[Lnc-business] L-Pedia
Wes Benedict
wes.benedict at lp.org
Tue Jun 21 13:42:18 EDT 2016
And I hope the LNC will vote to implement anything new regarding L-Pedia
after 1/1/2017. But of course, if it's passed sooner, we'll work on it
as directed by the LNC and chair.
Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
(202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.org
facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership
On 6/21/2016 1:40 PM, Wes Benedict wrote:
>
> After talking to Robert Kraus, we are recalling the L-Pedia is hosted
> on the same server as LP.org. So, when security holes or outdated
> software from L-Pedia causes problems, it hurts LP.org. Giving access
> to the key points is a security risk for LP.org.
>
> We plan to phase out the server we have for LP.org over the next year
> or so, depending on how things go.
>
> I suggest starting over and building a brand new L-Pedia separate from
> LP.org. That's what we're going to do for LP.org. Start over with a
> new website. Has to be done sometimes.
>
>
> Wes Benedict, Executive Director
> Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
> 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
> (202) 333-0008 ext. 232,wes.benedict at lp.org
> facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
> Join the Libertarian Party at:http://lp.org/membership
> On 6/21/2016 1:24 PM, Caryn Ann Harlos wrote:
>> I believe James Gholston is saying he can "fix" it. He needs the
>> access to do so. He can fix the LPedia spam issue too.... but he
>> needs access. What I am asking (and it might be ignorant) is if
>> there is already a sandbox for LPedia or if one can be created (i.e.
>> it can be walled off from other assets) and a volunteer can take
>> over. I don't want staff time taken.... but I don't want the asset
>> to be destroyed either.
>>
>> What can we do to give it over to a volunteer? To either start over,
>> fix or whatever? That is really the answer needed I think. When I
>> have that information, I will pursue the appropriate motion to make
>> it happen..... and hopefully involving NO other staff time other than
>> giving the keys to a volunteer or creating the sandbox. I am not a
>> techie, but I know enough to know that shouldn't be a big deal.
>>
>> Or alternatively if the Party simply doesn't want this asset anymore,
>> we can "give" it to a volunteer or perhaps see if LSLA wants to take
>> it over.
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 11:17 AM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict at lp.org
>> <mailto:wes.benedict at lp.org>> wrote:
>>
>> I think the only reason volunteers might not have been given
>> access is because of the security opening that allow tons of
>> spam. I don't recall if this is hosted somewhere that causes it
>> to also hurt other websites we control.
>>
>> I deliberately wanted L-Pedia to be a volunteer managed site -
>> staff has not had interest in trying to control the content of
>> L-Pedia since 2009. I believe a few times the volunteers asked
>> Eric Dixon to help trouble shoot some things. I think that's it.
>>
>> What might be nice is for a team (not staff) to rebuild from
>> scratch an L-Pedia using the technology they think is needed, and
>> don't even give the passwords to staff. That would guarantee
>> prevention of staff interference. Unless you all think you can
>> fix the current version which is also fine with me.
>>
>> We are in the middle of trying to fix some LPStore.org issues and
>> plan to roll out a new LP.org shortly. I promised info on the
>> Ohio ballot access drive to Ken Moellman last Friday and haven't
>> gotten it to him yet. Have been working on hiring help and need
>> to finish the approvals and paperwork. I have over 200 emails in
>> my inbox and many require follow up work, not just reading or
>> forwarding. Sounds easy to delegate, but it's not easy to
>> delegate in a way that others don't violate our Policy Manual and
>> chair and LNC directives.
>>
>> L-Pedia is near the bottom of my priorities right now. I removed
>> links to it from LP.org in 2010 because the content was so bad. I
>> hear it's improved dramatically since then which is a good sign.
>>
>> If you would like staff to help with L-Pedia before updating the
>> home page of Lp.org, and lots of other things, that will require
>> a directive from the chair or LNC motion.
>>
>> Caryn, please consult Eric Dixon, former staff member, copied on
>> this email, to see if he can dig up some emails for you on this
>> topic.
>>
>> I'm thinking we should postpone LP.org upgrade until after the
>> election, given all the other stuff that keeps coming up. Whether
>> it's upgraded by staff, or an outside company, either way it will
>> take tons of staff time.
>>
>>
>> Wes Benedict, Executive Director
>> Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
>> 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
>> (202) 333-0008 ext. 232 <tel:%28202%29%20333-0008%20ext.%20232>,wes.benedict at lp.org <mailto:wes.benedict at lp.org>
>> facebook.com/libertarians <http://facebook.com/libertarians> @LPNational
>> Join the Libertarian Party at:http://lp.org/membership
>>
>> On 6/21/2016 9:32 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos 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 <mailto:brett at brettbittner.com>
>>> 404.492.6524 <tel: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 <tel:402-981-6469>
>>>
>>> Home: 402-493-0873 <tel:402-493-0873>
>>>
>>> Office: 402-222-7207 <tel: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://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Flpedia.org%2FUser%3AWHUMP&h=mAQEXDhYU>http://lpedia.org/User:WHUMP
>>> /react-text ) 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 <mailto:Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lnc-business mailing list
>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org <mailto: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
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lnc-business mailing list
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>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>> 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
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lnc-business mailing list
>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org <mailto:Lnc-business at hq.lp.org>
>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>
>>
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>> 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
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Lnc-business mailing list
>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>
>
>
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