[sf-lug] SF-LUG domain runthrough (part 2 of 2)

[Rick Moen]

I almos forgot to also run through SF-LUG's domain registration record,
at the registrar.  This is what you get returned by a "WHOIS" client
(/usr/bin/whois, on typical *ix boxes).  


:r! whois -H sf-lug.com


Whois Server Version 2.0

[...]
   Domain Name: SF-LUG.COM
   Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
   Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
   Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com
   Name Server: NS1.SF-LUG.COM
   Name Server: NS2.SF-LUG.COM
   Status: clientTransferProhibited
   Updated Date: 30-jul-2007
   Creation Date: 02-jul-2004
   Expiration Date: 02-jul-2008

>>> Last update of whois database: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:41:35 UTC <<<
[...]

Registrant:
San Francisco Linux User Group
   PO Box 210418
   San Francisco, CA 94121-0418
   US

   Domain Name: SF-LUG.COM

   Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
      San Francisco Linux User Group		jim at well.com
      PO Box 210418
      San Francisco, CA 94121-0418
      US
      415-823-4590


   Record expires on 02-Jul-2008.
   Record created on 02-Jul-2004.
   Database last updated on 23-Oct-2007 22:42:30 EDT.

   Domain servers in listed order:

   NS1.SF-LUG.COM               208.96.15.252
   NS2.SF-LUG.COM               198.144.195.186




1.  Expiration date is < one year out.  Why not keep it several years
away from expiration?  Further discussion at:
http://linuxgazette.net/142/moen.html

2.  All the public contacts are the same guy, at the same telephone 
number and e-mail address:  avoidable single point of failure for 
incoming queries / comments to the domain.  This is unlikely to be an
issue, but why take a chance?  SVLUG nearly lost its entire Internet
domain because one volunteer overrode my advice to _NOT_ route all 
domain contacts through a single SMTP server.  She screwed up 
that server, and the group didn't get any of the renewal notices.
(I noticed the pending expiration anyway, and saved their asses
by paying their renewal for three years on my credit card.)

Me, I split the main contacts (technical and admin) for my domain
between me and one other guy; we're probably not both unreachable at
once.

3.  Domain's registered with Network Solutions.  Ah, NetSol!  One 
could quote Mr. Lincoln, and say "It's the sort of thing that will be
enjoyed by those who enjoy that sort of thing."  Or, one can say the
firm's like the Rev. John Fell of Oxford, despised by many students....

The story goes that one, Tom Brown, escaped being expelled from Oxford
for some offence by, upon demand, providing an absolutely perfect
rephrasing in English of the Roman writer Martial's 33rd epigram:

"Non amo te, Sabidi, 
nec possum dicere - quare; 
Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te."

As:

        I do not love thee, Dr Fell,
        The reason why I cannot tell;
        But this I know, and know full well,
        I do not love thee, Dr Fell.

Sysadmins tend to not love NetSol, the former domain-registration
monopoly.  Unlike Tom Brown, they _can_ tell you why -- at greater
length than you might wish.  However, if you're happy with NetSol,
great.  If you're not devoted to them, consider the possibility of
transferring to gandi.net, joker.com, or any of a large variety of
others.

(No, you lose nothing at all from not waiting.  See article referenced
above.)