The Future of the QL Wiki

A place to discuss general QL issues.
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RWAP
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Re: The Future of the QL Wiki

Post by RWAP »

You cannot use a dynamic IP address for hosting (as DNS entries can take up to 24 hours to update around the world, the chances are that they would never be pointing to the correct IP address).

Quanta have offered some space on their server - which would certainly be ideal for development, but not necessarily a long term solution, because we do not know how much longer Quanta will be able to keep running (as they are struggling to find committee members and their membership numbers are decreasing year on year).


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janbredenbeek
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Re: The Future of the QL Wiki

Post by janbredenbeek »

tcat wrote: I am now thinking of either:

[a] registering a domain, with my IP that is dynamic, question is how I could update DNS entries automatically.
There are a number of dynamic DNS providers around, both free and paid - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_DNS. These work in conjunction with software on your router which updates your IP address in real-time.

Jan.


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XorA
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Re: The Future of the QL Wiki

Post by XorA »

[a] registering a domain, with my IP that is dynamic, question is how I could update DNS entries automatically.
You register with a dynamic DNS provider and use their tools to automatically update DNS entry.

You then make your domain like www.qlwiki.xxx use a CNAME of the dynamic dns entry.

Graeme


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XorA
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Re: The Future of the QL Wiki

Post by XorA »

You cannot use a dynamic IP address for hosting (as DNS entries can take up to 24 hours to update around the world, the chances are that they would never be pointing to the correct IP address).
Incorrect, a short TTL makes it possible, thats how the dynamic DNS providers do it.


RWAP
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Re: The Future of the QL Wiki

Post by RWAP »

XorA wrote:
You cannot use a dynamic IP address for hosting (as DNS entries can take up to 24 hours to update around the world, the chances are that they would never be pointing to the correct IP address).
Incorrect, a short TTL makes it possible, thats how the dynamic DNS providers do it.
Never heard of that as a possibility - although there is the issue that the PC will need to be connected 24 hours a day otherwise the QL Wiki is not going to always be available!

In my opinion a real long term solution needs to be found for this and the various other sites, but alas no-one seems interested.


Timbucus
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Re: The Future of the QL Wiki

Post by Timbucus »

All and Rich in particular

I know I am a latecomer back to the QL party - despite once sitting on a train from Cambridge with a large Jiffy bag with several other people with the same bags unable to talk to them as I had just signed a really heavy NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). But, I think people do care, they just lack the time that you have obviously lavished on this topic. I am currently spread over several fronts trying to preserve hundreds of disks, cartridges, tapes (including paper) in my personal collection.

I too would like to ensure that the massive contribution the sites you (and others like Dylwin) have made so far to preserving the legacy of these systems. I have certainly only come to it just in time to recover some of the things I have that would otherwise be lost. Without your push last year that last floppy disk with QL Adventure Writer (the other quill) A03 on it would have been in the skip and lost forever - at least there is a copy with its original Author now as well on the other side of the world, so twice the chance it will make it online at some point.

Considering I have put in around 40 hours and quite a bit of cash over the last few weeks to get a handle on the Retro QL scene to properly approach a remaster of it I can see the dedication needed.

You are at the point where it is becoming a museum issue for preservation so perhaps that is the correct way to approach it - I have seen several entities starting to emerge around this preservation topic using that approach; so as you say, some form of non profit to protect the individuals and the group aligned with a museum may offer a method to at least ensure continuity. Again this should be based on the general approach of museum quality preservation of materials and not specific systems.

I did see someone musing somewhere that the price of retro equipment is being driven high just for a short while by those of us of a certain age realising what we risk losing or recapturing the fun of our youth - as you say my Children will have little interest in the topics, but, that is not to say others will not.

So happy to do what I can to help come up with a stable future.

Timbucus


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Re: The Future of the QL Wiki

Post by tcat »

Hi,

Re dynamic DNS, I have found these packages on my RPI.

Code: Select all

dhis-server - Dynamic Host Information System - server
dhis-dns-engine - Dynamic Host Information System - DNS engine
dhis-mx-sendmail-engine - Dynamic Host Information System - sendmail MX engine
dhis-tools-dns - Dynamic Host Information System - DNS configuration tools
Can it be that I can myself become DNS updater, as `dhis-server' appears to have `dhisd' a server side daemon?

More info to read here, I am still far from understanding it properly.
http://dhis.org/

Tomas


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Re: The Future of the QL Wiki

Post by RWAP »

Time is passing and there seems to be no agreement as to the best way forward for this.

Urs' QLvsJaguar site is currently only partly working, so that is another important QL resource which is currently not available, along with the QL Homepage. No-one is adding information to the QL Wiki and I have neither the time, nor energy to put any more effort into this.

The Spectrum Vega+ saga continues apace - underlining just what can happen if the proper approach to these websites is not taken (the latest with the Vega+ is that the retro computer limited . com website is actually owned by Intelligent Toys Limited, who have now been struck off and their assets acquired by the Crown!!

Now is the time to reach an agreement on the best way forward. I started this discussion way back in February, with the idea that this would give plenty of time to formulate ideas and put them into practice before 2018 - however, we are 3 months down the line and despite a meeting with a representative from Quanta, we are no further forward.

It is still a major concern for me, as I am having to take more and more of a step back, and cannot see how I can continue to provide, support and administer these community projects for much longer.


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Re: The Future of the QL Wiki

Post by Dave »

I have just recently added and updated information on the QL wiki in the last few weeks. I am willing to host it, if that is what is needed to keep it up and running. I am able to maintain an installed and working copy of it, but I do not have the skills to install the code. I tried before and failed.


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dilwyn
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Re: The Future of the QL Wiki

Post by dilwyn »

RWAP wrote:Urs' QLvsJaguar site is currently only partly working, so that is another important QL resource which is currently not available, along with the QL Homepage.
QL Homepage problems are now resolved, the only problem being the time required to upload it all.

The image at greybeardz.com is fully up to date with the exception of the contact message form. That's actually there, spammers seem able to send me spam through it, just that it's not visible yet and I don't know if there is any site specific code in the message form I use. Bit pointless reactivating it at the moment as I won't have time to answer the messages I know I'll get (why I deactivated it a while back).

The current site used for dilwyn.me.uk is paid up to next March I think, I'm working with another well known name in the QL community to take on a new more than large enough webspace, with plenty of time to make sure it works before I point dilwyn.me.uk domain at it.

I am slowly uploading back to dilwyn.me.uk as I get time (I don't know how long XorA will allow me to use greybeardz.com!), it is a massive job with the number of small files in there even though it's only a little over 2GB in the end. Doesn't help that upload speeds here are so variable. You don't notice it so much when just doing a simple website update - uploading to greybeardz.com did not go too smoothly because Filezilla kept asking to overwrite directories which did not already exist, so I had to stay up overnight (and it did take all night) just to press Y for Yes-overwrite occasionally so that things didn't just grind to a halt, and daytime upload speeds are so slow it was pointless trying during the day. You'd have to come and live around here for a while to know how poorly served we are by broadband and mobile phone services from the big companies.

I've felt on quite a bit of a downer with regards to the QL the last few months what with all the problems I've suffered. RobHeaton and XorA have been wonderfully supportive in getting me through this.

If anything, it goes to prove exactly what Rich has been trying to say about too much being left to the shoulders of one person.


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