Webmail Evaluation - Spring 2000 - Meetings

April 12, 2000 - Agenda

• Status of server installations and user testing assignments
• Andy's reported problem with NT installations
• Installers should fill out the admin test form and submit their installation instructions.
  Installers have been doing quite a bit of work. Is there anything that we can do to lighten their load? Do remaining installers have to complete a separate installation script for each server configuration or can they submit additional comments to be inserted into installation scripts that already exist?
• Begin user testing in Standards Lab
• Continue work on server installations

Minutes

• user testing assignments
• admin scripts
• NT issues
• WorldPilot and SilkyMail status
• miscellaneous

   

Testing Assignments

No one quarrels with these--at least no one was willing to publically. Teams should try to have one person test on Mac and one on Wintel.

Spinner accounts

• ssh required.
• options
  • telnet to dolphin.upenn.edu (or pobox or possibly your home mail server)
    • get to the unix prompt (type "unix")
    • at the unix prompt ($), type ssh spinner.isc-net.upenn.edu
  • or use SecureCRT (or Mac equivalent)
• if you haven't yet changed your password, please do so ASAP. Call Peggy if you can't remember the password or need to have it reset
• copy one of the starter mailboxes into your account (instructions in previous e-mail and included in the user test script for reference)

Admin scripts

We decided we'll not create all of the admin scripts from scratch, but will use Sam's and Andy's scripts as basis and provide comments for different platforms. (Post-meeting note: someone will have to provide the starting script for SilkyMail, if the product is indeed available for testing in time)

NT Issues

Issue of which web server to use for our testing on NT. We got a only a few replies from our query to PC-net on preferred servers

Final choice: we will concentrate on Apache, (Shaheen's experience with IIS and installing PHP was not encouraging.) We'll send a note to SUG and PCnet to see if we get any volunteers to try an IIS install.

Product status

IMP

• Sam is running into some problems with the LDAP installation; hold off on testing the Tru64 install until he has a change to troubleshoot.
• Don is in progress on Solaris install (database still not done)
• Shaheen's NT install is coming along but not finished

TWIG

• Tru64 install ready for user testing
• John Parker in progress with Solaris/Linux installations
• Dave Anstine has NT/Twig install in progress
• question on user passwords: TWIG stores in cookie (plaintext in cookie) or in sql table in plaintext. Do either IMP or WorldPilot do significantly better than this? We'll leave TWIG in the running at this point, since it has the option of table storage, and you can set the non-cookie option in the admin configuration.

WorldPilot

• Andy will work with Apache on Tru64 and Solaris for the WorldPilot installation, since a number of the group seemed to feel that the larger community would want to know about Apache in preference to the priorietary sever that comes with Zope.
• Vern is in progress with Linux installation
• Andy also will continue to work on the issues surrounding the WorldPilot installation on NT (with the vendor)

SilkyMail

• Andy has not gotten any vendor response to his latest queries re: SilkyMail. He'll forward his contact info to Peggy/Janet for further follow-up.

Miscellaneous issues

• What's actually ready for user testing
  • TWIG (Tru64, Solaris)
  • WorldPilot (Tru64 and Solaris)

Other installs will be finished during the week.

• We talked about checking in with Kay (Law School) about their experience. Peggy will work on a time with Kay when she can provide some input from Penn experience.
• IT roundtable discussion: a few questions; issue of a central server did not come up in this meeting (Ira was on a phone call in the hallway . . .)
• The central server issue continues to be ongoing argument offline among members of the ISC. Donuts are at stake.
• Andy will send message to unisog about experience in other institutions, especially scale issues