BlenderArtists: Message from Roel Spruit
Roel writes:
Hi all,
As you probably have noticed BlenderArtists has been unavailable for a few days. I would like to explain the reason for this and the actions we are taking to resolve this issue.
A while ago we started having problems with the stabillity of the site. Careful examination revealed that we were having load issues, caused by a trojan / virus that made a lot of requests to the site. I worked had to resolve this issue but the last few days / weeks the issues returned.
Several experienced server administrators helped me diagnose the issue and we found out that someone was trying to exploit a security issue in our forum or website software. We have no reason to believe any private information from our visitors was compromised but I shut down the site to try to find a permanent solution for this issue
These issues, my lack of experience in security issues and a serious lack of time on my part have made me decide to step down as owner / administrator of BlenderArtists.org. I have been involved with this site for over 10 years and I think it is time to hand it over to someone who has enough time to give this site the attention it deserves.
I am currently talking to a few people within the Blender community that are willing to take over the day-to-day operations of this site. The goal is to revive the site as soon as possible and start thinking about the handover after that. Hopefully we will have the site running at the end of this week (13-02)
When I have more information to share with you I will do so on this page.
Greets,
Roel “Goofster” Spruit
Thanks for all your hard work, Roel! You’ve been one of the cornerstones of the Blender community. Next time we meet, the beer is on me!
I haven’t been a member of the site long but its clear to see the effort that went into running the site.
i share Barts sentiments thanks for all the hard work Roel!!
Thanks for all the hard work Roel!!!
Bedankt Roel!!!
dang… I had just registered on the site about a week ago and I still haven’t made one post yet. Hopefully it’ll be back up soon. :) It looks like a really awesome site! :)
Best to you dude, what an amazing resource it is! Thank you for sharing your time to give the blender community an outlet to share, collaborate, and even complain at times. I hope to see it back up and running strong soon!
Cheers,
jikz
Thanks Roel. You’re an unsung hero of the blender community.
Damn it, and I thought it had something to do on my side. Wake up BA!
Roel, we will miss you :'(
Roel, thank you for your years of service to the blender community. BA is such a essential hub to this community, I hope the transition is smooth and successful.
Thanks again,
mattthew
Thanks for all your hard work and dedication Roel, I’m new to blender artists and look forward to it’s restoration.
Roel, gezien jij dicht bij het vuur zit; Kun je mij met een paar woorden zeggen, waarom de lieden dit gedaan hebben of heeft het geen enkel doel gediend dan ‘leuk’?
Translation: Roel, thank for the past 10 years, if it wasn’t for the proper info, Blender would probably still have failed open-source…
Hi Roel,
thanks for your detailed information and good luck to resolve problems and handover!
Thanks for this create site!
Thanks man. The forums have been a real help to me for the past couple of years.
Your work has been greatly appreciated.
Thank you sir, I wish I could slap the trojan writer silly for causing you such pain. I am always amazed at the selfless effort people put in to such efforts as this and yours has been amazing.
I’m am grateful for all your hard work and contributions to the Blender community.
Forever a fan. Thank you so much.
Cheers Roel for providing and maintaining such a good website/forum for a whole decade!
Its definitely appreciated.
Regards, Alex
Roel, I would like to thank you because if it weren’t for Blenderartists, I would have never gotten much past moving the default cube in Blender. From BA and all of its contributors I learned enough Blender to get a job with it. Thank you, so very much.
Jeroen je bent een held!
thanks Roel, BA is a solid fixture in the Blender landscape and clearly we’ve all come to take it for granted.
also – curse that Trojan and the horse it rode in on!
Thank you Roel. BlenderArtists has saved me more than once on my projects, and I enjoy helping other Blender heads, when I’m able to do so.
Noooo! Goofster we need you!
Dont be put off by the random bandit.
I miss my blenderartists like crazy but I will get by…
Your ten years has been commuted to a life sentence by the community ;)
viruses!!!!! time for the forum to get vaccinated!
mr, spruit. good luck!
Perhaps “another few hands to help shoulder the load” will be what Roel needs. It’s hard enough to run a successful site at all, let alone to deal with one that is under continuous attack.
thank you for all the work you have done–it was fantastic!!!
The first elysiun king was kib_tph.
Goofster was the second one.
And now? Who will follow?
Thanks Roel!
Roel please,
don’t go…
Not running the site doesn’t necessarily mean he has to ‘disappear’. :)
@Roel – Thanks for the past 10 years! I’ve gained so much from Blenderartists.org (and elysiun as a lurker). All the best with the transition.
My only question is why someone would want to screw with Roel so much as to mess with his site? why pick his site? Its so peaceful…
Thanks for all the kind words folks. Of course I’ll drop in now and then! who knows, maybe I’ll even have time to USE Blender again :)
I’m discussing handover details tomorrow, hopefully some more info during the weekend.
Roel
Thanks for providing a great service.
But I know how a website can become a full time job.
Good luck on finding a good person to hand it over too,
and good luck on your future endeavors wherever they may be.
Best of luck and wishes Roel.
Roel, without BlenderArtists, I never would have achieved the proficiency I have with Blender, nor discovered all of the amazing things happening in the Blender community. Thank you for your service! May you Blender forth great things!!
Is there need for something like a small crowd-funding-type project to jumpstart getting it back up and stabilized (virus-free)? I would personally put a few $$s in and I am sure many others would be willing to do the same if it meant getting a solid site back.
jikz
Thanks Roel!
Well, you’ve done a damn good job over the years :)
Thank you Roel(for me, Goofster) for keeping hard work!
I want to see your blender works in this site! ;-)
Good luck!
A very sad day.
Thank you, Goofster, for all of time and hard work that you
put into Blender Artists. I think that without you and BA
that Blender would not have grown as fast as it has.
You are a true unsung hero. Thank you.
I’ll second Bart’s offer of a beer, Roel. Thanks for all your years serving the Blender community.
Thank you Roel for your dedication over the past 10 years
Goofster,
Thanks for the super duper hard work all these years, glad to see that you still be around. Its a huge responsibility and we thanks you for holding the fort all along with mods.
Thanks and have fun.
Sad to read this happened. Roel I want to thank you for all your work over the years. I know you must be very busy the last months with all that unexpected issues. I do not know how you managed your life beside blenderartists.org.
It must be a hard decision for you to hand it over to someone else. But with the increasing popularity of the site there are also bad wishes growing in the dark. Which makes blenderartists a target of abuse. I think it is the right decision to get more experience into the boat. You could still be an administrator.
I would appreciate that.
Shit dat is balen Roel.
In ieder geval erg bedankt voor al het harde werk als ik nog iets kan betekenen hoor ik het graag.
What a shame
Thanks hank you Roel for your dedication over the past years
greetings
Anton
All the best for you Roel and many thanks for all your hard work!!!
Blenderartists.org was a huge repository of information. What a bummer. The world is hard enough without people f#$%!ng everything up with viruses. I think I had posted like 900 times there.
I’ve had issues in the past with exploited web code. So I have purchased IPSentry Network Monitoring Suite to detect unusual bandwidth usage on my server and has worked well. It’s an affordable one time cost. If anyone else has any other tools that they use to monitor server trafffic i’m sure it would be appreciated.
If it’s an exploit in the forum. Get rid of it and have a facebook page where people can interact. Simple enough solution, don’t you think?
to Ian Cameron
Facebook is not a solution. You are very limited to facebook functionality then. As a Web developer I would not recommend it as website platform. As marketing platform it’s OK, but not as dedicated website. I hope only, that Autodesk has no hands with this trojan case :D
@cgexnet
“I hope only, that Autodesk has no hands with this trojan case :D”
Why would they? It’s far more beneficial for them when BA is up and running. That way they can pick up some ideas for their own merchandise. “Der Feind hört mit” so to speak.
@Roel “Goofster” Ik ben géén BA gebruiker, surfde er af en toe eens langs. Maar vroeger wel regelmatig op Elysiun te vinden (hijothema). Dus ik weet wel ongeveer wat de site voor de community betekent. Dus ook van mij: dank voor je 10 jaar inzet.
Just adding my thanks. Come back to us BA.
Potverdorie!
Why are there people on this world who think it’s funny to sabotage a peaceful community website… SICK!
Thank you very much Roel. You’re an important part of Blender’s history.
Should switch everything over to a Linux server… no more Trojans or worms.
Thanks for all your hard work Roel. Its seems a recuring theme lately, in that its is so much easier to wreck something than to create somthing. I hope the hand over goes well and look forward to the new BA.
I have Blender Artists forum withdrawal, I hope they get it fixed soon :D
Thank you Roel for the service BA provided to every Blender users.
The board has always been so helpfull to everyone seeking some Blender help , information exchange was always going strong in the dedicaced boards.
I hope someone will be able to take over soon as the new admin and will be able to fix the security issues.
Hope the handover goes smoothly and Blenderartists is back online soon.
Glad to hear you’ll still be around.
Thanks for all your hard work, Roel.
Come on Goofster! I’m going nuts without getting my BA fix. The people around me are noticing I’m getting irritable and becoming abusive. BA! I must have my BA and soon!!!!
..ok I admit I am an addict…
I m addicted to Blenderartists.org!!
and they are progressing – http://www.vbulletin.com/ is taking over the hosting :)
Very sad news. Thank you Roel for all your efforts and the great service given to the community during all these years.
I have learnt so many things thanks to BlenderArtists and the helpful community present here !
I hope that this “Sweet Home” will come back soon and that pirates will be thrown to sharks !
Hi Roel,
Thanks for the hard work and time. Blendernation.com has always been first and foremost in my bookmarks for the latest news from the blender community.
Just wish you get someone as enthusiastic and passionate
Cheers