Massive user clean up

Message

#1 Post by **JohnMurga** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 07:53

Hi,

I have just completed a huge clean up of users who had never posted.

This means that people who have been unable to post because they forgot their password and miss typed their e-mail address, or those with hung accounts can now re-register and find their names available again.

I did not delete users who registered in the last two week.

All in all I think it was about 12,000 users.

Cheers
John de Murga

Shep · #2 Post by **Shep** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 10:31

Why would so many create an account, then not post?

puppyiso · #3 Post by **puppyiso** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 10:50

Judgement day, Judge Dredd?

#4 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 11:03

Shep, then there are those who post, get advice and never react on the issue.
You tell me what's going on in their minds.

Shep · #5 Post by **Shep** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 11:25

Béèm wrote:Shep, then there are those who post, get advice and never react on the issue.
You tell me what's going on in their minds.

They asked for help. You gave advice. It worked well and they went on enjoying their new operating system and simply forgot to say thanks. Plausible? I can identify with that.

Maybe all those who created accounts but never posted even once found that, when it came to drafting a plea for assistance, they really didn't understand even enough to be able to explain their problem. Yes, I can identify with that.

#6 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 11:34

Well plausible, yes:
people which are rude
people with no education
people lacking forum etiquette.

people to be deleted, as they take space on the server, well difficult to judge.

#7 Post by **Makoto** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 11:47

There were also probably a bunch of spambot/spammer accounts in there, as well, just waiting to be used (we've seen some of them wait eight months or even over a year).

nooby · #8 Post by **nooby** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 12:14

Shep wrote:
Béèm wrote:Shep, then there are those who post, get advice and never react on the issue.
You tell me what's going on in their minds.
They asked for help. You gave advice. It worked well and they went on enjoying their new operating system and simply forgot to say thanks. Plausible? I can identify with that.

Maybe all those who created accounts but never posted even once found that, when it came to drafting a plea for assistance, they really didn't understand even enough to be able to explain their problem. Yes, I can identify with that.

Beem did you really read what Shep wrote above. I trust more in what he wrote there then in your take on why them fail to be polite and thankful.

I have not taking time and look on my first posts to see if I ever gave thanks to you or others that helped me out.

But I do relate to what Shep writes here:

Beem read this now

Maybe all those who created accounts but never posted even once found that, when it came to drafting a plea for assistance, they really didn't understand even enough to be able to explain their problem.

I sure can relate to this. and listen now carefully!

It does not even help when you in your ultra correct way tell me what you expect of me. That correct way even makes it so much more difficult.

A friendly example could be of help. The correct way seldom help though.

I hope that helps

Makoto is most likely right about many being Spam bots just waiting for to get the signal to spam us.

#9 Post by **JohnMurga** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 15:26

nooby wrote:Makoto is most likely right about many being Spam bots just waiting for to get the signal to spam us.

Spam bots where not the nastiest thing in there.

Either way, those who didn't need to post won't miss the accounts.

Cheers
John de Murga

8-bit · #10 Post by **8-bit** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 15:40

I commend John for his efforts and I have on occasion lost passwords due to crashes. I have the bad habit of not backing them up.
But lets use an example.
You are a member who has lost his password.
You cannot log in and when you try to create a new account, you are not able to since the forum software looks at your mac/internet address and sees you as already being a member.

So deletion of non-posting accounts/members allows them to be able to again gain access to the forum so they can post.

nooby · #11 Post by **nooby** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 15:41

John you own the place so don't get me wrong now!

But as I remember if one are not a member and don't log in as member then some parts are not seen. Off topic maybe and spam reports?

but that is how you wanted so maybe these people wanted to read the off topic stuff but not contribute?

8-bit that was a good way to see it too

alienjeff · #12 Post by **alienjeff** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 17:36

@nooby

This should keep you busy for a while:

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

Dougal · #13 Post by **Dougal** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 19:27

JohnMurga wrote:Either way, those who didn't need to post won't miss the accounts.

I don't mean to be contrary... but they might like having the "view posts since last visit" link.

jim3630 · #14 Post by **jim3630** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 20:19

John thank you for keeping the site running in an efficient manner.

for anyone who might be interested regarding passwords, something I've found helpful is to have all my passwords the same. MD5 algorithms or blowfish? what i do need is to remember it. A 6 or 8 string of letters and numbers or symbols will as I understand provides reasonable security and for greater strength just include numbers and symbols or increase the string to 10.

#15 Post by **Flash** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 20:46

Alienjeff, you aren't a moderator of this forum so you don't have to look at every post. If nooby irritates you, ignore his posts.

#16 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 21:19

8-bit
I don't know enough about the forum software, mac address and such, but my very first login was Béèm. I made 512 posts and this userid has been transformed all of a sudden as B��m.
A certain moment I realized I couldn't login anymore as Béèm and created a new userid, yes Béèm.

It was much later I realized my first 512 posts were still there.
Don't know if he mac address was in the picture then.

l0wt3ch · #17 Post by **l0wt3ch** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 21:53

Another reason for setting up extra usernames and then not using them is to prevent people from pretending to be you and "stealing your identity".

Sounds paranoid, but not when people are threatening to alter and release software in your name without your permission.

I admit I did that after the big argument where that happened to me. I never had any intention of using the handle "Lowt3ch", for example. I registered the alias to keep anyone else from using it.

nooby · #18 Post by **nooby** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 21:58

Who was that other guy then? did you ever find out?

l0wt3ch · #19 Post by **l0wt3ch** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 22:40

@ Nooby: I'm not speaking of aliases I did use. Obviously in the argument thread I had to use a different handle because I no longer had one, and I did say "This is l0wt3ch behind seven proxies." In the above post, I was referring to aliases I didn't use.

aarf · #20 Post by **aarf** » Sat 20 Aug 2011, 22:46

l0wt3ch wrote:@ Nooby: I'm not speaking of aliases I did use. Obviously in the argument thread I had to use a different handle because I no longer had one, and I did say "This is l0wt3ch behind seven proxies." In the above post, I was referring to aliases I didn't use.

Uugg. look what the cat dragged in. would have prefered it to be have been shroomy though.

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Massive user clean up

Massive user clean up