Greeting all, These messages below are part of a thread that was on USGENWEB-ALL-L regarding why the TNGenWeb CCs generally do not have passwords to the TNGenWeb system. As Bridgett is off line, and I have seen no other responses to Tim's posting, I will try to answer Tim's questions. Please remember I am computer illiterate and dyslectic, so ya get what ya get, and no more. Who has the passwords to the system? The RCs do, and of course, our SC and ASC. (I do NOT have the password.) It is a common password for the whole of the system. When TNGenWeb was establish in 1996, Billie McNamara, did the uploads, later neccesity forced the creation of the RC positions to handle the growing number of uploads. Because our system has only one set of passwords, security considerations become important. Billie was never able to setup an agreement with USIT that would allow CCs to access to their individual files only. Tim asks, "Why can't USIT trust the CCs like every other ISP I know of to have their own password?" This is not a matter of USIT trusting the CCs. The policy is one that is a TNGenWeb policy. It is not good thinking to allow all CCs access to all files in every directory. This management desision was made by Billie McNamara. I was a good decision then and it is still valid today. I would guess that USIT does not want to setup individual accounts for the CCS because USIT does not receive money from us. I am sure that any person who so desires to have a private web site housed at USIT could contract with USIT. Our arrange with USIT is a self service deal. I think it might be called a comp account, but in any case, Jim Cole supplies the technical work, not USIT. To USIT, tech time is money - and we don't pay. Rootsweb establishes CC sites as private accounts. It is to their advantage to do so. They do not want every CC to have access to their entire system. If you think that security is not important, look what happen in North Carolina. There the SC tried to take down the whole system. She went ballistic. Rootsweb bailed out NCGenWeb and things are getting back to normal there, but you just never know when some one is going to "flip out." So we just do the best we can with what we got. Fred Smoot >>> Tim Stowell wrote: > > Would it be possible that, like Rootsweb has started to implement > individual accounts have individual password, that after a CC had been a CC > for X period of time that they get a password for their county alone so > that they could upload their files themselves? > > If X private user now has an account at USIT don't they get some webspace > and their own personal password? Why can't USIT trust the CCs like every > other ISP I know of to have their own password? The RC and SC could also > be included in the knowledge of what those passwords are just in case the > CC is away for awhile. > > At 10:47 PM 7/18/98 -0700, Fred Smoot wrote: > >Linda et al, > > > >It is possible that the resason MAY be, if all CCs had the passwords, > >they would also have access to ALL pages, not just their own. On > >TNGenWeb, the RC position is a position of trust. > > > >Fred Smoot, TNGenWeb > > > > > >Linda Russell Lewis wrote: > >> > >> I never could figure that out, even though Billie McNamara tried to > >> explain it to me back in 1996, when she first started TNGenWeb. She said > >> there was a reason for having it set up that way, but I can't remember > >> what it was. > >> > >> Linda > >> > >> Joanne Gruber Abby wrote: > >> > > >> > So the CC's can't access their own files? What happens to them if > they leave? > >> > > >> > Joanne Gruber Abby > >> > > >> > At 12:47 AM 7/19/98, you [Mary Floy Katzman] wrote: > >> > >The CCs who have their pages housed on the Tennessee server in > question, do > >> > >not have FTP capabilities to that server. When updates and additions > are > >> > >made to those county pages, the CC sends those files as an attachment to > >> > > > ==== TNGEN Mailing List ==== > > All URL's back to USGenWeb should read: > http://www.usgenweb.org > -- or -- > http://www.usgenweb.net