The idgames archive is looking for a new maintainer.

[0bsidian]

From Doomworld:

Xymph said:
Due to the unexpected and prolonged absence of Ty Halderman, the gamers.org crew and the DOOM community are looking for a new:

idgames maintainer

Or maybe two, so there is no longer a dependency on a single person.

This is a volunteer position and your responsibility will generally be to keep the idgames archive in good working order: processing uploaded files on a regular basis, staying abreast of developments in the DOOM community and accommodating these in the archive as applicable, and whatever else may be needed.

Ty performed this task most conscientiously for more than 18 years, so these are big shoes to fill. We don't expect this to happen overnight, we're not even looking for a second Ty, but we do have some requirements and wishes:

You:

• are a reasonably experienced Linux user (i.e. know your way around bash)
• have the ability to thoroughly check uploaded files (e.g. view or play all uploaded levels)
• are in good standing with the DOOM community (we'd like these forums to assist in ascertaining that)
• can communicate in English reasonably well
• are willing to commit yourself for at least a year
• are willing to share your contact details with us

It would be a plus if you:

• are familiar with the entire idgames archive structure (not just the levels area)
• are familiar with the file submission process (see README.INCOMING) and the criteria for accepting/rejecting uploads
• have prior experience in maintaining a files archive that we can check out

What you will get from us:

• a user account on gamers.org, accessible via ssh
• any support we can provide to help you set up and perform the work
• the satisfaction of becoming a pillar of the DOOM community
• our appreciation for keeping idgames going
• a beer or two should we ever have the pleasure of meeting you

I'll handle the official idgames mirrors, so you won't need to worry about that.

This is not expected to be a daily, time-consuming "job" (after you get the hang of it, it shouldn't take more than a few hours per week) but it is an important one for the DOOM community, and we don't hand out gamers.org accounts lightly. Hence this somewhat formal looking "job opening" post.

Applications can be sent to ftpadmin -at- gamers -dot- org, or posted here (if you don't mind the public scrutiny).

Thank for your attention,
Frans

[leileilol]

There's not many trustful choices out there for this position IMO, so

---

i'll nominate fraggle

[Athel]

Umm...

---

You:

• are a reasonably experienced Linux user (i.e. know your way around bash)

I'm not that strong in this field, but I know the basics.

[*] have the ability to thoroughly check uploaded files (e.g. view or play all uploaded levels)

Check! I play with Chocolate Doom, GZDoom 2.3pre, and PrBoom-Plus.

[*] are in good standing with the DOOM community (we'd like these forums to assist in ascertaining that)

Aye...see, that's a mini problem there. Obsidian, you know about that "incident" over at doomworld and you can ask Ralphis but I've grown up and I believe I haven't gotten on too many bad terms in the ZDoom community.

[*] can communicate in English reasonably well

I was born English. I speak whatever language Google speaks in. Si, habla francias!

[*] are willing to commit yourself for at least a year

Sure thing! Only if you trust me.

[*] are willing to share your contact details with us[/list]

Um...I don't have to share my address, right?

It would be a plus if you:

• are familiar with the entire idgames archive structure (not just the levels area)
• are familiar with the file submission process (see README.INCOMING) and the criteria for accepting/rejecting uploads

I keep all normal wads in and all troll wads out.

[*] have prior experience in maintaining a files archive that we can check out[/list]

I have my GeoCities website, but I'm afraid that's all I got.

[RV-007]

I'll nominate anyone that qualifies like Ty Halderman, let the historical archives be that.

[leileilol]

The "Troll wads" could be preprocessed by a script finding common, matching terry lumps to filter out, i'd imagine fraggle would do something like that. You know....... for sanity
this isn't a simple blind drag-and-drop job, idgames isn't moddb - it' needs actual standards and quality control here.

[Doomguy 2000]

The "Troll wads" could be preprocessed by a script finding common, matching terry lumps to filter out, i'd imagine fraggle would do something like that. You know....... for sanity

I thought there was something for that or is this something you want to see with things you don't like?

this isn't a simple blind drag-and-drop job, idgames isn't moddb - it' needs actual standards and quality control here.

I think things are fine the way they are. If there's a wad you don't like, then just ignore it. Fraggle is probably the best choice, as long as things stay the way they are.

[Snarboo]

You know....... for sanity this isn't a simple blind drag-and-drop job, idgames isn't moddb - it' needs actual standards and quality control here.

Except there are already standards in place, and I'd rather personal taste and politics not enter the equation when we're dealing with a community wide archive. An archive maintainer should be as unbiased as possible, particularly when the quality of work submitted varies wildly. As soon as someone has the authority to nuke something they don't like, bad things happen. :p

That said, we're lucky outright hate speech hasn't been dumped on the archive yet (IIRC), and that's the only time something should be removed IMO. Terry's wads do come close, but none of them completely cross that line last I checked.

[nambona890]

Yeah, I have sent Ty a few emails asking what the hell is going on, he didn't reply. Maybe he died, but hopefully we get a new maintainer (and hopefully he/she doesn't delete all terrywads or move trapwads to terrywads). But I'm going to reply to some things from this thread and the Doomworld thread here: http://www.doomworld.com/vb/doom-genera ... ainership/

The "Troll wads" could be preprocessed by a script finding common, matching terry lumps to filter out, i'd imagine fraggle would do something like that. You know....... for sanity
this isn't a simple blind drag-and-drop job, idgames isn't moddb - it' needs actual standards and quality control here.

Yeah, nah. Quality control is not a good thing, as shitty new mappers won't get reviews on how to make their maps better. Also, Troll WADs show how fragile some parts of the Doom community are. Take UACMN for example; it showed that bitching about a mod you don't like will not only make it get a cacoward, but have its style of mapping inevitabley (sorry don't know how to spell it) carry on for years.

Also, before you call me out, just hear this. I'm stating the obvious.

An archive maintainer should be as unbiased as possible, particularly when the quality of work submitted varies wildly. As soon as someone has the authority to nuke something they don't like, bad things happen.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

As for Terrywads, I strongly disagree with Glaice on this. I don't enjoy Terrywads, but I nevertheless respect them as a form of expression. I'm strongly against the archive regulating taste. It's there to preserve history in as detailed a form as reasonably possible. Censorship flies in the face of what the archive should be about. It was a mistake to have created a "file ghetto" in the first place, as it sets a very bad precedent.

Besides, acknowledging them as "exceptional" in some way (even negatively) gives them exactly what they want; recognition and attention. They already have been trying all sorts of loopholes to get their uploads in the regular sections, wasting the maintainer's time arguing over semantics, when they could be attending to better files. Trolls would be more starved of attention if they're tossed into the sea of countless other files than given their own dedicated pedestal.

They're not "flooding the archives", non-Terry stuff eclipses their minimal presence. Throwing questionable "solutions" at a nonexistent problem isn't good. Does it really ruin one's day to download a WAD to find that it sucks? Just delete it or something, don't rate it, don't comment on it, don't even look at its page. If other people want to comment on it, you can just as easily ignore that too.

Who defines what a "troll wad" is vs. a "crude joke wad"? Why even censor based on that criterea? I want to see a commitment to objectivity and non-bias. I want no unwritten rules; if a submission conforms to clear requirements and guidelines, it should go in, no second thoughts. If a rule cannot be cited as to why a submission was rejected or buried, then there's no good reason to reject or bury it. And there's no good reason to bury at all, if it's not "good enough" for the archives, reject it and don't host it at all.

From someone who dislikes Terry WADs, this is amazing to see.

Heh, reminds me of the time some morons tried uploading an abyspe16.wad to the archives.

I only uploaded it to Best Ever where it (and I) got banned after less than 10 minutes.

I'd argue that that is why segregating files like these to /terrywads is a good idea.

... And you've been nominated to be an archive maintainer?! Great.

[edward850]

I'd argue that that is why segregating files like these to /terrywads is a good idea.

... And you've been nominated to be an archive maintainer?! Great.

You do realise Ty already did this? And shit canned a bunch of useless mods with it? And everybody agreed? You are quite a bit late to complain.

The issue is not and never was quality control. If the mod is outright unplayable or disruptive, why archive it? And as for the mods that are; /terrywads is a theme specific folder for "trap wads" and anything else with sexual depictions. The only reason why they otherwise not outright chucked into x-rated is due to that directory being specifically handled not to show in /newstuff (and thus could complicate matters). Hell, it says it right in the folders description.

And if you're going to complain about mods existing in /themes, oh boy is 1994 calling...

[Big C]

Not only is he late to complain, but he came out of a several-month stasis to complain, and only has 8 posts to his name.

I hate to be paranoid but I smell something fishy with this nambona person. It doesn't help that he tried to upload a bogus wad to a Zandro server by his own confession.

[nambona890]

I'd argue that that is why segregating files like these to /terrywads is a good idea.

... And you've been nominated to be an archive maintainer?! Great.

You do realise Ty already did this? And shit canned a bunch of useless mods with it? And everybody agreed? You are quite a bit late to complain.

The issue is not and never was quality control. If the mod is outright unplayable or disruptive, why archive it? And as for the mods that are; /terrywads is a theme specific folder for "trap wads" and anything else with sexual depictions. The only reason why they otherwise not outright chucked into x-rated is due to that directory being specifically handled not to show in /newstuff (and thus could complicate matters). Hell, it says it right in the folders description.

And if you're going to complain about mods existing in /themes, oh boy is 1994 calling...

I was wanting one that thought like Sodaholic. The bogus lump WADs and malicious CCMD WADs being removed is enough. You don't have to segregate it. Archives should be easy to access whatever file you want. With them in the themes directory, we've had to either put outright porn in the WADs so it goes to x-rated, or just get rid of all rape jokes so it stays in the regular directories. I'm not complaining about the WADs being in themes, but about the fact that Bloodshedder just blocks the /terrywads directory from easy viewing on the Doomworld mirror.

Not only is he late to complain, but he came out of a several-month stasis to complain, and only has 8 posts to his name.

I hate to be paranoid but I smell something fishy with this nambona person. It doesn't help that he tried to upload a bogus wad to a Zandro server by his own confession.

Of course I'm damn fishy. I make Terry WADs.

[Graf Zahl]

I was wanting one that thought like Sodaholic. The bogus lump WADs and malicious CCMD WADs being removed is enough. You don't have to segregate it.

Of course I'm damn fishy. I make Terry WADs.

So you are against an organization of data that prevents your shit from being thrown at unsuspecting customers.
It sure figures.
Now please go away.

[edward850]

So basically, your exact type of content that you make "is being oppressed" (/themes is not a hidden folder, and the doomworld frontend is not actually part of /idgames), and thus nobody but Sodaholic (a person who got himself banned from at least 2 different forums for leaking a furry wad project, of all things) is fit to maintain your content?

Hmm lets see...

[nambona890]

/themes is not a hidden folder, and the doomworld frontend is not actually part of /idgames

I know that. I'm not a retard.

nobody but Sodaholic

Linkrulezall as well.


So because I make Terry WADs I'm immediately not credible? Not trying to start a flamewar here, but, jeez. Come on guys. At least see a bit of logic. The reason I'm talking about this because it's an ARCHIVE. Archives are supposed to keep easily seen records of the past. Ty could have at least put the .terrywad.txt file in the normal directories, and have Bloodshedder or some DW admin to mirror it on Doomworld. It's better than having it almost impossible to find without knowing where it is.

I was never trying to start a flamewar on here, I was just giving my honest opinion and stating my reasons. But it seems only popular opinions are allowed on here. You are not allowed to like Terry WADs. You have to hate them.

[Snarboo]

Nobody says you can't like or make them, or even upload them, so you aren't being censored. Given a large number of terrywads do malicious things like freeze ZDoom or forcibly change cvars in Zandronum, you're at least lucky that Ty was willing to entertain the notion of keeping terrywads on the archive at all. While I agree they shouldn't necessarily be removed from the archive, I'm not sure I see the problem with them having their own dedicated folder?

At least that way, like minded people can find and share them. :p