36 new of 85 responses total.
I like the email and captcha features in pnewuser. They're definitely in line with common practice nowadays. Hm, a while back I think I said I was going to post suggestions on what newuser should say in its dialog with the user. Well, I'm on vacation now so that's been pushed back a bit, but I'll try to get on it once I'm home. Speaking of dialog, one of the features of the Marcus Watts newuser was that messages newuser put out were stored in plain text files editable by non-programmers and read by the program at runtime. That's a nice configurability feature. I realize that pnewuser is written in Perl, so that's less of an issue, but I think it would be desirable to be able to configure pnewuser's messages without touching the source code.
I went through the current command line newuser the other day, and saw the captcha feature, too (it looks like figlet lettering). The email feature worked nicely. It gave me the temporary password and told how to log in via ssh, which is a good thing. When I used the password to log in, it immediately had me change it so the user gets to use their desired password (also a good thing). What I had trouble finding, though I may have missed it in all the text that flowed by, was how to get validated. That probably should be part of the resh allowed commands list so that users will find it right away, and part of the instructions when you log in if you are a resh user. Again, I may have missed it, but it wasn't immediately obvious to me.
is the src available for viewing? we could modify it to make sure users understand the risks.. seen that in eclipse.cs.pdx.edu:7680, it's a MUD. They ask the users a lot of questions that they have to get right, before they are allowed into the main area. eg: Dear user, is it safe for you to use the same password to signin to Grex, that you would use at your bank web-site? and he would have to answer no.. stuff like that given the privacy issues we now face.. it would give us a bit of leeway.
I too tested the command line new user recently and liked it a lot.
resp:52 nm found it
I am typing on my phone, so excuse the brevity. All the text is still in text files. Source is in subvversion. It probably needs a soak.
i am -elated- taht newuser text&html have had the cross-soak applied. that it took this much rancor to get there .. well, someitmes it does. tnx cross & testers.
Web newuser is still broke.
But on our collective list to get fixed Real Soon Now.
True dat.
jsut di d the web thing this time/date:
Error in Account Creation
Your application for an account on Grex has not been processed due to a system
problem.
* Could not access directory /usr/noton/nu/
Sorry.
however i did notice this selectable option:
Privacy: Who may see the information in
this section of the form?
All users.
Grex staff
only.
validate necessitates, sometimes, 'grex staff only'.
i;ll try the cli version
he captcha -is- case sensitive ... that needs to be -clear-.
re 57 ... oops didin;t see that .. my bad.
resp:61 That has NOTHING to do with validation. That's just managing a user's expectations so that they understand that staff *can* read their files; that doesn't mean that staff *should*.
sounds like the issue is that too many staffers have root access. Change the root pw and declare that one, and only one person, has that access. Designate one person the root staffer. This eliminates issues like what was being discussed with TS. Most staff work doesn't require root does it?
No, it does not. But it's useful to have multiple people with root. The issue is what to do when that access to abused.
No the issue is whether the usefulness of having multiple staffers with root outweighs what to do when that access is abused. I want to know if Cross would accept root access being limited across the board, including possibly himself, as opposed to banning staffer he doesn't like.
Or better yet, if Cross is so concerned with TS having root access, would he as a trade off, be willing to agree to give up his own root access in exchange for TS losing his? If he were willing to do that, it would lend more credence to his claims.
Richaqrd, Dan needs root because he is the primary system admin.
This response has been erased.
re #69 who made him the primary system admin? I thought staff acted as an ensemble. It seems to me that grex has gotten into problems in the past when there have been attempts to get one person to do too much, to unofficially designate someone a 'primary system admin'. Look at what happened with STeve last year when Grex was down. He was the only staff trying to fix the box and with other staff willing to let him do everything, it probably became too aggravating. He doesn't even post much anymore. Besides Cross is in New York, he has no physical proximity to the hardware so if there was a 'primary system admin' it logically shouldn't be him anyway.
It's not an appointment, Richard. It's a statement of fact. Answer me one question: who has been doing the work of late?
re resp:71: I made him the primary sysadmin. I had the position to do so because I fit into a position between those with power and influence (Board members, staffers, paid members) and those with no interest or ability to decide. I am the average user, and can represent both types of Grexers, so I made the appointment. TS, can you please make sure it shows up in his paycheck? Thank you. Dan, it's official, you can use it in your signature if you like. Also, did you send STeve the customary bonus for his past contributions?
I move to add another zero to Dan's paycheck.
No voting. I've already decided that. Due to budgetary restrictions, we will only be replacing one 0 with another this year.
Times are tough.
Okay I say that the board vote to sell the corporation to JEP for a dollar at the next meeting. Then the board can disband completely. JEP makes all decisions anyway so selling him the corporation would formalize his role as Secretary General, Dictator or King of Grex. The staff already operates at his discretion anyway apparently :)
re #77 And once JEP is formally the owner/dictator of the corporation, he can disband the staff except for Cross and formalize his designation of Cross as primary staffer. Then JEP can order Grex taken offline for a day, get the box out of provide.net, ship it UPS to Cross in New York and let him set it up at his place. Its obvious, at least in JEP's mind, that no other staffers besides Cross really want to do any work anyway. JEP will then be Truman to Cross's McArthur. :)
The funny thing is, it'd probably be the best thing that ever happened to Grex. :P
fwiw ... i am still awaiting my new passwd to ve emmaild to me. ain;t here yetr. cli newuser.
resp:78 My name is Dan; my last name is Cross, but I don't really appreciate it when people refer to me as Cross. resp:80 Sounds like you entered an incorrect email address. Also, check your spam filter.
I'm not a dictator. I just occupied a position at a juxtaposition where everyone distrusted me equally, so I made Dan the sysop. The Board can rescind my position easily, by making any non-anonymous vote regarding me. (But he's still the sysop.)
re 80 ... passwd was emailed/sent right on time .. however, only becaues iscan my spam folder was i able to retreive the damn thing. also, re 81 ... i have no filters on spam 'cept viagra, which i don;t need. .. thinkin gabout adding pfizer though ...
about stuff: for the record, this is on the webnewuwer: Privacy: Who may see the information in this section of the form? All users. Grex staff only. ---------------------- where it prpperly belongs and is the default, as it should be. and there is this as well: Personal Information The rest of this form asks you for various personal information. It's a nice way to let other Grex users know a little bit about you. If you choose, it can be kept private so only the system administrators will be able see it. validatoin, in teh future, may or nay not necessitate "admin;s ability" which i think is the 'to be' general stance if not already in place.
Since we don't have a revised web newuser yet, the web newuser page has not been updated to reflect how it will operate.
You have several choices: