Forums/community server & TTLTS interview

Our server in Canada was fine-tuned for the database to allow more connections and use larger buffers. The connection timeout was also reduced to a value of 60 seconds and multiple indexes were added to our database schema. This should make the forums and community website more reliable than before and prevent them from going down as they did recently. The performance should be relatively the same, but any query taking longer than 60 seconds will now be dropped with a timeout.We appreciate the feedback. If you experience any problems with the community website and forums in the upcoming days, please do let us know.

On an unrelated note, I’ve been invited to talk on the Linux Link Tech Show tonight. I really enjoyed it the last time around but I’m always a little nervous when it comes to being on a podcast, especially as this one is Live. It’s a great opportunity to chat about Linux and Linux Mint in particular though, so if you’re around at 8:30pm EST, don’t hesitate to tune in. Then it’s up to you really if you want to cheer me up or throw really hard questions at me. Coming up next, late 2010-early 2011, I’ll also be talking on mintCast and FLOSS Weekly. Here’s the live streaming and IRC information for tonight’s show: http://www.tllts.org/livestreaminfo.php

43 comments

  1. Great news regarding the forums and community website. I’ll be sure to tune in tonight to the Linux Link Tech Show Podcast.

    1. Matt: Thanks, I always interpreted EST/EDT as the eastern US coast time. I never noticed they incorporated the notion of daytime saving. I guess the notice sent from TLLTS to remind you of the show was automated and written in the Summer 🙂 Post updated. Thanks for this.

  2. KEWL BEENZ ! Will definitely be listening and cheering . I will also have my fingers crossed hoping for the inside scoop on LMDE development and/or testing.

  3. The show was awesome …I hope the next time a show gets announced an army is there to herald it’s arrival/influence/future.

  4. Add one more + vote for the Canadian server.

    I “discovered” the convenience and speed of the Canadian (waterloo) server earlier this year when Clem advised on the blog that the Main Server in Europe was being moved.

    Go to Menu/Administration/Software Sources/Enter Password/Linux Mint Tab—Download From–select “OTHER”…..you can now manually select Canada server, or I’d recommend that readers try “Select Best Server” option to get fast/faster results where they live.

  5. LMDE DUE DATE PLEASE!!!! I have a machine waiting for the new release!!

    Do you wanna release the same day as debian release Squeeze?

  6. J’aimerais savoir comment désinstaller linux Mint 9 isadora sur mon ordinateur. Je ne le trouve pas dans supprimer de windows. Je l’ai installé à partir du cd linux pratique. Merci

  7. Written by Clem on Wednesday, December 8th, 2010 @ 1:09 pm | Main Topics
    Our server in Canada was fine-tuned for the database to allow more connections and use larger buffers. The connection timeout was also reduced to a value of 60 seconds and multiple indexes were added to our database schema. This should make the forums and community website more reliable than before and prevent them from going down as they did recently. The performance should be relatively the same, but any query taking longer than 60 seconds will now be dropped with a timeout.We appreciate the feedback. If you experience any problems with the community website and forums in the upcoming days, please do let us know.

    It would seem that the Forum and Community Website usage is still far exceeding capability. At the moment I cannot connect to either, while connecting to the main site is no problem. Mint is just getting too popular. 🙂

  8. Perhaps we had better get things organised for when Ubuntu releases with Unity. The flood may well become a deluge!

  9. @Ray Woods: OMG I didn’t even think of that. I guess if there is anything you want to say on the forums you’d better say it quick. 🙂

  10. I have just converted to Linux Mint and ditched MS forever. My XP system was damaged by virus, so I had to do a repair installation. Then I found that my activation key wouldn’t work again, prompting me to activate over the phone, which I tried and Microsoft were unhelpful, suggesting that I buy a new copy of XP in order to recover my files. I resent that. So, I installed Linux Mint instead, and all my files were there where I wanted them to be! I wish I’d done that years ago. Now MS is where it belongs, in the bin!!

  11. hey ppl at Linux Mint Team
    i am here by to tell u guys that Linux Mint 10 is the best linux os i have come across till now.U guys have done a better job than the Ubuntu ppl.I Love Linux Mint 10.

  12. The forums are down in my area….I live in OH U.S. …..cannot access forums, say the server has timed out, please check back later

  13. I missed the live broadcast, so oscar799’s link made for interesting listening. The same questions being repeated in a different way could have made me conclude that the questioners were not listening to the answers already given or that they were working to a different agenda, but the repetition reinforced some Mint-unique plus points for me.
    I still reckon that Canonical and the Ubuntu team keep turning victory in to defeat that the brilliant Mint team keep turning back into a friendly and usable distribution, God bless them, so I’ll be very interested to see how things proceed in the wake of Ubuntu ‘Natty’.
    I haven’t yet installed LMDE ‘for real’, but hearing Clem’s words I’ll now have to try it out on a less capable rig or laptop, so many thanks for that advice gem !

  14. Both the Community website and the forums have been down for awhile now. Not quite an unusual problem when it comes to web hosting. Ironically enough, sometimes it seems the more you try to improve uptime the worse it gets.

  15. Is this going to be a constant with the forums….they’re down again….The connection has timed out

    The server at forums.linuxmint.com is taking too long to respond.
    * The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few
    moments.

    * If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network
    connection.

    * If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
    that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

    Can we fix this please…..and the connection seems to be slow as well

  16. Why fix something that wasn’t broken? I had been able to easily access the forums until today. The same issue as Andrew has is being experienced here.

  17. For several days nop I have been unable to access the forums until making repeated effors several hours apart.

  18. dunno if its skynet, buts its darned annoying when you’re searching the forums. I’d be embarrassed, this has been happening all month where I am.

  19. Server is still down – let’s hope it’s “difficulty at the beginning” with the new setup, as forums have been completely unavailable all day.

  20. p.s. Mint home page is terribly slow, with freezes, delayed link selection, etc. – ouch! For all practical purposes, Linux Mint website is offline afaict except for this blog.

  21. Forums still down….working on a second day here…it’s now 2:10am, haven’t been able to get into them since about 1:15-1:30 this afternoon…along with slow connections.

  22. Forums and Community website were up this morning around 9:00 or so (US EST) but I just got an alert from one of the forum threads I was following and the forums are down again. The Community website is really slow to load as well.

    I understand about server/web hosting problems but I’m rather surprised that no one has bothered to post an update about the problem. The blog is still working and it doesn’t take but a minute to write up a simple “we’re having problems with our servers, etc but we’re working on it” type of post. Usually the Mint folks are right there with an explanation as to what’s going on when this type of thing happens.

    Perhaps it’s the holidays?

  23. [Gilles] A few hints
    .
    I infer you installed a dual boot.
    Do you only have one Windows partition?
    (An eMachine (or Gateway/HP/Dell) may have two. One is for OEM “Restore” to original manufacture.)
    .
    The bootloader GRUB or GRUB2 may need adjustment, preferably before you change partitions.
    You may want to research MBRfix or FixMBR for this.
    .
    (Or use ‘sudo’ with ‘ms-sys’ from Linux?)
    Only apply ‘ms-sys’ to an entire disk, not a partition. (i.e. /dev/sda NOT /dev/sda1), since it’s like fdisk.
    .
    A full Windows install CD may have a “Recovery Console” that helps.
    From DOS, perhaps FixMBR, then FixBoot.
    But an eMachine (or Gateway/HP/Dell) OEM Restore CD may not have it.
    Or Norton Partition Magic?
    .
    .
    I hope these help!
    (Sorry, I don’t speak French; I used ‘Google Translate’)
    (And artificial intelligence is no substitute for human wisdom! 😉

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