response 72 of 237:

Jul 22 20:41 UTC 2003

Yup...except we gotta get keys for the new staffers.  I've sent mail to baaf
about this.

response 74 of 237:

Jul 22 21:43 UTC 2003

Staff is having problems at the moment.  Nobody is happy
about the situation.  It's being addressed.  Beating people
up isn't helping, not really, unless it's to make you feel
better.

Please give this a little time, maybe a couple weeks, and
I suspect Grex will look a little more composed.

response 76 of 237:

Jul 23 01:59 UTC 2003

Sorry for the delay, which was mainly stupidity.  For a long time, Grex was
pretty stable and Scott was doing the infrequently needed reboots.  The UPS
developed problems, and hasn't been repaired yet, so the pumpkins dirty power
is being fed straight to Grex, and this has caused a series of different
problems with Grex.  I'm used to completely ignoring modem issues - I
habitually ignore them on the presumption that someone else will take care
of them.  I think the modem problems must have started after STeve shut down
Grex to take off the UPS.  He forgot to power up gryps before powering up the
terminal server, so that the terminal server could download working firmware
from gryps.  Hey, it's been years since he did it.  I wouldn't have remember
it either.  A few days later I went in to reboot Grex after it crashed.  As
I rebooted the system, I vaguely recalled people complaining about the modems,
so I power-cycled the modems in the vague hope that this would fix whatever
ailed them.  Only the next day did I actually notice that people were saying
that they were connecting to the modem OK, but not getting to Grex.  That's
a terminal server problem, not a modem problem.  I was not eager to go back
and reboot the terminal server (each trip to the pumpkin costs about an hour
of my time which is none to plentiful these days), especially since I don't
even have a way to tell if it worked.  I spent some time looking for terminal
software for the only computer I own that still has a modem, but before I was
finished I heard that STeve had said he would go fix it.  I declared myself
off the hook.  STeve went in...and power cycled the modems.  So the fool
things still weren't working.  This morning, Grex's net connection died.  So
I went in again.  I spent some time power-cycling a gadget that I thought was
the DSL modem, but turned out to be just a hub.  Eventually I found the DSL
modem and power cycled that, which had more pleasing results.  While I was
there, I power cycled the terminal server  (at least I knew what that looked
like) though I had no way of telling if it did any good.  I got lucky.

Russ is right.  We did a sucky job on this.  STeve and I are both out of
practice.  There was a time when we did reboots on a daily basis, but it was
long ago.  Worse, Neither STeve nor I are very appropriate people for this
job.  We have families and many other obligations, and can not drop what we
are doing and scamper off to the pumpkin at the drop of a hat the way we used
to.  These days we need to work pumpkin trips into our schedules.

Maybe adding staff will help with this, though we didn't really recruit new
staff members with that criterion in mind.  At least it won't hurt.

So, anyway, we are in transition.  Technical difficulties are occuring.  We
are aware of them.  We are trying to do better.  Wish I could promise that
we really will do better.

response 78 of 237:

Jul 23 02:43 UTC 2003

That requires further thought, Dan.  There are reasons to keep things on
separate servers, and there are reasons not to.  

response 80 of 237:

Jul 23 05:38 UTC 2003

Yes, Russ.  There is no staff person paying any attention to the dial-in
lines.  We are aware that this is a problem.  We apologize for the downtime.
We are attempting to rectify the problem.  We know you are pissed.

A lot more people use the DSL than use the modems.  Many of the regular
modem users seem to be able to come in over the internet if they need to.
The opposite is less true.  E-mail service is entirely dependent on the DSL.
So the internet connection is higher priority than the modems.

response 82 of 237:

Jul 23 12:43 UTC 2003

Actually there was staff email about the modem problem, starting Sunday I
think.

Jan, the terminal server tries to get its updated firmware within a few
seconds after booting, so just watch its LAN light for activity.

Also, if the terminal server does NOT have its updated firmware it won't give
a "welcome to Grex" type of message.  Useful when complaining to include that
message or lack thereofe.

response 84 of 237:

Jul 23 14:15 UTC 2003

The fact that Russ could get on and gripe about the modems, and then 
continue with whatever Grex activities he normally does proves that 
the modems aren't all the critical in contributing to his grex 
experience. 

I think it's ludicrous to keep modems and phone lines and deal with 
the additional expense for the 4 users that use it, especially since 
nearly all of them can get onto grex through other methods, and it's 
always nice to save a little money. I understand the sentiment behind 
it, and the fact that these are old time users, and grex wants to be 
fair by them, but come on, if they really wanted to be fair to grex, 
they'd give up on this antiquated method of getting in, and get with 
the times. Especially since they can get on using other methods and 
gripe about it. And then bitch about the fact that the staffers pay 
more attention to the DSL lines more than the modems. (Gee, I wonder 
why? Is it because without the DSL lines there would be prolly not 
many more than 4 users on the system? Wouldn't that be such a neat 
Grex experience?)

Staff is doing a great job, considering that they're not paid, and 
they have other things going on. Give them a break. They've always 
rallied around at the critical times. I'd like to see what Russ would 
have to say if they decided they were too busy to get Grex up when it 
went down.

response 86 of 237:

Jul 23 14:42 UTC 2003

I would give up on grex if I had to telnet - it is excruciating.  The three
people we set up with grex email (one of whom is paying regularly for it)
would also be unable to use their email.  That makes four of us.  Dave
Lovelace says he also dials in.  That makes five.  I would be very surprised
if there are not other dial in users.  Then there is Jim - 6 (he emails me
when the phone is busy).  I think we have far too many modems but cutting it
to zero would be against the spirit of grex.

response 88 of 237:

Jul 23 15:03 UTC 2003

Modems constitute free Internet access with extremely cheap hardware.  Still
part of Grex's mission, I believe.

Although we could probably look into cutting a line or two again.

response 90 of 237:

Jul 23 16:33 UTC 2003

reducing the number of phone lines probably wont make much of a 
difference. eliminating them will. besides, sometimes my isp flakes out 
and then I dial in so, personally, I would like at least one or two 
phone lines kept in service. 

response 92 of 237:

Jul 23 17:13 UTC 2003

I have an $8/month ISP that I use to download large files once in a while,
or if I really need to look at an image, or when grex is dead for five days
and I have to send email.  I may have used it for 2 hours this month out of
the 30 I paid for.  I have Opera 6 set up with Linux in case I really need
to access my bank's website (they crippled it with javascript).  Jim asks how
many lines we are still paying for and how many are being used more than 5%
of the time.

response 94 of 237:

Jul 23 18:11 UTC 2003

Yeah, we could put in an X11 interface that would let us remotely power
cycle the terminal server.  We even have all the parts.  However, this
hasn't been a frequent problem, so I'm too lazy to figure out how to
do it.

No Grex staffer or board member that I know of wants to eliminate the
modems.  If one show up who does, he will be pummeled into submission by
the rest of the board and staff.  Eliminating the modems is not an option
that is being considered.  Nearly everyone wants to reduce the count a
bit more, but that has to wait until our centrex contract expires later
this year.

response 96 of 237:

Jul 23 19:46 UTC 2003

My opinions about the modems are just that, my opinions. I don't 
expect anyone to jump at the idea and do anything about it. It's 
understandable that Grex has other priorities and other goals that are 
not inline with mine. 

My post was gut reaction to Russ's attack and his not so valid 
argument.