## 2026.09.05 / Saturday

## Nex Updates - an idea

On the one hand it would be nice to have an overview of what's
going on on the site, on the other - they say "don't touch a
running system" for a reason -- adding complexity to the software
literally running the NC would be a Bad Idea(tm)...

But... where there's a will there's a way, using the existing
infrastructure without changing its critical components.

- A script started every 15 minutes or every hour, by a cronjob:

- goes through all directories under ${NEX_ROOT}/shore,

- if there's an 'index' file - checks when it was changed (index
  hides the other files in the directory, so it'd be the right way
  to honour users' privacy,

- if there's no 'index' file - modification times of all files are
  checked, and added to a list, with the timestamp, name, and
  owner (name of the user's dir),

- after all directories are checked - the list is sorted by
  (descending) timestamp, and the first 10/20/100 entries are put
  into a file in:
  "=> /shore/user/filename.txt 2026-09-04" 
  format,

- then the file is posted via NPS to one specific location
  (/shore/what_is_new ?).

Unfortunately, it's nothing a regular user here can do, because it
requires a direct access to the underlying filesystem.