Hi,
Maybe I should offer a constructive suggestion?
Clearly, trying to do these dumps (particularly "history" dumps) as it
is being done from the servers is proving hard to manage
I also realize that you can't just put the set of daily
permanent-media backups on line, as they contain lots of user info,
plus deleted and oversighted revs, etc.
But would it be possible to put each backup disc (before sending one
of the several copies off to its secure storage) in a machine that
would filter all the content into a public file (or files)? Then
someone else could download each disc (i.e. a 10-15 GB chunk of
updates) and sort it into the useful files for general download?
Then someone can produce a current (for example) English 'pedia XML
file; and with more work the cumulative history files (if we want that
as one file).
There would be delays, each of your permanent media backup discs has
to be (probably manually, but changers are available) loaded on the
"filter" system, and I don't know how many discs WMF generates per
day. (;-) and then it has to filter all the revision data etc. But it
still would easily be available for others in 48-72 hours, which beats
the present ~6 weeks when the dumps are working.
No shortage of people with a box or two and any number of Tbyte hard
drives that might be willing to help, if they can get the raw backups.
Best,
Robert