Forum wonk

Arkandel · Nov 9, 2021, 1:53 PM

(Double post!)

I concur with Sunny: this community is its members, not the location. But I also promised Arkandel that I would safeguard this place, the keys for which he was handed by someone else, all the way back to Emmahsue.

I don't consider either 'MSB' (as in, the acronym or the domain name) or the platform it runs on to be this place. It's the role.

Game-agnostic, MU-hobby oriented, open-door policy, speak your mind - within certain limits - even if that means flaming the admins.

I can't speak for ES - who probably wouldn't care too much at this point but a promise is a promise - but if you can get this done I'm sure it's all good no matter which direction things take. This was never supposed to be about who 'runs' MSB. All of us were just caretakers, keeping the lights on for people to wander in and post cat memes or discuss mechanics or whatever.

Also folks - I get not wanting to lose data. History, continuity and legacy are important. The question is, are they $500-important? Especially because there is no way to test that the issues with memory consumption would go away by moving it over to MongoDB until after the data is migrated.

And to be clear: I'm not MU*ing but I'm not planning on vanishing either (sorry!). I'll help with any migration, give what technical advice I can and support transition efforts as needed.

Tinuviel · Nov 9, 2021, 1:53 PM

@arkandel We don't even need to migrate, really. We can just close this bit. Put it into a "you can't post here anymore" mode or something, and open something new. This can serve as an archived snapshot.

Arkandel · Nov 9, 2021, 1:55 PM

Hmm. Also I just found this:

https://meta.discourse.org/t/importing-migrating-nodebb-mongodb-to-discourse/126553

There may be options. But they still require someone to step up and help Gany from a technical standpoint.

Be the change you want in the world!

Tinuviel · Nov 9, 2021, 1:56 PM

@arkandel said in Forum wonk:

Be the change you want in the world!

I'm middle class, white, and male. I am the world (as it stands in the current patriarchal-capitalist-white supremacist paradigm)

Carma · Nov 9, 2021, 3:36 PM

This post is deleted!

Roz · Nov 9, 2021, 3:55 PM

@grayson said in Forum wonk:

The loss of history would mean/does mean that when people like VASpider pop up in other hobbies, I can't say to the victims 'go here and you'll see that you're not alone, that this is a pattern and that you aren't going insane'. If we lost all the history, I wouldn't even be able to drop by and refresh my memory on the patterns that we've observed over the last 20 years.

We don't often need the receipts. But when we do, it's nice if they still exist. Although, a better search function would help massively.

(No, the VASpider example was not a random example pulled out of thin air.)

I'm really of this mind. I see people regularly mention the loss of the WORA archives for some of the valuable information that was shared there (even amidst a lot of awful). Yes, as a community we are not just an archive, we are wherever we set up, etc., that's all great, but that also feels more like -- the reaction you have when you accidentally lose a whole thing and are trying to move on. I would not want to plan for losing all of it.

I would also pitch in to any sort of fundraising campaign to help improve the forum situation. Unfortunately, while I'm a mildly techy person and tend to pick up stuff, I don't know that I have the full expertise for a lot of what's being talked about regarding server issues and databases. Like, I'd probably be able to help set up something new that had good instructions, but I'm sure I'd struggle with more complex stuff.

But I'd literally help pay for someone else to do it.

Derp · Nov 9, 2021, 3:58 PM

Seems like if we're going to try to preserve/archive things and not lose any data, figuring out a way to migrate the DB from Redis to Mongo is the way to go. If we're gonna set up funds to do that, I'm relatively sure that the people here would pitch in and put that together relatively quickly.

faraday · Nov 9, 2021, 4:01 PM

@derp said in Forum wonk:

Seems like if we're going to try to preserve/archive things and not lose any data, figuring out a way to migrate the DB from Redis to Mongo is the way to go. If we're gonna set up funds to do that, I'm relatively sure that the people here would pitch in and put that together relatively quickly.

I agree that's a sound option, but they can also explore creating a static archive (web scrape, or maybe nodebb has something built in) that is non-operational but maintains an archive for posterity.

(Reposting because my post apparently got eaten by the RAM monster.)

Arkandel · Nov 9, 2021, 4:40 PM

@derp said in Forum wonk:

Seems like if we're going to try to preserve/archive things and not lose any data, figuring out a way to migrate the DB from Redis to Mongo is the way to go.

Not the only way to go.

For example I posted a link above with instructions to migrate nodeBB's database from Redis to another platform for free.

The cost in that scenario is not money but someone's time.

silverfox · Nov 9, 2021, 5:44 PM

@arkandel

I mean... if someone's going to put in that time I'd happily still lay a little money on them to do it because we all have our own work to do, and moving it would be a labour of love for... something with very little love in it.

Derp · Nov 9, 2021, 5:47 PM

@arkandel

Didn't I link that same thing earlier, lol?

I mean, it looks like just following basic instructions, so. I mean, if you just need someone to do it, then I can do that.

Roz · Nov 9, 2021, 5:52 PM

@arkandel said in Forum wonk:

@derp said in Forum wonk:

Seems like if we're going to try to preserve/archive things and not lose any data, figuring out a way to migrate the DB from Redis to Mongo is the way to go.

Not the only way to go.

For example I posted a link above with instructions to migrate nodeBB's database from Redis to another platform for free.

The cost in that scenario is not money but someone's time.

It's only free if you have someone with both time and expertise (and is someone who would be generally trusted by the administration) to do it. Instructions that look basic and easy to one person with fluency in the systems aren't always basic and easy to those who aren't used to working in the command line, etc.

Arkandel · Nov 9, 2021, 5:52 PM

@derp said in Forum wonk:

I mean, it looks like just following basic instructions, so. I mean, if you just need someone to do it, then I can do that.

If everything works and no further investigation is needed then yes!

Ultimately if Gany is comfortable with it I can provide a DB dump to test things out in a test site.

Testament · Nov 10, 2021, 8:14 PM

@Arkandel I haven't caught up on all of this just yet(at work), but I have enough parts laying around my workshop from previous computer builds to put together a computer that can act as a storage for the website. I've never done a VM before, but I'm fairly certain I could work my way through it.

I can probably get enough stuff laying around for a about 64 GB of RAM and 4TBs of data storage.

....I build a lot of computers. But I freely admit I'm far more knowledgeable on hardware than I am on software.

Arkandel · Nov 11, 2021, 1:30 AM

@testament Sure! It really is up to Gany.

The DB dump contains everything on the forum, including private messages, and it could be used to spawn clones of MSB (even though why someone would want to do that is beyond me ).

I can only give it to whoever I'm asked to, especially since once it leaves my custody I can no longer control who else might also get a copy.