Amiga.org may be running out of time

Over the years, Amiga.org has stayed with its current version to allow the classic Amiga users to use the Web site.  Newer versions support and pretty much require options that the Classic Amiga browsers simply can't handle.

We may be running into the end of the world as we know it very shortly and here's why...

The servers on which we rely are currently running PHP4.x which is at its end-of-life and will not get any more updates.  The Web host we use (and have no need to move away from) are being forced to update all of their servers to PHP5.x or later.

We simply don't know if the old copy of Xoops we have will run under 5.x or later.

What this means is that we may be proverbially screwed in several ways if Xoops 2.0x doesn't support PHP5.

1) We will have to forego support for classic Amiga browsers in any case, as we may be forced to move to a later version of Xoops (Drupal, or whatever).

2) Even if we do decide to go the route in 1 above, there is absolutely no upgrade path between the 6 year old 2.0x we now use and newer Xoops (or more appropriately, the old newbb module).  

What this means, quite simply put, is that if Amiga.org's current software doesn't run under PHP5.x, there is no way to migrate the data that we've collected over the years.

What that means is, if Xoops 2.0x doesn't run, it's a reboot scenario with no "classic.amiga.org" possible without hiring a professional developer to write a migration module.

NOW BEFORE EVERYONE HERE STARTS GOING APESPIT AND BOMBARDING THE SITE TRYING TO MIRROR EVERY PAGE...

We are NOT going anywhere.  Backups will be kept, and if we find you hammering the server to create your own copy of Amiga.org, I will personally ban you, your IP, your IP class, and that of those around you for ETERNITY...

The reason behind this post is not to panic everyone.  I just don't want to hear it if everyone wakes up one morning and finds that AO isn't working due to the mandatory updates.

EVEN IF THE WORST CASE HAPPENS, WE WILL FIND SOME WAY TO SAVE/USE THE HISTORICAL DATA HERE...

It just may be an issue of rebooting into something new (I'm investigating Drupal as it's more current and may have an upgrade path from Xoops 2.0x -- even if it doesn't support the classic Amiga browsers) then finding out how to convert the existing data into something usable by the new system.

Sorry to be so firm, pushy, and mean about all this.  It's not personal, I'm just a little stressed about it and want to make sure everyone knows what's happening.

Hopefully Xoops 2.0x will run just fine under PHP5.  If not, we gotta do whatever it is that we gotta do.  Right?

Wayne

[Firedawg]

I sent a little help your way Wayne.  Thanks for keeping A.org rolling a long.  This site is a tremendous resource for me, and I do appreciate everyone who contributes their knowledge and expertise on all things Amiga. :-D

The Dawg

[motorollin]

Please, won't somebody think of the post counts! :nervous:

--
moto

Thank you very much.

To be clear though, I'm not asking for money.  I'm just trying to figure out what the best course of action for the site and community will be.

Like I said, if Xoops 2.0x works under PHP5, we're golden.  If not, it may be a rough awakening for everyone who is used to running classic Amiga browsers.

Wayne

Frankly, this is a situation that we've put ourselves in (and I'd be surprised if other Amiga Xoops sites aren't in) by trying to hold on so tightly to the past.

[jj]

Wayne

What percentage of vistors using this site are using an AMiga browswer ?

I know with spoofing this cant be definite.

I would be happy to have Amiga.org live in whatever format.  We all lost accounts in the past due to the hacking,  I would rather this site an community carried on no matter the path.

@jj

approximately 8%, not counting the idiots who spoof.

Wayne

[murple]

Consider looking into a dedicated/colocated server? If I was still at my old ISP job I could've gotten you a very good deal, maybe somebody else is in that position. There are some commercial colo services that are reasonably priced, I know a few individuals who run their own personal web servers that way.

Things like Amazon's cloud based virtual servers might be something to look into as well.

[jj]

Unfortuntely time does march on and to me at least the continuation of this site is more important than 8 or 10% of amiga browser users not  being able to browse this site.

[CLS2086]

Hi,
can someone give you a try on an another server ?
Maybe a trick is possible ? :-?

[Nostalgiac]

I enjoy using my Miggy, even online with my x-surf... but 99% of the time I visit this forum with my Mac laptop.

So, as far as I'm concerned, go ahead with any upgrades needed.

Keep it up Wayne, that's all I ask :-)

cheers
Tom UK

[trekiej]

I am ignorant about Amiga browsers.
What would one have to do to update an Amiga browser?

[DiskDoctor]

@ Wayne

Well hello.

Not sure if I get the point.

You suggest the new PHP/Xoops upgrade might leave old Amiga browser users behind.  There MUST be some workarounds!  How about mobile plugins?  Some mobile devices' profiles shouldn't go beyond Amiga browsers' demands.  If there exist ones, you might simply redirect the content into a "limited" vault, which preserves all/some Aorg functionality. Also if new PHP causes old Amiga browsers to fail working, why not pass the data over some other low-end CMS providing service to the older browsers?  

And what exactly do you mean by "no way to migrate data"?? It's just data, a matter of running some script transforming it to another data format, what's a big deal about it?  I do not think moving xCMS data is any problematic.  World is not much complicated as long as you keep data in XML, eventually with XSLT transformation.

I must be missing something, still dunno what that is.

[ChaosLord]

There is a migration path from Xoops 2.0 to 3.0.
There is a migration path from Xoops 3.0 to 4.0.
There is a migration path from Xoops 4.0 to 5.0.
There is a migration path from Xoops 5.0 to 6.0.

[PlaySound TriumphantOrchestra.8svx]

Voila!  No data gets lost.  :idea:

[jj]

well transfering data via XML should never be a problem given that XML is just palin text