March 5th, 2021
For those wishing to support our ongoing efforts please see our (501c3) donations page at AllStarLink | Donate.
Greetings all,
This will be the final update on the system cutover performed on December 29th. On February 8th the new Allstarlink registration and node distribution system moved from development to a full production mode. Since the cutover, one bug was identified and some resource adjustments were made. Even with those changes the system maintained better than 99.93% availability rate. We cannot thank the cutover team enough for how cleanly this was accomplished.
At this point the focus will shift from system stability to back end system improvements. Improvements in the works are:
- Stats server (keyed nodes, bubble charts, presentation improvements).
- ASL-Gen2 registration design improvements and beta testing.
- APIs for clients and management tools.
- Theater distributed registration services and support (EU, APAC, AMER).
We will also be focusing on the client side with a new 2.0 release (currently in beta test) that allows for kernel auto updates and adds full raspberry pi support (including pi4) as well as numerous other enhancements.
I would also like to take this opportunity to announce the “ASL-Connected” program where 3rd party client and tool developers can partner with us to improve their user’s experience and make available new features. Participants have the opportunity to collaborate with our team and request changes to the ASL infrastructure (APIs etc) to better implement their new ideas. We hope this will add features to Allstar that we may not have even conceived of. We currently have two partners interested in the program and look forward to more who wish to work with us.
A similar program, “ASL-Tested” is an option for hardware only designers and has similar benefits.
Lastly, moving to commercial hosting from donated space (in past volunteers’ computer rooms) is not inexpensive. We also may incur some unforeseen legal expenses over the coming months.
With the above, we would like to humbly ask for some support in our cleanup and stability efforts. The initial funding goal is to reach out to node owners who have not donated in the past and have used ASL enough to see the benefits of its quality and long-term survival. We are asking for a voluntary donation of $1/mo ($12/yr) per node to help us maintain and improve the ASL eco-system.
We also took notice that some long standing Allstar based repeater networks/clubs have annual membership dues/subscriptions. We would hope these organizations could pass some of that support forward to the enabling infrastructure.
For those wishing to support our ongoing efforts please see our (501c3) donations page at AllStarLink | Donate
And we thank you in advance,
That is all for now, 73s and be safe, Pete
Pete Elke /WI6H - President
Todd Lesser /KM6RPT - Secretary
David Shaw /WB6WTM - Treasurer
Tim Sawyer /WD6AWP - Vice President
Kevin Custer /W3KKC - Board Member