Hi Pine Thanks again for the constructive feedback. As I mentioned before, the communication step was missed here and I treat this as a learning experience.
On Mon, Feb 23, 2026 at 8:44 AM Pine W via Wikitech-l < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Netha, thanks for taking the initiative to make that list. There's a > lively discussion in Phab ticket https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T415237, > and I see that you posted the link there. Thank you. > > For others who are trying to figure out the best path forward, thank you > for working on this, although I remain disappointed that the original > announcement was made the way that it was. In my opinion, thinking about > downstream impacts isn't optional, and such a thought process should have > led to a decision that a communications plan was an essential component of > this initiative. Also, allowing a pile of risk to accumulate, and then one > day moving suddenly and disruptively to address it by treating the pileup > as an urgent problem, isn't an approach that I'd recommend. > > Pine🌲 > > > > On Thu, Feb 12, 2026 at 4:58 AM Netha Hussain via Wikitech-l < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Hello! >> >> Many users and conferences have created Etherpads for collaboration and >> then pasted the link to them to Metawiki. I ran code using Claude AI to get >> a list of Etherpads mentioned on MetaWiki, then used the same program to >> classify them by topic. Here is the output containing an inventory of >> external links to Etherpads from metawiki: >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Netha_Hussain/MetaWikiEtherpadLinks >> >> I hope this inventory helps you to find the etherpads that are valuable >> for you and then archive them elsewhere. >> >> Regards >> User: Netha Hussain >> >> >> On Thu, 12 Feb 2026 at 09:20, Pine W via Wikitech-l < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Hello, >>> >>> Thanks to Lukasz & the SRE team for the date change and softening the >>> plan for what will happen at the target date. >>> >>> I would suggest that the applicable engineering team(s) consult the Movement >>> Communications Team >>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Communications/Movement_Communications> >>> regarding the communications plan. >>> >>> In the bigger picture, I'm concerned that detailed thought about >>> communications may have been missed before making an announcement that >>> amounts to a "breaking change" in the sense of potentially impacting other >>> teams' and volunteers' plans. I would suggest that, if WMF doesn't already >>> have a documented guideline or standard of practice for when to develop a >>> formal communications plan & when to consult the Movement Comms team, that >>> such documentation be created. Optionally, the document could be written as >>> a learning pattern <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Learning_patterns>. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> Pine🌲 >>> >>> On Wed, Feb 11, 2026 at 7:37 AM Travis Briggs via Wikitech-l < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Thanks Lukasz! An April 30th deadline sounds much more reasonable. I >>>> would also suggest being flexible to extend it further based on needs >>>> expressed by the community in response to posting notices wider. >>>> >>>> As mentioned, I posted on the Phabricator task ( >>>> https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T415237) with a suggested notice to >>>> send to non-technical editors: >>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Etherpad#Etherpad_wipe/deletion/clean_slate_proposal >>>> >>>> At this point, anyone who is interested in helping work on the wording >>>> of that notice should feel free. I would also welcome suggestions on where >>>> the "canonical" version of the notice should live, though I think the >>>> current talk page for the Etherpad instance itself isn't too awful. >>>> >>>> Additionally, ideas, on specific email lists and wiki pages to notify >>>> and link to the notice, are very welcome! >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> -Travis >>>> >>>> On Wed, Feb 11, 2026 at 5:00 AM Lukasz Sobanski via Wikitech-l < >>>> [email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi, >>>>> >>>>> Speaking on behalf of the SRE team that owns Etherpad I wanted to >>>>> chime in here. >>>>> >>>>> The arguments for extending the deadline and broader communication are >>>>> reasonable. >>>>> - We can extend the deadline to April 30th, if there are still >>>>> migration projects in progress at that point then we can revisit the date >>>>> on a case by case basis. >>>>> - I will follow up internally to identify the right groups to notify, >>>>> if you have suggestions please send them directly to me (I already saw a >>>>> proposed posting on a Village Pump in the related Phabricator task). >>>>> >>>>> I also agree that any planned future clean up should be communicated >>>>> in advance. >>>>> >>>>> As for backing up information, after identifying the pads they can be >>>>> exported in txt or html using appropriate public endpoints: >>>>> - http://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/<pad_title>/export/txt >>>>> - http://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/<pad_title>/export/html >>>>> >>>>> On Wed, Feb 11, 2026 at 10:57 AM Strainu via Wikitech-l < >>>>> [email protected]> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Hello Jetlo, >>>>>> >>>>>> I want to support the idea expressed by my fellow volunteers that >>>>>> this decision does not adequately support the community's use-cases. I >>>>>> fully understand that Etherpad was designed as a temporary collaboration >>>>>> tool, but: >>>>>> * it is not only used by the tech community, so such an announcement >>>>>> *must* go out as widely as possible, especially on the lists >>>>>> dedicated to conference organizers and wikimedia-l >>>>>> * *17 days is not enough* heads up for the community to organize and >>>>>> sort/backup decades of meeting minutes. I believe that for the first >>>>>> cleanup, *3 months* would a more realistic timeline >>>>>> * future purges should also have a *predictable schedule and be >>>>>> announced* at least a month in advance, to allow people to save >>>>>> their work >>>>>> >>>>>> I hope your team will reconsider their decision to cater for the >>>>>> needs of the wider community. >>>>>> >>>>>> Best, >>>>>> Strainu >>>>>> >>>>>> În mar., 10 feb. 2026 la 14:57, Jelto Wodstrcil via Wikitech-l < >>>>>> [email protected]> a scris: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Hello everyone >>>>>>> >>>>>>> If you don't use etherpad, you can ignore this message. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> We will *delete all pads after 1st March 2026*! If you need any of >>>>>>> your pads, please make a local backup. We will not be able to recover >>>>>>> the >>>>>>> data after 1st March. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> The pad cleanup helps to reduce the size of the database and the >>>>>>> footprint on our infrastructure. After the cleanup, etherpad can still >>>>>>> be >>>>>>> used for real-time collaboration but please do not expect long term >>>>>>> storage. Additional cleanups might happen after that unannounced. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> See also https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T415237 for >>>>>>> more information. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Greetings and thank you >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Jelto >>>>>>> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>> Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] >>>>>>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>>>>>> >>>>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/ >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] >>>>>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>>>>> >>>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Lukasz >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] >>>>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>>>> >>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/ >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] >>>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>>> >>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/ >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>> >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/ >> >> >> >> -- >> Netha Hussain >> (she/her) >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/ > > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/ -- Lukasz
_______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/
