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Geek Flavor
snowphoton told us to check out http://www.geekflavor.com. "It seems to be an 'open source' Web site, in that people are allowed to ftp anything they want to the site, or use ssh to modify the contents." I took a quick look at this, and it looks like a really cool net experiment. The word 'geek' is getting kind of over-used (CT:KIND of overused! Sheesh), but this seems like a lot of fun, and a nifty way to waste time when you should really be working.
I'm specifically worrying about Signal:Noise ratios and illegal content...
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
A discussion between some users logged in as geekflav:
...
/etc/passwd /etc/passwd... Wonder why ;)
/etc/passwd /usr/openwin/bin/xauth -q -
Broadcast Message from geekflav (pts/16) on vux2 Tue Jul 25 07:59:59...
At least you can't change the password easily
Broadcast Message from geekflav (pts/20) on vux2 Tue Jul 25 08:00:14...
Is kill -9 -1 stupid enough?
;-)
Broadcast Message from geekflav (pts/6) on vux2 Tue Jul 25 08:00:21...
well it took about 10 mins for someone to erase the index.html (spot the twit that can't read). [Mike]
Message from geekflav on vux2 (pts/21) [ Tue Jul 25 08:00:21 ]
Broadcast Message from geekflav (pts/13) on vux2 Tue Jul 25 08:00:53...
This takes me back 10 years!
Broadcast Message from geekflav (pts/4) on vux2 Tue Jul 25 08:01:03...
And I was watching top hoping to see some major slashdotting.. har when there's no page
Broadcast Message from geekflav (pts/26) on vux2 Tue Jul 25 08:01:08...
will you lot shut the fuck up!
Broadcast Message from geekflav (pts/13) on vux2 Tue Jul 25 08:01:22...
Nah!
Broadcast Message from ??? (pts/4) on vux2 Tue Jul 25 08:01:40...
root pts/18 7:57am vi
oops
Broadcast Message from ??? (pts/7) on vux2 Tue Jul 25 08:01:44...
Hmm, root is editing
Received disconnect: Command terminated on signal 9.
And here is some w(1) output:
8:01am up 19 day(s), 3:38, 28 users, load average: 1.27, 1.25, 0.90
User tty login@ idle JCPU PCPU what
amzmusic pts/1 10:21pm 9:26 -csh
geekflav pts/3 7:47am 1 2 -tcsh
geekflav pts/4 7:49am 16 w
geekflav pts/5 7:50am 10 -tcsh
geekflav pts/6 7:54am 1 -tcsh
geekflav pts/7 7:51am 1:06 -tcsh
geekflav pts/8 7:51am 1 2 -tcsh
geekflav pts/9 7:54am 3 more index.html
geekflav pts/10 7:53am 3 -tcsh
geekflav pts/11 7:53am 1 bash
geekflav pts/12 8:00am 1 -tcsh
geekflav pts/13 7:55am 1 wall
geekflav pts/14 7:56am -tcsh
geekflav pts/15 7:56am 2 1 -tcsh
geekflav pts/16 7:56am -tcsh
geekflav pts/17 8:00am vi index.html
root pts/18 7:57am vi
geekflav pts/19 7:57am 1 ftp ftp.bitchx.com
geekflav pts/21 7:58am 1 -tcsh
geekflav pts/20 7:58am -tcsh
geekflav pts/22 7:58am 2 -tcsh
geekflav pts/23 7:58am -tcsh
geekflav pts/24 7:59am -tcsh
geekflav pts/25 7:59am 1 -tcsh
geekflav pts/26 7:59am -tcsh
geekflav pts/27 7:59am vi index.html
geekflav pts/28 8:01am26days
geekflav pts/29 8:01am -tcsh
--
Niklas Nordebo | nino at sonox.com | +46-708-405095
I will admit that I didn't exactly idiot-proof the project. I was hoping that by giving complete control to everyone, something truly interesting might develop, but I failed to take into account the power of a single ignorant admin.
People have always used technology for destructive purposes -- the thrill of anonymity is intoxicating, and people often lose sight of their everyday code of conduct. Once little Timmy Smith because |)Ar|I never expected this project to amount to much. I just had some webspace and a domain, and decided to give it a shot. I think, though, that perhaps this experiment deserves another chance, although with a better plan on my part.
If anyone out there has some suggestions on how this "Open Source" website experiment could work better, please contact me at ibn_qalb@arabia.com (not my usual address, if you were wondering). I'd love to have some help in creating a new, sturdier site that would actually be built to handle something like this.
Thanks everyone! It was fun while it lasted - Keep an eye out for the Alpha release!
There was a posting by a guy over on Kuro5hin who had set up an open file area for his web users to put their files so that they could be accessed anywhere in the world. Unfortunately he set it up so that anyone could acess anyone else's files. People put copyrighted programs and fonts there, and apparently people were downloading them. The vendors complained and the FBI came and seized his computers and the U.S. attorney was considering prosecuting him. He may or may not have been in the right, but he faces some heavy legal bills nevertheless.
Ward Cunningham designed the first such web site of which I am aware (called a Wiki, or a Wiki-Wiki) several years ago. Co-webs have been in use for quite some time, though they tend to be somewhat more sophisticated than a mere place to dump ftp -- usually providing editors and "smart" pre-parsers to facilitate collaboration by newbies.'
See, e.g., this swiki page.
Despite the skepticism, these things work very well and are rarely the subject of abuse. A sandbox is provided for people who just want to play, and folks are generally quite courteous as a matter of practice. We use one for the Squeak Smalltalk open source community, which you can access from the main (traditional) web site page for Squeak.. The Swiki is one of the primary repositories of information for the Squeak community.
We have found cowebs an excellent vehicle for collaboratively creating documentation for open source projects that have run too long without doco support.. While it is not a great place to build final documents, it is a great place to gather information, and over time mold into the same.
This probably would have been fun and cool--if it hadn't been posted on Slashdot. Face it, Taco, your project now has a lot of intertia--you can't tiptoe delicately into something anymore. Once you mention it, it is toast.
How many times have we seen things like this on cool websites posted to Slashdot: "Well, we got mentioned on Slashdot. Sorry I have to take this down, but my bandwidth can't handle it." Pretty soon people are going to start thinking twice before even creating sites like this. Slashdot will be "stifling innovation".
--
Give us our karma back! Punish Karma Whores through meta-mod!
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
(Exchange Migration HOWTO coming soon)
This idea has been implemented for awhile in a more elegant fashion via WikiWikiWebs. To see how they work, check out The Portland Pattern Repository
To set up one yourself, I recommend checking out phpwiki.
...and I hope this ain't it. As evidenced by the number of posts as I write this (9) this article hasn't been up more than a few minutes and already someone's been clever enough to disable it. Props to your mad skillz, d00d...
Not that I in any way agree with web page defacements, but at least I can understand how taking down or modifying a secured web page that a lot of people will see has a certain publicity stunt appeal to it - defacing Seti@Home and putting your h4x0r nick on it is kind of like spraypainting your name atop the world's biggest water tower. But what does it say about human nature when the very first thing people want to do to a supposed community collaboration project is to anonymously make it unavailable to everyone else?
Here I am, always an advocate of privacy and anonymity, and yet when I see people do stuff like this it makes me want to rethink all of those positions. On the one hand I'm cynical enough to think a whole lot of people would want to nuke a site like this; on the other hand even after I've had my coffee and am no longer quite so misanthropic I realize that with total anonymity even a single idiot can ruin a lot of other people's day with total impunity.
Makes ya think...
THE STORY
A while ago, I had a great website called Geekflavor, which had daily-updated geek news. It ran on perl, and recreated itself every few minutes to get the latest headlines from other sites. I tried different hosting services, however, but none of them (this one included) were very perl-friendly. So I gave up, and never got around to finding another one. Maybe one day, when I have more time....
SO WHAT?
So -- I have decided to Open Source this website! I am giving away the password and making it a free-for-all. As long as it's nothing illegal or pornographic, you can upload whatever you like. The site has got good bandwidth, so that's not a problem. All I ask is that you leave this page (index.html) intact, with the exception of adding links to additional pages (which you can do with a text editor).
HOW DO I PLAY?
Login: geekflav
Password: dnzvmsii
FTP site: ftp.geekflavor.com
Simply place all html files in the /htdocs directory, and cgi scripts in the /cgi-bin directory. Perl seems to work well, it's just that my site relied on crontab, which was disabled by the admins.
Shell access is also available, but you have to use SSH software (i.e., you can't just telnet to Geekflavor.com). Try PenguiNet -- It's my client of choice. This is useful for editing existing files (such as adding links from this page to other pages), and tweaking scripts.
RULES
Since it's a free-for-all, nothing is really sacred. Anyone can modify anything that has been uploaded by anyone else. This is meant to be creative and productive, however, rather than destructive. I hope that this site will grow and evolve in an interesting way, rather than simply serving as a giant spamwad. Also, I ask that you leave this text intact for the benefit of others.
Have fun!
[feel free to add anything below this line, such as links to uploaded pages, etc.]
Am I the first to modify this? -Sean
Before it becomes too much of a free for all -Mike
Hot grits rule - Andy
www.cyberia200o.org : cyberia : sub-dir on www.geekflavor.com
---------
I'm the guy who did this GeekFlavor thing, and I have to say that I'm very disappointed in how it turned out. It wasn't up for very long at all before some script kiddie had to bust some 1337 moves on it.
I will admit that I didn't exactly idiot-proof the project. I was hoping that by giving complete control to everyone, something truly interesting might develop, but I failed to take into account the power of a single ignorant admin.
People have always used technology for destructive purposes -- the thrill of anonymity is intoxicating, and people often lose sight of their everyday code of conduct. Once little Timmy Smith because |)Ar|I never expected this project to amount to much. I just had some webspace and a domain, and decided to give it a shot. I think, though, that perhaps this experiment deserves another chance, although with a better plan on my part.
If anyone out there has some suggestions on how this "Open Source" website experiment could work better, please contact me at ibn_qalb@arabia.com (not my usual address, if you were wondering). I'd love to have some help in creating a new, sturdier site that would actually be built to handle something like this.
Got Rhinos?
I understand the point of and the lamentation in your post. However, I heard an anthropologist point out an interesting fact, how well humans do get along, better than most other species. Humans are willing to sit quietly next to total strangers in a dark movie theater or in a crowded train. Other animals are mostly not capable of this sort of feat.