On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:46:02 +0000, SeanMc98 wrote:
> The objective may be noble and worthwhile, but the current functionality
> is neither the same nor better than the prior environment. Some
> improvements have been made since the initial switch, and I have noted
> these in other threads.
As I noted, the reason things had to switch was because the previous
system was out of support and as things had issues (hardware failures,
for example), getting them dealt with takes more and more effort and
becomes less and less feasible.
> That is, of course, true, though suggesting that a bad situation “could
> be worse” is not exactly a rallying point. Unless there is some
> nightmare scenario of permanently logged-in forum users compromising the
> Novell network and applications, is it really so difficult to make the
> login friendlier, easier and longer ?
There area number of reasons that have already been discussed at length
for not using the standard vBulletin authentication, so I’ll not rehash
those reasons again.
My explanation isn’t offered as a “rallying point”, but rather as an
explanation as to what’s going on. Everyone’s aware that some users
experience some issues with authentication and session timeouts, and
those working on improving things are doing what they can to move things
forward so those issues can be either mitigated or eliminated.
> The forum access is_better than the initial rough patch (the “dark
> days” with apologies to Alec Guiness), though there is still room for
> further improvements and enhancements.
There’s always room for improvements in any system. I’ve been doing IT
work since the late 80’s and online forums since the mid 80’s, and I’ve
never seen a perfect system that couldn’t be improved.
> For example, at
> http://forums.opensuse.org/, clicking login will a) present the Novell
> login screen or b) log you in without the Novell panel. Logging in by
> accessing the Novell login screen directly, followed by accessing
> http://forums.opensuse.org/ yields a “not logged in” state.
Things are curently in transition to the new system. Matt Ehle (who’s
working on this project) posted about it (and it was fed to the
announcements group via an RSS feed). The technical people are aware of
the issues and are working on the issues. But it’s not a simple
transition on the backend and isn’t a transparent process.
> While we can (and do) wade through this transitional access situation, I
> do hope that the login process returns to s single forum login, with
> extended login duration. It would be fair to say that many users access
> the forums for problem solutions, and the easier the access process is
> managed would yield a more satisfactory forum experience.
Sure. But as explained numerous times before, the timeout is not just
related to access to the forums but to access for a customer’s
information, including product licenses. There are broader security
concerns that are taken into account for this authentication mechanism.
> To repeat: the forum access has been (and is) improving. I hope
> occasional praise and reinforcements promote continued expansion of
> forum access.
The team working on it appreciates the feedback. 
Jim
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C