Hi,

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 5:07 AM, Daniel Kinzler <daniel@brightbyte.de> wrote:
Leigh Blackall schrieb:

> Would be a problem to install the "Widgets" media wiki extension?

That's for for your local admin to decide. WMDE will not *run* that server, we
just help with financing it. What gets on the server, how you keep it secure,
which projects are approved and who gets access is entirely up to you.

All we require is a number of projects and people committed to taking care of
them, so we know what the box will be used for. And a regular report, so we know
it's still being used to its original purpose - that is, projects that somehow
benefit wikiversity.

I think Leigh is asking if we can install arbitrary extensions for Mediawiki on the sandbox server.

I think that would be a wonderful project. Originally, I saw the Sandbox server as somewhere CS students could play to get Programming skills, and even to perhaps hack on Mediawiki a bit. We'll see if that might happen, but I think a testing ground for Mediawiki and it's extensions would be a great project. It just needs a project leader, and someone who is technical to help out. Should we put you down as a potential project lead, Leigh? :)

Has Jan not offered to take the lead on the Mediawiki project? (http://beta.wikiversity.org/wiki/Sandbox_Server/Project/MediaWiki) A question that comes to mind here: if, say, Leigh and Jan were both willing to take the lead on this project, would it be possible to have two root admins for an individual project?

As a side note: glaring security problems may make the sandbox server *harmful*
to wikimedia. That would be a reason to discontinue the funding. We trust you to
keep it sane.

Let me say something here -- I don't think "glaring" security problems are acceptable. As a seasoned admin, I can't say an experimental server will be 100% problem free, but project leaders should be made aware we expect them to take reasonable measures to make sure their projects are secure, and any found or reported to be insecure can be suspended without notice. We want to encourage innovation, but with security somewhere in the picture.

Agreed.

I'd also like to say, it's great to see you again Gerald. Thanks so much for joining in here with such enthusiasm. :-)

Cormac