Looking for a way to restore our sharing of teaching materials

[Allan]

Hi all,

Some of you have probably noticed that we're no longer able to
download the zip files that have been posted at our FLEx-Teaching
Google Group. Google has intentionally disabled this functionality on
all Google Groups because some users had begun using Google Groups for
malware distribution involving the download of zip files. It appeared
at first that Google planned to resolve the issue and then restore the
lost functionality to the rest of us. But this has been going on for a
month or more now, with still no hint of any restoration in sight.

We need to have access to these materials. I'd soon like to begin
working through some of the posted materials with FLEx 6.0 in order to
prepare for teaching sessions coming up in December. We need to find
an alternative to Google Groups, and then I'll need to ask each of you
who has contributed materials to re-post them at the new location.

So I'm looking for ideas. Are any of you familiar with an alternative
file sharing system that we could use in place of Google Groups?

One possibility that comes to mind is an Insite Wiki. But this would
have the limitation of being accessible only to SIL members, and I
don't know whether all of us here are SIL members. If that would cut
you out of the loop, please respond and let me know.

Allan J.

[David Baines]

I think that it would be a bit of a pity if we put these on insite and then found that another site was needed for those that don't have Insite access. It's a good question. I wonder whether we are near to the limit of materials that we can put up on the google site, if there is plenty of space then perhaps we could just put up the documents without zipping them. Or perhaps they could be hosted on Google Docs, that way the Group could make changes to them collaboratively. It would be interesting to see whether that would happen, and whether it would be advantageous.

Another alternative would be to find a different compression format rather than Zip (providing that Google are only disabling access to ZIP files.)

David.

[Karl Rolfe]

Cross posted from FLEx list:
I see there is a training wiki section on the lingtransoft.info site -
could we ask Doug Higby if the files could be hosted there?

--
Karl Rolfe
Language Technology Trainer
IT Support

EQUIP Training

[Snofriacus]

On 7/5/2010 10:08 AM, David Baines wrote:

I think that it would be a bit of a pity if we put these on insite and then found that another site was needed for those that don't have Insite access. It's a good question. I wonder whether we are near to the limit of materials that we can put up on the google site, if there is plenty of space then perhaps we could just put up the documents without zipping them. Or perhaps they could be hosted on Google Docs, that way the Group could make changes to them collaboratively. It would be interesting to see whether that would happen, and whether it would be advantageous.

Another alternative would be to find a different compression format rather than Zip (providing that Google are only disabling access to ZIP files.)

David.

Thanks for these thoughts. I'll add in one that Karl posted on the FLEx list...

On 7/5/2010 7:18 AM, Karl Rolfe wrote:

Well, I see there is a training wiki section on the lingtransoft.info site - could we ask Doug Higby if the files could be hosted there?

The nature of the materials thus far has been just independent collections of materials from different training programs, with a number of different types of files included in the various zip files. Lesson plans, schedules, procedures, spreadsheets, syllabus, etc, even including FLEx project backups in some cases. Though a zip file does provide compression for most kinds of files, I think the more important function of zip files in this case has been just to serve as containers, to keep related files together and organized. Sometimes the zip file has an internal structure of folders and subfolders that needs to be maintained in order to make sense of all the files.

We probably need to find a way to continue this existing kind of file sharing. But at the same time I think it would be a step forward if we could add a new approach like the Google Docs idea you mentioned or the training wiki that Karl suggested, where we could directly access materials online and collaboratively edit them. I've browsed the lingtransoft site, and one thing I really like there is the ability to view a procedure, and then if it's something I'd like to use, to readily download its text to an OpenOffice document.

On the question of other formats to provide the functionality of zip files, the .rar format has been reported to still work on Google Groups. Maybe I should go ahead and try re-posting my two contributions in that format. But I'm not sure about asking everybody to do that. I have a feeling that even if .rar files work now, they too may be blocked next month. I think I would be happiest if we could find some other service to take the place of Google Groups. All it would take to change my mind is one reply from Google Groups saying that they've resolved the malware issue and zip functionality has been restored. But my guess at this point is that that's not going to happen.

Allan

[Fraser Bennett]

A long-term solution to this problem could be the SIL public digital library, with the SIL Repository for Electronic Archiving and Publishing ("REAP") behind it. REAP will have collections of training materials, and the public digital library will be able to expose resources to the public as desired. 

The problem, of course, is that while REAP will come online in the next few months for those with Insite access, we don't yet have a timeframe for the public digital library becoming a reality. Nor would it provide a place for collaborative editing -- for that you'd need to use a wiki solution of some sort, and then store a reference version in REAP when you wanted to fix a milestone. 

Another option for a distribution/workspace is the "centers of practice" site. It makes use of Insite authentication, but it's accessible to non-Affiliated Persons too. It's Plone-based, with all that that entails -- but it should be a possibility. 

Fraser 

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[Allan]

Ok, an update on the question of alternative compression formats.
After some experimenting I ended up with three compression formats
that currently can be successfully downloaded from the Google Group.
These formats as created by an Ubuntu OS have the file
extensions .jar, .tar.gz, and .tar.bz2. I've re-posted my two
contributions in these three formats. The .jar format is a little more
straightforward so is the one I would prefer to use, if Google doesn't
start blocking it.

To extract any of these formats all you need is the 7-Zip program,
available at http://www.7-zip.org/. To create these formats, I don't
yet know how to do it in Windows. Under Ubuntu they were readily
created just by right clicking a folder, choosing "Compress", and then
selecting the desired format.

[Allan]

Just now retested the downloads, and find that the situation remains
unchanged. Google is still blocking zip downloads, and is still
allowing jar, tar.gz, and tar.bz2 downloads. I did find a way to
create a .jar archive under Windows. It involves installing a jdk
(development kit) version of Java. The Java that computers usually
have by default is just a jre (java runtime environment). By
installing the jdk, you get access to a program for creating a java
archive called "jar.exe". Here's a sample command line that
successfully creates a jar archive on my system:

\progra~1\Java\jdk1.6.0_21\bin\jar.exe cfM "%FolderName%.jar"
"%FolderName%"
(Replace %FolderName% with the name of the folder you want to
compress)

So as a short-term solution to our file sharing troubles, if you've
previously submitted materials to the Google Group, I'd recommend
resubmitting them as .jar archives. Let me know if you need further
assistance in creating a .jar archive. The place to get the latest jdk
is http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp. This will require a
registration (free). Or I could just send you a copy of "jar.exe".
It's only 27kb. Though I haven't yet tried, I suspect it would run
just fine on its own without installing the entire jdk. Or if you have
an Ubuntu installation handy, you can create the .jar archive there
without having to install anything extra.

Allan

[Allan]

Hi all,

Here's a new improved workaround for accessing our zip files that
won't require any of you to create jar files. In correspondence with
John H we discovered that Google Groups does allow the download of a
zip file whose extension has been changed to doc. So for the nine
files currently posted, I've changed the extension to doc, downloaded
them, extracted and re-zipped them as jar files, and then posted the
jar versions alongside the originals.

The originals are still there showing the original upload dates
(important for giving us an idea how dated a particular set of
materials is), and there are now two options available for downloading
any of the materials. Currently both work, and if Google starts
blocking one, hopefully the other will still work:

1) Download the .doc version;
On your computer change the extension to .zip;
Unzip and process in the usual way.

2) Download the .jar version;
Install 7-Zip from http://www.7-zip.org/
Right click the .jar file;
7-Zip; Extract to "XX" (where XX is the name of the zip file)

So our former approach to sharing materials has been salvaged. It
would still be good to follow up on some of the ideas for making our
materials editable online so we could work collaboratively on them. If
one of you with experience in this area would like to follow up on
this, please go ahead. I need to focus on other things for now.

Allan

[Karl Rolfe]

I just heard that REAP is going to host training materials too however
it will only be accessible through Insite.

[Fraser Bennett]

Dear Karl,

You're right that REAP is going to host training materials, and that it will only be accessible through Insite. Some of those materials will become publicly accessible through the SIL Public Digital Library. Unfortunately, we don't yet have a timetable for the creation of that library.

I'm afraid that leaves us with whatever solutions you as a language technology training community can come up with–but there will be more corporate resources available sometime in the future, God willing.

Fraser

Fraser Bennett
Language Program Training Director
SIL International