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| Author |
Message |
ajax
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Suggestion Box
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Mar 23 17:53 UTC 1995 |
In the tradition of previous co-op "suggestion box" items, this
is to collect and encourage ideas from users.
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| 270 responses total. |
ajax
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response 1 of 270:
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Mar 23 17:55 UTC 1995 |
Another system I use keeps a running recent history of system problems
and changes in their motd, like this:
>Message of the Day - March 17, 1995
>
>Type `news' for more details about any of the headlines below . . .
>
> * 3-22 - SLIP/PPP access limited to paying customers!
> * 3-17 - Terminal server software upgraded
> * 3-14 - Zip problems fixed
> * 3-13 - New annex to be swapped in
> * 3-06 - Upgrade to 196M of RAM and NFS changes
> * 2-28 - New NFS server in use
>
>*** Weekly system reboots now scheduled for Tuesday 3:45 am CST ***
(etc.)
I kind of like the format, and thought perhaps Grex could adopt something
similar, either for system problems, or even for regular announcements.
I like seeing a brief system rolling changes/announcements log. The idea
of a 'news' file is kind of neat too...they provide a paragraph of details
about the one-liners in the motd.
Here's a possible rework for how Grex could organize even some non-system
announcements:
The mail spool is quite full. Please move delete your mail, move it to
your home directory, and/or think about unsubscribing from mailing lists if
you aren't reading them? Thanks!
Usenet News is still down, probably for several months. See agora item 96.
4/8 Sat Pot luck dinner! See agora item 22 for details.
3/26 Sun JCC computer swap THIS SUNDAY! If you can donate used computer
hardware or software, or spend some time staffing the Grex table,
please see agora item 23. Thanks!
3/22 Wed The next Grex board of directors at 7pm at Zingerman's Next Door,
probably upstairs (even if the upstairs says "closed"). The public
is welcome. See co-op item 7 for details.
3/16 Thr New version of elm installed, run "oldelm" for the old version.
3/14 Tue Sorry, httpd is down until further notice. mdw 04:36a
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sidhe
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response 2 of 270:
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Mar 24 00:14 UTC 1995 |
Itmight aid in "housekeeping", i.e. cleaning out messages past their
prime (like 3/22, above).
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nephi
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response 3 of 270:
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Mar 24 05:56 UTC 1995 |
Actually, I prefer the homey feel of our current MOTD.
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sidhe
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response 4 of 270:
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Mar 25 21:57 UTC 1995 |
To be brutally honest, I DON'T read the MOTD, as it currently is,
because it is such a mishmosh of things relevant and irrelevant.
Perhaps this suggestion will curb some of the clutter there, and
make it easier to want to read the text scrolling by after login.
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lilmo
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response 5 of 270:
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Mar 26 19:39 UTC 1995 |
I think announcements of future events and announcements of system problems
/fixes/updates etc should go in separate lists. They serve two totally
different purposes, and are aimed at two (heavily overlapping) DIFFERENT
audiences. Other than that, I like it. :-)
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jep
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response 6 of 270:
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Apr 1 22:40 UTC 1995 |
The M-Net Altos had a "news" program, which ran in /etc/profile or
/etc/login, that showed each item to each user once. It was perfect for
see-once type announcements. A lot of those get stuck in /etc/motd now.
Is there a version of news for the Sun?
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scg
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response 7 of 270:
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Apr 1 23:18 UTC 1995 |
We've got that on our AIX network at work. I could ask and see if we have
the source somewhere.
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steve
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response 8 of 270:
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Apr 1 23:42 UTC 1995 |
It wouldn't be hard to write one if we don't have one lying about
somewhere. Looking at the NetBSD/FreeBSD sources might be the best
place to start.
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srw
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response 9 of 270:
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Apr 2 01:41 UTC 1995 |
News is a good suggestion. I am really worried about our motd bloat.
The "news" program I saw lists the titles of the unviewed news at
motd time. Like this:
News: "Grex_Walk" "Ameritech" "Maintenance"
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remmers
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response 10 of 270:
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Apr 2 14:24 UTC 1995 |
I suggested using that type of "news" program a little while back to
alleviate motd bloat, and did some archie searches, but they didn't
yield anything. If anyone can point us to one, I'd be happy to
install it.
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popcorn
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response 11 of 270:
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Apr 2 16:07 UTC 1995 |
um... would it make sense to see if there's a consensus that people
*want* such a program, first, before installing it?
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remmers
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response 12 of 270:
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Apr 2 16:25 UTC 1995 |
Sure.
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steve
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response 13 of 270:
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Apr 2 17:34 UTC 1995 |
Why? If get get one and install it, then people will have to do
something to use it. We don't ask people if they'd like the newest
version of the GNU bin utilities, do we? ;-)
Let's set it up, and then maybe we can migrate to it. But even
if we don't, those who'd like to use it can. It certainly isn't
difficult for staff/whoever to update the data for it.
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popcorn
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response 14 of 270:
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Apr 3 04:42 UTC 1995 |
Ja, it wouldn't be difficult to add data to it. But, if only some people
are reading it, what's the point of putting important information in it?
We would need to put the info in again elsewhere to be sure people would
see it.
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selena
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response 15 of 270:
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Apr 4 17:26 UTC 1995 |
Well, that's what you'd better do with the motd and agora then.
I don't read the first one, anymore, 'cause it's always so crowded/redundant,
and I'm NOT going back to agora- it can't be navigated!
So, "news" might be a good idea, 'cause the other two ways don't work.
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sidhe
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response 16 of 270:
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Apr 5 19:56 UTC 1995 |
I don't know about agora, but i must concur that the motd needs help.
Today, I found that the warning that Usenet is down is missing, and
I'm led to wonder if it's back up.
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lilmo
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response 17 of 270:
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Apr 5 20:48 UTC 1995 |
I almost always read the motd, and while I often see items of littl
interest to me, and over and over again, I would hardly say that it is
"crowded/redundant".
Also, I saw "Please change your password." when I logged in today; is
that in the motd (and if so, is it b/c there was a problem) or is it b/c
I haven't changed my PW in some specified period of time (and if so,
could that be included in the msg in the future?)?
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nephi
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response 18 of 270:
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Apr 6 01:24 UTC 1995 |
Evidently, our password system was compromised (according to a
message left in Agora).
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adbarr
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response 19 of 270:
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Apr 6 02:06 UTC 1995 |
nephi made me do it. I am going to get counseling, next week, I
promise.
Ok - seriously - nephi - I missed that, let me take a better look
in Agora. Back later.
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nephi
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response 20 of 270:
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Apr 6 04:01 UTC 1995 |
(Um, I didn't mean to imply that you should have already known
the answer to that. I was just saying that the information
wasn't first hand.)
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popcorn
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response 21 of 270:
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Apr 6 13:06 UTC 1995 |
Re 16: I'm not sure where the Usenet line from the motd went, but I
put it back.
Re 17: The original password message I put into the motd said that the
password system might have been compromised, and so you should change
your password. Evidently someone didn't like that message, either,
and cut it down to "Please change your password". I'll send some mail
to the people who have access to the motd....
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adbarr
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response 22 of 270:
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Apr 6 23:09 UTC 1995 |
DQ - 234.5 - motd? Explanation respectfully requested. Sounds like
something out of "Dune". Thanks.
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scg
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response 23 of 270:
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Apr 7 03:23 UTC 1995 |
The motd is the "message of the day." It's one of the files that's shown
to you when you log in. It lives in the file /etc/motd.
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popcorn
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response 24 of 270:
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Apr 7 04:11 UTC 1995 |
Type "!cat /etc/motd" to see the motd again.
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