[sf-lug] Network Solutions / Web.com & renewing expired domains

[Rick Moen]

Michael, I have to admit that this posting Jim Stockford sent on Sunday
in response to you just depressed me:

     At the SF-LUG meeting today, for some reason,
  we tried to access the sf-lug.{com,org} web site;
  at least one member reported getting a page with
  an image of a guy in a suit, definitely not the
  sf-lug penguin on the tower.

     We're wondering what happened (now); and I'm
  blaming NetSol, though by knee-jerk, not real
  knowledge.

     Michael, can you shed light?

This is depressing because I've tried over and over and over -- on this
mailing list and elsewhere -- to teach people how to diagnose exactly
this class of problems.


Step 1:  Verify via whois that the domain is valid and lists the desired
nameservers (which thus become authoritative for the domain).

Step 2:  Using 'dig', ask each of the authoritative nameservers about 
hosts of interest within the domain.  Verify that they all return the
correct IP address or other relevant answer to queries.

Step 3:  Verify that one or more host of interest (such as a Web server)
within the domain answers, when queried.

Step 4:  Verify that each such host returns desired data when queried.


I've gone through these steps, with special emphasis on crucial steps
1&2, many times on this mailing list, trying to teach people by working
through very specific examples, right here in public.  Repeatedly.  For
years.

And, after all that, Jim didn't even attempt step #1, but instead just
turned to you and said only 'Michael, can you shed light?'  This
question was, mind you, coming from the one guy uniquely possessing
all data required to answer his own question.


So, Jim, are you going to do anything about sv-lug.com/svlug-org domain
registration, or not?

If you're intending to let the two domains remain expired, standard
courtesy requires that you notify the admins of the three authoritative
nameservers that you thank them for their help and that they can switch
the nameservice off, as the domains no longer exist.