Can You Hear Me, Major Tom?

[kerravonsen]

(expletive deleted)
(expletive deleted)
(expletive deleted)

I have lost ALL the archives and setup and subscription information for my mailing lists. It wasn't backed up because it was stored, not under /etc (where I assumed all configuration would normally be stored) but under /var/lib/mailman (which is NOT a place one expects configurations or archives to be stored). Everything is gone. Every single post to gen_fic_crit from 2001 onwards. I checked the wayback machine, but they've only got a couple of indexes, no actual content. It's all GONE. Lost. Forever. Because I had to wipe the disk of my desktop as part of my fix-the-meltdown problem, and I blithely assumed that my backups had covered everything.

(expletive, expletive, expletive)
(EXPLETIVE!)

I give up. GenFicCrit has been a ruddy joke for the past several years anyway. Only a handful of people post there besides me, and there hasn't been a full-on discussion in years. Sure, I was happy enough to let it go on fulfilling its minimal function (a place to post my reviews), but now that the whole archive is trashed and the whole subscription list is gone, it is not worth the heartache of trying to rebuild it from scratch. Not. Worth. It.

Sh*t.

ETA: If any of my former subscribers wish to start their own fanfic review-and-discussion list, I would love to participate. I just don't have the heart to try to run one any more.

Comments

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Oh, Kat! I'm so sorry; that sort of loss is awful. :( *HUGS*

*uses only icon with swearing in*

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

p.s. I wonder if such a discussion list would thrive in the LJ-comm world? I have no time for modding such a thing (I can barely mod my not-very-active Numb3rs discussion comm), but that could be interesting. *tries to think of someone to pester to start one*

[kerravonsen]

I wonder if such a discussion list would thrive in the LJ-comm world?
I'm not sure. There would be advantages and disadvantages.
Pro:
Random people would be more likely to find it; at least, random LJ people would.

Con:
LJ-coms don't quite lend themselves to discussion as much as mailing lists do; oh, they lend themselves to short term discussion, that is, for as long as the post is on the current page, but after that, they drop out of sight. That might not be a problem, considering I doubt there would be huge long discussions anyway.

Pro:
LJ's tagging feature might be helpful in indexing posts.

Con:
Is there really a need? I mean, places like crack_van get used to rec multi-fandom fanfic anyway, don't they? Except I guess the purpose of gen_fic_crit was to be open to any fandom, not just a chosen selection. And also to include discussion, not just recs. And not just recs, but also anti-recs.

Con:
But nobody would join it anyway. (sigh)

Pro:
But it might be easier to co-mod, rather than having just one mod.

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

I'd join any rec list you created.

If it's any help, I have 1200 email messages in my katlist folder, going back to October of 2003.

- Helen

[kerravonsen]

If it's any help, I have 1200 email messages in my katlist folder, going back to October of 2003.
Thanks for the offer, but I'm not sure that I have the fortitude to try to reconstruct the archives. Though I suppose I ought to. (sigh)

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

Well, they're not going anywhere, so are here if you decide you want them. Might also give you a good idea of who's on the list (or at least has ever contributed; well, almost ever). (Actually, if you want I could give you just that.)

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I have all the genficcrit emails I received, as well, although I don't recall when I joined.

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

Yours are probably more complete than mine; I do delete messages sometimes, just not many, and not often.

- Helen, abhors free disk space

[reveilles.livejournal.com]

::hug::

Prayin' for ya too...I hate that horrible crushing feeling of lost data.

::hug::

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

Oh. I am sorry...

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

HUGS

I've got loads of gen_fic_crit recs that I still mean to read one day. I just never seem to catch up enough on everything else.

[kerravonsen]

Remember, this stuff is supposed to be fun. So, hey, you're having fun with Brownies and Noodles and stuff. "Shoulds" are not allowed.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-(

[watervole.livejournal.com]

That's terrible! My heart goes out to you.

[kerravonsen]

I've calmed down a bit. It could be worse, it could always be worse. At least I haven't lost my reviews; I've just lost everyone else's reviews. (feels guilty)

Okay, so maybe I'm not that calm. (sigh)

Computer woes don't "just happen". They happen because someone (in this case, me) did something stupid. So half the reason I feel so bad is because I've been a total idiot. I can see all the steps which led to this disaster, and if I'd avoided any one of them, it wouldn't have happened.
1. Don't upgrade your computer to a beta version.
2. Don't try to downgrade it again if it didn't work.
3. Back up your ENTIRE hard drive before you do it, not just the subset of things you think you need.
4. Even if you don't back up the entire hard drive, don't wipe the hard drive if you can help it; there was a way I could have done the upgrade without wiping the drive, but I thought I wouldn't have enough room on the disk to do it that way.

I had thought I was so clever, because I had backups of the "important" stuff, I thought I had covered everything. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I am angry at myself.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

We've all done things at that level of stupidity. I haven't backed up in ages, and I really ought to.