23:01 * cm-hallo (dfd@adsl196-196-56-217-196.adsl196-10.iam.net.ma) has joined #helpdesk
23:01 <cm-hallo> hello, i have a question, is there anybody to answer me? thank you
23:01 <cm-hallo> here i can i believe
23:01 <asdasfas> Go
23:02 <cm-hallo> it concerns the cservice website that is unavailable for over a month now
23:02 <asdasfas> is down since 2010
23:02 <cm-hallo> is there something else where we can register a username
23:02 <asdasfas> No isn't
23:03 <cm-hallo> okey then is there something else to login with the +x mode?
23:03 <asdasfas> Nop
23:03 <cm-hallo> that really sucks!
23:04 <asdasfas> Yep
23:04 <asdasfas> Or you can buy a psybnc with a virtual host
23:04 <cm-hallo> alright, thanks a lot, cheers
23:04 <asdasfas> Are you welcome
23:04 <cm-hallo> yep or i can change the server completely, shame
23:04 <asdasfas> Or that
23:04 <cm-hallo>
23:06 * cm-hallo (dfd@adsl196-196-56-217-196.adsl196-10.iam.net.ma) has left #helpdesk

One of the others conversations I noticed on channels. Again, One of the others!

Yes, its really frustrating not being able to get on the site and I think really hurting undernet.

They need to write a way to register a username from X or turn on some kind of host masking that doesn't require a username. For example some kind of hash that represents your IP address so you can't be DDoS'd but at the same time can still be banned in channels.

Since I can't find any recent replies to questions about this, I'll ask what I know many other people want to know:

What's happening with CService?

I mean no disrespect, I understand that you're all volunteers, I realize that it was a series DoS attack, etc, etc, but can someone in charge please provide an update or information of some kind? Is there really nothing that can be done to solve the problem after so many months? What about an alternate plan?

Many of us first came to Undernet 8 or 9 years ago when DALnet was under a severe DoS attack and while there are many people on Undernet who still love to make fun of DALnet for that, the fact is they solved their problem and have been back and working very well for years now. If they can do it, why not Undernet? Yes, I know, it's a different kind of attack this time, but we're never told more than "we're working on it".

I think you (the collective "you", not a specific person) need to be more open and forthcoming about the problem and what's being done about it. Undernet users are being kept completely in the dark. While we don't pay, we're still your customers and any business that closed a key department, refused to talk about why it was closed, and evaded or ignored questions about what was happening would lose a lot of customers to rival businesses. I really think that someone there should reconsider your policy of saying as little as possible and start keeping your customers informed. People are more willing to wait when they're kept informed. It doesn't have to be, nor should it be, a detailed technical briefing, but more information has to be made available.

No disrespect to those working on the problem now, but maybe it's time to have some new people take a crack at it? It may also be time to see if changing how Undernet works and trying what works for other networks might be the answer to stopping and preventing DoS attacks. The fact that they're doing alright and Undernet isn't might be because Undernet is the greatest and hackers go for the gold -- or maybe Undernet needs to be updated and changed. What works for other networks can work here, too, but it takes an open mind to consider the idea. Stubborn pride and a refusal to consider that anyone else can possibly have a better idea has killed a lot of things when flexibility and willingness to try a new approach would instead have made them succeed. Don't kill Undernet through stubbornness. Think outside the box and find good ideas wherever you find them. Rivalries are for sports leagues.

Without your customers -- the Undernet users -- there is no Undernet and you're driving people away by (a) not fixing the problem and (b) telling your customers that you're working on it rather than releasing real information. If you want all of your customers, rather than just a hardcore little group, to be fully supportive, then you need to have a better customer relations policy. In fact, you need a customer relations policy. Otherwise, everybody will be on DALnet or somewhere in a few years talking about Undernet the way people on Undernet have been trashing DALnet since their DoS problem. (Of course, the difference will be that DALnet fixed their problem and they told their users what had happened.)

I'm sure I'll get severely flamed for this post, but I challenge every one of you to try reading it with an open mind and to understand the point I'm making. If I were saying all this just to trash Undernet, I wouldn't have taken 20 minutes to carefully express my views, but let me state it clearly: I'm not attacking Undernet or its volunteers. This is a crucial time for Undernet and you need your customers' support. Keeping us in the dark for months and months will not work, so if you want Undernet and your hard work to be thrown away, then carry on the way things are being done now, but if you care about the success and the future of Undernet, then consider what I've said, take a deep breath, and make some changes. And keep your customers informed about what's going on.