[Lnc-business] L-Pedia

Tue Jun 21 09:42:57 EDT 2016

We have one willing and able right now.  I would love to have more.  Right
now, we are on a collision course with square one.  But yes, recruiting
multiple volunteers would be nice.  James Gholston is a long-term and
trusted member who has already been very involved with LPedia and known to
the staff.

On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 7:39 AM, Brett Bittner <brett at brettbittner.com>
wrote:

> If it were entirely up to me, I'd prefer to have multiple volunteers with
> access. That way, if that one volunteer is hit by a bus or some other
> tragic end or incapacitation, we don't start again at Square 1.
>
> Brett C. Bittner
>
> brett at brettbittner.com
> 404.492.6524
>
> "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much
> liberty than those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
>
> On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 9:32 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos <
> carynannharlos at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> That seems reasonable to me, but it seems to me that there is some reason
>> that a volunteer was not allowed this access in the past.  Perhaps it was
>> just because the right person didn't ask and pursue it.  Which is why I am
>> asking and pursuing it.  Simply giving said access seems like it would
>> solve this issue.  From what I understand James Gholston of Texas has the
>> skills and desire to do this.
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 7:27 AM, Brett Bittner <brett at brettbittner.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> My thoughts:
>>>
>>>    - I see the historical content as valuable
>>>    - I understand the constraints on staff time and budget
>>>    - We are in the midst of the 2016 election cycle
>>>    - A termed agreement (until the end of 2016, maybe?) with a
>>>    volunteer for short term access for critical updates this cycle (due to its
>>>    high page rank) could "band-aid" us through to allow for consideration of
>>>    staff time and $$ allocation at our December 2016 session without taking
>>>    away resources in the immediate term
>>>
>>>
>>> Brett C. Bittner
>>>
>>> brett at brettbittner.com
>>> 404.492.6524
>>>
>>> "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much
>>> liberty than those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 9:13 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos <
>>> carynannharlos at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thank you David.  I am hoping for some discussion, particularly from
>>>> those who have been here a while, on the best route.  It seems this an
>>>> asset that the Party started and let lie fallow.  From this update it seems
>>>> it is inevitable that it will be be undone through a hack exploit or needed
>>>> software update if something isn't done, which requires certain server
>>>> access which the Party does not want to give to an outside volunteer.  This
>>>> presents at least these options (and I would like to hear more).
>>>>
>>>> 1.  Remove it and kill it (this is going to happen if nothing is done,
>>>> I am very opposed to this option and am trying to prevent it)
>>>>
>>>> 2. Allot staff time and budget to re-open the site for registrations
>>>> and administer it (this has been an option all along and not done, I
>>>> presume due to lack of budget and need for staff time elsewhere---- if this
>>>> is possible, this seems to be the best solution)
>>>>
>>>> 3.  Appoint and allow a volunteer to have the necessary server access
>>>> to do number 2 (this seems to me to be the next best option, but I presume
>>>> there are security concerns - not sure why these could not alleviated with
>>>> vetting and agreements - a properly vetted volunteer is no less secure than
>>>> a staff member)
>>>>
>>>> 4. Allow LPedia to be transferred to an outside server (paid for by the
>>>> Party at a cost not to exceed X dollars), retain access, ownership, and
>>>> ultimate control of site, and appoint a volunteer to run
>>>>
>>>> 5. "Give" LPedia and all the rights to it away to a volunteer or
>>>> perhaps see if the LSLA were interested in taking over.
>>>>
>>>> These are options that seem to present themselves.  I do not know which
>>>> is the best of these or other that may be added to the list.  Number 1 is
>>>> unacceptable for such a valuable resource.  I have used LPedia quite a bit,
>>>> and am one of the few that has editing permissions.
>>>>
>>>> In Liberty,
>>>> Caryn Ann Harlos
>>>> Region 1 Representative
>>>> (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming,
>>>> Washington)
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 8:01 PM, David Demarest <
>>>> dpdemarest at centurylink.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Caryn, I would be happy to co-sponsor the motion you suggest below.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> *Celebrate Life, Set the Bar High and LIVE FREE!*
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> *The War on Cronyism Begins Now!*
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ~David Pratt Demarest
>>>>>
>>>>> Region 6 Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>>>>>
>>>>> Secretary, Nebraska Libertarian State Central Committee
>>>>>
>>>>> David.Demarest at LP.org
>>>>>
>>>>> Secretary at LPNE.org
>>>>>
>>>>> DPDemarest at centurylink.net
>>>>>
>>>>> David.Demarest at firstdata.com
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.LP.org
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.LPNE.org
>>>>>
>>>>> Cell:       402-981-6469
>>>>>
>>>>> Home: 402-493-0873
>>>>>
>>>>> Office: 402-222-7207
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> *From:* Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] *On
>>>>> Behalf Of *Caryn Ann Harlos
>>>>> *Sent:* Monday, June 20, 2016 8:09 PM
>>>>> *To:* lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>>> *Cc:* James Gholston <jamesg at dimensionality.com>
>>>>> *Subject:* [Lnc-business] L-Pedia
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I do not recall this being brought up, and this seems like an issue
>>>>> who's time for addressing is far overdue.  I inquired with James Gholston
>>>>> who has been an administrator of accounts there, and he provided me with
>>>>> this information and request.   I'd like to get this discussion going, and
>>>>> perhaps if there is interest, speak with some of you about co-sponsoring a
>>>>> motion to get this going.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ====
>>>>>
>>>>> As probably everyone I'm sending this email to knows, our party has a
>>>>> history-centric wiki (since 2005) that has very high PageRank and shows up
>>>>> heavily in searches. It is likely the biggest online repository that lists
>>>>> names of people who have participated in the Libertarian Party (with access
>>>>> to some party data, we could crank out a lot of biographical articles).
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Situation: MediaWiki is not designed to be maintained without shell
>>>>> and ftp access, but only paid contractors and staff have this level of
>>>>> access. Meanwhile, the LNC Staff does not have time to maintain react-text:
>>>>> 196 LPedia.org /react-text
>>>>> <http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FLPedia.org%2F&h=IAQGLgKMN>,
>>>>> and the party doesn't have the resources to pay someone to maintain it.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> What problems do we have that result? Two big ones are visible on the
>>>>> front page. Three years ago account creation was temporarily locked down
>>>>> when we were getting more than 100 garbage articles and accounts added per
>>>>> minute and it's still temporarily down. Also, a needed image permission is
>>>>> broken on the server preventing image uploads while the wiki settings
>>>>> prohibit linking to external images. The really pixellated image of John
>>>>> Hospers isn't really an image. It's a table. ...And it's roughly a third of
>>>>> a megabyte. A PNG or JPEG would be a tiny fraction of the size and would
>>>>> look far nicer, but it hasn't been possible to add one of those for a few
>>>>> years.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Additional problems: The version of MediaWiki we're using is eight
>>>>> years out of date -- and that update seven years ago was done by the LNC
>>>>> staff spending money. Extensions are needed -- both to add features to
>>>>> handle the data on react-text: 205 LPedia.org /react-text
>>>>> <http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FLPedia.org%2F&h=wAQH_h6KR>and
>>>>> to control attacks (our PageRank makes us a high value target).
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Our main tool for controlling attacks is a bot that runs on my
>>>>> personal desktop (written four and a half years ago when successful attacks
>>>>> were exceeding what could be humanly controlled in a reasonable amount of
>>>>> time as a workaround for lack of server access) -- and stops running
>>>>> whenever my machine or Internet connectivity are down, allowing garbage to
>>>>> accumulate. We have no meaningful extensions to stop things (a decade-old
>>>>> CAPTCHA that's easily bypassed -- especially with the version of MediaWiki
>>>>> we're running). With the bot ( react-text: 211
>>>>> http://lpedia.org/User:WHUMP /react-text
>>>>> <http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Flpedia.org%2FUser%3AWHUMP&h=mAQEXDhYU>)
>>>>> it's possible to continue to allow anonymous contributions (most of our
>>>>> contributions have always been anonymous -- many very substantial) and I
>>>>> can bug people for usernames and email addresses and add the manually when
>>>>> I know about them or personally recruit them, but reliance on these steps
>>>>> is not optimal.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Also, what do we do when a PHP or SQL update breaks MediaWiki 1.12
>>>>> altogether?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> My suggested fix: Move react-text: 220 LPedia.org /react-text
>>>>> <http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FLPedia.org%2F&h=KAQGIW0iR>to
>>>>> a server where trusted volunteers are allowed under-the-hood access. It
>>>>> doesn't need to be anything even remotely fancy or expensive: A shared
>>>>> hosting DreamHost account would be more than sufficient. Additional
>>>>> volunteer-maintainable party domains -- presently existing or merely
>>>>> potential -- could be hosted on the same server and also be maintained by
>>>>> volunteers (and/or staff and contractors, time permitting). The LNC staff
>>>>> can retain control when they see a need or find time to exercise it, yet
>>>>> not be a bottleneck when there's simply too many things to do, not enough
>>>>> staff, and not enough time for even just the essentials.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> There are other historical concerns and things that might be
>>>>> relatively easy to do to help the volunteers who participate with react-text:
>>>>> 226 LPedia.org /react-text
>>>>> <http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FLPedia.org%2F&h=QAQES3Arj>(I'd
>>>>> like to change the default licence to public domain and I'm concerned about
>>>>> the mold/mildew risk to our unscanned surviving archival documents after
>>>>> the basement flood), but let me focus on just this one thing right now.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> =======
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I have cc'd James on this message so he can keep track and feed me
>>>>> relevant information.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>>
>>>>> In Liberty,
>>>>>
>>>>> Caryn Ann Harlos
>>>>>
>>>>> Region 1 Representative
>>>>>
>>>>> (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming,
>>>>> Washington)
>>>>>
>>>>> Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Lnc-business mailing list
>>>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> In Liberty,
>>>> Caryn Ann Harlos
>>>> Region 1 Representative
>>>> (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming,
>>>> Washington)
>>>> Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org
>>>>
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>>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> In Liberty,
>> Caryn Ann Harlos
>> Region 1 Representative
>> (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming,
>> Washington)
>> Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>
>>
>
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>

-- 
In Liberty,
Caryn Ann Harlos
Region 1 Representative
(Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming,
Washington)
Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org
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