Slashdot Mirror

Many of these attacks are based on benchmarks from companies that clearly have no idea how to tune linux. Linux.com has created a section known as tuneup that aims to collect ideas on how to tune your system or just make it run better. I'd welcome any help to make this a one stop site for for all preformance related tweaks, maybe then we won't have to deal with these attacks.

I apologize for plugging a site I'm responsibe for, but I do think something needs to be done.
- MbM

I've had those same experiances in the /. chat room. Someone was saying that if you used Red Hat, you weren't worthy of using Linux. And then others bash Mandrake in this article because it's just Red Hat with improvements, or they say it's an exact rip-off of Linux. This is the type of thing that you don't want people who are interested in Linux to see. If all they see is bashing, and "I'm better than you" arguements, than they'll think Linux is for a bunch of fools. I think it should be mandetory for all Linux users to read the Advocacy How-To to stop scaring off people. I know when I was trying to find out info about Linux, I was turned off by people saying MS sucked because they were MS, and everyone who used MS products was an idiot. I myself have written a article on Linux advocacy if anyone wants to read it.

I think PC Week really blew it. If you read their configuration page They list the steps that they took to secure Linux.

Choose not to install services such as SMTP, FTP server, News
Install Photoads
Chmod 777 the photoads directory
Chmod 755 cgi-bin
Chmod 766 kas_data.pl
Chmod 766 adnumber.num
Chmod 766 ads_data.pl
Chmod 755 all *.cgi files
Configure default directories for photoads
Set 0 length on upload files
Delete unnecessary user accounts
Set root password to
Disable all services in inetd.conf
Configure apache to run as nobody
Disable server side includes

These configs implement all changes in linux.com security-howto chapter eight and the apache group's security tips

So we know that they at least know about the Linux security howto. They should have at least been tipped off by this section in chapter 8:

Denial of service attacks have increased greatly in recent years. Some of the more popular and recent ones are listed below. Note that new ones show up all the time, so this is just a few examples. Read the Linux security lists and the bugtraq list and archives for more current information.

And if they would have read chapter 9

9.5 Apply All New System Updates.
Most Linux users install from a CD-ROM. Due to the fast-paced nature of security fixes, new (fixed) programs are always being released. Before you connect your machine to the network, it's a good idea to check with your distribution's ftp site and get all the updated packages since you received your distribution CD-ROM. Many times these packages contain important security fixes, so it's a good idea to get them installed.

The thing the really gets to me was the post someone quoted where someone from PCWeek stated that they applied Fixpack 5 for NT because it was only one file. Come on. Did anyone else see all the keys they edited in the NT registry? To the eye untrained in NT administration, it looks like PCWeek spent at least three to four times the effort jumping through hoops to make certain that NT machine has secure. It is inexcusable for them to go through such effort to secure one box and not the other

There is no excuse for anyone putting up the Linux box they did in the state it was, but especially not for a crack this box contest. I'm just pissed they aren't losing more money on this. $1000 is a pittance for stupidity. And just for their record, I'd be just as pissed if the table had been turned and they put NT out there without the latest security patchesr

--Jamin Philip Gray
jamin@DoLinux.org

Combining Donald Knuth's MMIX, the Freedom CPU Project and Linux might transfer us into true Cyberspace.

Welcome to my world. Welcome to the world of Linux.

According to linux.com, Redhat has repudiated this story.

Sigh.

I think this is true. The sites I usually frequent on a daily basis are:

Slashdot has the Nerd news, of course...
Linux.com has great Linux news, tuning tips, articles and other stuff...
Themes.org has great themes for all the Window Managers, gtk etc...
Freshmeat just rocks when it comes to the latest in applications.

If I go to any other site, it's usually linked off of one of those. *grin*

Very interesting read about the upcoming KDE 1.1.2 and KDE 2 beta.

Another good one is http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ - It has what they call "NHF's", which stands for Newbie Help Files.

You may also want to have a look at Linux.Com which is working to provide articles and links to help newbies get established.

Once you understand the basics, learning how to do new things or handle new situations becomes much easier. Then your tools can become mailing list archives for particular things you may be looking for information on, and deja.com & google.com for that hard-to-find tidbit.

Good luck. :)

Jason Burke has started a Linux Mentors program to teach kids the wonders of Linux and all that. He wrote up a piece that's on Linux.com in the LUGs section. The important thing is to just keep trying. Talk to businesses and stuff, somewhere there's people eager to get rid of some 486s or low Pentiums that have collected dust in their storeroom.

Recently I heard the following on CNBC (paraphrased from memory, but very close to what they said):

"Many of you may have heard of the new computer operating system Linux ... Well, we have their CEO here today."

It really caught me off-guard, and left me wondering who you'd call the CEO of Linux (Linus, probably). They were talking about the CEO of VA Linux. They appear to have confused Linux the OS with VA Linux the company.

This makes me wonder how widespread this will be, particularly as VA Linux now runs http://linux.com/. I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'm wary that their name change (from VA Research) could have been a ploy to co-opt the Linux world.

Sorry if I sound paranoid, but sometimes that's appropriate, especially in lucrative young sub-industry.

In case you missed it, VA hired on 2 debian developers (that I know of), and the Linux.Com site they host advertises itself as "Powered by Debian" :)

I followed the instructions at this link: http://linux.com/howto/mini/DHCP-4.html and I didn't have any trouble setting up a DHCP server on Redhat 6.0...

"... it doesn't have to be Windows, and as Windows is expensive and overly-complicated, quite a lot of these boxes won't be Windows. They'll be Linux, BSD or BeOS, and the customers won't really care. "

I think that customers will care, but not for good reasons. Unfortunately, Windows has dominated the market for long enough that "PC" and "Windows" are linked together in most consumers' minds.

In the world the I (and probably a good number of Slashdot readers) live, surrounded by geeks, it's easy to forget that most people, most current computer owners even, haven't even heard of Linux. At best, they saw an article in a trade mag, but they aren't giving it a lot of thought. Plus, those magazine articles are often loaded with FUD, and they make the customer less likely to want a computer sans Windows.

This is why everyone needs to read the Advocacy HOWTO. Yes, most people will prefer Windows to an operating system they haven't heard of (even if it means waiting a few months...and I'm sure Microsoft won't let anyone think that it'll be more than a few months' delay), but we can work to make sure people have heard of Linux (as well as BeOS, BSD, etc.), and that they know that they have a choice right now. When these EasyPCs come out, and they only customers can have Windows is to wait, the choice will be clear.

1. Elitism. While Slashdot is not uniformly as technical as some of the readers (Alan Cox, Tom Christiansen, and Bruce Perens all read Slashdot and I won't claim to be as skilled or as knowledgable as them :), it seems oriented towards a more technical audience. It has not, in the past, been a forum for informing people not already interested in the material it covers. It has also not, in the past, been a place as technically inclined as Freshmeat.
2. As for Jon's ability to get to the root of complex problems, I sometimes disagree. He has a knack for simplifying complex issues, but I don't always feel that he simplifies them accurately; he has and seemingly always has had an agenda behind his writing, and it appears to influence his writing. Whether I disagree or agree with the apparent agenda is a non-issue; in fact I agree and disagree about evenly.
3. Slashdot, in the past, has not catered to people trying to learn what the Internet is. It has largely catered to people around the same level technically as Rob Malda, and the other editors have influenced this. However, it feels like Jon Katz' contributions are a good bit afield of the others'.

• Linux.com
  
• Linux.org
  
• Red Hat Software
  
• Debian GNU/Linux
  
• Slackware Linux
  
  Thats all I can think of in the 10 seconds I took to write this. Hope it helps!
  

... and I mean this in the best possible way. Hasn't anyone else read ESR's interview at linux.com where he talks about calibrating for media interest? The media are pathetically poor at reporting subtle (or even not-so-subtle) philosophical nuances. The media are great at reporting conflict and personality clashes -- it's their bread and butter. So, if RMS and ESR let their subtle (though not necessarily unimportant) clash over strategy and tactics into the media, they sustain interest in both "free" and "open source" software, and more folks end up actually reading the GNU Manifesto and the Open Source Definition.

I would also like to note that part of the "clash" between RMS and ESR probably relates to the fact that RMS is an ethicist and a philosopher, and ESR is an aikidoka. RMS is concerned that the ethical imperitive and philosophical underpinnings of free software are not lost in the new emphasis on "open source" as a marketing strategy. ESR is a student of Aikido. In Aikido, you don't confront your opponent with force-vs-force, but you redirect your opponent's engergy in a less destructive way. Also, it is believed that simply doing Aikido is the primary way to absorb and begin to practice the philosophy of peaceableness, rather than beginning by studying the writings of O-Sensei.

So, RMS is trying intellectual and moral persuasion in order to promote free software. ESR is trying to get more corporations to do free software, and trusting that the philosophy will follow. Both approaches are complementary, not contradictory. I'm glad we have both RMS and ESR.

... and I mean this in the best possible way. Hasn't anyone else read ESR's interview at linux.com where he talks about calibrating for media interest? The media are pathetically poor at reporting subtle (or even not-so-subtle) philosophical nuances. The media are great at reporting conflict and personality clashes -- it's their bread and butter. So, if RMS and ESR let their subtle (though not necessarily unimportant) clash over strategy and tactics into the media, they sustain interest in both "free" and "open source" software, and more folks end up actually reading the GNU Manifesto and the Open Source Definition.

I would also like to note that part of the "clash" between RMS and ESR probably relates to the fact that RMS is an ethicist and a philosopher, and ESR is an aikidoka. RMS is concerned that the ethical imperitive and philosophical underpinnings of free software are not lost in the new emphasis on "open source" as a marketing strategy. ESR is a student of Aikido. In Aikido, you don't confront your opponent with force-vs-force, but you redirect your opponent's engergy in a less destructive way. Also, it is believed that simply doing Aikido is the primary way to absorb and begin to practice the philosophy of peaceableness, rather than beginning by studying the writings of O-Sensei.

So, RMS is trying intellectual and moral persuasion in order to promote free software. ESR is trying to get more corporations to do free software, and trusting that the philosophy will follow. Both approaches are complementary, not contradictory. I'm glad we have both RMS and ESR.

The Linux hardware vendors are some of the best corporate citizens I've seen in any industry. They wholeheartedly support the Linux community, because they realise that without it they wouldn't exist in the first place. I like the fact that Penguin Computing is providing servers for sites such as Linux Online, 32 Bits Online, and LinuxToday. Then you've got VA Linux Systems taking the time to ensure Linux.com doesn't get run over by corporate interests, but instead makes it a community interest site. Not to mention hosting Debian, GNU, and Themes.org. You've got to hand it to the Linux Store for pushing the envelope for low-cost systems.

The Linux hardware vendors have shown a dedication to the community and customers that is rarely seen in this generally cruel marketplace. I sincerely hope they keep it up.

Or LinuxMall.

See this article at linux.com

Or LinuxMall.

See this article at linux.com

The reason for the downtime was that I was originally planning on transfering the linuxhq.com domain to another organization.

Also, if an established organization within the Linux community would like to take ownership of the linuxhq.com domain and continue to maintain the web site with a dedication to quality, I would be willing to hear the proposal. But, if you are serious about taking ownership, you must have a solid plan in place and willing to provide the committment necessary to maintain one of the best web sites in the Linux community.

Illiad from userfriendly wrote an article that I think describes what MS is doing very well. Read it here

I used the Advanced Search Form and just highlighted my state and clicked "Search". Although a listing might be useful, you can still get a listing of all the LUGs in your state.

~afniv
"Man könnte froh sein, wenn die Luft so rein wäre wie das Bier"

Check their Linux.com FAQ, it explictly states that "We want people that are hard working and don't mind digging in and working for free." So I'd say your chances on getting paid is smaller than slim to none.

I like the interface. Very slick icons. That Baby Tux image is cool.
The interview with esr was interesting. And check out the user preferences .

One of the biggest challenges of getting Linux.com up and running was our time constraint. We had to build a site that could stand under the pressures of LOTS of hits, be maintable by a large group of community volunteers, and be able to expand quickly -- and the site had to come together in a few weeks time. Right now, the Linux.com you see is just the beginning. The infrastructure is built so we can add features newbies need, better resources for support, etc.
If you don't see a feature you want, or think we should change our content, tell us at feedback@linux.com. Community suggestions and ideas are what drive Linux.com!

I was trying to figure out how objective Rob & Crew could be for the linux.com announcement on slashdot. Rob is listed as being on the advisory board for the site. A journalist might decide not to run the story, or would hand it off to another reporter who did not have such an investment in the organization.

Now most of the time, the um, Slashdot editorial staff isn't posting items, such as this one, which are potential news makers in and of themselves. There have been a few times, such as the recent LinuxWorld conference where we would get a few snipets here and there.

But even so, this is not /.'s strong point. Slashdot is really good at filtering out everything else that is going on Out There(tm) and publishing links to news and information, a good portion of which I feel comfortable considering as journalism. And then we get to post comments about what we think (some of them off-topic), which isn't too far off from what Rob & Crew do in the two or three lines that usually accompany each post to the homepage.

When I come here (which is usually a couple times a day) I always consider the source, I use my own critical nogin, and I don't feel like I have to be led around by every piece of information that appears on slashdot.

cheers,

bnf

I was trying to figure out how objective Rob & Crew could be for the linux.com announcement on slashdot. Rob is listed as being on the advisory board for the site. A journalist might decide not to run the story, or would hand it off to another reporter who did not have such an investment in the organization.

Now most of the time, the um, Slashdot editorial staff isn't posting items, such as this one, which are potential news makers in and of themselves. There have been a few times, such as the recent LinuxWorld conference where we would get a few snipets here and there.

But even so, this is not /.'s strong point. Slashdot is really good at filtering out everything else that is going on Out There(tm) and publishing links to news and information, a good portion of which I feel comfortable considering as journalism. And then we get to post comments about what we think (some of them off-topic), which isn't too far off from what Rob & Crew do in the two or three lines that usually accompany each post to the homepage.

When I come here (which is usually a couple times a day) I always consider the source, I use my own critical nogin, and I don't feel like I have to be led around by every piece of information that appears on slashdot.

cheers,

bnf

Go see www.linux.com again. It has been updated. I think it's going to look great.

Anyone else noticed the similarity between the current contents of www.linux.com and www.transmeta.com? I think this is evidence of a shadowy Linux conspiracy. My guess is that their goal is nothing short of world domination. Beware!

Check out http://www.linux.com/Staff/feedback.htm to see all the comments that are posted through their comments page. Amazing what you can find out by just looking at the source.