Hello all,
I just got back from the general member meeting of Wikimedia Deutschland. As you know I requested a decision about the future of the toolserver there. To make it short: It doesn't went as well as I hoped. While the request itself was accepted, it was changed in some important parts. The main fear was that WMF could stop to provide us with fresh dumps and/or replication in near future, making the toolserver more or less useless. Although I learned from a participating WMF-board-member that no such board- decision exists. My request was changed in the following way: The WMF has to tell WMDE within 6 months how Wikilabs can replace the toolserver in the promised complete way. If the answer is not satisfying, WMDE will develop a "Governance-Model" to ensure the continuation of the toolserver. Different groups are invited into this "Governance-Model" and it should be done until the end of 2013. That sounds good on the first view, but there are 2 loop-holes: Nobody defined what "complete" or "satisfying" is. In my eyes Wikilabs can not replace the toolserver complete (in the way that all tools can move to there) and so the answer can only be unsatisfying, but that's just a question of definition I guess. A second change was that the investment for the toolserver will be restricted to the "necessary". While that is of course a matter of definition again I'm sure that means "no new hardware if it is possible in any way".
To summarize this: In the best case we have to wait for 6 months until WMDE officially learns that Wikilabs can not replace us, than wait for another 6 months until they will create their "Governance-Model" and in 2014 we get new hardware. In worst case we wait for 6 months and than WMDE and WMF agree that everything is ok and we will never get any new hardware and somewhen the TS will shut down (of course with the remaining tools that can not migrated to Wikilabs). I can not imagine ways between both cases, but I'm sure they exists. In any way we will get no (or nearly no) new hardware in 2013 – so we have to life with that.
A good news is that the toolserver will get 3 new database-servers soon.
I have not decided yet if I will remain as root under this circumstances for 2013 – I will tell you my decision until next Sunday.
For now I will head to bed because I'm exhausted and disappointed. See you tomorrow.
Sincerely, DaB.