could you update dns records

May 12, 2006 4:26 PM

this may seem trivial, but could you update dns records for metafilter.org to include ask.metafilter.org--->ask.metafilter.com
posted by killyb to Feature Requests at 4:26 PM (15 comments total)

I'm not sure if that comes up enough to be worth doing.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:05 PM on May 12, 2006

yea, i kinda notices the lack of interest, but worth doing...really? is metafilter.org not used/official....if it is...than why would you have a subdomain setup for .com, but not the other?
posted by killyb at 6:40 PM on May 12, 2006

I wouldn't argue with the truth of your statement, above, Matt, I'm just cracked up to see you lay it right out there. I guess I'd expect a more service-oriented response like "yeah I need to get to that when I have time," but hey, I personally like your style.
posted by scarabic at 6:50 PM on May 12, 2006

Ah, I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, just that metafilter.org is nothing more than a redirect and I don't think there's any expectation that foo.metafilter.org has to map to foo.metafilter.com, given there should be zero links to say, ask.metafilter.org anywhere on the web that people would get tripped up on. Adding .org subdomains would just reinforce an expectation that there's something that is supposed to be there.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:12 PM on May 12, 2006

Yep. Totally agree. That is a much better way of explaining it :D
posted by scarabic at 7:18 PM on May 12, 2006

I guess as a footnote: metafilter isn't really a "dotcom" in the usual commercial sense (IMHO) and it might occur to people now and then to approach it as a .org. I guess you have the logs to know how often this comes up. My perception of peoples' perceptions is that some of them might think of this place as a .org, at least enough to justify a safety redirect, but of course I realize that most people don't even know that .orgs exist - DESPITE the fact that when said aloud over the radio, etc, it sounds just like "orgy." Shit... my ears perk up. Are people dead at the wheel or what?
posted by scarabic at 7:21 PM on May 12, 2006

didn't come off as being a dick, just thought metafilter.org was more....officialish.....never look much at the address bar until there's a problem

scarabic...i hear that on the radio now and then and think the same thing

also if you're still readin this...why are you using a windows server for metafilter....please please..i don't want to get into a winderz/linux discussion, just curious if there's a reason

(just noticed when i was lookin to see who handled your dns stuff)
posted by killyb at 7:32 PM on May 12, 2006

just curious if there's a reason

Legacy.
posted by scarabic at 7:55 PM on May 12, 2006

I guess as a footnote: metafilter isn't really a "dotcom" in the usual commercial sense (IMHO) and it might occur to people now and then to approach it as a .org

Really, the problem is all those OSS idiots who came up with "slashdot.org" when slash dot is clearly commercial site, backed by advertising and everything.

Although I suppose you could argue that truly personal sites ought to have been .org back before .name or whatever.
posted by delmoi at 12:31 AM on May 13, 2006

I'd like to point out that my personal currently with little to no content website is a .org, chosen specifically because that's what personal sites should use :)

And to seriously contribute: I would agree with Matt; DNS isn't the sort of thing where you can easily and magically map *.metafilter.org => *.metafilter.com, sadly. Given that fact, Matt's point about raising such expectations is quite valid.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 7:21 AM on May 13, 2006

If you make it work, people will start using it, and then links will be broken.
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:52 AM on May 13, 2006

DNS isn't the sort of thing where you can easily and magically map *.metafilter.org => *.metafilter.com, sadly.

That's why God gave us Apache.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 12:34 PM on May 13, 2006

Fo real, yo. I was just thinking this was such a simple rewrite rule, why wouldn't it be implemented? Then I remembered MF ain't on Apache. And then I shed a little tear.
posted by team lowkey at 1:20 AM on May 14, 2006

MF ain't on Apache

Isn't it? I thought it was.
posted by scarabic at 11:10 AM on May 14, 2006

Hey, yeah, it did get switched to Apache at some point, didn't it?

So... why isn't a .org to .com rewrite rule implemented? Is there some down side I'm missing?
posted by team lowkey at 5:57 PM on May 14, 2006