[Cc-webedit] Proposal: move our email addresses to our own server

[Jon Leighton]

Thanks for replying! :)

On Mon, 2010-10-25 at 21:06 +0100, Jonathan Stevenson wrote:
> Hi all - having looked at the user interface at http://roundcube.net I 
> broadly agree with Jon's proposal, but I wonder if we should move step 3 
> up to the top?
> 
> Ie. we should email all CC email addresses saying that this is what 
> we're planning to do, send them the link to the user interface, explain 
> the rationale for doing so, give them the date that we plan to switch 
> over, and tell them to let us know in time for the Manchester gathering 
> if they've got any alternative suggestions.

Could do - but these things kinda depend on getting help from nologic in
the switchover so it's difficult to "set a date" immediately. Also from
my perspective I'd rather get things in place in my own time and then
set a date to flip the switch at that point when I know that I can
commit to being around etc.

> Then we can take a proper 
> decision at the gathering, having had a bit of time to chew it over. 
> What do you reckon?

Yeah I think generally fine to wait until the national gathering,
there's not a mad rush. Though good to get these things dealt with
during quiet periods as there are invariably higher priorities in the
run up to a camp or whatever.

> Also I've also got one concern, which is whether this leaves us 
> excessively dependent on Jon's skills for our email list functionality. 
> To some extent this is already the case with the website and while I 
> hugely appreciate all Jon's work and amazingess, if for whatever reason 
> you're out of action it's quite a bottleneck. Eg. if Jon was on holiday 
> is it possible that all CC email addresses could go 'down' til he's 
> back? Some reassurance on that (and/or some effort to recruit further 
> techies willing to give some time to CC) would be useful.

I agree that this is a concern, but I'd say a few things:

* AFAIK "nologic" is just one person any way. That may not be true, but
I've only ever dealt with a single person, who may/may not always be
contactable.

* I think JimDog is still around in some capacity, and has geeky skills.
This also applies for the website, actually - if it goes down the fix is
usually just to restart the Apache server or whatever, which any geek
can do.

* Also, our server is provided by tachanka which is a whole collective.
If something went wrong and we urgently needed help then they may well
be able to lend a hand.

Still, I am of course open to more people helping with the server so
long as they are a) trusted and b) know what they're doing.

Jon

> 
> cheers :-)
> Jonathan
> 
> 
> On 20/10/2010 18:54, Jon Leighton wrote:
> > Hiya,
> >
> > We have talked in the past about how the nologic mail service leaves
> > something to be desired. I also understand that some people are using
> > gmail accounts for things which is a shame.
> >
> > I suggest that we setup iRedMail on our own server instead:
> > http://www.iredmail.org/. This is basically a package of software which
> > comes with an installer and does the configuration work for you.
> >
> > What this will give us:
> >
> > * SSL encrypted access to email (i.e. when you download the emails, the
> > connection will be encrypted, this is not to say the emails themselves
> > will be encrypted)
> >
> > * Spam filtering!
> >
> > * IMAP access for those who want to use a desktop mail program
> >
> > * A much nicer, more modern webmail program called Roundcube (it has an
> > address book too): http://roundcube.net/
> >
> > All in favour say Ay?
> >
> > Currently we have our email at nologic and our website on the tachanka
> > server. nologic also manage the climatecamp.org.uk domain. If we move
> > the email to tachanka, it seems a bit bizarre to have them just managing
> > the domain. So I'd suggest we at the same time ask them to transfer the
> > domain to our ownership - I'm happy to be the "registered keeper" on
> > behalf of climate camp. That would mean that we are able to manage the
> > DNS settings ourself, which in general would be good.
> >
> > So, the plan would go something like this:
> >
> > 1. Speak to nologic, thank them for supporting us over the years but
> > explain that we would like to move our email and domain "in house"
> > 2. Co-ordinate with nologic to transfer the domain to us
> > 3. Email all current email addresses to notify them of the planned
> > switch over, asking for a response so we know it is still in use. Ask
> > for a non-climatecamp email address to contact if anything goes wrong /
> > to exchange details, etc.
> > 4. Setup iRedMail on the tachanka server and test it
> > 5. Set a date and time (v early morning) for the switch over and inform
> > mail users. Tell them the new details of how to check emails.
> > 6. Do the switch over. This will involve changing the MX records and
> > (hopefully) getting nologic to help us transfer the emails currently
> > stored on their server onto our tachanka server (so that none get lost)
> > 7. Everything works, I celebrate, everyone stops complaining about
> > SquirrelMail and we get on with doing more action.
> >
> > I'm happy to do this. It will probably have to happen over a period of a
> > few weeks but I can get it done. Let me know your thoughts.
> >
> > Jon
> >
> 

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