This is most helpful. I can work on getting this ready for next week's Signpost.
-Aude On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 5:59 AM, Daniel Kinzler <[email protected]>wrote: > Aude schrieb: > > I'm the "tech beat" editor for the English Wikipedia's Signpost > > newspaper. In the weekly tech reports, we can mention things going on > > with the toolserver when I'm aware of them. Being aware of things > > generally means reading the mailing list and blogs. (I have added the > > toolserver blog to http://open.wikiblogplanet.com/) > > > > The Signpost also runs special stories on occassion for tech topics. I > > would be happy to run something about the toolserver. If you would > > answer some questions, I could turn the answers into a signpost > > article. The article could take an "interview" format like the > > WikiProject reports. (e.g. > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-05-25/WikiProject_report > ) > > or I can turn it into another format (especially if others give input). > > Great Idea! I'll try to answer the questions below, maybe River can add > more > info. Or anyone else, for that matter, I'm sure I'll forget something > important. > > I'm not quite sure though if the toolserver blog should be on the planet... > raising awareness is definitly good. On the other hand, status reports like > "replication failed, will fix tomorrow" is not so helpful in the aggregated > feed. But I guess we could change it to a filtered stream when people > complain. > > > Anyway, here are some questions: > > > > * What is the toolserver? (e.g., it's not just one server but several...) > > The Toolserver, or more accurately, the Toolserver cluster, is a project by > Wikimedia Germany that allows interested programmers to work with a live > copy of > the wiki databases. > > > * What is the purpose of the toolserver? / what we do? > > The Toolserver is used mainly to provide specialized web based tools to the > wiki > communities, but also to run bots and similar services. The Toolserver is > also > open to researchers that want to study wikimedia's projects. > > > * How does the toolserver operate? (e.g. it has replicated copies of the > > wiki databases, minus the full text, to allow people to develop tools. > > The servers are located in Amsterdam) > > The Toolserver cluster, is located in Amsterdam, has several types of > machines. > Maily, there are three: > > * the database servers, which contain a live copy of all the wiki databases > - > however without the full article text. Article text is stored in compressed > blocks on a special cluster. There is a copy of this in Amsterdam, but it > is not > accessible directly to toolserver users. The main reason for this is that > these > compressed blocks may contain private data. > > * then there is the web server, where users can provide web based tools. > This is > what the wiki communities usually see. > > * and there are the login servers, machines where programmers can run bots > and > other "offline" scripts, or run commands directly. > > > * Who runs it? / who are we? / how is it funded? > > The Toolserver is run by Wikimedia Germany, it is funded entirely from > donations. The Wikimedia Foundation helps with hosting the machines in > Amsterdam. > > > * What is your role with the toolserver? > > I am an employee of Wikimedia Germany, and I'm responsible for planning the > toolserver budget, among other things. I also have root access, and can > approve > new accounts, but I'm a lousy system administrator. So mainly my role is > planning and organizing. > > I am of course also a toolserver user and provide several tools, the most > well > known of wich are probably CatScan and CheckUsage. > > > * How did the toolserver get started? > > To be honest, I don't know the details of the very beginning. I only joined > when > it was already up for a couple of months. But I believe that there was some > frustration by people who had the skill to develop helpful tools for the > wiki > communities, but did not get access to the main server cluster, for > security > reasons. So the idea arose to create a place for such people to work with > the data. > > > * How do Wikipedian's get accounts on the toolserver? What are the > > requirements and approval process? > > Wikipedians (or anyone else, actually) can request an account by simply > stating > what you want to do there. The requests are reviewed by DaB (and sometimes > by > me), and if the project falls into the Toolserver's scope (which is: > supporting > Wikimedia and, more recently, OpenStreetMap projects), seems technically > feasible and complies to our terms of use, the request is granted. > > Until now, account requests have been handled at > <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Toolserver/New_accounts>. However, we are > currently reworking the process, to make it more swift and more > transparent. > > The terms of use for the toolserver are defined by > <https://wiki.toolserver.org/view/Rules>, the conditions for account > approval > are at <https://wiki.toolserver.org/view/Account_approval_policy/en>. > > > * If one gets an account, what are the responsibilities? I know > > accounts had to be reconfirmed, are there resource limits such as disk > > space limits for each user? or what? > > It's the user's responsibility to comply to the rules, that is, to do no > evil. > There are no hard limits on resources, users are asked to be considerate. > Heavy > tasks that slow down the system may be killed by an administrator. > Generally, we > try to address problems on a case by case basis, directly with the user. > > > * Who is the person to contact when things break? > > That depends on what is broken. We have over a hundred active users, many > of > which have several tools in diverse states of completeness or repair. > Generally, > when something is broken, contact the author of that something - Toolserver > administrators usually can not fix it. > > The matter is different when the Toolserver as such has a problem - for > example, when one of the servers is down. In that case, write an email to > [email protected]. You can also find us on IRC, in the channel > #wikimedia-toolserver. > > > * We already are aware of the map toolserver project, but along with > > that, some other new hardware was recently ordered? What's the purpose > > of the new hardware? > > The latest hardware order included five servers, three of them for the > Toolserver cluster: > > * we are replacing our oldest database server, which has been constantly > overloaded recently. > > * we are putting user data (home directories) onto a new machine and move > other > things around a bit. In the end, there will be a second login server, for > running bots and the like. > > * and last but not least: the map toolserver, a place for the OpenStreetMap > community to develop exciting new projects. > > In addition, two servers are provided for integrating "live" interactive > maps > ion wikipedia articles, based on OpenStreetMap data. > > > * What's coming in the pipeline (in the future)? > > We are mainly working on the reliability of the toolserver - for instance, > we > hope to have two copies of every wiki database in the future, so tools > using > that data can keep running even when one system fails. > > Generally, we are trying to make the Toolserver cluster a mature part of > the > Wikimedia landscape. > > > * Anything else people should know about the toolserver? > > We should all say thanks to River, our senior system administrator, for > keeping > the Toolserver running! > > -- daniel > > _______________________________________________ > Toolserver-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/toolserver-l >
_______________________________________________ Toolserver-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/toolserver-l
