If it ain't broke, fix it anyway

If this isn't already a rule in the IT manager's handbook, it definitely should be:

"If you have systems functioning correctly,
you can rely on a third party to screw things up."

Ever since I had my first computer at the age of seven I have been in the grasp of the evil forces of those who make our lives easier under the guise of IT. Whether it has been Microsoft or Apple deciding that working operating systems need updating (along with every piece of software that you own which will no longer function), hardware providers deciding not to support certain parts of their product range that they now consider obsolete or, as is the case more regularly in the post-internet era, third-party online service providers.

Now, I know that IT is a fast-paced industry and that I should be grateful I am able to navigate my way around the field of roaming mines, unaided by a roaming-minefield guide, and without losing any virtual limbs but, as I am now a mere home user, I find the time spent addressing such issues a real irritant.

The irritant of late has been the Great Firewall of China (GFC) mine, which respawns again each time that it blows up an unsuspecting website or proxy service, so that it can continue its killing spree ad infinitum. Of course this only applies inside China but it affects me and those around me.

Today's nuisance mine, however, is one that I thought to be quite slow moving and unlikely to cause me any problems once I was able to get past GFC: my beloved Blogger.com.

I received an e-mail this morning which read:

You are receiving this e-mail because one or more of your
blogs at Blogger.com are set up to publish via FTP. Earlier this
year we announced a planned shut-down of FTP support on
Blogger Buzz (the official Blogger blog), and that deadline of
May 1st is quickly approaching. This is the second and final
email reminder to migrate your FTP blog from your current
URL to a Blogger-managed URL (either a Custom Domain
or a Blogspot URL).

For more information on the deprecation of FTP, as well as
a handful of helpful resources which will help walk you through
the migration process, please take a look at our dedicated migration
blog: http://blogger-ftp.blogspot.com/.

Thanks for using Blogger.

Oh, joy of joys! I get to spend my morning changing things that have worked perfectly for as long as I can remember, with the uncertaintly that accompanies the process, not knowing if they will ever really function quite the same again. What have I done to deserve such excitement on an otherwise enjoyable day?

So, for three years I have been able to publish the blog quite happily using FTP, but now I must change my settings to publish to a Blogspot URL or a custom domain. Why? It all works fine and it is just a piece of script. What are they changing behind the scenes which means that the capability to publish via FTP is being abandoned?

Even as I write this I do not know if it will publish correctly or if I am going to have to manually create today's blog post using HTML. I sincerely hope that I do not as I would be faced with going through the same process for every update from now on. I do not want a Blogspot URL. I do have a custom domain but I don't really want to use it. I want to keep on publishing via FTP, the same as I have always done, because it works.

Anyway, I am now going to set up a new address with Blogger. My domains and webspace will end up as nothing more than expensive redirects as I do not have the time or energy to chase down my ISP from China to change all of the DNS entries and besides I may want to use the sites for something other than a blog one day. I will endeavour to update all redirects from other sites and any links that people may have as soon as possible and my apologies for any inconvenience caused by today's mine.

Time for lunch and a beer...