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Yahoo Groups Plagued by Downtime, Technical Issues for Almost a Week (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by msmash on from the outage-report dept.

Yahoo Groups were nonfunctional all last week, according to customers complaining on the company's support forum and Twitter. From a report: Yahoo Groups, which is a hybrid between a classic discussion board (forum) and a mailing list, was recently acquired by Verizon. The issues appear to have started last Sunday, November 17, when users began complaining that they could not access the site, and when the site was up, users could not start new discussions and post new messages. In addition, when posting messages and starting new topics was possible, Groups would not send email notifications to the other group participants. Similarly, Yahoo Groups would not create web posts for replies people sent in via email.

40 comments

  1. At least nobody is working from home... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    At least you can be sure that nobody is working from home.

    Seems like Yahoo worked better back when they allowed WFH...

    1. Re:At least nobody is working from home... by magarity · · Score: 1

      Seems like Yahoo worked better back when they allowed WFH...

      You mean Yahoo Groups amazingly worked better when actual Yahoo was in charge of it and now Verizon can't keep it running?

    2. Re:At least nobody is working from home... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A weeks outage is common with Verizon, they can't even keep their land lines working. I've seen several occasions where Verizon's service was down for 5 weeks, though it is not common.

      NB: Verizon Wireless (the cell carrier) is a different company than Verizon (the land line provider).

  2. In other news.... by erp_consultant · · Score: 1, Funny

    carrier pigeons have been downed by high winds. Yahoo groups? Who the heck is still using that?

    1. Re:In other news.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was unaware that it even existed anymore.

    2. Re:In other news.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yahoo groups? Who the heck is still using that?

      people who are happy certain other people do not use Yahoo groups? ...

    3. Re:In other news.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      carrier pigeons have been downed by high winds. Yahoo groups? Who the heck is still using that?

      Ahem. There are some private pr0n yahoo groups that cater to specific peculiarities...

    4. Re:In other news.... by k6mfw · · Score: 4, Informative

      carrier pigeons have been downed by high winds. Yahoo groups? Who the heck is still using that?

      Actually many groups such as bayscan, Parachute Mobile, various clubs as it is convenient in sense of mailing lists and a place to put photos, files, and various documents. Some of these people have tried other groups such as IO and Google groups though overall doesn't seem to cause a huge migration from yahoogroups. Of course for IT/Linux/Unix/Network gurus always have something better but most people are not such gurus (analogy of why most people buy tickets to ride an airplane instead of flying their own). Google groups is ok but from what I have experienced not much better. Also many yahoogroups have been around for decades so there's a lot of legacy. What may obliterate yahoogroups is if they extensively change the format where it becomes not usable (kind of like hotmail).

      Laugh what you want but geocities was of great value. Sure it never had the luster of what an IT/Linux/Unix/Network guru can build, it had that primitive 1990s feel, many of the sites were stinkers but many had very useful information pages on various subjects. These were written by actual people who put in their personal time to share knowledge. Unlike now most webpages that show up on searches are sales/marketing websites that aggregate the same stuff over and over.

      --
      mfwright@batnet.com
    5. Re:In other news.... by erp_consultant · · Score: 1

      Haha...easy bro...I was being glib. Back in the day I used Yahoo Groups and found them to be quite useful. But I recall moving on from it some time ago. Evidently some people stuck around and find it useful for them still. Good for them and thanks for the info ** thumbs up **.

      I agree with your comment about Google Groups. At one time I followed rec.Martial-arts on Usenet. I was actively practicing martial arts at the time and found it a fountain of knowledge for all different styles - some of which I had never even heard of before. But then it migrated over to Google Groups and just went to shit. Last time I looked it was full of spam and off topic nonsense. Such a shame.

    6. Re:In other news.... by k6mfw · · Score: 1

      At one time I followed rec.Martial-arts on Usenet.

      I miss usenet! Lots of good info and knowledge, and some funny comments too. Sometimes people got a bit too much of themselves, i.e. rec.skydiving occasionally referred as wreck.skywhining. There was also techie groups, if they still existed I could ask questions about color balancing a JVC 750 camera. There are some blogsites but gotta register and you better use the correct forum when asking a specific question or you will be banned for life from the internet.

      --
      mfwright@batnet.com
  3. Re:WTF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yahoo groups is a website.

  4. Re:WTF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is Yahoo groups?

    I think it's where all the AOL users went.

  5. Must be the repeal of net neutrality (snark) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yahoo Groups holds all the wisdom of the ages, the new owners couldn't possibly let people access it for free without throttling it.

  6. Was better before Yahoo acquired it. by PhantomHarlock · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is old history now in Internet terms, but Yahoo Groups began as EGroups, which basically put a web GUI on listserv. It made it easier to create and participate in listserv-style email discussions.

    After Yahoo acquired it, it kind of went to crap as they attempted to monetize it and integrate it with the rest of their site, but it was still the only big game in town for that particular type of discussion.

    Even by the mid-2000s many people had gone over to web forums (mostly PHPBB and their counterparts) and now 'big social media' has been siphoning off users from there. PHPBB style web forums are still vastly superior to the likes of Facebook for serious threaded discussions and presentation of information. On Facebook and their ilk, everything gets lost in the shuffle, no organization. Too informal. I hope that traditional web forums survive alongside the social media giants, as a conduit for serious, archived discussions.

    1. Re:Was better before Yahoo acquired it. by Bright+Apollo · · Score: 2

      Older. eGroups bought a series of online mailing lists, including oneList. A series of acquisitions ultimately led my c.1999 mailing list to Yahoo, where it's been for a decade at least. 4000 members, although traffic has definitely fallen. Doesn't matter, as an archive my group is still golden. And yes, I'm pulling the entire group onto home storage just in case VZ fuckery is on the horizon.

      --#

    2. Re:Was better before Yahoo acquired it. by eneville · · Score: 1

      Not sure how you're pulling it to storage, but a while back I was doing the same using this script:

      https://www.usenix.org.uk/cont...

      mbox makes it easier to browse/read than their web site with mutt or a similar threaded mailer.

      --
      Why UNIX?
    3. Re:Was better before Yahoo acquired it. by Bright+Apollo · · Score: 1

      THANK YOU! I actually used this tool to archive my site awhile back and forgot all about the site. I'm going to re-do my archive and keep it current, and thanks again to you!

      --#

    4. Re:Was better before Yahoo acquired it. by Agripa · · Score: 1

      PHPBB style web forums are still vastly superior to the likes of Facebook for serious threaded discussions and presentation of information.

      Most PHPBB style web forums do not implement or support threading and even if they did, they are still inferior to an email list server.

      Several of the technical groups hosted on Yahoo that are participate in have moved to groups.io who cleverly built migration utilities to help.

  7. That's strange by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I didn't even notice.

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  8. Requirements by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    1. Vetted membership to keep the yahoos (no pun intended) out
    2. Configurable email notifications, thread subscriptions and optional auto-reply/threading via email
    3. Searchable message archives
    4. File storage

    Applications:

    Support groups for obscure pieces of hardware (cars, computers, old synthesizers, etc...)
    Support groups for small commercial hardware projects (see above)
    Fan groups
    etc...

    So where is the analog? I'm sure there is one, but Yahoo Groups has been around for a long time and works pretty darn well.

    I belong to a couple of dozen Yahoo Groups, mainly to support some old synthesizers/samplers. Need a mask to burn a new EPROM for your fried Ensoniq EMAX sampler? Yahoo groups. Service manual for a Korg MS-20? Yahoo groups.

    1. Re:Requirements by g01d4 · · Score: 1

      I belong to a couple of dozen Yahoo Groups... [that support small obscure hardware and software markets]

      This, plus the advantage of having several of recent posts from these Groups visible on a single browser tab accessible via a uniform interface. Some vendors are moving to their own private forums that have unique interfaces and navigation setup. There's a definite trade-off.

    2. Re:Requirements by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      keep the yahoos (no pun intended) out

      YAHOO is the true pronunciation of the TETRAGRAMMATON. Do not take the name of Thy LOrd in vain.

  9. Do people actually still use that site? by wardrich86 · · Score: 1

    I remember when Yahoo was great - it used to be a search engine that had some fun games and chatrooms to hang out in when I was like 10. Then at some point it turned into some shitty celebrity gossip website with a sub-par search engine built into it... Why do people even use the site anymore? It's riddled with management issues, and security issues on top of it all... they even took Altavista down with them. It's sad to see the old giants fall, but sometimes it's just gotta happen.

    1. Re:Do people actually still use that site? by PhantomHarlock · · Score: 1

      Their search engine didn't get shitty, the other search engine (google) got far, far better. I have to say search engines were pretty bad before Google. Google did a better job of knowing what you were actually looking for, and when SEO issues reared their ugly heads, fighting that to eventually come out on top.

      Yahoo basically failed to innovate and the whole site is like a time warp now.

    2. Re:Do people actually still use that site? by wardrich86 · · Score: 1

      Very true. I remember back when I was a kid, Yahoo and Excite were my go-to Search Engines. Now I pretty much use Google for everything.

  10. Binary Archeology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The files sections of many yahoo groups is hard to find replicated elsewhere on the internet, especially things like synthesizer patches.

  11. Y Groups has been shit for a long time now by CQDX · · Score: 4, Informative

    It used to be quite good until MM became CEO and they switched to infinite scroll, inserting ads into the lists, and other inconveniences. They sacrified usability for a modern look. When they "improved" the UI many users and admins complained but Y! refused to rollback. Their user based dropped quite a bit.

    1. Re:Y Groups has been shit for a long time now by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 2

      Remember Slashdot 2.0?

      They sacrified usability for a modern look. When they "improved" the UI many users complained but Slashdot refused to rollback.

      Never did hear what happened to Slashdot 2.0, it sort of disappeared and was never spoken of again...

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  12. Is it better than... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Is it better than GeoCities?

    1. Re:Is it better than... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can't check right now, I'm having trouble with my Fidonet dialup.

  13. Unbelievable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yahoo Groups still exist?

  14. If you are ... by eneville · · Score: 3

    Here's a script that you can use to take a mbox copy of any group mail that you like to read. I wrote it when I felt that it was getting harder to read the mail due to their 'neo' UI change.

    https://www.usenix.org.uk/cont...

    --
    Why UNIX?
  15. AT&T also loses landlines for weeks. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2

    A weeks outage is common with Verizon, they can't even keep their land lines working.

    They're not unique in that way.

    I have AT&T for my landlines. My main-POTS-and-DSL landline went out in the first rain of the winter a bit over a week ago. (The fax/backup-dialup also went groundfault-noisy ruining it even for glacial dialup speeds.)

    The automated testing available after-hours interpreted the water-shorted line as a phone off-the-hook and gave me a couple minutes of canned lecture about that. Once humans were back on duty, line-testing with the house wiring disconnected at the demark point convinced them that it was on their side, they said they "were overloaded" and couldn't get a repairman out to fix the line for TWO WEEKS.

    So I have no landline DSL (or fixed IP addresses for my home servers) at the moment - nor did I have them over the Thanksgiving holiday. I've upped my cellphone data plan from token to substantial, so my wife can get her college homework done. That's an extra $60/month, since the cellphones are on a different service and they won't give me the boost as a freebie for covering the outage.

    It's nothing like what they did about a year and a half ago. My DSL was out for an ENTIRE MONTH. It turns out they had decommissioned the DSLAM that fed my line. Then they moved me to another one that was PARTIALLY decommissioned - gave one-hop transport to itself but had no internet behind it. Then they claimed the legacy modem was broken (actually it was one of theirs, but from before the web administration interface was standard so it LOOKED broken), had me buy a new one, then refused to support it because I hadn't bought it from THEM. I had to buy a SECOND new one before they'd look at the line enough to figure out that the DSLAM wasn't hooked to the net on the upstrem side and moved me to ANOTHER one that was. (This also downgraded me to PPPoEoATM, with more overhead and thus somewhat less effective data rate on the same carrier setting.)

    I'd have abandoned them back then, but the only alternatives at the site are satellite, Comcast, and 4G cellphone. B-b

    And THIS is in Silicon Valley!

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    1. Re:AT&T also loses landlines for weeks. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

      Forgot to mention WHY the landlines are so flakey.

      The suburb in question was built in the '50s, with underground telephone wiring across the back of the lots (which back up on the school playground). The cables are flakey enough that there aren't enough good pair left. So when one goes out, instead of digging them up and fixing them, they bypass the bad section with a hunk of wire tie-wrapped along the school fence.

      These, of course, then get abraded at the tie-wraps by the wind wiggling them, chewed up by squirrels, or cut by the playful kiddies.

      (At least they've stopped using cat-5 indoor cabling and switched to the heavy black pole-to-house drop wiring.)

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    2. Re: AT&T also loses landlines for weeks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I worked for NJB, Bell Atlantic, which became Verizon. 37 years in the repair Dept. Technition then repair supervisor. Plastic undercables eventually get filled with water, even dense plastic is porous; will take years but eventually they fail. Only solution is replace the cables, at least the parts that are bad. Expensive, TelCo s dont want to spend the money.

  16. great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its a great article

  17. Really? by rally2xs · · Score: 1

    I own several and belong to a lot of yahoogroups and didn't notice. I download posts via email, and just checked a particularly active group, the N3FJP software support forum, and it has posts for every day in recent history except for November 15. Of course, November 15th is the deer season opener most places, so I can understand why no one might have been on a computer, they were all sitting out in the woods with their rifles...

    But, no, really, there were messages for every day except 15 Nov, for-real.