thought,
>>
>> M.
>> -- 
>> Matthew Macdonald-Wallace
>> matthew at truthisfreedom.org.uk
>> http://www.truthisfreedom.org.uk/
>>
>> -- 
>> Herefordshire LUG mailing list
>> Web:  http://www.herefordshire.lug.org.uk
>> List: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/herefordshire
>>
>>     
>
>