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The Dangers of Being A Microbiologist
Anonymous Coward writes "Globe and Mail is running a story for all the paranoid conspiracy theorists among us: "Eleven microbiologists mysteriously dead over the span of just five months.... Throw in a few Russian defectors, a few nervy U.S. biotech companies, a deranged assassin or two, a bit of Elvis, a couple of Satanists, a subtle hint of espionage, a big whack of imagination, and the plot is complete, if a bit reminiscent of James Bond.""
First post of Topic as well as my first post! Woohoo!!
A man walks into a bar. The bartender says, "What is this, some kind of joke?"
Can you land on the Buoy? If you can, you get 500 points! Now give me a banana!
I really do not see how the "spooks" could cause something like that.
;)
Yeah, but Pagan Spooks could.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
Obviously the writer of the article is some right-wing Christian fundamentalist idiot. Everyone knows (except for the religious crazies) that Satanists are not pagans.
Chris 'coldacid' Charabaruk Meldstar Entertainment
Amen brother! [doesn't beleive he just said that] Satanists are the biggest marketing stunt of the past centuries. Albeit the ones described by preasts never really existed. Only the classical LaVeyan kind who mean no harm.
what do you expect this comes from the same society that think that dairy is the prime way to get protein.
hey if they said that a pagan is a satanist on tv, then it must be true.
cardshark wrote:
Perhaps some of those deaths seem suspicious, but please: a murder-suicide by an associate of the deceased? I really do not see how the "spooks" could cause something like that.
That's the one that proves it was the spooks!
Only they have the advanced mind control techniques to do that!
I have discovered a wonderful
Maybe it would help if you posted under someone?
Go Illini!!!
Really neat!
With the advanced warning that Fantastic Lad's views on these matters come with a heavy bias, since I have become utterly convinced that prevailant forces beyond the understanding of conventional science are at work all over the place all the time, here are my observations. .
Anyway, I've found the whole process of making these observations utterly fascinating, and I know there are some out there who might also be interested. And of course, Caveat Lector should be employed at all times when reading my stuff. While I tend to know WAY more on most of these topics than a bevy of New Age morons, I'm still only on the lower parts of the knowledge mountain myself! For every bit of verification I find, I run across 25 lies and bits of fabricated sensationalist crap.
-Fantastic Lad
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Lima, 8th of April, 2002.
To: Señor
JUAN ALBERTO GONZÁLEZ
General Manager of Microsoft, Perú
Dear Sir.
First of all, I thank you for your letter of March 25 2002 in which you state the official position of Microsoft relative to Bill Number 1609, Free Software in Public Administration, which is indubitably inspired by the desire for Peru to find a suitable place in the global technological context. In the same spirit, and convinced that we will find the best solutions through an exchange of clear and open ideas, I will take this opportunity to reply to the commentaries included in your letter.
While acknowledging that opinions such as yours constitute a significant contribution, it would have been even more worthwhile for me if, rather than formulating objections of a general nature (which we will analyse in detail later) you had gathered solid arguments for the advantages that proprietary software could bring to the Peruvian State, and to its citizens in general, since this would have allowed a more enlightening exchange in respect of each of our positions.
With the aim of creating an orderly debate, we will assume that what you call "open source software" is what the Bill defines as "free software", since there exists software for which the source code is distributed together with the program, but which does not fall within the definition established by the Bill; and that what you call "commercial software" is what the Bill defines as "proprietary" or "unfree", given that there exists free software which is sold in the market for a price like any other good or service.
It is also necessary to make it clear that the aim of the Bill we are discussing is not directly related to the amount of direct savings that can by made by using free software in state institutions. That is in any case a marginal aggregate value, but in no way is it the chief focus of the Bill. The basic principles which inspire the Bill are linked to the basic guarantees of a state of law, such as:
Free access to public information by the citizen.
Permanence of public data.
Security of the State and citizens.
To guarantee the free access of citizens to public information, it is indespensable that the encoding of data is not tied to a single provider. The use of standard and open formats gives a guarantee of this free access, if necessary through the creation of compatible free software.
To guarantee the permanence of public data, it is necessary that the usability and maintenance of the software does not depend on the goodwill of the suppliers, or on the monopoly conditions imposed by them. For this reason the State needs systems the development of which can be guaranteed due to the availability of the source code.
To guarantee national security or the security of the State, it is indispensable to be able to rely on systems without elements which allow control from a distance or the undesired transmission of information to third parties. Systems with source code freely accessible to the public are required to allow their inspection by the State itself, by the citizens, and by a large number of independent experts throughout the world. Our proposal brings further security, since the knowledge of the source code will eliminate the growing number of programs with *spy code*.
In the same way, our proposal strengthens the security of the citizens, both in their role as legitimate owners of information managed by the state, and in their role as consumers. In this second case, by allowing the growth of a widespread availability of free software not containing *spy code* able to put at risk privacy and individual freedoms.
In this sense, the Bill is limited to establishing the conditions under which the state bodies will obtain software in the future, that is, in a way compatible with these basic principles.
From reading the Bill it will be clear that once passed:
-the law does not forbid the production of proprietary software
-the law does not forbid the sale of proprietary software
-the law does not specifiy which concrete software to use
-the law does not dictate the supplier from whom software will be bought
-the law does not limit the terms under which a software product can be licensed.
What the Bill does express clearly, is that, for software to be acceptable for the state it is not enough that it is technically capable of fulfilling a task, but that further the contractual conditions must satisfy a series of requirements reguarding the license, without which the State cannot guarantee the citizen adequate processing of his data, watching over its integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility throughout time, as these are very critical aspects for its normal functioning.
We agree, Mr. Gonzalez, that information and communication technology have a significant impact on the quality of life of the citizens (whether it be positive or negative). We surely also agree that the basic values I have pointed out above are fundamental in a democratic state like Peru. So we are very interested to know of any other way of guaranteeing these principles, other than through the use of free software in the terms defined by the Bill.
As for the observations you have made, we will now go on to analyse them in detail:
Firstly, you point out that: "1. The bill makes it compulsory for all public bodies to use only free software, that is to say open source software, which breaches the principles of equality before the law, that of non-discrimination and the right of free private enterprise, freedom of industry and of contract, protected by the constitution."
This understanding is in error. The Bill in no way affects the rights you list; it limites itself entirely to establishing conditions for the use of software on the part of state institutions, without in any way meddling in private sector transactions. It is a well established principle that the State does not enjoy the wide spectrum of contractual freedom of the private sector, as it is limited in its actions precisely by the requirement for transparency of public acts; and in this sense, the preservation of the greater common interest must prevail when legislating on the matter.
The Bill protects equality under the law, since no natural or legal person is excluded from the right of offering these goods to the State under the conditions defined in the Bill and without more limitations than those established by the Law of State Contracts and Purchasing (T.U.O. por Decreto Supremo No. 012-2001-PCM).
The Bill does not introduce any discrimination whatever, since it only establishes *how* the goods have to be provided (which is a state power) and not *who* has to provide them (which would effectively be discriminatory, if restrictions based on national origin, race religion, ideology, sexual preference etc. were imposed). On the contrary, the Bill is decidedly antidiscriminatory. This is so because by defining with no room for doubt the conditions for the provision of software, it prevents state bodies from using software which has a license including discriminatory conditions.
It should be obvious from the preceding two paragraphs that the Bill does not harm free private enterprise, since the latter can always choose under what conditions it will produce software; some of these will be acceptable to the State, and others will not be since they contradict the guarantee of the basic principles listed above. This free initiative is of course compatible with the freedom of industry and freedom of contract (in the limited form in which the State can exercise the latter). Any private subject can produce software under the conditions which the State requires, or can refrain from doing so. Nobody is forced to adopt a model of production, but if they wish to provide software to the State, they must provide the mechanisms which guarantee the basic principles, and which are those described in the Bill.
By way of an example: nothing in the text of the Bill would prevent your company offering the State bodies an office "suite", under the conditions defined in the Bill and setting the price that you consider satisfactory. If you did not, it would not be due to restrictions imposed by the law, but to business decisions relative to the method of commercializing your products, decisions with which the State is not involved.
To continue; you note that:" 2. The bill, by making the use of open source software compulsory, would establish discriminatory and non competitive practices in the contracting and purchasing by public bodies..."
This statement is just a reiteration of the previous one, and so the response can be found above. However, let us concern ourselves for a moment with your comment regarding "non-competitive
Of course, in defining any kind of purchase, the buyer sets conditions which relate to the proposed use of the good or service. From the start, this excludes certain manufacturers from the possibility of competing, but does not exclude them "a priori", but rather based on a series of principles determined by the autonomous will of the purchaser, and so the process takes place in conformance with the law. And in the Bill it is established that *no-one* is excluded from competing as far as he guarantees the fullfilment of the basic principles.
Furthermore, the Bill *stimulates* competition, since it tends to generate a supply of software with better conditions of usability, and to better existing work, in a model of continuous improvement.
On the other hand, the central aspect of competivity is the chance to provide better choices to the consumer. Now, it is impossible to ignore the fact that marketing does not play a neutral role when the product is offered on the market (since accepting the opposite would lead one to suppose that firms' expenses in marketing lack any sense), and that therefore a significant expense under this heading can influence the decisions of the purchaser. This influence of marketing is in large measure reduced by the bill that we are backing, since the choice within the framework proposed is based on the *technical merits* of the product and not on the effort put into commercialization by the producer; in this sense, competitvity is increased, since the smallest software producer can compete on equal terms with the most powerful corporations.
It is necessary to stress that there is no position more anti-competitive than that of the big software producers, which frequently abuse their dominant position, since in innumerable cases they propose as a solution to problems raised by users: "update your software to the new version" (at the user's expense, naturally); furthermore, it is common to find arbitrary cessation of technical help for products, which, in the provider's judgement alone, are "old"; and so, to receive any kind of technical assistance, the user finds himself forced to migrate to new versions (with non-trivial costs, especially as changes in hardware platform are often involved). And as the whole infrastructure is based on proprietary data formats, the user stays "trapped" in the need to continue using products from the same supplier, or to make the huge effort to change to another environment (probably also proprietary).
You add: "3. So, by compelling the State to favour a business model based entirely on open source, the bill would only discourage the local and international manufacturing companies, which are the ones which really undertake important expenditures, create a significant number of direct and indirect jobs, as well as contributing to the GNP, as opposed to a model of open source software which tends to have an ever weaker economic impact, since it mainly creates jobs in the service sector."
I do not agree with your statement. Partly because of what you yourself point out in paragraph 6 of your letter, regarding the relative weight of services in the context of software use. This contradiction alone would invalidate your position. The service model, adopted by a large number of companies in the software industry, is much larger in economic terms, and with a tendency to increase, than the licensing of programs.
On the other hand, the private sector of the economy has the widest possible freedom to choose the economic model which best suits its interests, even if this freedom of choice is often obscured subliminally by the disproportionate expenditure on marketing by the producers of proprietary software.
In addition, a reading of your opinion would lead to the conclusion that the State market is crucial and essential for the proprietary software industry, to such a point that the choice made by the State in this bill would completely eliminate the market for these firms. If that is true, we can deduce that the State must be subsidising the proprietary software industry. In the unlikely event that this were true, the State would have the right to apply the subsidies in the area it considered of greatest social value; it is undeniable, in this improbable hypothesis, that if the State decided to subsidize software, it would have to do so choosing the free over the proprietary, considering its social effect and the rational use of taxpayers money.
In respect of the jobs generated by proprietary software in countries like ours, these mainly concern technical tasks of little aggregate value; at the local level, the technicians who provide support for proprietary software produced by transnational companies do not have the possibility of fixing bugs, not necessarily for lack of technical capability or of talent, but because they do not have access to the source code to fix it. With free software one creates more technically qualified employment and a framework of free competence where success is only tied to the ability to offer good technical support and quality of service, one stimulates the market, and one increases the shared fund of knowledge, opening up alternatives to generate services of greater total value and a higher quality level, to the benefit of all involved: producers, service organizations, and consumers.
It is a common phenomenon in developing countries that local software industries obtain the majority of their takings in the service sector, or in the creation of "ad hoc" software. Therefore, any negative impact that the application of the Bill might have in this sector will be more than compensated by a growth in demand for services (as long as these are carried out to high quality standards). If the transnational software companies decide not to compete under these new rules of the game, it is likely that they will undergo some decrease in takings in terms of payment for licences; however, considering that these firms continue to allege that much of the software used by the State has been illegally copied, one can see that the impact will not be very serious. Certainly, in any case their fortune will be determined by market laws, changes in which cannot be avoided; many firms traditionally associated with proprietary software have already set out on the road (supported by copious expense) of providing services associated with free software, which shows that the models are not mutually exclusive.
With this bill the State is deciding that it needs to preserve certain fundamental values. And it is deciding this based on its sovereign power, without affecting any of the constitutional guarantees. If these values could be guaranteed without having to choose a particular economic model, the effects of the law would be even more beneficial. In any case, it should be clear that the State does not choose an economic model; if it happens that there only exists one economic model capable of providing software which provides the basic guarantee of these principles, this is because of historical circumstances, not because of an arbitrary choice of a given model.
Your letter continues: "4. The bill imposes the use of open source software without considering the dangers that this can bring from the point of view of security, guarantee, and possible violation of the intellectual property rights of third parties."
Alluding in an abstract way to "the dangers this can bring", without specifically mentioning a single one of these supposed dangers, shows at the least some lack of knowledge of the topic. So, allow me to enlighten you on these points.
On security:
National security has already been mentioned in general terms in the initial discussion of the basic principles of the bill. In more specific terms, relative to the security of the software itself, it is well known that all software (whether proprietary or free) contains errors or "bugs" (in programmers' slang). But it is also well-known that the bugs in free software are fewer, and are fixed much more quickly, than in proprietary software. It is not in vain that numerous public bodies reponsible for the IT security of state systems in developed countries require the use of free software for the same conditions of security and efficiency.
What is impossible to prove is that proprietary software is more secure than free, without the public and open inspection of the scientific community and users in general. This demonstration is impossible because the model of proprietary software itself prevents this analysis, so that any guarantee of security is based only on promises of good intentions (biased, by any reckoning) made by the producer itself, or its contractors.
It should be remembered that in many cases, the licensing conditions include Non-Disclosure clauses which prevent the user from publicly revealing security flaws found in the licensed proprietary product.
In respect of the guarantee:
As you know perfectly well, or could find out by reading the "End User License Agreement" of the products you license, in the great majority of cases the guarantees are limited to replacement of the storage medium in case of defects, but in no case is compensation given for direct or indirect damages, loss of profits, etc... If as a result of a security bug in one of your products, not fixed in time by yourselves, an attacker managed to compromise crucial State systems, what guarantees, reparations and compensation would your company make in accordance with your licencing conditions? The guarantees of proprietary software, inasmuch as programs are delivered ``AS IS'', that is, in the state in which they are, with no additional responsibility of the provider in respect of function, in no way differ from those normal with free software.
On Intellectual Property:
Questions of intellectual property fall outside the scope of this bill, since they are covered by specific other laws. The model of free software in no way implies ignorance of these laws, and in fact the great majority of free software is covered by copyright. In reality, the inclusion of this question in your observations shows your confusion in respect of the legal framework in which free software is developed. The inclusion of the intellectual property of others in works claimed as one's own is not a practice that has been noted in the free software community; whereas, unfortunately, it has been in the area of proprietry software. As an example, the condemnation by the Commercial Court of Nanterre, France, on 27th September 2001 of Microsoft Corp. to a penalty of 3 million francs in damages and interest, for violation of intellectual property (piracy, to use the unfortunate term that your firm commonly uses in its publicity).
You go on to say that: "The bill uses the concept of open source software incorrectly, since it does not necessarily imply that the software is free or of zero cost, and so arrives at mistaken conclusions regarding State savings, with no cost-benefit analysis to validate its position."
This observation is wrong; in principle, freedom and lack of cost are orthogonal concepts: there is software which is proprietary and charged for (for example, MS Office), software which is proprietary and free of charge (MS Internet Explorer), software which is free and charged for (RedHat, SuSE etc Gnu/Linux distributions), software which is free and not charged for (Apache, OpenOffice, Mozilla), and even software which can be licensed in a range of combinations (MySQL).
Certainly free software is not necessarily free of charge. And the text of the bill does not state that it has to be so, as you will have noted after reading it. The definitions included in the Bill state clearly *what* should be considered free software, at no point referring to freedom from charges. Although the possibility of savings in payments for proprietary software licenses are mentioned, the foundations of the bill clearly refer to the fundamental guarantees to be preserved and to the stimulus to local technological development. Given that a democratic State must support these principles, it has no other choice than to use software with publicly available source code, and to exchange information only in standard formats.
If the State does not use software with these characteristics, it will be weakening basic republican principles. Luckily, free software also implies lower total costs; however, even given the hypothesis (easily disproved) that it was more expensive than proprietary software, the simple existence of an effective free software tool for a particular IT function would oblige the State to use it; not by command of this Bill, but because of the basic principles we enumerated at the start, and which arise from the very essence of the lawful democratic State.
You continue: "6. It is wrong to think that Open Source Software is free of charge. Research by the Gartner Group (an important investigator of the technological market recognized at world level) has shown that the cost of purchase of software (operating system and applications) is only 8% of the total cost which firms and institutions take on for a rational and truely beneficial use of the technology. The other 92% consists of: installation costs, enabling, support, maintenance, administration, and down-time."
This argument repeats that already given in paragraph 5 and partly contradicts paragraph 3. For the sake of brevity we refer to the comments on those paragraphs. However, allow me to point out that your conclusion is logically false: even if according to Gartner Group the cost of software is on average only 8% of the total cost of use, this does not in any way deny the existence of software which is free of charge, that is, with a licensing cost of zero.
In addition, in this paragraph you correctly point out that the service components and losses due to down-time make up the largest part of the total cost of software use, which, as you will note, contradicts your statement regarding the small value of services suggested in paragraph 3. Now the use of free software contributes significantly to reduce the remaining life-cycle costs. This reduction in the costs of installation, support etc. can be noted in several areas: in the first place, the competitive service model of free software, support and maintenance for which can be freely contracted out to a range of suppliers competing on the grounds of quality and low cost. This is true for installation, enabling, and support, and in large part for maintenance. In the second place, due to the reproductive characteristics of the model, maintenance carried out for an application is easily replicable, without incurring large costs (that is, without paying more than once for the same thing) since modifications, if one wishes, can be incorporated in the common fund of knowledge. Thirdly, the huge costs caused by non-functioning software ("blue screens of death", malicious code such as virus, worms, and trojans, exceptions, general protection faults and other well-known problems) are reduced considerably by using more stable software; and it is well-known that one of the most notable virtues of free software is its stability.
ou further state that: "7. One of the arguments behind the bill is the supposed freedom from costs of open-source software, compared with the costs of commercial software, without taking into account the fact that there exist types of volume licensing which can be highly advantageous for the State, as has happened in other countries."
I have already pointed out that what is in question is not the cost of the software but the principles of freedom of information, accessibility, and security. These arguments have been covered extensively in the preceding paragraphs to which I would refer you.
On the other hand, there certainly exist types of volume licensing (although unfortunately proprietary software does not satisfy the basic principles). But as you correctly pointed out in the immediately precding paragraph of your letter, they only manage to reduce the impact of a component which makes up no more than 8% of the total.
You continue: "8. In addition, the alternative adopted by the bill (i) is clearly more expensive, due to the high costs of software migration, and (ii) puts at risk compatibility and interoperability of the IT platforms within the State, and between the State and the private sector, given the hundreds of versions of open source software on the market."
Let us analyze your stament in two parts. Your first argument, that migration implies high costs, is in reality an argument in favour of the Bill. Because the more time goes by, the more difficult migration to another technology will become; and at the same time, the security risks associated with proprietary software will continue to increase. In this way, the use of proprietary systems and formats will make the State ever more dependent on specific suppliers. Once a policy of using free software has been established (which certainly, does imply some cost) then on the contrary migration from one system to another becomes very simple, since all data is stored in open formats. On the other hand, migration to an open software context implies no more costs than migration between two different proprietary software contexts, which invalidates your argument completely.
The second argument refers to "problems in interoperability of the IT platforms within the State, and between the State and the private sector" This statement implies a certain lack of knowledge of the way in which free software is built, which does not maximize the dependence of the user on a particular platform, as normally happens in the realm of proprietary software. Even when there are multiple free software distributions, and numerous programs which can be used for the same function, interoperability is guaranteed as much by the use of standard formats, as required by the bill, as by the possibility of creating interoperable software given the availability of the source code.
You then say that: "9. The majority of open source code does not offer adequate levels of service nor the guarantee from recognized manufacturers of high productivity on the part of the users, which has led various public organizations to retract their decision to go with an open source software solution and to use commercial software in its place."
This observation is without foundation. In respect of the guarantee, your argument was rebutted in the response to paragraph 4. In respect of support services, it is possible to use free software without them (just as also happens with proprietary software), but anyone who does need them can obtain support separately, whether from local firms or from international corporations, again just as in the case of proprietary software.
On the other hand, it would contribute greatly to our analysis if you could inform us about free software projects *established* in public bodies which have already been abandoned in favour of proprietary software. We know of a good number of cases where the opposite has taken place, but not know of any where what you describe has taken place.
You continue by observing that: "10. The bill demotivates the creativity of the peruvian software industry, which invoices 40 million US$/year, exports 4 million US$ (10th in ranking among non-traditional exports, more than handicrafts) and is a source of highly qualified employment. With a law that incentivates the use of open source, software programmers lose their intellectual property rights and their main source of payment."
It is clear enough that nobody is forced to commercialize their code as free software. The only thing to take into account is that if it is not free software, it cannot be sold to the public sector. This is not in any case the main market for the national software industry. We covered some questions referring to the influence of the Bill on the generation of employment which would be both highly technically qualified and in better conditions for competition above, so it seems unnecessary to insist on this point.
What follows in your statement is incorrect. On the one hand, no author of free software loses his intellectual property rights, unless he expressly wishes to place his work in the public domain. The free software movement has always been very respectful of intellectual property, and has generated widespread public recognition of authors. Names like those of Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, Guido van Rossum, Larry Wall, Miguel de Icaza, Andrew Tridgell, Theo de Raadt, Andrea Arcangeli, Bruce Perens, Darren Reed, Alan Cox, Eric Raymond, and many others, are recognized world-wide for their contributions to the development of software that is used today by millions of people throughout the world. On the other hand, to say that the rewards for authors rights make up the main source of payment of Peruvian programmers is in any case a guess, in particular since there is no proof to this effect, nor a demonstration of how the use of free software by the State would influence these payments.
You go on to say that: "11. Open source software, since it can be distributed without charge, does not allow the generation of income for its developers through exports. In this way, the multiplier effect of the sale of software to other countries is weakened, and so in turn is the growth of the industry, while Government rules ought on the contrary to stimulate local industry."
This statement shows once again complete ignorance of the mechanisms of and market for free software. It tries to claim that the market of sale of non- exclusive rights for use (sale of licences) is the only possible one for the software industry, when you yourself pointed out several paragraphs above that it is not even the most important one. The incentives that the bill offers for the growth of a supply of better qualified professionals, together with the increase in experience that working on a large scale with free software within the State will bring for Peruvian technicians, will place them in a highly competitive position to offer their services abroad.
You then state that: "12. In the Forum, the use of open source software in education was discussed, without mentioning the complete collapse of this initiative in a country like Mexico, where precisely the State employees who founded the project now state that open source software did not make it possible to offer a learning experience to pupils in the schools, did not take into account the capability at a national level to give adequate support to the platform, and that the software did not and does not allow for the levels of platform integration that now exist in schools."
In fact Mexico has gone into reverse with the Red Escolar (Schools Network) project. This is due precisely to the fact that the driving forces behind the mexican project used license costs as their main argument, instead of the other reasons specified in our project, which are far more essential. Because of this conceptual mistake, and as a result of the lack of effective support from the SEP (Secretary of State for Public Education), the assumption was made that to implant free software in schools it would be enough to drop their software budget and send them a CD ROM with Gnu/Linux instead. Of course this failed, and it couldn't have been otherwise, just as school laboratories fail when they use proprietary software and have no budget for implementation and maintenance. That's exactly why our bill is not limited to making the use of free software mandatory, but recognizes the need to create a viable migration plan, in which the State undertakes the technical transition in an orderly way in order to then enjoy the advantages of free software.
You end with a rhetorical question: "13. If open source software satisfies all the requirements of State bodies, why do you need a law to adopt it? Shouldn't it be the market which decides freely which products give most benefits or value?"
We agree that in the private sector of the economy, it must be the market that decides which products to use, and no state interference is permissible there. However, in the case of the public sector, the reasoning is not the same: as we have already established, the state archives, handles, and transmits information which does not belong to it, but which is entrusted to it by citizens, who have no alternative under the rule of law. As a counterpart to this legal requirement, the State must take extreme measures to safeguard the integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility of this information. The use of proprietary software raises serious doubts as to whehter these requirements can be fulfilled, lacks conclusive evidence in this respect, and so is not suitable for use in the public sector.
The need for a law is based, firstly, on the realization of the fundamental principles listed above in the specific area of software; secondly, on the fact that the State is not an ideal homogoneous entity, but made up of multiple bodies with varying degrees of autonomy in decision making. Given that it is inappropriate to use proprietary software, the fact of establishing these rules in law will prevent the personal discretion of any state employee from putting at risk the information which belongs to citizens. And above all, because it constitutes an up-to-date reaffirmation in relation to the means of management and communication of information used today, it is based on the republican principle of openness to the public.
In conformance with this universally accepted principle, the citizen has the right to know all information held by the State and not covered by well- founded declarations of secrecy based on law. Now, software deals with information and is itself information. Information in a special form, capable of being interpreted by a machine in order to execute actions, but crucial information all the same because the citizen has a legitimate right to know, for example, how his vote is computed or his taxes calculated. And for that he must have free access to the source code and be able to prove to his satisfaction the programs used for electoral computations or calculation of his taxes.
I wish you the greatest respect, and would like to repeat that my office will always be open for you to expound your point of view to whatever level of detail you consider suitable.
Cordially,
DR. EDGAR DAVID VILLANUEVA NUÑEZ
Congressman of the Republica of Perú.
Why is this posted in the "science" catagory on slashdot?
For what it is worth, I am a scientist, yes: IAAS, and I am finaly begining to understand why a lot of people think scientists are weird...
It is because, as someone once said, "The masses is asses!"
Holly crap! every time i look at a story on slashdot these days the first story is "+5 funny"
WTF?
You people make me sick: you take something good, and turn it into crap.
Every time I see a sig, or a post, which mentions something along the lines of "got 50! don't mod me!" I feel even sicker.
David Letterman used to say"It is an exhibition, not a competition"!
Do you get it?
Obviously, no.
This makes me sick.
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Trolling 101: Building the Perfect Troll Slashdot
...
..."
/usr/share/dict/words on BSDs /usr/share/dict/propernames on BSDs
c /
/ooieiabdcdjsvbkeldfogjhiyeeejkagclmieooion oepdk / several times, remembering to avoid the compression filter trap by using different random characters.
By jason2, Section Stories
Posted on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 00:25:26 PST
A while back, Don Henley created an album called "Building the Perfect Beast." His first solo album, it surprised many, with tracks like Sunset Grill, All She Wants To Do Is Dance, (my favorite) Driving With Your Eyes Closed, and (Jon Katz's favorite) Boys of Summer. I was listening to this album on illegally-ripped MP3s while reading the Slashdot trolls, and started brainstorming what would make the perfect troll. This article serves as a directed introduction to building the perfect troll.
[] [ ]
First, we need to define trolling. This is harder than it sounds, because everyone has their own definition of a troll, or better, their own definition of a "good troll". I am going to use multiple definitions to create a very broad ideal of the term "troll". Any post that meets ONE of the definitions below is considered a troll
a) A message widely regarded as an annoyance
b) A message which insults the editors with no regard to merit
c) A message which flames another user for their view(s)
d) Any message which is designed to enrage the standard slashdot user
For the purposes of this post, a "good troll" is one that spawns many angry responses. There are other sides of trolling, such as crapflooding, which do not generate any responses (usually). These sorts of trolls are out of the scope of this article.
There are 6 dimensions of a good troll: annoyance, arguability, subtlety, topicality, logicality, and permeance. By NO means should a good troll use only one dimension; although some dimensions are inherently contradictory, using as many as possible will result in a good troll.
Annoyance
This is the all-star of the troll spectrum. Racial comments, page widening/lengthing, misinformation, deragatory comments, etc. all are considered an annoyance. But be careful! The common pitfall is the "annoyance" is used to frequently and too loudly. Subtlety is a necessity if you are going to use this with any sort of success (read more about this below). Here are some examples of good and bad annoyances:
Bad: You stupid fucking nigger, I'm going to kick your faggot ass if I ever see you, you shitface cocksucking animal. (This will be modded down immediately, and will probably not be responded to. This message will largely be ignored, thus limiting the troll affect).
Posting factual inaccuracies is great when combined with annoyance; the Slashdots will fall over themselves correcting your every move.
Good: Its posts like these that question the education system of America. If you were paying any attention at school, you would know that the South won the Civil War because of their views no slavery. It was Abraham Lincoln's last stand at Gettysburg that caused Slavery to go away.
Making references to your education as proof that you are right is excellent, especially when, in your troll, you make it obvious that you don't have any.
Bad: I studied this topic in great depth when writing my PhD thesis at MIT. As it turns out, the limiting factor of sorting function with completely randomized data
Good: Oh, I took a class about this at the DeVry Institute. According to the reseptionist [notice intentionally bad spelling], the integral of e^x^2 is e^x, so its got to be right!.
Arguability
Posts such as, "You fucking faggot, I'm going to kill you" has no element of arguability. You want to post a view in an inflammatory way that will incite a great argument. There is a right way, and a wrong way to doing this. Usually, if you are outright cursing at the poster or editor, its the wrong way.
Examples
Bad: You worthless piece of horseshit. Your views are wrong, jackass!
Good: This study [post link to mostly irrelevant and off-topic study] indicates there is a strong correlation between deviance and Linux users.
Drawing illogical conclusions based on incorrect statements is a great way to instate a nerd riot. Example:
Good: When ESR said that Windows is losing clientelle, he used intentionally bad grammar, which is inherent proof that his ideals are flawed.
Permeance
Question: If a troll posts a troll and no one reads it, is it still a troll? Answer: No.
A troll can only have so much longevity. I call this principle permeance. Permeance is judged by the number of people who will see and read a post, and, to a lesser extent, respond to it. Good formatting, grammar, and spelling all contribute to a post's permeance, but the real factor is content.
Most of you spend a lot of time reading at -1, presumably, so you will know that a fair amount of racist and anti-semetic comments are posted. Most Slashdot users will not see these, because they are at -1. klerck's PLP and PWP are ultimately a failure because few see them.
To maximize permeance, you have to: 1) Sound like you now what you are talking about, 2) Sound like you have a stake in your point of view (maening you care about what you think), and 3) Express it without homophobia, any sort of racism and discrimination. You will see that trolls at 1, and even 2, use this principle. You will see that trolls at 0, and -1, do not use this principle. This brings us to:
First Fundamental Theorem of Trolling: Anonymous Cowards, by definition, rarely succeed in posting a good troll...
Second Fundamental Theorem of Trolling: If an AC succeeds in a good troll, it would even be better if it were posted at 1, or 2 by default.
Subtlety
Certain posts SCREAM "This is a troll. Please ignore it." These are not successful trolls.
As a troll, your every urge is to scream, "YOU FUCKING FAGGOT. HOW CAN YOU THINK THE WAY YOU DO" to the Slashbot homos. Resist this at every cost. You need to diplomatically insult them. Its hard, I know, but it will result in success.
GOOD PHRASES
"You should know by now that
"Haven't you learned anything from [event]."
"What a stereotypical view."
"Was this post sarcastic?"
"I can't believe the level of ignorance of that point of view."
Topicality
This is a no-brainer and therefore I'm not going to spend much time discussing it. Why do you think "BSD is Dying" trolls rarely get responses when they are posted under one of Jon Katz's articles/
Logicality
Did I make that word up? Probably. But its principle is still important: use every logical fallacy that you know of when writing trolls. Jump to illogical conclusions. Misquote or misrepresent parent's posts when responding. Make references to studies, linking them to a 404 not found page. You get the idea. This one isn't hard to introduce, but its wildly successful in getting Slashcock responses.
This is a brief introduction to the good trolling. Soon, I will post an article about combining dimensions and look at some good and bad trolls in the past.
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Trolling 101: Building the Perfect Troll | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 editorial, 3 pending) | Post A Comment
A fringe benefit of posting with +1 bonus (none / 0) (#1)
by gazbo on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 14:29:55 PST
(User Info)
Is that idiots who have never had (will never have) the bonus don't understand it, and think you've been modded up.
[ Reply to This ]
Dammit! (none / 0) (#2)
by sdem on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 15:29:36 PST
(User Info)
I got all worked up reading your post, but I realized that I can't go back to my favorite pastime until fucking school is over.
Tell those of Slashdot that I shall return.
[ Reply to This ]
I have a question (8.00 / 2) (#3)
by King of Beers on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 20:04:34 PST
(User Info)
I am a Mac user. I am learning about "Lunix", I am hoping to work with Lunix in the future. My question is this. Can I be an effective troll without using Lunix. In other words is Lunix required. Right now I'm homeless, let's not talk about that ok? By the way I am new here and this is my first post. I am posting from Starbucks, the one next to the laundry mat.
[ Reply to This ]
Posting (2.33 / 3) (#4)
by Real World Schtuff on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 20:37:10 PST
(User Info)
Tell Jessica to give you the money she owes me from that dryer next to the soap dispenser.
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Lunix (6.50 / 2) (#5)
by RecipeTroll on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 20:37:46 PST
(User Info)
If your homeless, Lunix is the perfect operating system for you. Many homeless people use lunix because they have no teeth. Do you understand the correlation?
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
hi (6.00 / 2) (#11)
by King of Beers on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 21:27:17 PST
(User Info)
do you know about this OralBSDM program i've also heard of. my understanding is that there are no holes to speak of in this program. i dont understand how an open sauce program like this could have no holes. where do the holes go that otherwise would have been in open sauce?
as you can see i'm pretty confused. your help would be appreciated.
also there is a man at the shelter that looks a lot like richard stallman. should i approach him and if so what questions should i ask. i am a pretty shy guy
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
NO! (7.00 / 1) (#13)
by RecipeTroll on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 21:59:03 PST
(User Info)
For godsakes man, if you are an amateur DO NOT approach a Stallman. Even though his stature may suggest otherwise, he is a hostile creature. You may find youself on the ground being sodomized by a shop vac if you aren't careful. Ask anyone here: A Stallman is not a creature to be messed with.
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Posting (0.00 / 1) (#6)
by Real World Schtuff on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 20:41:06 PST
(User Info)
Tell Jessica to give you the money she owes me from that dryer next to the soap dispenser.
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Page lengthening Troll Test (none / 0) (#7)
by Real World Schtuff on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 20:44:19 PST
(User Info)
An Interesting Phenomenon Just Noticed...
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Page lengthening Troll Test (0.00 / 1) (#8)
by Real World Schtuff on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 20:44:31 PST
(User Info)
An Interesting Phenomenon Just Noticed...
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Page lengthening Troll Test (0.00 / 1) (#9)
by Real World Schtuff on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 20:44:55 PST
(User Info)
An Interesting Phenomenon Just Noticed...
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
I am often too lazy to be a good Troll (none / 0) (#10)
by Real World Schtuff on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 21:09:18 PST
(User Info)
I just cut and past real information found on the web.
I prefer using MSN specific information.
[ Reply to This ]
TROLLING AND CRAPFLOODING FAQ VERSION 2.1 (7.00 / 1) (#12)
by Anonymous Hero on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 21:42:18 PST
Here is my donation to T(H)GSB. It doesn't cover trolling in much detail, but gives aan appropriate overview for the novice troller and crapflooder.
This FAQ is designed to give tips on trolling on Slashdot, created in celebration of Blackout Week. It is dedicated to all hard-working trolls and crapflooders.
What are some good trolling tips?
Trolling is all about making people think you care, and so winding up those who care for real. Think of it like shooting a deer in front of an anti-hunt protester, or eating a Big Mac in front of a vegan. Here are some ideas for making your troll work:
# To start off, make sure your post gets noticed -- log in, post early (after 50 +1 comments have been posted to an article, forget it), and make sure to use your +1 bonus.
# Ensure your posting history doesn't show a history of dubious posts. Some advise (incorrectly) to stagger your trolls, but this is in fact time wasting and only helps Slashdot in the long run. If you have a doubt, just create a new account, or even post anonymous -- an effective troll, posted early enough, will gain a +1 quickly.
# Learn from the marketing droids -- a mixture of truth and lies leaves the potential client without a clue as to which is which. Geeks smell pure bullshit, because it reminds them of their bedroom smell (see also "karma whoring" below).
# Follow up. Keep a window open on your troll, and reload to see if people bite. Perhaps post an AC reply agreeing or disagreeing with your own post. Reply to later posts referring to your earlier post to back up your point.
# If you get a dreaded (-1, Troll), don't be ashamed to post the well-known, "Mods on Crack!" rant. Explain, rationally, and not as yourself why you agree with the original post, and why it's a fair point.
How do I crapflood?
A crapflood is an (intentionally) content-free post. Here are some suggestions for the source of your crapflood -- remember to take care with repetition, odd characters, or repetition, to get past the lameness filter:
# your local dictionary file, e.g.
# your local real names file, e.g.
# a copy-paste part of a web page (for extra amusement, copy-paste from Slashdot itself)
# a UU-encoded newsgroup file
# some output from a lorem ipsum generator
# examples of your latest spams, particularly those in Korean
# allowing your cat to walk across the keyboard for a few minutes.
How do I widen pages?
A method is known and delivered to us by the beautiful Klerck which currently works in Internet Explorer alone. This will therefore ruin the browsing experience of by far the majority of Slashdot readers. Start with the text:
http://www.eveeieyhfgfcdoosammgwsnboivvbsczxlzgab
then repeat
How do I karma whore?
"Karma whoring" is the practice of gaining moderation points for their own sake. It is particularly useful in techniques for defeating the moderation system. Some tips for karma whoring are:
# If the site containing the actual article is not on a fast server (i.e. is not a "big site"), re-post the article with subject, "the article -- in case the site gets slashdotted". Make sure this comes as early as possible in the list of comments, to avoid the dreaded (-1, Redundant).
# If any article pops up on Microsoft, write a stock two paragraphs explaining why Microsoft is immoral, and why the event described cannot happen with Free Software. I shall not supply text, because tests have shown that moderators are not completely stupid, and can identify duplicate posts (this is actually helpful in defeating the moderation system, see below).
# For any article discussing a particular company, state that you worked there, and offer your "inside knowledge". Note that geeks do visit Slashdot, so do not fall into the trap of being too obvious a fraud -- a mistake made by such amateur trolls as PhysicsGenius, who must now suffer a life of instant down-modding.
How do I defeat the moderation system?
The moderation system is far from flawless. Here are some ways to devalue it:
# If you have moderator points, for goodness sake abuse them! How about moderating up a First Post, a crapflood, or best of all, this very FAQ? It would be a crime to allow such an easily abused system to work.
# Copy the text of another person's post, and paste it as a reply to an earlier post. Most people read oldest messages first, so they will consider yours to be the first message, and the later message to be "redundant". This is great for annoying karma whores.
# Vote Troll posts as "underrated", thus increasing their exposure without running the risk of having your moderation rights revoked.
How do I defeat authentication?
Don't. The FBI will arrest you for being a terrorist. Instead, make an authoritative nick like CmdrTaco (editor). The majority of people are easily fooled, and will be likely to take notice of and respond to your post, and even moderate it up. Think of it like Lunix Turvalds walking into the room -- people listen to what he has to say, and don't dare disagree.
How do I defeat the goatse link early warning system?
Simple -- use one of the many foolishly implemented redirector URLs hosted on well-known sites. Here's an innocuous recent example which pretends to link to the highly informative about.com, but in fact links to a site of the popular 90's lesbian band The Spice Girls: Informative link which will get me karma
What are some excellent sites to sneakily link to?
Mostly, you should link to gay porn. If you are reading this FAQ, you already know the URLs, so I don't need to supply them, except to say that it's almost an initiation ceremony in Slashdot trolling to link to goatse.
Administrativa
How do I justify the existence of this FAQ?
Slashdot is full of people who support unlicensed weapons ownership and dissemination of bomb creation documents -- in short, they support freedom, even when that freedom could cause harm. This document should be considered as that very freedom in action. Indeed, to disparage or moderate down this document would be un-American, and the FBI are likely to arrest you for being a terrorist.
How do I add to or change this FAQ?
Simply re-post the FAQ on Slashdot, adding an appropriate question, and incrementing the version number by 1. Before doing so, please try to ensure you have the latest version, and remember to keep this post W3C compliant!
How else can I help with the Troll and Crapflooding Cause?
Moderate this post up, re-post it, put it in your journal, and upload it on your website. Thanks!
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
wish we knew who you were [n/t] (none / 0) (#19)
by Trollaxor (trollaxor@mac.com) on Thu Apr 25th, 2002 at 16:49:43 PST
(User Info) http://trollaxor.com/
-Trollaxor
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
nothin wrong with a little crapflooding (9.00 / 3) (#15)
by TheGreatestAmericanSuperHero on Wed Apr 24th, 2002 at 07:02:02 PST
(User Info) http://www.yourfriendlymediacorner.com
Some snobbish trolls will say all crapflooding is shit. But most of the Slashdot crapfloods: ASCII art, "How to Remove Linux and install Windows XP," insane short stories, are fucking funny! Come on, admit it.
Now crapflooding can be bad, and when it's bad, it's duller than the biggest loser slashbot droning on about his TI-82. But trolling isn't some magical art any higher than crapflooding. It can pay off by causing trouble more than a crapflood can, but it's usually not funny in itself (the replies are the good stuff).
Anyway, hold your head high, crapflooder, and don't let the elitist trolls tell you that you suck. They're just trying to drive a wedge into the Great Troll/Crapflooder Alliance.
Once and future host geek of the machiney.
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Trolls vs. Crapfloods (8.75 / 4) (#16)
by RecipeTroll on Wed Apr 24th, 2002 at 15:44:49 PST
(User Info)
Trolls and crapfloods both have their merits. I liken crapflooding to carpet bombing -- you dump alot of shit out and hope a few hit their target...Trolls are more calculated; while damaging, they do less to weaken the overall infastructure. It's a combination of both that make slashdot the monkey circus that it is.
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Filthypenis (6.75 / 4) (#14)
by Anonymous Hero on Tue Apr 23rd, 2002 at 23:46:02 PST
It's filthy!
[ Reply to This ]
drink my cum (2.00 / 1) (#17)
by Sexual Asspussy on Thu Apr 25th, 2002 at 13:46:59 PST
(User Info)
i can only interpret this article as a personal attack.
[ Reply to This ]
not true (none / 0) (#18)
by jason2 on Thu Apr 25th, 2002 at 16:30:31 PST
(User Info)
i've had nothing but the upmost respect for you, Sexual. I am not familar with your work by any means, but your name DEMANDS it. Jason
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
The airline lost my luggage... it contained 4 pairs of boxers. Previously my rate limiting step for laundry was towels. I have 10 towels, therefore I can go 10 days without doing laundry, but this loss of 4 pairs of shorts created a new rate limit... 8 days wort of shorts! Since American doesn't seem to be finding my luggage back any time soon, I had to buy underpants. Now I'm afraid of the gnomes... Phase 1, Steal the Underpants. Phase 2, ?. Phase 3, Profit!
Unfortunately they also have my VAIO...
Offtopic? I thought the article was the topic.
WWJD? JWRTFA!
Still sore because he debunked your comments on microwaves?
Crack(TM). it's what's for dinner.