This page is intended for comments and suggestions for a replacement web server.
Changeover Date
Changeover is currently planned for 4am UTC Monday December 8th.
Current Base System
The current configuration has worked pretty well for us, and will be simply updated to the latest version.
The base software is standard out-of-the-box software from the Ubuntu 804 LTS server distribution, plus the J system and scripts.
Web Server: Apache2
Database: MySQL
Firewall: Shorewall
FTP: Pure-ftpd
Forums: Mailman
Mail: Courier/Postfix/Cyrus SASL/Phpmyadmin/Squirrel Mail
Spam Filter: Clam AV/SpamAssassin/Amavis
Version Control: Subversion
Wiki: MoinMoin version 1.8
New Software
DocBook - in theory you can output from MoinMoin into this format, and hence into several other formats.
Trac issue tracking system. Comment from Ric: "I would like to see some sort of bug-tracking software added to help track bugs and feature requests better than is currently possible using the wiki and the forums. My suggestion for a very usable (not too complex) solution that leverages the current use of Subversion would be Trac. In my experience, Trac sits on top of a normal Subversion repository but has no impact on the use of Subversion, so users not interested in using Trac can continue to use Subversion as before. As a bonus, browsing Subversion source code on the web and keeping track of development activity is much easier and prettier! The JAL Addons could be hosted in a similar fashion to the Trac-Hacks site. Trac comes with a wiki (based on MoinMoin) that can be used to document the project(s). Some thought would need to go in to how to best use/link/integrate any Trac wiki(s) with the current J wiki. My first thoughts are that the Trac wiki could act as a space for collaborating on development of Addons/projects, whereas the the current jwiki/Addons could document the latest published version for users. Of course another option would just be for any links to Addons on the jwiki to point to a new Trac-based Addons site. -- RicSherlock 2008-05-27 04:10:22"
Git version control system. Current we use subversion, and this will be set up on the new server. At some stage we might upgrade to Git, though this will not be done initially.
Software Suggestions
Any further suggestions go here...
Comments
Wiki - the MoinMoin wiki will be upgraded from version 1.35 to version 1.8.
Is possible to set up a SVN location where I could check in a MoinMoin Parser for J? I'm hoping there will be some automation magic where if I check in a J parser, it'll get immediately copied to the appropriate MoinMoin directory, so I can experiment with building it. Is that feasible?
Yes, this can be done. Let me know what is needed after the update ChrisBurke 2008-11-19.
Nabble - when viewing the Nabble forums, the user is presented with a link that asks "are you the owner of this forum?", which leads to a page with the following language:
The skin feature is now obsolete and you should switch to an embedded forum if you want to keep the look and feel of your website with your forum. Nabble will let both ideas (skins and embedding) coexist for some time until most of the users have finished this transition. You should switch your forum soon if you don't want to lose your skin.
OK, will do this after the upgrade ChrisBurke 2008-11-19.
Mibbit - We could attract, engage, and retain more new talent if our IRC community were more visible and easier to use. Mibbit allows websites to embed IRC channels using a slick AJAX interface. Similar to Nabble, I don't think much needs to actually be installed or run on the JSoftware servers. An additional benefit is we could use BJonas' IRC bots in conjunction with Mibbit to embed a pseudo-session manager right into the JSoftware website, to allow users to experiment without downloading the software, giving them immediate gratification. Plus, if they get stuck, there will be J users right there to get them over the hurdles.
Do we need to install any software for this, or just put the widget on a web page? ChrisBurke 2008-11-19.
No, you don't need to install any software. You just embed an iframe, it takes less than a minute. I've posted an (ugly) example at http://dan.bron.us/j/chat.html . If you don't like frames, you can use popups, and there are lots of other options. See using mibbit on your website and the links therefrom. -- DanBron 2008-11-19 17:46:27