"Upgrade", um auf einer Discourse-basierten Plattform laufen zu können: Ursachen und Folgen

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Dear all,

having been away from the forum for a while, I felt I should eventually try to find a way to say hello, and goodbye – so here it is, via a phone:

Earlier this year our beloved forum underwent a significant technical change to run under a Discourse based framework I understand, presented as long overdue and for the best, if only taking a bit of time to get used to. More or less happily we all went through the new routine, no big deal.

Then at some point the new environment became unaccessible from my computer (the one dedicated to automotive exchanges, documentation and archival – I should add it is running a version of OS that starts with windows and ends with 7 – I also still use it to access other forums, including dedicated to more recent cars, e.g. about Citroen XM or Audis, of late A2OC.net). Thinking it should get back to normal after some glitch resolving I waited, waited some more, and eventually contacted the SysAdmin by email: not quite, this is the way it is now as per his reply:

"I understand. It costs a lot of money to maintain systems that support older browsers. As an older enthusiast with limited money, I had to make the decision to limit spending to keep the forums going. I even had to sell the Elan to fund the website.

I wish I could go work on a master cylinder.

Best wishes.

Jeff

"

I’m not sure at what point it was made clear to the lotuselan.net community (our community?) that

- money was becoming a critical issue for the survival of the forum which I consider an existential tool and hosting the essence of the spirit of Lotus Elan enthusiasts around the world

- changes would be made that would drastically affect access to some members (in effect banning them)

- who took the decisions leading to this outcome, and if after duly warning to all members of the circumstances and consequences

It is unlikely I will be able to follow up on the forum, I apologize in advance…

So this is my best wishes message for the year to come: enjoy the good things of life while they last.

And as always,

keep it on the road!

Nic

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I’m sorry to hear of your woes. However I can’t say I am sympathetic; Moore’s Law marches on after all. Keeping up with tech is a cost of living in revolutionary times. And it’s not even that costly. Here in the US, despite the tariffs, I can find a laptop running Windows 11 for a little over $100.

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Have you tried installing Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) browser? It works with WIn 7 and supposedly has the necessary native feature set to work with Discourse.

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Comment about modern tablet, with added keyboard (with or without trackpad). You get cell - phone technology including processors, rugged, typically good value compared to any laptop (laptops do have their purpose but typing or voice to text) I use voice to text for just about everything and have for many years as my fingers are not as fast as my mouth

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Thank you for your suggestion: i run firefox 115.31.0esr (64 bits) on that machine and the website refuses to let me in or even see any content. Same with the chrome equivalent (though this one is not used and followed as regularly). I’m not sure swapping with a linux virtual machine would be of any practical use, this machine is not fast already - but it does work and has hundreds of Gb of automotive data on it while I don’t have spare time to waste into migrating all that on a dubious OS to be debugged and safed for integration on the LAN, so I keep using the trusty one for now… just like my elan? :wink:

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Hello

Typing on the phone takes forever for me, and my archives are not on it - i merely use the phone to talk to people and run my agenda, with occasional interface with family mail (automotive mail is kept on that computer as a safe server, not accessible via phone)

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Look’s like you don’t get the point, can’t say i can make it any clearer for you…

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I have 2 strategies I would recommend to not get trapped in the past with computers.

  1. Save all you data to a NAS storage as well as your PC in formats that will be available long term and are public supported like PDF and HTML or at least broadly used like the various MS file formats as they will be accessible long term. Then Automatically back up your PC to your NAS and to some offsite storage ( 3/2/1 strategy)
  2. Update you operating system as long as your hardware will allow it and then update you PC when needed. Don’t get trapped with an obsolete operating system.

FWIW worked for me for the last 35 years

cheers
Rohan

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This situation is typical of older computing platforms, and I have a similar issue. Microsoft has stopped supporting Windows 10 and as my computers are all over 10 years old (they are iMacs running Win 10) they do not have the TCM (Trusted Computing Module) required to run Windows 11. Therefore, they are for the scrap pile, despite being perfectly capable computers. Fast, with really lovely displays. My options are to migrate to Linux (doable) or a later version of MacOS (the Apple operating system). Although for the latter I’d have to do some hackery as Apple don’t support the installation of the latest MacOS versions on such “old” hardware. So it looks like Linux is on the cards, but - despite it being around for decades - there are some use cases it doesn’t support. Principally in the arena of iPhone support. So for example, I couldn’t manage my music library on a Linux box and sync it to my iPhone, and MS Office integration is an unknown. Yes, you do have Libre Office on Linux but I am not sure it is all that compatible with MS Office.

All this to say, I feel your pain. But there s a way as has been suggested. Separate your data (files; or what you call your archive) from the operating system in your mind - they’re not joined at the hip. Put the archive onto a separate storage system - NAS or even an external hard drive (you should back it all up anyway, in case your Win 7 machine suffers a hard disk failure). Then try a different operating system on your Win 7 machine like Linux. It’s a bit technical, but you can have it running Win 7 or Linux, with you choosing which when it starts up. This is called a “dual boot” setup. The Linux installer can create a space for itself in your free disk space without disturbing your Win 7 installation, but you’re advised to backup your archive first.

I sometimes feel it’s unfair or immoral for software vendors to do this sort of thing. Microsoft insisting on a TPM for Win 11 is a dreadful thing, because it will lead to mountains of e-waste going to the tip. An ecological disaster. Only the relative few will keep their hardware and migrate to Linux. The rest will either upgrade (expensive new computers with Win 11 preinstalled) or stick with Windows 10, which no longer receives security updates. Which means, it is only a matter of time before cyber criminals discover some unpatched vulnerability and break into these machines.

I’m quite amazed you are still on Windows 7.

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While I sympathise with the comments here, and have recently gone through the pain of replacing my PCs to run Win11, I would suggest it is a false economy not to have internet facing machines be current and have up to date patched software.

Using old machines as off-line storage is fine, but if you want to get hacked, running old hardware with un-supported software is a good way to go.

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Jon, there are workarounds to enable Windows 11 to be installed on older machines even if the Windows compatability checker says no. A quick search on Youtube will give you a number of detailed instruction videos - I have done this on a few older machines but I have to say none running Windows 7.

Cheers John

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Yes, I know that, but I’d be reluctant to recommend someone did it. Win 11 is horrid anyway. So they say.. all that creepy AI slop running in the background. No thanks, Microsoft! Copilot spying on me, taking regular screenshots? Noooope!

Linux if you can, is what I say.

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Hello Rohan,

I’m not so much concerned with my archives (which are backed up, to a point, and are only of use to myself) but rather by where, how and why (by whom?) the forum is run at this time and age when everyone appears preoccupied by free speech and democracy… my contribution to the forum was very modest if any, but I always tried to upload any documenting photo so that technical references would be embedded in case of later framework change (…) rather than a mere link that may not be maintained down the road, for the sake of the community. Now if a priority has been given to chatting within a timeframe limited to 6 months or a year that’s all good, but for that kind of chatting there already are a number of ways to do that, e.g facebook (the data belonging to Meta rather than the community, and advertising being targeted according to use just like here via phone access). Was that “upgrade” for the greater good indeed or rather illustrating a loss of sovereignty over the common knowledge shared by hundreds of enthusiasts over decades of passionate use of elans? I’m not here to judge, esp. since I’m no longer part of it… but those who make the forum may want to give it a thought.

Also, I realize this unfortunate situation made me miss your trip to Germany and Paris this fall (?) so the chance to meet… maybe next time. As for projects I’m planning to do a bit more track next year and have got a trailer to that end, though the build of a proper GTS is still delayed due to workshop woes and the establishment of a suitable place to do it, so the blue S4se will have to take it a bit longer in the meantime. Had a great time with it, last this Oct. at Le Mas du Clos but the 5 speed gearbox (synchros) has been a bit worn from loans over the years and may benefit from being renewed - I may rather put a 4 speed back in for that kind of use.

Hoping your lotuses are doing well and will do even better next year…

Nic

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This is not so much a question of economy but of allocation of time to get the equivalent running, bug proofed (…) and reliably installed behind a specific firewall (a constraint from other machines dedicated to specific use - that I will eventually retire but not quite yet) - i could also get a separate line/access for a lotuselan.net dedicated machine i suppose, but I’m not so sure to want to open a can of worms for it as time goes by. Easier would be to access under linux, which that machine does, but the context swap is lengthy. I guess I’m getting old and my patience running out.

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Yes, well my associate also has W7 (and W10) machines up and running behind his firewall, you know the saying that many elan enthusiasts go by with their pride and love: if it ain’t broke…

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I just Googled ‘Using Discourse under Windows 7’ and was able to find a browser called ‘Supermium’.

Google that to read all about it.

Just for laughs I downloaded it onto an old XP machine and am writing this post from it…

Cheers

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I’ve had grief with some forums under Vertical Scope. In my case it turned out to be my ad blocker made two forums not want to play. Other forums under VS were non issue.

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Vielen Dank!

Dieser Weg hat sich unter den Besonderheiten meiner lokalen Netzwerkinfrastruktur als funktionsfähig herausgestellt und brachte einige Feinjustierungen mit sich (die mein Kollege schließlich für mich feinjustieren konnte…) – daher kann ich mich jetzt wieder einloggen, nachdem ich einige Monate Abstand davon genommen habe, was wie eine Sucht aussah (früher habe ich das Forum fast täglich besucht)…

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Ist es wirklich eine Sucht, wenn man anderen hilft? :wink:

Ich denke, Wohltätigkeit und anderen zu helfen sollten eine tägliche Aktivität sein.

Willkommen zurück.

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Willkommen zurück und schön, dass das Problem behoben wurde.

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