Master Setup & Issues - Review

[Simon Shapiro <Shimon@i-Connect.Net>]

Hi Y'all,

This is just a mundane, administrative note.  Quite unlike the rage of the
net (what did Stallman say to who, when & why :-)  I'll  have my two pennies
there too in a moment.

As most of you may have noticed, master.debian.org has moved.  I want to
start by thanking Bdale, personally, for the excellent service until now.
I just hope I can do nearly as well.

I seized the opportunity of the move and implemented some new mechanisms.
Most of few have caught up to my madness.  Some of you have not.  Some of
you have no clue what I am talking about.  Here it is, then:

1.  Master.debian.org is hosted on our company's public ftp server.
    The machine uses Linux IP aliasing and has dual personalities:

      master.debian.org     206.139.73.161
      primer.i-Connect.Net  206.139.73.13

2.  The master (authoritative) DNS for the debian organization has also
    moved.  To another of our servers, called:

      cartridge.i-Connect.Net  206.139.73.12

3.  Mail to foo@debian.org, or mail to foo@master.debian.org goes to
    master.debian.org.  What happens to it there will be explained in a
    minute.

4.  We are in the process of abolishing the accounts ``mirror'' and
    ``upload''.  This is my own nasty idea.  I get very nervous with (what
    amounts to) anonymous logins into the master archive for the Debian
    project, wit the ability to add/remove & modify files.  I am a very
    trusting person.  Not that trusting.

5.  To offset that, and actually enhance utility, each and every developer
    of a Debian package has her/his account on master.debian.org.  Accounts
    are established with Bruce Pernes authority by yours truly.

6.  Currently these are normal login accounts, with membership in the Debian
    group.  I know for sure that there will be no abuse of this freedom,
    But I do have the root password and access to the power switch.

7.  All bounced mail from debian.org and master.debian.org comes to me
    personally.  I try to resolve and create a forwarding address ASAP.

8.  When I create a new account, I put a couple of objects in your home
    directory.  Please pay close attention here:

    a.  Maildir:  A small directory structure containing any arriving mail
        for you.  Remember, we do not have /var/spool/mail.  Your mail on
        master.debian.org is actually safer than on most ISP's servers.
        Do not change the permissions or ownership of this directory from
        the you.Debian 700 it has now.  Your mail WILL BOUNCE!

    b.  ~/.qmail  This file is used my our MTA (which is NOT sendmail).
        Typically you will see two lines there:

        #/home/Debian/XXXX/Maildir
        &XXXX@some.inet.address         [ XXXX = your login name ]

        Now, where the first line to be uncommented, you will get a copy
        of your mail stored in Maildir (see above).
        The second line forwards incoming email to you ``at home''.
        
    Now, if you do not want mail forwarded, comment the second line.
    Please maintain it current and do not delete it.  I it to search for
    your address.  This will be the only breach of your privacy.  Promise!
    If you have both lines active, you will get mail in both places!
    the .qmail file must be owned by you with 600 permissions or...
    That's right, bounced mail.

9.  The master file system is mounted in /home/Debian/ftp.  The relative
    structure is the same;  private/project/Incoming.  You ftp under YOUR
    login name, cd there and put the stuff you upload there.  If you login
    as upload, mirror, ftp, anonymous, guest, or whatever; things will not
    work as you expect them to.  By next week, upload and mirror will be
    disabled altogether.

10. master.debian.org does not have X11R6 installed, does not have emacs
    installed, but has most everything else installed.  If there is
    something that should be there, let me know.  The debian package name is
    preferred, along with configuration options (if you do not trust my
    common-sense).  The machine is a P5-90 running Debian 0.93 heavily
    ELFized (not always via Debian packages; for the fanatics; see the 
    GNU vs. Debian discussion).

Misc Notes:

a.  Ps -af, no ps is broken.  It is props 0.99a with kernel 1.3.77 plus some
    critical SCSI patches (another reason why I do not put out a new kernel)
    If you know how to fix it, let me know.

b.  The master.debian.org IP address comes through IP aliasing.  Some of you
    have found out that you can use the primer.i-Connect.Net address.  Try
    not to, as we monitor/count access to each.

c.  The server still goes into a coma every now and then.  It is a unique 
    Linux SCSI feature that is activated by incorrect disk usage by the
    various users on the system (I worked for Oracle, then Intel, you see).
    Plain English:  A darn bug that shows up at the wrong times.  If the
    archive disappears, or master.debian.org disappears, drop me a line.
    Sometimes I do not notice crash messages.

A Personal Note:

Due to family medical emergency, my presence at the office will be sparse
starting Wednesday and ending the following week.  In case of emergency, 
please beep me at 503.440.1681.  Do not hesitate.




Sincerely Yours,           (Sent on 03/25/96, 17:46:57 by XF-Mail)

Simon Shapiro              i-Connect.Net, a Division of iConnect Corp.
Shimon@i-Connect.Net       13455 SW Allen Blvd., Suite 140 Beaverton OR 97008