Hi all,

It occurs to me that opening web page on www.postgresql.org, asking the
user to select the mirror, is rather unprofessional. I am sure this has
been discussed before but I thought I would bring it up again anyway.

So, why not just redirect people to one of the mirrors listed? This could
be done based on IP (yes it is inaccurate but it is close enough and has
the same net effect: pushing people off the main web server) or it could
be done by simply redirecting to a random mirror.

 From a quick look, there is nothing of any real size on the site
(excluding developer.postgresql.org, which is not the issue) to warrant
people wanting to access a geographically local server anyway. (Unlike the
case of FTP, for which the list of mirrors is very useful).

Gavin


Tue, 24 Sep 2002 13:49:46 +1000 (EST)
Gavin Sherry <swm@linuxworld.com.au>
Web site
On Tue, 24 Sep 2002, Gavin Sherry wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> It occurs to me that opening web page on www.postgresql.org, asking the
> user to select the mirror, is rather unprofessional. I am sure this has
> been discussed before but I thought I would bring it up again anyway.

Already being worked on ...

> So, why not just redirect people to one of the mirrors listed? This
> could be done based on IP (yes it is inaccurate but it is close enough
> and has the same net effect: pushing people off the main web server) or
> it could be done by simply redirecting to a random mirror.

Have tried both in the past with disastrous results ...



Tue, 24 Sep 2002 01:50:07 -0300 (ADT)
"Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy@hub.org>
Re: Web site
> > could be done based on IP (yes it is inaccurate but it is close enough
> > and has the same net effect: pushing people off the main web server) or
> > it could be done by simply redirecting to a random mirror.
> 
> Have tried both in the past with disastrous results ...

What method will be employed instead?

Gavin


Tue, 24 Sep 2002 15:13:49 +1000 (EST)
Gavin Sherry <swm@linuxworld.com.au>
Re: Web site
On Tue, 24 Sep 2002, Gavin Sherry wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> It occurs to me that opening web page on www.postgresql.org, asking the
> user to select the mirror, is rather unprofessional. I am sure this has
> been discussed before but I thought I would bring it up again anyway.

Your point?

> So, why not just redirect people to one of the mirrors listed? This could
> be done based on IP (yes it is inaccurate but it is close enough and has
> the same net effect: pushing people off the main web server) or it could
> be done by simply redirecting to a random mirror.

Been there, done that, didn't work.  Too much of a job to keep track of
that many IP blocks too.

Vince.
-- 
==========================================================================
Vince Vielhaber -- KA8CSH    email: vev@michvhf.com    http://www.pop4.net
         56K Nationwide Dialup from $16.00/mo at Pop4 Networking
      http://www.camping-usa.com      http://www.cloudninegifts.com
   http://www.meanstreamradio.com       http://www.unknown-artists.com
==========================================================================




Tue, 24 Sep 2002 03:59:33 -0400 (EDT)
Vince Vielhaber <vev@michvhf.com>
Re: Web site
Hi,

>>So, why not just redirect people to one of the mirrors listed? This
>>could be done based on IP (yes it is inaccurate but it is close enough
>>and has the same net effect: pushing people off the main web server) or
>>it could be done by simply redirecting to a random mirror.
I think it would be stupid, I am, who wants to decide where to go. If I 
feel that .co.uk is better than others I'll chose that, and bookmark if 
I want.
(random??? brbrbrbrbr) :)

C.


Tue, 24 Sep 2002 14:23:21 +0200
CoL <col@mportal.hu>
Re: Web site
On Tue, Sep 24, 2002 at 03:59:33AM -0400, Vince Vielhaber wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Sep 2002, Gavin Sherry wrote:
> 
> > Hi all,
> >
> > It occurs to me that opening web page on www.postgresql.org, asking the
> > user to select the mirror, is rather unprofessional. I am sure this has
> > been discussed before but I thought I would bring it up again anyway.
> 
> Your point?
> 
> > So, why not just redirect people to one of the mirrors listed? This could
> > be done based on IP (yes it is inaccurate but it is close enough and has
> > the same net effect: pushing people off the main web server) or it could
> > be done by simply redirecting to a random mirror.
> 
> Been there, done that, didn't work.  Too much of a job to keep track of
> that many IP blocks too.
 

I'd suggest setting a cookie, so I only see the 'pick a mirror' the
first time. And provide a link to 'pick a different mirror' that resets
or ignores the cookie.

Ross

Tue, 24 Sep 2002 10:24:01 -0500
"Ross J. Reedstrom" <reedstrm@rice.edu>
Re: Web site
On Tue, 24 Sep 2002, Ross J. Reedstrom wrote:

> On Tue, Sep 24, 2002 at 03:59:33AM -0400, Vince Vielhaber wrote:
> > On Tue, 24 Sep 2002, Gavin Sherry wrote:
> >
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > It occurs to me that opening web page on www.postgresql.org, asking the
> > > user to select the mirror, is rather unprofessional. I am sure this has
> > > been discussed before but I thought I would bring it up again anyway.
> >
> > Your point?
> >
> > > So, why not just redirect people to one of the mirrors listed? This could
> > > be done based on IP (yes it is inaccurate but it is close enough and has
> > > the same net effect: pushing people off the main web server) or it could
> > > be done by simply redirecting to a random mirror.
> >
> > Been there, done that, didn't work.  Too much of a job to keep track of
> > that many IP blocks too.
>
>
> I'd suggest setting a cookie, so I only see the 'pick a mirror' the
> first time. And provide a link to 'pick a different mirror' that resets
> or ignores the cookie.

Or choose the mirror that works best for you and bookmark it.

Vince.
-- 
==========================================================================
Vince Vielhaber -- KA8CSH    email: vev@michvhf.com    http://www.pop4.net
         56K Nationwide Dialup from $16.00/mo at Pop4 Networking
      http://www.camping-usa.com      http://www.cloudninegifts.com
   http://www.meanstreamradio.com       http://www.unknown-artists.com
==========================================================================




Tue, 24 Sep 2002 11:26:55 -0400 (EDT)
Vince Vielhaber <vev@michvhf.com>
Re: Web site
On Tue, Sep 24, 2002 at 11:26:55AM -0400, Vince Vielhaber wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Sep 2002, Ross J. Reedstrom wrote:
> >
> > I'd suggest setting a cookie, so I only see the 'pick a mirror' the
> > first time. And provide a link to 'pick a different mirror' that resets
> > or ignores the cookie.
> 
> Or choose the mirror that works best for you and bookmark it.

Of course, that's what _I_ do, but the dicussion was how to make the
frontpage 'user friendly' and 'professional'. Lots of global corps. do
the 'pick your geographical region' thing, but mainly for sales reasons,
so it must be professional, right?

Ross

Tue, 24 Sep 2002 10:38:46 -0500
"Ross J. Reedstrom" <reedstrm@rice.edu>
Re: Web site
Gavin Sherry <swm@linuxworld.com.au> writes:
> It occurs to me that opening web page on www.postgresql.org, asking the
> user to select the mirror, is rather unprofessional.

I agree; not only that, it has advertisements on it. What's the
justification for that, considering that none of the mirror sites
(AFAIK) have ads on them?

Cheers,

Neil

-- 
Neil Conway <neilc@samurai.com> || PGP Key ID: DB3C29FC


24 Sep 2002 12:54:21 -0400
Neil Conway <neilc@samurai.com>
Re: Web site
Neil Conway wrote:
> Gavin Sherry <swm@linuxworld.com.au> writes:
> > It occurs to me that opening web page on www.postgresql.org, asking the
> > user to select the mirror, is rather unprofessional.
> 
> I agree; not only that, it has advertisements on it. What's the
> justification for that, considering that none of the mirror sites
> (AFAIK) have ads on them?

I wondered that myself.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 359-1001
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  13 Roberts Road
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073

Tue, 24 Sep 2002 13:40:39 -0400 (EDT)
Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>
Re: Web site
Ross J. Reedstrom wrote:

> On Tue, Sep 24, 2002 at 03:59:33AM -0400, Vince Vielhaber wrote:
> > On Tue, 24 Sep 2002, Gavin Sherry wrote:
> >
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > It occurs to me that opening web page on www.postgresql.org, asking
the
> > > user to select the mirror, is rather unprofessional. I am sure this
has
> > > been discussed before but I thought I would bring it up again anyway.
> >
> > Your point?
> >
> > > So, why not just redirect people to one of the mirrors listed? This
could
> > > be done based on IP (yes it is inaccurate but it is close enough and
has
> > > the same net effect: pushing people off the main web server) or it
could
> > > be done by simply redirecting to a random mirror.
> >
> > Been there, done that, didn't work.  Too much of a job to keep track of
> > that many IP blocks too.
>
>
> I'd suggest setting a cookie, so I only see the 'pick a mirror' the
> first time. And provide a link to 'pick a different mirror' that resets
> or ignores the cookie.

If I had a vote, I would vote +1 for this option. I think it's easy to
implement and shouldn't have negative effects on performance.

Regards,
Michael Paesold


Tue, 24 Sep 2002 22:20:39 +0200
"Michael Paesold" <mpaesold@gmx.at>
Re: Web site
On 24 Sep 2002, Neil Conway wrote:

> Gavin Sherry <swm@linuxworld.com.au> writes:
> > It occurs to me that opening web page on www.postgresql.org, asking the
> > user to select the mirror, is rather unprofessional.
>
> I agree; not only that, it has advertisements on it. What's the
> justification for that, considering that none of the mirror sites
> (AFAIK) have ads on them?

Actually, that is part of the redesign as well ...



Wed, 25 Sep 2002 22:23:51 -0300 (ADT)
"Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy@hub.org>
Re: Web site
> > > could be done based on IP (yes it is inaccurate but it is close enough
> > > and has the same net effect: pushing people off the main web server) or
> > > it could be done by simply redirecting to a random mirror.
> > 
> > Have tried both in the past with disastrous results ...
> 
> What method will be employed instead?

Anyone thought about using GeoIP and writing a script that'd dump the
database into something that could be postgresql usable?  Just a
thought.  -sc

-- 
Sean Chittenden

Fri, 27 Sep 2002 02:22:55 -0700
Sean Chittenden <sean@chittenden.org>
Re: Web site