Hi TJ and core team, I have reached out 2 times on the GitHub Issue tracker and once a couple months ago via mail, to offer my help to the project and update that very project infrastructure to modern standards.
If moving things to GitHub makes it better/easier, then I guess why not. Though sometimes there is actually useful information on the forums of old software projects such as ProFTPd, especially for legacy setups that get updated only now or later in time. I would recommend to keep the forums and an archive-version of the website running, on an updated software stack. I understand this requires infrastructure, which I believe some companies are happy to provide to open source projects pro bono. If this is not wanted, at least I would somehow archive the data (maybe involving archiveteam.org?) for historical reference. It appears to me that FTP/FTPS/SFTP is far from dead and we will have to deal with it on an enterprise scale for at least 20 more years (who knows...). Glad to see some movement here. Let me know what I can do, I would like to support the project. From the other mails I see there are people wanting to step in. Would be great to organize a little! Best regards -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: William David Edwards via Proftp-user <[email protected]> Gesendet: Dienstag, 7. April 2026 19:40 An: [email protected]; [email protected] Cc: William David Edwards <[email protected]>; ProFTPD Developers <[email protected]> Betreff: Re: [Proftpd-user] Aging state of ProFTPD Project infrastructure Hi TJ, TJ Saunders schreef op 2026-04-07 19:25: > As many of you are aware, the state of the ProFTPD Project's > infrastructure is in desperate need of maintenance/upgrading. The VMs > which host the project's website, Bugzilla instance, forums, FTP > downloads, etc are all quite old -- this is why, for example, the > website, Bugzilla, forums currently do not have great HTTPS support. > (The underlying VM image has an OpenSSL package which predates > TLSv1.2, among other things.) > > These VMs are currently running in a provider's network, which has > been quite generous in allowing these to run. However, that provider > has gone through different company acquisitions; the fact that the VMs > are still running is, honestly, more by luck than by intention. Now, > the current company has indicated that these VMs _will_ be shut down > by September of this year, if not sooner. > > I know that maintaining infrastructure, in my spare time, is not very > appealing -- I have to do it too much already for my day job. No > excuses, just commenting on why nothing really has been done on this > front. But now we have a forcing function. > > The project core team has discussed this situation. Right now, we are > leaning toward shutting down the website, Bugzilla, and forums, and > relying on the existing GitHub repo for most needs. Most bug > reports/issues are already filed there, and there have been no > significant forums postings for more than a year now. Most modern > browsers are unhappy about the plain HTTP website, and update the lack > of TLSv1.2 certificates for the forums. > > This all demonstrates that GitHub meets most of the project needs with > regard to infrastructure. It also means fewer moving parts for future > maintainers of the project to maintain, going forward. > > With this in mind, I'd like to solicit your thoughts/feedback on what > sort of things you'd want to see in the GitHub repo (if anything), > knowing that these changes are coming. Feel free to respond to me > personally if you prefer. > > I don't have any particular dates/times when we'll shut those VMs down > (other than before September), but it'll be happening this year, one > way or another. > I think it makes perfect sense to move downloads & bug tracker to GitHub. I do however believe that having a website is still very useful for a mature project. The same case could be made for forums, having multiple potential communication channels for interaction with other users. People may not want to sign up to GitHub. If you need a VM to that purpose, feel free to give us - a hosting company from Europe - a shout off-list. > Cheers, > TJ > > > _______________________________________________ > ProFTPD Users List <[email protected]> > Unsubscribe problems? > http://www.proftpd.org/list-unsub.html Met vriendelijke groeten, William David Edwards _______________________________________________ ProFTPD Users List <[email protected]> Unsubscribe problems? http://www.proftpd.org/list-unsub.html _______________________________________________ ProFTPD Developers List <[email protected]> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/proftp-devel
