Wikimedia-l February 2013

wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org

148 participants
116 discussions

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation's support of OTRS
by Sumana Harihareswara 22 Feb '13

22 Feb '13

I am sorry for breaking threading; my "undigestify" plugin is giving me an error. I'm looking at <https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/22622> -- "Upgrade Wikimedia OTRS installation from 2.4.x CVS to the latest version (3.2.1)" -- and I see that Wikimedia Foundation's Rob Halsell has been trying to get in touch with Martin Edenhofer, the OTRS inventor, to get him onto the next step of helping out. If anyone knows Edenhofer and can ask him to reply, that would be great, even if it's just to say "sorry but this isn't something I can take on". Resolving that will reduce the "cookie-licking" <http://communitymgt.wikia.com/wiki/Cookie_Licking> and make it easier for others to coordinate. I believe one thing that's needed is a clear commitment or confirmation from the Foundation -- do we plan to upgrade or replace OTRS, or not? If so, what is our timeframe? I've asked CT Woo, head of WMF Operations, to please comment on the bug or on the list. Since there are security implications, I've also notified our Security Engineer, Chris Steipp, to remind him of the current situation. And another thing that's needed is clarity from WMF Legal on whether it would be okay for a chapter or other affiliated group to work on upgrading/moving/hosting/switching from OTRS, and whether there are EU data privacy restrictions. So I've asked Legal for comment. Once we understand that better, I can help Peter Gervai and Madman get going, whether to help with an in-place upgrade, a move, or something else; thank you so much for your offer! Rjd0060, thanks for the link to open bugs in WMF's Bugzilla about OTRS problems <https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGN…>. I've asked our Bug Wrangler, Andre Klapper, and our bug wrangling intern Valerie Juarez, to take a look at those tickets just to double-check their priority so it's clear what problems the out-of-date OTRS system is causing. I've also emailed labs-l to follow up on Madman's question regarding the status of <https://labsconsole.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nova_Resource:Otrs> (the OTRS Labs project). Thomas Morton, if you can forward me the note where the WMF promised an update to OTRS early this year, that would be great to help me chase this down. :-) I am glad that people have been bringing this up and pushing for a better toolset and experience for our volunteers. Hope I can help. -- Sumana Harihareswara Engineering Community Manager Wikimedia Foundation

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation's support of OTRS
by Rjd0060 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 11:25 PM, MZMcBride <z(a)mzmcbride.com> wrote: > Hi. > > OTRS (<https://ticket.wikimedia.org/>) is a critical piece of Wikimedia's > infrastructure. It currently handles nearly all customer service inquiries > directed at Wikimedia. Trusted volunteers triage and respond to this > e-mail. > > Wikimedia is currently running OTRS version 2.4. The most recently > released OTRS version is 3.2. There's been an outstanding request to update > Wikimedia's OTRS installation for just shy of three years now: > <https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/22622>. OTRS' inventor kindly offered to > donate his time to help with an upgrade, but due to a number of factors, > this has become an untenable solution. > > Given the bug's fast-approaching birthday, the security concerns of > running outdated software, the Wikimedia Foundation apparently being > overburdened and uninterested in maintaining this piece of software, and > mounting volunteer frustration, I'm wondering whether this is an area > where the Wikimedia chapters or some other group might be able to lend a > hand in supporting the maintenance of this piece of important > infrastructure. Broadly, the Wikimedia Foundation isn't acting on this > issue and it seems to have little interest in maintaining or supporting > this software any longer. > > Given recent discussion about various Wikimedia movement roles, I'm > wondering whether a Wikimedia chapter or a grant or some other movement > player could either take on supporting the existing OTRS installation (by > hiring a contractor), evaluating and implementing better/different > response software, and/or moving the response system elsewhere. > > MZMcBride > > > > > I've been working on OTRS since 2008 and have been an OTRS administrator for much of that time. As somebody who devotes a lot of his time to OTRS-related work, I'm extremely disappointed in the lack of support the OTRS team has been dealing with. As MZMcBride points out, there are a number of reasons why the software needs to be updated. Last year, we handled roughly 40,000 general inquiries in over 35 languages.[1] This alone should be a convincing reason as to why we should have at least somewhat up-to-date software, clean of security issues and other problems.[2] While I realize that there have been other priorities, I would have thought that with 3 years of waiting, eventually OTRS would be important enough for somebody to give some much needed attention to. [1] - https://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/01/24/the-incredible-work-of-the-wikimedia-… [2] - https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGN… -- Ryan User:Rjd0060

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Chapters association mailing list
by J Alexandr Ledbury-Romanov 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

Firstly I'm deliberately starting a new thread, rather than creating another fork from the 'Looking back at the London Conference' thread, which has already gone off on multiple tangents. Secondly, I'm posting purely as a list subscriber. I'm glad that the some of the Chapters association members are keen on open and transparent communication on Meta, and on public lists. I also agree that some information may concern or interest a large number of the Wikimedia-l and/or Wikimedia-announcements-l lists. That said, I would favour a creation of a separate mailing list for the routine communication of the Chapters association. For those who cry that there are already too many lists, I would counter that Wikimedia-l is already a high volume list, and that I personally would prefer to opt-in to Chapters association communication, rather than have it by default sent to everyone. Alex

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Looking back at the London Conference
by Ziko van Dijk 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

Dear Council Members and everyone interested in the WCA, On 16/17th February 2013 a number of Council Members visited the London Conference I had proposed in mid January to talk about the way of the WCA and to prepare the Wikimedia Conference in Milan. We are happy that the London Conference did happen, and, in spite of the debatable WMF board statement of 5th February, that two WMF board members still agreed to join us. Because in 2012/2013 the signals from the WMF were not very consistent I tried to receive more clarity about the relationship between Foundation and Association. This was only partially successful, but I understand that the two present WMF board members were as open as it was possible within the constraints of the WMF board unity. We very much appreciated the commitment of Alice and Jan-Bart and were happy not to hear certain allegations from the board statement again. The London Conference discussed many WCA subjects collected during the last months. One of them was communication, and I am content that I could convince the participants of a major change. For someone who is interested in the WCA it has been very difficult to follow the proceedings, plans and results. When e.g. a Council Member wanted to talk to others or discuss something, he or she used one of the several mailing lists the movement has, or Meta Wiki, or private email addresses. I believe that this has been a fundamental problem with the regard to the perception of the WCA, and that the participation even from Council Members suffered also because of this kind of communication. After the election of a new Chair, the Chair of the WCA Council will issue a Bulletin, a kind of short report, with a summary of what happened recently and what are the plans for the near future. This will be put on Meta Wiki, and, naturally, discussions will centre around those Bulletins. For those who are interested it will be much easier to follow and to participate. If someone wants to support the WCA via translations, he or she can translate those Bulletins instead of a lot of messages. There will be a special list 'WCA-announcements". If you want to be informed about Bulletins and discussions, join the list and you will get links to Meta Wiki. It's a one-way-list, because the discussions are supposed to be on Meta Wiki. This is a WCA service for Council Members and non Council Members alike. In this way, nobody is obliged to be on a heavy traffic list such as Wikimedia-l. When we talked about the future and a possible new election of the Chair I also asked about my position. If for any reason someone believed that there should be a new election of the Deputy Chair, I wanted to hear. The participants said that that is no issue and that it is good to have continuity. The role of the Deputy Chair is to be there for the case that at some moment there is no Chair, and then the Deputy has to arrange the election. The WCA continues to exist and will make some rearrangements - it's exiting to follow the evolution. Kind regards Ziko van Dijk -- ----------------------------------------------------------- Vereniging Wikimedia Nederland dr. Ziko van Dijk, voorzitter http://wmnederland.nl/ Wikimedia Nederland Postbus 167 3500 AD Utrecht -----------------------------------------------------------

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Apache OpenOffice blog: Today is International Mother Language Day
by David Gerard 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

https://blogs.apache.org/OOo/entry/international_mother_language_day_2013 Talks about the importance of letting people use their own language in much the same terms we do. Short post, because it's translated into several languages! - d.

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation's support of OTRS
by Peter Gervai 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 5:25 AM, MZMcBride <z(a)mzmcbride.com> wrote: > Wikimedia is currently running OTRS version 2.4. The most recently > released OTRS version is 3.2. There's been an outstanding request to update > Wikimedia's OTRS installation for just shy of three years now: Yes. May have been me, or at least I hope I joined the chorus. ;) > mounting volunteer frustration, I'm wondering whether this is an area > where the Wikimedia chapters or some other group might be able to lend a > hand in supporting the maintenance of this piece of important > infrastructure. Broadly, the Wikimedia Foundation isn't acting on this > issue and it seems to have little interest in maintaining or supporting > this software any longer. I have been administering a few medium sized installation of OTRS for quite a long time, and happened to contribute to the code as well. Several times I had the urge to offer a hand to upgrade it, and if people are in need I do it now: I am willing to upgrade it since the current version is horribly old, and the upgrade process has proven to work in the past for me between large version jumps as well. (The required amount of project time is based on guesswork but if the size permits it's even possible to create a new installation with a copy of the old db and switch over, which is the safest way.) My guess is that it's possible that the system needs serious review of configuration since there has been plenty of big changes (speedups) in the last years. It's doable. However if anyone want to throw the work on me I most probably going to look for at least few people to watch over my typos. It can be done alone, no problem, but safer if there's someone else's watching. :-) (For tech and administrative details feel free to contact me. I'm userid 1 on huwp, and my identity is recorded plenty of times already, as well as being an otrs member.) > Given recent discussion about various Wikimedia movement roles, I'm > wondering whether a Wikimedia chapter or a grant or some other movement > player could either take on supporting the existing OTRS installation (by > hiring a contractor), evaluating and implementing better/different > response software, and/or moving the response system elsewhere. I can help supporting OTRS, and Wikimedia Hungary can officially support it as well. I do not intend to look for alternatives, partly because I'm quite happy with OTRS, partly because I haven't met anything better suiting this kind of job and partly because I'm not interested suporting something I do not know. (Judging by http://wikitech.wikimedia.org/view/OTRS there's plenty of possible improvement here, especially on the spamfiltering part...) cya, Peter ([[user:grin]] / [[:hu:user:grin]] / Peter Gervai)

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation's support of OTRS
by Gregory Varnum 20 Feb '13

20 Feb '13

This could be a good project for one of the developing MediaWiki Groups. MediaWiki Group San Francisco is already approved by AffCom and eligible for grants. -greg aka varnent On 20 Feb, 2013, at 11:25 PM, MZMcBride <z(a)mzmcbride.com> wrote: > Hi. > > OTRS (<https://ticket.wikimedia.org/>) is a critical piece of Wikimedia's > infrastructure. It currently handles nearly all customer service inquiries > directed at Wikimedia. Trusted volunteers triage and respond to this > e-mail. > > Wikimedia is currently running OTRS version 2.4. The most recently > released OTRS version is 3.2. There's been an outstanding request to update > Wikimedia's OTRS installation for just shy of three years now: > <https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/22622>. OTRS' inventor kindly offered to > donate his time to help with an upgrade, but due to a number of factors, > this has become an untenable solution. > > Given the bug's fast-approaching birthday, the security concerns of > running outdated software, the Wikimedia Foundation apparently being > overburdened and uninterested in maintaining this piece of software, and > mounting volunteer frustration, I'm wondering whether this is an area > where the Wikimedia chapters or some other group might be able to lend a > hand in supporting the maintenance of this piece of important > infrastructure. Broadly, the Wikimedia Foundation isn't acting on this > issue and it seems to have little interest in maintaining or supporting > this software any longer. > > Given recent discussion about various Wikimedia movement roles, I'm > wondering whether a Wikimedia chapter or a grant or some other movement > player could either take on supporting the existing OTRS installation (by > hiring a contractor), evaluating and implementing better/different > response software, and/or moving the response system elsewhere. > > MZMcBride > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list > Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l

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Wikimedia Foundation's support of OTRS
by MZMcBride 20 Feb '13

20 Feb '13

Hi. OTRS (<https://ticket.wikimedia.org/>) is a critical piece of Wikimedia's infrastructure. It currently handles nearly all customer service inquiries directed at Wikimedia. Trusted volunteers triage and respond to this e-mail. Wikimedia is currently running OTRS version 2.4. The most recently released OTRS version is 3.2. There's been an outstanding request to update Wikimedia's OTRS installation for just shy of three years now: <https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/22622>. OTRS' inventor kindly offered to donate his time to help with an upgrade, but due to a number of factors, this has become an untenable solution. Given the bug's fast-approaching birthday, the security concerns of running outdated software, the Wikimedia Foundation apparently being overburdened and uninterested in maintaining this piece of software, and mounting volunteer frustration, I'm wondering whether this is an area where the Wikimedia chapters or some other group might be able to lend a hand in supporting the maintenance of this piece of important infrastructure. Broadly, the Wikimedia Foundation isn't acting on this issue and it seems to have little interest in maintaining or supporting this software any longer. Given recent discussion about various Wikimedia movement roles, I'm wondering whether a Wikimedia chapter or a grant or some other movement player could either take on supporting the existing OTRS installation (by hiring a contractor), evaluating and implementing better/different response software, and/or moving the response system elsewhere. MZMcBride

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Notice of Final Eligibility for FDC Grants
by Garfield Byrd 20 Feb '13

20 Feb '13

*Dear Wikimedia Community, As you know, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) [1] makes recommendations to the WMF Board of Trustees on how to allocate movement funds to best meet Wikimedia goals and strategic priorities. More on the processes and structure of the FDC are in the framework. [2] We are now entering the second round of funding. I am pleased to share that the Foundation has announced the list of entities that are eligible to apply for FDC funding for annual plans. [3] These entities are: Wikimedia Australia, **Wikimedia * Česká republika, *Wikimedia France, **Wikimedia Hong Kong, **Wikimedia Indonesia*, **Wikimedia**Italia, **Wikimedia Norge, and **Wikimedia Philippines*. * * * *Based on the established eligibility criteria** [4]** outlined in the framework, eligible entities were notified about their eligibility status and of the need to close any gaps by February 15. Entities did not close those gaps are still able to apply for funding from the Wikimedia Grants program. [5]* * Applications from Round 2 eligible entities are due March 1, 2013, end of day UTC. The FDC proposal creation tool has been posted on the FDC portal on Meta and is ready for use. We strongly encourage eligible entities to begin filling out the proposals to the FDC well in advance of the March 1 deadline, particularly to support time for translation, if necessary, and to answer any questions or clarifications. The FDC staff is ready and able to help as needed. Please contact the FDC staff at FDCsupport(a)wikimedia.org We look forward to reviewing the Round 2 proposals. We invite all members of the community to participate in the community review of proposals, which will take place from March 1-31. [6] All the best,* * Garfield Byrd, WMF Chief of Finance and Administration* * * ** Final eligibility pending acceptance of grant report ** * * * *[1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal* *[2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/Framework_for_… [3] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_status/2012-2013_roun… [4] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_criteria [5] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Index * [6] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Proposal_process -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org*

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Big Fat Brussels Gathering
by Romaine Wiki 20 Feb '13

20 Feb '13

Wikipedia and Wikimedia are a movement, a movement of open/free information and we should have spokespeople who can explain why open/free information is our desire and the desire of many people in the world. We as Wikimedia can't exist without open/free information and we should and must explain that to politicians and other organizations. Our goals are limited by the legal bounders, and as Wikimedia is an important movement in our society we should make our voice been heard to make us able to reach our goals in a larger way. This is something that should be done by the European chapters and other European Wikimedians. This is of European importance and can't be done only by Belgians, and that wouldn't be appropriate. (As one of the people working on founding Wikimedia Belgium I can say everyone is welcome, but certainly we can't do this alone.) Wikimedia stands for collaboration, that is what we need here, and it is good to see this is recognized by several chapters and Wikimedians. Be welcome! Romaine

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