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They've tried to criminalize 'hacker' and 'cracker' and tried to get people to confuse the two. There might be a reason for this. If people actually start using computers and start respecting the 'net for a legitimate place to get their news and entertainment, then the news and entertainment media loses it's stranglehold on what people actually watch and see.

If people actually see both sides of an issue, they might come to a conclusion that does not fall in line with the media's pre-conceived notion on how society should run.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Well, then they would have their work cut out for them, wouldn't they?

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

That would be an interesting experiment in art class.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

If there is the connectivity to the desktop box it's time to buy. Why? Because anything that is missing on the PDA, you can compile with a cross compiler and put onto the machine. The perfect geek toy, if a bit expensive. Then again, I've spent more on things less useful than something I can play ACEFreecell during meetings with.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

There are a boatload of niche groups that only have a few hundred/thousand people that qualify in the whole world. IRL it is almost impossible to cater to groups that small because they are geographically seperated. On the 'net these smaller groups can find each other and keep updated with the latest and keep each other informed on what is going on that concerns them.

The other benefit of the 'net is that no matter where the information exists, it is accessable to all and no one has to go without the latest updates due to not knowing they exist.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Unlike some years ago where the 'Linux freaks' were seen slinking around, talking to each other in mumbles and not taken seriously by anyone in authority.

Today there are more than two or three vendors and people are realizing that Linux of all flavors is here to stay.

Now, when the *BSD groups get together and put up their own wing, it will be a vertible choice cornicopia and the user will come out ahead no matter what happens.

Competition building better systems and users having choice, what a concept.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Maybe pressure from the users, like US, can actually make MS sit up and take notice that it's tactics are unacceptable. Take that one step farther and start writing them when something goes wrong with MS software and/or makes your machine lock up.

You never know, they might actually be willing to listen to reason.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

That may very well be why NIST (formally known as National Bureau of Standards) is under the Department of Commerce.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

What's next? Is someone going to send Ralph Reed to a committee headed by Democrats to get something that Ralph wants?

Holy cow, hope this is on CSPAN

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

'"We have 48-port edge devices and most of them are full. Some are 10 megabit, some are 100 megabit out from the hubs," '

This will be a wonderful blueprint for the Sysadmins who are looking to upgrade their systems from 10BT/10B2 networks (does anyone use 10B2 anymore?) and are looking for a system that can handle the bandwidth that the modern 'net uses. Streaming media, stock tickers, realtime quotes, CNN on-line, and a hundred other things that are bandwidth-sucking and the bane of sysadmins everywhere.

If this works out like it should, we can then go to management and get the upgrade to gigabit as new pieces are required. This is a mix already and a high-availability system so it should be a cinch to handle the needs of a typical office network.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

They did with 2600 and are trying to make that case law now.

We will see how it turns out.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Not in the least. I just think it is funny that he considers the Linux phenomena to be bizarre when all it is is a different delivery system and distribution system than MS is used to.

What I find interesting is how many years downloadable software has been around and how many thousands of software products have been both downloadable only or dual accessable by download and in shrinkwrap, but this is a bizarre way of software distribution? Or did he actually mean of Business model? Reading the interview suggests the second, yet it seems he equates 'Linux' with the commercial entities who distribute the software.

Not unknowledgable, just interesting the way Linux is lumped into commercial companies instead of acknowledging the community as a whole.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Originally, you have to have SOME central repository to get the peers together. Small time may very well work great with two people or a dozen who are in the same area in real life, but how will I know there is someone else out there with a peer napster-type app the same as me who is also into saving the left handed, baby seals from nuclear power unless there is a central place (like /. for instance) to have the software downloadable from?

If the governments and other big brother types close THOSE down, peer to peer becomes hit and miss and only as good as the new release mechanism.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

I would much prefer an open universe to a propriatairy one where one company has exclusive rights to charge whatever they want....

What? Oh, never mind.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

There are quite a few things I've researched on-line only to find the only documents are from College classes and they are not available. This will change quite a bit of that.

It may also cause some people to see more clearly what they are looking for in a coursework (thinking adult education mostly) and be able to define what courses they want to take BEFORE they sign and pay the money only to find out it's either too advanced or too basic for what they require for their own personal knowledge.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

If only for the one problem with the root zones. If those (six? ten?) root DNS servers are cracked, the whole 'net is in shambles as soon as the TTL expires for each site.

I'm not sure what the answer IS, but it cannot be to have the entirety of the internet dependant on a relative handful of base servers.

It's like the 'Jesus nut' on a helicopter. Single point of failure means catastrophic failure for the machine. The difference is that the 'net has the capability of double/triple redundancy.

The more spread out the base servers, and the more there are, the better off we are even with the increased work load of maintaining the new rash of servers required.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

As the other DSL providers go under I see the Speakeasy network grow. I had requests in for DSL from three providers for over a year, one folding, one just flat out ignoring all new requests and one not able to get the bell company around here to put in a line because you didn't go through the local bell company. I wonder how many of those smaller companies went under because of non-responsiveness of the bell companies?

Speakeasy took less than a month and service has been outstanding for the three months that I've had service.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Uhhh, ohhhh. If they bring this to TV, my toaster may watch it and decide to take out a small country. Just like someone has decided that make believe violence can make kids violence.

Spend quality time with your appliances, people before they see this show and do something they shouldn't.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Apparently some find my new year's eve a bit boring, to the point of making AC comments about 'loser thing to do' and something about my sister.

Well, after spending the number of new year's eves in other countries, away from family, in places you don't speak the language, surrounded by concertina and minefields, I'll tell you that spending it with family talking about inane stuff is about the best new year's eve a person can have.

2001 rocks, I just would like to know what 3010 brings. Maybe we'll even see it.

To the person who apparently did nasty things to my sister as AC, she must be a replicant as I don't have one. I hope you enjoyed it.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Watched 2001, talked about 1984, 2001, and all the other year-based stories.

Waiting for 2010 to see Jupiter.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Is get a good book for it, fortunately, there is just the thing you're looking for about four articles down.

This is right after Extreme slug racing.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Instead of buying new machines with WIN on them, we've started using P200 class machines and putting Linux and *BSD onto them and putting those out to do the work. A lot of time all someone needs is an x-server to do the work and the CPU time is actually on an Ultra 80 or something similar. Do you pay out MS fees, get exceed AND have to get new machines, or do you use what you already have, drop on of the *NIX versions on there and rock with the same or greater stability and a LOT fewer fees upfront. Basically free because you've already written off the machine to be donated etc and the money's long gone for that

Recycle, it's the only way.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

I believe it was SP4 that the only thing anyone can tell (where I work anyway) that it did was break Lotus Notes connectivity so you could not run a notes server with that pack installed. Calling MS brought a 'You need to purchase a Server license for that machine.'

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Maybe you would rather just allow someone else to hold onto your thesis for a few months while you finish it, but I doubt it. Now you believe that you can put all your intellectual property into the hands of someone else and they will hold it safe and secure for you? They're corporate, the bottom line is the bottom line. This is a great way to get new ideas into the stream without paying top dollar (not anymore but you know what I mean) to hire someone who may take their property somewhere else. And this surprises you?

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Thus my comment about Debian. Notice I did not sing RedHat's praises? Note I did not say how wonderful it was?

Maybe that's because RedHat has some of the same problems MS has with production Vs stability.

RedHat shipped 7.0 with a compiler that broke quite a bit. Poor planning and rush to ship, JUST like what this column is about.

Maybe you should not be quite so quick to assume that just because someone likes Linux, they are blind to the drawbacks. Read all of it and not just what you want to.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

That is one of the things you get when your product is driven by the market. Upgrade, got to push new product, even if it is not quite ready for market. People will decide they need the newest and latest and upgrade. Sales flat? Push an upgrade. Everybody knows that they have to get service patches so they won't mind if the service patch comes out before the actual release of the product (as in WIN2K) so there is no real PR harm in pushing a product that is not ready for the masses. Debian may be slower to market, but their stuff is darn sure ready to be distributed when it gets there.

On a paranoid note about MS: It makes one wonder whether MS would distribute something knowing darn well it had security holes just to get 'something new' on the market.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Come on, what woud YOU do were you in their position?

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

"The worker who sent out the e-mail, a middle manager, has had his salary docked"

Excuse me? This person still works for the Austrailian government?

There is something VERY wrong with this picture.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Or does yelling in it's ear and banging it on the table not wake it up and it's nailed to the perch.

DanH
(Happy Apr 1st to you as well.)
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

"Ward, don't you think you're being a little hard on the Beaver?"

Geeze, with lines like that it's no wonder there are so many unwed mothers.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

That is just a ruse to get the violent kids theory off guns and onto something else.

Maybe if there's a stalemate about the violent movies Vs gun availablility we can get to actually deciding what in the heck is allowing the violence to propogate in kids.

In all honesty, school violence is lower than it has been in decades, violence in general, in the US has been on the decline since about 1993 and both sides, liberal and conservative, know it.

John Ashcroft is about the LEAST of your worries about civil rights. You might want to take on the book banners, the 'the freedom of speech is for anyone who agrees with MY point of view' types within the liberal community and the 'I don't care what it says about the people, ban inanimate objects' types.

Maybe we can get to allowing parents to -er- parent and not require schools and other government bodies to do so.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

AOLNET will require programs created by AOL as AIM requires?

Will our IRC clients work on DALNet next year? Next 6 months? Or will AOL require you to have AOL software and have an active account on AOL?

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

I read /. in Bosnia regularly. Seems just the thing to remind me what home was and what was important beyond the minefields. It also kept me up to date on what the IT industry was up to.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Is this for Geeks or Rednecks?

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Solar flares DO play a part in electronics malfunctions. Not near the part that some seem to think and that Hollywood has played up, but a part non-the-less.

Now that computers have minute electronics inside them, I wonder if the flares will affect the computers chips etc.

Radiation screws with electronics, thank goodness for the Van Allen belts around the Earth that shield us from most of it.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

then this is not a good choice? The software is still buggy and the filesystem is not frozen.

I think I'll wait until there's a Debian version.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Are the islands U.S. property? How do the agents know that e-gold has NOT reported over $5,000? If the details are not there, then they should bust ALL on-line banking firms, whether or not they are FDIC insured or credit union types who do not have a policy of reporting.

I'm sorry, without more information, this piece of news is just flamebait in and of itself.

Please post an addendum as soon as you get it.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

No, I have not dealt with AutoDesk. My in-laws use AutoCAD and a dozen other similar programs for their tool and die making equipment and I've only had a nodding acquaintance with any of those licensing issues.

I'm a configuration manager and used to Solaris, Rational's Purify, SUN's Workshop, and similar items with rather straight forward licenses and agreements.

I've also taken the liberty to have almost all our desktops moved over to running Linux of some stripe and we have started porting our software to Linux BECAUSE of the license issue. It's an easier license to understand and use as a basis for a software product. Everybody wins, the customer gets a good product as a reduced rate because they don't have to worry about the OS or licensing that, we get the source and can figure out what's screwing with what (if we care to) and put those changes back into the Linux baseline (if they care to put them there) and the only people who are missing the boat are the ones who require a zillion dollars for the licensing fees for any software product that includes their product.

This is one of the reasons we went away from MS desktops. Well, paying three/four times for the same software when you use Ghost to create a desktop does get a bit bothersome as well. Now we don't have to worry about the OS on the desktops, we have x-servers that display all the tools we require for day to day operations and we only pay once for the system no matter how many times we install the OS and no matter what machines it's on.

Oh well, enough rant. Seems something else is worthy of comment on /.

Dan
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Anyone who has read the news about Virginia Beach Gov't should not find this surprising at all. A company wants to ensure it's licenses are being upheld.

Now, I could get into the idea that MS waited until there was ample evidence that some governments were dependant on it's products before starting this, but that would sound like a Linux zelot.

Still begs the issue, why now? Why did they not start on day one and come down on pirates? Why have there been posts on MS bulletin boards saying that they don't care if you take the OS you use at work home with you to use. Unless they knew this day would come and only now the boom is lowering.

Does this really surprise anyone? Ensure everyone is dependant on it, saturate the market, then suddenly decide to play hardball with licenses. Gee, sounds like a decent business practice, but only works if you're a monopoly.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

No, my post was a joke. No, I didn't see the 60 hits for FreeBSD, I was making a comment on some of the more clueless dot-coms and their marketing approaches for the various open source OSs.

I'll try to be a little more explicit next time.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Maybe it was a joke.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Did you not see the 'Other' down there? Probably has Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and OS400.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

"the V-Chip will allow parents more freedom in allowing their children to watch shows" HELLOOO, maybe what we need is to have the parents spend more TIME with the kids instead of taking over the parenting duties.

Maybe if parents actually sat down and talked to the kids or took them out to do family stuff we wouldn't NEED the V-Chip because then the parents would know what the kids were doing and would actually be part of their lives instead of relying on the electronic babysitter.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

you need a LOT of nodes. How else do you keep up with 'everything'?

I'm impressed, but I don't see my ex-wife listed in the site.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Most of us grew up with bullys, most of us grew up picked on by someone (even if you were the bully, SOMONE picked on you.) Maybe it's time to take into account the idea that life is not handed to you on a silver platter and let kids learn what it's like to actually achieve their goals instead of requiring passing them even though they don't learn a darn thing. Maybe that will have them learn enough self esteem that they will know life is way to precious to waste and that they had better make use of everything they have.

Pandering to everything that sounds good and feels good is NOT an answer, unfortunately that seems to be the way the schools have gone to. Don't care about learning that there is failure in life, make the kid feel good about theirself even though they have done nothing to deserve it.

Maybe it's time to get the heck away from the give me attitude and make the kids earn their way again and then they will get the idea that they ARE responsible for what they get and not rewarded for breathing.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

The newspapers have a standing rule NOT to print false alarm fire alarms for the explicit reason that they do not want copycat kids doing the same thing. Yet they print, front page, about school shootings, even they are lower today than ever before. School shootings are on the decline for goodness sake.

Want to make the front page? Want everyone to know your name? Guess how to do it. Gee, when you don't make anything but the local paper it's not really worth it, but if you believe you're ignored, the news papers are only too happy to help you achieve noteriety by splashing your name from coast to coast.

Now if only they would print the same place, in the same type face about people using firearms as defensive tools, the crime rate would drop faster than it has since the 'shall issue' laws went into effect.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Debian is the definition of stability, keep it up. The 'gotta push this out the door' mentality has taken over most of the other distros. Debian has always been the rock steady distro to turn to if you want a system to stay up.

Apt-get rocks too. That is possibly the biggest selling point for newbies, that it gets all dependancies as well and not just errors out when you're trying to upgrade a package.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Making you vomit is what I hope the site in question does. I would MUCH rather have the people I utterly disagree with out in the open than keep them sheltered and require secrecy to operate.

If you allow them open forum, people will see what garbage spews forth from them and the people will shy away from the idea of being associated with the group. If you require them to maintain secrecy, you give a certain mistique to the culture and people will be curious and look into the idea rather than away.

The anti-abortionists have as much right to free speech as the KKK, as Al Sharpton, as the Panthers, as David Duke, as the Illinois nazis (I hate Illinois nazis), as the skinheads, etc.

If you keep them under wraps and deny them free speech, you will allow them to work without knowing what is going on within the movements, if you allow free speech and do NOT censor, then you will also know what is going on within them and can keep a much better watch on what is planned and plan accordingly yourself.

Be careful who you try to silence, there's an ex NAACP lawyer in Texas who said it best "If they do not have freedom of speech, what makes you think we will later?" when he took a klan 1st amendment case Pro Bono and was fired by the NAACP.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Can I get it in Teal?

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page

Alright, count me in. One problem, though. I don't think I will be asking for it to open the pod bay doors any time soon.

DanH
Cav Pilot's Reference Page