Staring down the muzzle...

[crfriend]

Good afternoon (at least it is here). Our hosting provider has finally had enough with the security problems with the now-obsolete php-7 and is agitating for everyone to upgrade to php-8.1 -- and the version of phpBB that runs the Skirt Cafe is not compatible with that version (or, more specifically, some of the third-party vendor components), and that was proved out in my lab this morning. So, our hand is forced to upgrade the forum software.

I've got a prototype now running in my lab that I can talk to and interact with, so that's a start. There are some customisations that need to be put back into the phpBB code-base that we've made locally, and that'll take me a couple of days to work out. We're also going to temporarily lose the non-English localisations and non-default display styles. There are about 20-odd people who will be affected by this, so this is advance notice. I'll try to locate replacements for everything, but that my take a few weeks. I'll reset everybody to the defaults as part of the upgrade process, so don't be surprised when it happens. There will be warning of this a few days in advance once I have all the ducks in a row. I'm under the gun to get this done before May Day.-- and it's possible I may get it done before April Fools' Day.

Watch this space.

[Freedomforall]

Good morning on this cold day in March. I want to thank you for all that you do to make this place the wonderful place it is!

[crfriend]

As of this instant, I have the ProSilver style working properly in my lab, and I have the three localised languages in use in the forum working properly.

The other styles (Allan-Subsilver and ProSilver-wide) are not working, and are not available in the new version of the phpBB software. They might work, but I have not tested them yet. The latter seems pointless as the new ProSilver is full-screen thus rendering the "wide" one pointless.

I still have no estimated date for the rollout as that will likely require coordination between my actions and our provider's actions. There may be an outage associated with this change.

You have been warned.

[Fred in Skirts]

I still have no estimated date for the rollout as that will likely require coordination between my actions and our provider's actions. There may be an outage associated with this change. You have been warned.

Carl, The need to warn us is not just one warning but needs to be almost a constant stream of "WARNINGS" placed in red, large type and bold type.
The reason is that we as a whole part of the human condition do not heed just a single warning. We must have many of the things placed so that we can not say we weren't warned. This can be seen at railroad crossings, high voltage stations and on the road with speed signs.

[crfriend]

The reason is that we as a whole part of the human condition do not heed just a single warning. We must have many of the things placed so that we can not say we weren't warned. This can be seen at railroad crossings, high voltage stations and on the road with speed signs.

Gee, I though that the mere subject line would have gotten some attention. I guess not.

My voice is the quiet one, the one you have to listen for, because when I mention something important I tend to be quiet.

If one is dealing with things like high voltage and one is not paying attention, then that's just a case of (what I jocularly joke about the situation) "Uncle Chuck" looking after us. We should be expected to look out for our own safety at all times, without exception -- else we get careless and get removed from the gene-pool.

So, I "speak" quite softly, but carry a whole array of "big sticks" with me -- most of which seldom get deployed. However, the software upgrade is pointed straight at us, so pay attention to it.

[denimini]

Well, I was relieved to read the first post of this thread was not health or medical related ......... after morbid discussions in another thread.

Thanks again for your time and persistance keeping the cafe operating, Master Barista indeed.

[Spirou003]

There are about 20-odd people who will be affected by this

I'm one of the odds

We must have many of the things placed so that we can not say we weren't warned

The best thing I succeeded to do, is to look forward something my brother pointed to with his finger, without seeing it. Well, it was a few meters apart from me and only 2 meters large, I could not have see it. I was looking for something far away instead...

Joke apart, thank you for your message and efforts with this site Carl

[crfriend]

There is a possibility that the upgrade to PHP, phpBB, and the database will happen tomorrow morning (my time), and if it doesn't it surely will next weekend.

I was actually to gather my wits about me enough this morning that I was able to map out the steps to (1) get everything upgraded from a phpBB standpoint (including all our security measures), (2) develop the proper steps to upgrade the database schema, (3) reset the things that need to be reset to defaults (languages and styles), (4) then restore the security posture, and (5) flip the version of PHP proper. Lots of moving parts. I used to thrive in that world; however, work had caused a nasty case of Induced Attention Deficit Disorder in me which makes sustained though almost impossible.

So, thus the warning. If you're using a non-English locale, you'll find yourself reading English once this happens, and if you're using a non-default "style" you will find that the place "looks funny". This is sadly normal. Languages will return first, followed in due course by various styles.

Much depends on how well I sleep tonight; I did pretty well last night which is why I could bring my mind to bear on the matter in spite of all the damage done by my idiot job. But, either tomorrow morning, 2023-03-26 US Eastern Time, or next weekend.

[FLbreezy]

Once upon a time I was a phpBB admin (and sysadmin and PHP developer*)...it's been a few years but if there's anything I can do to help feel free to let me know.

* not big a fan of PHP, but sometimes we do things to put food on the table.

[crfriend]

* not big a fan of PHP, but sometimes we do things to put food on the table.

Indeed. PHP is "not my favourite" language by a long-shot, and it's got more security holes and CVEs against it than you can shake a stick at, but it does fill a niche, and I'll use it if I need something that exists in that niche.

However, thanks for the offer!

I can program in any number of languages, including at least a half-dozen assemblers. I've used COBOL, FORTRAN, and C professionally, but I think my favourite language remains ALGOL-60 simply because of the level of historical influence it's had over the years -- and that influence is still very, very strong. APL still tugs at my heart, though, because that actually looked like a programming language. Stuff like PHP, Perl, and Python are best described as scripting languages; that doesn't mean you can't do real things with them, but if you're going in that direction usually one of the heavyweight compiled languages tend to be better in most regards.

[rode_kater]

There is a possibility that the upgrade to PHP, phpBB, and the database will happen tomorrow morning (my time), and if it doesn't it surely will next weekend.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything works first time. Good luck!

[FLbreezy]

However, thanks for the offer!

I assume you had it under control.

I mainly use C and Go these days, working on device firmware and machine vision applications and web services.

Best of luck with the update!

[Coder]

I mainly use C and Go these days, working on device firmware and machine vision applications and web services.

Best of luck with the update!

Sounds like fun!

[crfriend]

I am going to try to execute on this Saturday morning (US/Eastern) if my health will permit. It's been failing after a month of pulling double-shifts (uncompensated) every single Wednesday this month.

[FranTastic444]

I can program in any number of languages, including at least a half-dozen assemblers. I've used COBOL, FORTRAN, and C professionally, but I think my favourite language remains ALGOL-60 simply because of the level of historical influence it's had over the years -- and that influence is still very, very strong. APL still tugs at my heart, though, because that actually looked like a programming language.

Carl - we spoke about this when we met for a curry in Lexington (MA) what seems like many years ago. I still have a soft spot for MUMPS, which I last used professionally around 20 years ago. First day on the job, four of us (fresh out of college) were given a book to read on how to program in this language. The gist of the text in the preface from the author said something like "I've written programs in about 60 different languages, and I often find myself stating 'this would be so much easier if I'd written it in MUMPS' ". This is something that I've stated myself many times whilst trying to hack together some SQL or C#