Re: robowiki are down now
fnl <[email protected]> Thu, 23 Jul 2015 12:26:56 -0700 (PDT)
| Newsgroups | gmane.comp.java.robocode |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
Hi Patrick, If it is possible to keep the RoboWiki up and running with the help of other user stepping up with admin responsibilities as you propose, this would of course be the best option. :-) Would that be sufficient for keeping the RoboWiki up and running? - Flemming Den tirsdag den 21. juli 2015 kl. 22.22.40 UTC+2 skrev Patrick Cupka: > > > Anyway, it seems that hosting a stable mediawiki instance is a bit too > much > > of a bother at current. Seems like a great idea to see if it can be > exported > > to SF. If that doesn't work, then just exporting a static HTML site is > an > > alternative: > > > https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Publishing_from_MediaWiki#Built-in_methods_of_exporting_data_via_the_command-line > > Ditching the current MediaWiki altogether seems a bit drastic. How > many instances of down-time have there been in the last couple years? > There was a big outage over the holidays in 2013 and then this one in > May. I doubt migrating the pages to a free host would work to > anybody's satisfaction. We couldn't migrate users, we have custom > MediaWiki plugins, even one that communicates with the LiteRumble > server. The RoboWiki is pretty huge and gets quite a bit of traffic. > The wiki would be a shadow of its former, uh, self. And who knows if > the reliability would improve, anyway. > > Our current setup is pretty good. I use VPSLink for my BerryBots, too. > We just don't have any admins that still have the passion for > Robocode. When there is down-time, there is still the Wayback Machine > (at archive.org). If we can also offer a dump of the RoboWiki pages as > a big download, I'd be pretty satisfied with that setup. > > When my passion started to fade, I made sure to give admin (MediaWiki > and SSH) access to some trustworthy folks that were still active: > Skilgannon, Rednaxela, and Darkcanuck. But I guess their passion has > faded too. (That's the same access that I have. David has that + the > admin console at VPSLink, for "hard" reboots.) Maybe someone like > Chase would be willing to step up with server admin responsibilities? > I certainly trust him and he knows his way around the wiki. > > > On Mon, Jul 20, 2015 at 8:03 AM, Peter Strm <[email protected]> wrote: > > Very interesting mail thread! I know I used to be one of those > advocating > > Robocode game play should stay as clean and simple as it was, but I do > not > > remember ever thinking it through on a level even close to Patrick's. > > > > I'm also sure there are still major innovations to be made, even though > the > > interest for the platform might fade before that happens. I can relate > to > > how discouraging it could be to go about trying to compete with DrussGT > and > > Diamond and realise you will have to perfect every existing trick in the > > book... > > > > Anyway, it seems that hosting a stable mediawiki instance is a bit too > much > > of a bother at current. Seems like a great idea to see if it can be > exported > > to SF. If that doesn't work, then just exporting a static HTML site is > an > > alternative: > > > https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Publishing_from_MediaWiki#Built-in_methods_of_exporting_data_via_the_command-line > > > > Regardless, when the export is done, let me know the hostname/IP of > where it > > is published so that I can repoint the DNS things. > > > > /PEZ > > > > > >> On Mon, Jul 20, 2015 at 11:47 AM, fnl <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> > >> Hi Patrick, > >> > >> Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :-) > >> > >> It would be great if we could move the RoboWiki to another Wiki or > similar > >> (static pages?), e.g. using the Export feature of the MediaWiki > >> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Export). > >> Perhaps it could be moved to the Wiki for the Robocode page on > >> SourceForge? It should be enabled first. Currently the developer pages > on > >> SourceForge are down (is being restored after a disk breakdown). So I > am not > >> able to see, if it is possible to import the MediaWiki export (yet). > >> > >> At least I want to let people access all the vital knowledge to make > good > >> Robocode robots. And people get upset when the RoboWiki is down. But I > fully > >> understand that you (PEZ) and David Alves don't what to be involved > with the > >> RoboWiki anymore. The best thing would be to put it somewhere where > more > >> people is able to maintain it - and hopefully without to pay for > hosting > >> etc. > >> > >> When the developer pages of SourceForge (SF) are up and running again, > I > >> will see if I can import the RoboWiki pages to the SF Wiki somehow. > >> I will also try to make an export of the RoboWiki pages, when I get > time > >> for it (probably tonight). I expect that it will not be possible to > export > >> the RoboWiki users. So this will be an issue. > >> > >> Regarding the development of Robocode. I am only maintaining the > current > >> Robocode with bug fixes etc. If somebody want to add new features, they > >> should go ahead and implement these. I will help with the integration > etc. > >> if the features are not too complex to handle. But I won't be the one > doing > >> all the work (anymore). > >> Robocode is Open Source, so if somebody else want to take over the > >> development, they are free to do so. I just hope he/she/they will have > >> skills enough to get it in a better shape. ;-) > >> > >> - - - - > >> I am still working on a "Robocode 2", which is protocol based (on top > of > >> WebSockets) making it possible to be language independent and also work > for > >> web - e.g. using JavaScript. The development progress is slow as I > don't > >> have so much spare time as I had 10 years ago (when taking over the > >> development/maintenance of Robocode). > >> I am not sure if I will ever finish this new version, but at least the > >> development is still ongoing. Currently it is not open source as I want > to > >> make a clean core and have the freedom to change anything at anytime > without > >> being forced to coordinate with other developers. I see this new > version as > >> "my new baby", so it must be good enough before I let other people in. > >> > >> Best regards, > >> - Flemming > >> > >> > >>> Den lørdag den 18. juli 2015 kl. 20.04.23 UTC+2 skrev Patrick Cupka: > >>> > >>> Hey guys - late to the dialogue, but a few things to mention. (Beware: > >>> wall of text incoming.) > >>> > >>> The wiki mostly runs itself and is hosted at VPSLink, which is pretty > >>> reliable. The problem during downtime is that neither myself, who > "owns" the > >>> wiki (i.e., from PEZ), nor David Alves, who actually pays for hosting, > >>> actually care so much about Robocode anymore. When your heart's not in > it, > >>> there are plenty of other things that take precedence. > >>> > >>> I believe MediaWiki has a facility to export all the pages to an XML > >>> format. We could make the full archive available somewhere (eg, > someone's > >>> Dropbox) every so often, if it's something people are interested in. > Then > >>> you can do whatever you want with it. It strikes me as the kind of > thing > >>> people say they want, then nobody would actually download it. :-) But > we > >>> could try. > >>> > >>> There's certainly nobody acting as a gatekeeper here to keep it single > >>> sourced. There are no ads. PEZ and I gave a dump of the old wiki to > someone > >>> upon request a while back. The RoboWiki is all about sharing Robocode > >>> knowledge. > >>> > >>> There are plenty of other programming games, but nothing in the same > >>> league as Robocode as far as number of bots or active competitions. > Then > >>> again, people also complain that there is nothing new to be innovated > in > >>> Robocode, so it's a double-edged sword. I like to joke that it's the > "Google > >>> Reader of programming games" – it got a huge corporate push from IBM, > it > >>> smothers the rest of the market (tons of bots, history, Java, name > >>> recognition), and might need to die off before all these other games > can > >>> blossom - hopefully with some kind of common community, as well as > >>> communities of their own. > >>> > >>> I have my own offering: BerryBots (http://berrybots.com). You can > read a > >>> comparison to Robocode gameplay here: > >>> http://berrybots.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17 ... Or even try it in a > >>> browser: http://playberrybots.com. Primarily, it features > programmable > >>> stages, walls on the playing field, and a secondary weapon > (grenade-like). > >>> It also has a pretty sweet automation API with built-in > multithreading, > >>> (optional) graphical form inputs, and the ability to save HTML5 > replays of > >>> matches. There are only a few bots, but I'd be hella impressed if you > can > >>> beat Sanic (from Frohman). > >>> > >>> The other games that have caught my eye are FightCodeGame.com, a fully > >>> web based Robocode-inspired game; and NodeWar.com, which might be the > only > >>> truly inspiring / innovative gameplay I've seen. I'd also check out > >>> http://programminggames.org, which seems to be gaining steam. > >>> > >>> I sympathize with the desire to join a large, active community. But > the > >>> RoboWiki might make the Robocode community seem a lot more active than > it > >>> is. Good luck catching me and Skilgannon while we never update our > bots. ;) > >>> At some point, we have to make something new. I suspect even "Robocode > 2" > >>> will have the same problems as the rest of the new entrants into the > genre. > >>> > >>> Hope that's enlightening! Best of luck, > >>> > >>> -- Patrick > >>> > >>> Sent from mobile > >>> > >>> On May 4, 2015, at 4:32 PM, Jesse Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > >>> > >>> I'll raise my hand. I just don't know what would need to be done > though > >>> since I've never done this before. Would a service such as > >>> http://www.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page suffice? Can anyone provide > some > >>> other guidance on a good way to host that is minimal cost? Also, how > would > >>> one obtain the current wiki content? > >>> > >>> Question. Is robocode still viable or are there other better, widely > >>> used, supported platforms along the same vein? Please advise. I'm > looking > >>> to work with a platform like robocode to ultimately compete against > others.. > >>> > >>> > >>>> On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 5:57 PM, ramn.se ‘¸ <[email protected]> > wrote: > >>>> > >>>> How do we get hold of the database? > >>>> > >>>> On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 8:31 PM, Pavel Šavara <[email protected]> > > >>>> wrote: > >>>>> > >>>>> Hi everybody, > >>>>> > >>>>> it would be perhaps good idea if all people who think robowiki is > >>>>> important would try to help. > >>>>> Somebody may try to run mirror, or perhaps somebody would organize > and > >>>>> run it on more stable hosting ? > >>>>> Perhaps people would donate some cash needed to pay for the hosting > ? > >>>>> Just suggestions, in the end it's community project, right ? > >>>>> > >>>>> Anybody at all ? Raise your hands ! > >>>>> > >>>>> Pavel > >>>>> > >>>>>> On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 11:48 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > >>>>>> > >>>>>> Yeah, I hope they fix it soon... It's really important for many > >>>>>> people! > >>>>>> > >>>>>> -- > >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > >>>>>> Groups "robocode" group. > >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, > send > >>>>>> an email to [email protected]. > >>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> -- > >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > >>>>> Groups "robocode" group. > >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, > send > >>>>> an email to [email protected]. > >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> -- > >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in > the > >>>> Google Groups "robocode" group. > >>>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/robocode/E437YrPMZFw/unsubscribe. > >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > >>>> [email protected]. > >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > >>> > >>> > >>> -- > >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > >>> "robocode" group. > >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an > >>> email to [email protected]. > >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > > -- > Patrick Cupka, [email protected] > -- > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "robocode" group. 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