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{{Outdated}} [[Category:GroupsComputers]] [[Category:ComputersWSO]]

| name=WSO| image = Poweredges.jpeg| type=Service| selective=No way!.| membership=12| meeting-time=9:00pm Tuesdays 6:30 PM| meeting-place=[[TCL or TPL]] 2032nd floor| office=Jesup BasementTransient| contact-name =[[Evan Miller]]Steve Rubin| listservercontact-urlunix =http://ssr2| wso.williams.edu/mailman/listinfo/-listserver = wso-staff| website=http://wso.williams.edu/| established=1995

Many people often confuse WSO with the college -run [[Office for Information Technology]].

See also: [[Stuff WSO Definitely Should Do]] Also see: [[Stuff WSO Administrators Should Know]]==Services==

WSO lets students and alumni put their web pages on our servers. To apply for an account, email Scott Tamura Richard Oot (stamuraroot@wso). Please supply a williams.edu email address to send the password to. Organizations can also get web pages through WSO.

Our web hosting supports PHP and server-side includes by default. If you want more advanced features, such as CGI, MySQL, or PostgreSQL, contact a [[Root]]Richard Oot (root@wso).

This is our fancy web site, featuring blogs, a calendar, a campus facebook, photos, floor plans, choose your own adventure, and surveys. We wrote it all ourself with the help of Ruby on Rails and, formerly, Apache PageKit. If you have ideas for it, please come to a meeting (above). Or scribble something on [[Stuff WSO Definitely Should Do]].

WSO uses Mailman to power its listservers. [[Steven Rubin]] (srubin@wso) is our list admin. Contact him with list administration questions.

===campus@wsoSecure Instant Messaging===This is a listserver WSO users can communicate with basically all students subscribed. It has information about campus happenings. See each other using the [http://wso.williams.edu/mailman/listinfo/campus[WSO Secure iChat Service] for info about subscribing or unsubscribing, and see [http://wso.williams.edu/lists/campus] about sending messages.

You're reading it now. We host, hack, and prune the wikiWillipedia.

'''UrsulaEmma''' is the latest addition to the cageNancy's replacement. Lean  '''Ursula''', lean and sleek, she's is an Xserve with dual G5 processors and 2 gigs of RAM. Don't bump into her, though, unless you're a deaf person in need of a metronome. Ursula runs shell logins, email forwarding, and listserverslists.

Spiker is currently hosting POP and IMAP connectionstaking up space in the cage, having been Officially Unplugged after a long stint in Non-booting Purgatory. It's quieter in the cage now.

'''Olga and the Firewall''' are nearly identical Dell PowerEdge 300's running at 800 MHz. Olga has much more hard disk space (600 GB), though, because she's (was) our backup server. The Firewall is the only machine in the Cage without a scary aunt name. As you might guess, she acts as a firewall, connecting incoming traffic to the proper machine in the cluser, and protecting the machines from requests on ports that we don't run official services on. Here the are pictured together. The Firewall is on the left, identifiable by the red FreeBSD demon sticker:

Most of the following examples are taken from files and scripts which were written long ago but are somehow still in use. Organized thematicallySee [[code comments]].

===Self-deprecation=History==

# NoteWSO was founded in January of 1995 by [[DeWitt Clinton]] and [[John Kim]], Aprwith help from [[Jon Zeppieri]], [[Jason Gladstone]], [[Jessica Mintz]], and others. 2005: This is unspeakably shittyOriginally, the first server was an Apple Powermac 7100 running WebStar, on loan from the [[College Council]]. The original mandate from the CC was to create an online version of the daily advisor. # This is ghettoJohn and DeWitt successfully ignored this mandate for serveral years.

# Yes1996 saw the beginning of the Internet boom, this method is mentally handicappedand the arrival of many new recruits to WSO. With the strong [[Unix]] background of Jon Zeppieri, [[Iein Valdez]], [[Geoff Hutchison]], and DeWitt Clinton and a blazingly-fast Pentium I 100MHz machine, WSO was migrated to a FreeBSD-based server. Meanwhile, WSO attracted the artistic talents of [[Kate Tan]], [[Eric Smith]], and [[Kenric Taylor]]. Others lending their computer expertise and love for technology included [[Matt Garland]], [[Ken Fowler]], and [[Christine Soarse]]. Finally, [[Jonah Wittkamper]] served as general all-around cheerleader for WSO.

# Our comments The fall of 1996 saw the arrival of a new crop of freshmen, including [[Chuck Hagenbuch]] (would would go on to design [[IMP|Horde/IMP]], the Williams College Webmail system is ), [[Dan Mason]] ([[HTML]] coder extrordinaire), [[Chris Richards]] (security and [[FSH]] enthusiast), [[David Ramos]] (designer and typographer), and [[Jason Healy]] (future all-campus listserver nazi). By winter, the website had been overhauled (sporting a scan of Chuck's right hand), and new services were cropping up like crazy: the online [[Facebook]], all-campus and dorm [[listserver]]s, online [[Daily Advisor]] and calendar announcements, and a total hacksmall software archive.

# The worst firewall everWSO continued to grow at a rapid pace, as new services were added and members signed on for web and e-mail accounts. [[Free University]] HTML courses were taught to students and members of the community by [[David Ramos]], [[Ben Isecke]], and [[Jacob Eisler]], and several clubs and organizations at the college created web pages about themselves.

# This SQL is so nasty As the use of technology grew, WSO acquired more and better equipment. Better funding was provided by the IT department of the college, and WSO soon got a new server. A new naming scheme was conceived for the servers: [[Scary Aunt Names]]. The new machine was christented "Ethel", and replaced the aging Pentium I can't explain it("Mabel"). In the years that followed, several new servers came on board: Gertrude, Spiker, Olga, Nancy (and others?).

#this makes me cringeIn the fall of 2002, but oh wellabuse of the [[WSO Forums]] continued. A thread entitled "Gays Suck" prompted the [[Queer Student Union]] to print out the thread and post it in [[Baxter Hall]], inviting responses with paper and pen. Abuse escalated at the end of October, at which time there were several pornographic images, violent threats, and racist, sexist, and homophobic posts to be found in the forums. On October 30, the forums were removed.

===SelfBut they were to return. [[Shimon Rura]] led a site re-aggrandizement===write in the spring and summer of 2003. One goal of the re-write was to authenticate users, so that their postings and doings could be identified. The site was written with [http://www.pagekit.org Apache PageKit]. Shimon wrote the authentication system and the [[WSO Ride Board]], [[Josh Ain]] wrote a new menu feed, [[Tom White]] re-wrote the WSO Forums, [[Evan Miller]] re-wrote some screen scrapers, and [[Topher Cyll]] re-wrote the WSO Facebook and wrote WSO Blogs from a hole in Scotland. The site went live in July of 2003 and has grown in features and popularity since then.

# Who's In January 2004, [[Tom White]] and [[Steve Winslow]] noticed the timestamp on a pimpsystem file on WSO servers with a shared user base reflected a date and time that was inconsistent with that of the same file on independent WSO servers. Their further investigation showed that WSO had been compromised. They notified the rest of WSO and temporarily took systems off-line. Over the next seventy-two hours, Tom led the response team which rebuilt all WSO machines and services and tightened security. By this time, WSO was supporting thousands of users and over a hundred student organizations. Not a single piece of email was lost. [[Chris Douglas]] reported the incident to the WSO community of users on behalf of WSO; [[Tom White]] and [[Jacob Eisler]] reported the incident to College Council.

# In case there was confusionToph, this is *hot*Tom, Brent, Jacob, and Steve graduated in the spring of 2004, and around that time [[Ben Cohen]] and [[Dan Weintraub]] were given [[root]]. During the summer, Evan and Dan converted [[WSO Plans]] from its standalone PHP/MySQL incarnation over to PageKit, so that students could access it from off-campus without [[setting up a proxy server]]. Also, they converted the Postgres database and the website over to UTF-8/Unicode. With the help of [[Masha Lifshin]] and [[Sam Dreeben]], the duo made much-envied but never-imitated Quicktime VRs for their [[Facebook picture]]s.

# You can try In the fall of 2004, [[Kai Steverson]] rewrote [[Factrak]] on hire by College Council, to understand itenhance the abilities of the admin, # but I would regard it as holy writmake comments expire, and allow raters to "agree" with comments left about professors. Kai also wrote [[My Survey]] that semester. Evan re-wrote the WSO Facebook (again) to include faculty and more information fields. ===Self-defense===The new Factrak's interface pulled entries and faces from the new Facebook.

#yeahIn February 2005, i know there isn't a whole lot of reason to abstract this, #but you know what, suck it.  # This took me 15 minutes. # 15 minutes don't buy documentation. ===Threats of Violence===  # bwahahaha -- take these away and I'll lower your quota.  ## Change these and I'll rip your fucking balls off  # These arguments are passed to us # WSO was hacked by /usr/sbin/adduser. Do not # change them, unless you would # please to put my TV in your butt. ===Miscellaneous===  # whoever commented this out is a dumbass  # So if you've read the past two functions, you're probably # wondering, why the fuck I'm passing parameters for the unix # pkit_component via the model output instead group of using # component parameters. if($unix eq '06cks'){return 1;} #super, super admin, iBrazilians calling themselves Simiens Crew 2005.e. me.   # This is where WSO staff enter personal hacks

WSO was founded in January of 1995 by [[DeWitt Clinton]] and [[John Kim]]Things actually went smoothly the next time (a week later), with help from [[Jon Zeppieri]], [[Jason Gladstone]], [[Jessica Mintz]], and others. Originally, the first server was Healy '01 scoring an Apple Powermac 7100 running WebStar, on loan from the College Council. The original mandate from the CC was to create an online version of the daily advisor. John and DeWitt successfully ignored this mandate for serveral yearsassist by providing some migration scripts.

The fall of 1996 saw the arrival of a new crop of freshman, including [[Chuck HagenbuchBen Wood]] (would would go on to design [[Horde/IMP]], the Williams College Webmail system), [[Dan MasonJames Ritterpusch]] (HTML coder extrordinaire), and [[Chris RichardsJessica Chung]] (security and FSH enthusiast), were made [[David Ramosroot]] (designer and typographer), and over WSO dinner at [[Jason HealyGuide to Off-Campus Dining#Coyote Flaco|Coyote Flaco]] (future all-campus listserver nazi). By winter, in the website had been overhauled (sporting a scan spring of Chuck's right hand), and new services were cropping up like crazy: the online Facebook, all-campus and dorm listservers, online DA and calendar announcements, and a small software archive2006.

WSO continued to grow at a rapid pace, as new services were added and members signed on for web and e===2011 -mail accounts. [[Free University]] HTML courses were taught to students and members of the community by [[David Ramos]], [[Ben Isecke]], and [[Jacob Eisler]], and several clubs and organizations at the college created web pages about themselves.2012===

As In the use spring of technology grew2011, WSO acquired more former root president Steven Rubin '11 passed his title on to Chuan Ji '12 and also made [[Ian Nesbitt]] and better equipmentBen Seiler (both '13s) roots. Soon, Chuan Ji '12 also made Qiao Zhang '13 root. Better funding was provided by In the fall, the IT department root group had a successful bout of recruiting at the collegePurple Key Fair, and WSO soon got convincing a new server. A new naming scheme was conceived number of promising '15s to sign up for the serversWSO listserve. Chuan showed off his [http: [[Scary Aunt Names]]//wso.williams. The edu/test/facebook/ new machine was christented "Ethel", Facebook interface] which is coded in Python and replaced the aging Pentium I ("Mabel"). In the years that followed, several new servers came on board: Gertrude, Spiker, Olga, Nancy (includes instant suggestions and others?)a better search function.

But they were to return. [[* Josh Ain* Kashif Akthar* Francisco Alarcon* Ben Birney* Beth Budwig* Jason Busch* Jing Cao* DeWitt Clinton* Michael Chanin* Jessica Chung* Ben Cohen* Christopher Cyll* Chris Douglas* Jacob Eisler* Matt Garland* Mike Gnozzio* Geoff Guile* Chuck Hagenbuch* Jason Healy* Cheng Hu* Geoff Hutchison* Brian Hwang* Ben Isecke* Ayesha Johnson* Jason Law* Mari Lliguicota* Joe Masters* Evan Miller* Steve Moore* David Ramos* Jeremy Redburn* Chris Richards* James Ritterpusch* Todd Rogers* Shimon Rura]] led a site re-write in the spring and summer of 2003. One goal of the re* Jess Scott* Josh Solomon* Fritz Stabenau* Kai Steverson* Robin Stewart* Mandy Stockley* Bartley Tablante* Kate Tan* Kenric Taylor* Ken-write was to authenticate users, so that their postings and doings could be identified. The site was written with [http://www.pagekit.org Apache PageKit]. Shimon wrote the authentication system and the [[WSO Ride Board]], [[Josh Ain]] wrote a new menu feed, [[ichi Ueda* Iein Valdez* Dan Weintraub* Tom White]] re-wrote the [[WSO Forums]], [[Evan Miller]] re-wrote some screen scrapers, and [[Topher Cyll]] re-wrote the [[WSO Facebook]] and wrote [[WSO Blogs]] from a hole in Scotland. The site went live in July of 2003 and has grown in features and popularity since then.* Wayne Wight* Steve Winslow* Jonah Wittkamper* Steve Wollkind* Brent Yorgey* Ben Wood* Jon Zeppieri* Chuan Ji* Qiao Zhang* Ben Seiler* Ian Nesbitt

Toph, Tom, Brent, Jacob, and Steve graduated in the spring of 2004, and around that time ==See also==*[[Ben CohenStuff WSO Definitely Should Do]] and *[[Dan Weintraub]] were given [[root]]http://wso.williams. During the summer, Evan and Dan converted [[edu/about/ About WSO Plans]] from its standalone PHP/MySQL incarnation over to PageKit, so that students could access it from off-campus without [[setting up a proxy server]]. Also- documentation, they converted the Postgres database and the website over to UTF-8/Unicode. With the help of [[Masha Lifshin]] and [[Sam Dreeben]], the duo made much-envied but never-imitated Quicktime VRs for their [[Facebook pictures]]policy, etc. In the fall of 2004, *[[Kai Steverson]] rewrote [[Factrak]] for [[College Council]] to enhance the ability of the admin, make comments expire, and allow raters to "agree" with comments left about professorshttps://www.eukhost. Kai also wrote [[My Surveycom web hosting]] that semester. Evan re-wrote the [[WSO Facebook]] (again) to include faculty and more information fields. In February 2005, WSO was hacked by a group of Brazilians calling themselves Simiens Crew 2005- Student Host your blog.