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[Updated 2018/06/30 15:19:00 UTC. I've received word that "certificate renewed, but hasn't been issued" and that it will be installed as soon as we receive the new cert. Original story follows. --martyb]
We've been up front with the community right from the start... and intend to keep doing so in the future.
Where we are at:
We have encountered an issue with Lets Encrypt (LE), the certificate issuer for the majority of our [sub]domains. Even though we can 'see' these domains from any number of different servers... for some unknown reason, LE fails to see them. So, at the moment, we are unable to get them to generate certs for us.
Separately, the cert for soylentnews.org is handled by Gandhi. As far as I understand it (and I'm no sysadmin so take this with a healthy dose of salt) there are only two members of our staff who have the ability to update that cert. (We obviously don't want to let world+dog have access to that, right? My guess is that at that time, having a couple people seemed sufficiently redundant and secure).
What it means to you:
You may encounter a warning from your browser when trying to access the site that a certificate has expired. I cannot speak for all browsers, but I've generally seen that along with the warning is an option to trust the cert anyway. (Note: along with allowing that exception, I've sen at least one browser default a checkbox to make the exception permanent. It's entirely up to you, but I see no reason to make it a permanent exception at this point.)
We are working on it, and obviously hope to have things straightened out sooner than later! On the other hand, should things go sideways, I want to keep the community informed about what's up, what's happening, and what you can expect.
Checking status:
If you would like another means to check on the status of the certs, Comodo makes it easy with queries such as these:
https://crt.sh/?q=soylentnews.org
https://crt.sh/?q=%%25soylentnews.org
https://crt.sh/?q=sylnt.us
https://crt.sh/?q=%%25sylnt.us
tl;dr:
If the site becomes unavailable because of an expired cert, yeah, we know and we're working on it. Accept a temporary exception in your browser and we'll let you now when things are back to normal.
--martyb
P.S. Our Editor-in-Chief, janrinok, is currently undergoing preparations for a medical procedure... it's hard to say at this point, but it's likely he may be unavailable to help with the site for a couple weeks. Please join me in wishing him well for the procedure and for a speedy recovery!
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Sunday July 01 2018, @10:10AM (1 child)
No, seriously, hope he gets better soon. Can you imagine what this place would be like if some of the lesser eds had free reign? Bad enough that TMB keeps sticking his turkey vulture neck in where it does not belong! So best wishes for janrinok!
(Score: 2) by martyb on Sunday July 01 2018, @02:20PM
Many thanks for your kind wishes for Janrinock's health — much appreciated!
I would like to clarify that there are NO "lesser eds" here. Every editor is free to choose any story from the submission queue to post to the site.
That does not mean that they are free from feedback. Any editor is also free to speak up, and indeed is encouraged to do so, if they have any issues with a story. None of us is perfect and we recognize that.
Sometimes I read a story one way, and another editor points out a different reading that I failed to notice. Any skill I seem to exhibit here is much enhanced by the work of the other editors who review my work. I would like to think it works the other way, too.
Once in a very great while something may come up where different editors cannot come to agreement on something... in those cases there needs to be some tie-breaker. It is in those cases where an Editor-in-Chief decides. I cannot think of a single particular case offhand, and would guess that out of the 22,000+ stories we've posted, it has been necessary in fewer cases than can be counted on one hand.
NB: We all have widely varying schedules as well as different areas of interest and expertise. Each of us keeps an eye on the story queue, and as we are able, process submissions to appear there. We strive to have each story reviewed by another editor before it goes live. This does not always happen. (We are volunteers who have outside obligations and perform this service in our limited free time.)
Occasionally, even with a second pair of eyes, mistakes make it through.
Now, speaking only for myself, as much as I dislike the experience, I *do* appreciate it when the community offers corrections. "How could you post such crap?" does not go over as well as a polite noting of what is in error and a suggestion on what could rectify the mistake. We are people, too.
That said, "You can't please everyone". We recognize there are those in the community who hold diagrammatically opposite views on a subject from the views of others. We try, in toto, to find what we hope works best for the most.
tl;dr All editors contribute as they are able and do their best to build up the site. Arguments are exceedingly rare and misunderstandings are generally cleared up quickly. For the most part, though an observer may see what appears to be a haphazard process, it generally seems to work pretty well. teamwork++
Wit is intellect, dancing.