Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sysadmins Restore Iraqi ISP

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the taking-one-for-the-team dept.

Hen3ry writes "Brian McWilliams of Wired News reports on the dedicated staff of Iraq's State Company for Internet Services, or SCIS, and how they built, maintained, and rebuilt Internet access before, during, and after the war. Ba'ath Party loyalists still run SCIS but their dedicated employees continue to press on. Fascinating stuff about how one sysadmin managed to keep the country online up until a US missle struck the roof of the Ministry of Information building."

25 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. Why'd they do that? by zedmelon · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Formerly the official homepage of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's regime, the site has been scrubbed clean of any traces of the fallen dictator..."

    Why'd they do that? Saddam will only wind up beheading the sysadmins who did it when he gets back from Wal-Mart, picking up this week's armament.

    --
    Mom says my .sig can beat up your .sig.
    1. Re:Why'd they do that? by zedmelon · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hey, you gotta RELAX, guy! I'm not here to cause any trouble. I don't have any bombs; just relax!

      --
      Mom says my .sig can beat up your .sig.
    2. Re:Why'd they do that? by qqtortqq · · Score: 4, Funny

      I work at an airport, and we have this one employee who is constantly calling the police department for one thing or another. One day she called the police and told them that Saddam was in the airport, buying a plane ticket. They came up and of course, refused to do anything about it, because it wasn't Saddam, so she called the FBI. They had to come out and take a statement from her and the police department. 3 weeks later, did the same thing because she saw Osama. So, maybe they are all in Indiana...

    3. Re:Why'd they do that? by Theolojin · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Formerly the official homepage of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's regime, the site has been scrubbed clean of any traces of the fallen dictator..."

      there is no evidence that saddam hussein exists. if he is in iraq, we should have found him by now! i demand an investigation. the war was about oil. saddam hussein was a distraction! there was no saddam hussein!

      --
      Life is short; think quickly.
  2. The Iraqi Minister of Information says by rob-fu · · Score: 5, Funny

    "the ISP has not been restored, and its owners are committing suicide on the walls of Baghdad. I will take you there to show you. In ONE HOUR."

    1. Re:The Iraqi Minister of Information says by MeanMF · · Score: 3, Funny

      committing suicide on the walls of Baghdad

      ...on the FIREWALLS of Baghdad.

    2. Re:The Iraqi Minister of Information says by Mohammed+Al-Sahaf · · Score: 4, Funny

      The infidel american lies go deeper than that, my friend. They are not in Baghdad. They are not in control of any ISP. I tell you this. It is all a lie. They lie. It is a hollywood movie. You do not believe them. But let the American infidels bask in their illusion. We will welcome them with bullets and shoes.

      --
      Former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf
  3. Hrmm by acehole · · Score: 4, Funny

    I thought it was standard sysadmin practice to stop DOS missle attacks.

    --
    Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
  4. News flash by neirboj · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Fascinating stuff about how one sysadmin managed to keep the country online up until a US missle struck the roof of the Ministry of Information building."

    More recent intelligence suggests that the explosion was actually the resulted of an SCIS server reacting violently to being /.'d. US military experts are now considering trying to harness the power of slashdot to use as a weapon against terrorists.

  5. 10,000 LB bombs really mess up ur Routers...etc. by atarione · · Score: 4, Funny

    ALL YOUR ISP are Belong to US. good stuff, hopefully they can stop the continued attacks on US forces and restore order in general, but it's nice that Iraqis will soon be able to surf for pr0n again.

    --
    actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
  6. I know what happened! by mnewton32 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fascinating stuff about how one sysadmin managed to keep the country online up until a US missle struck the roof of the Ministry of Information building.

    The RIAA must have found out they were pirating music...
    (come on, it was either that or a Bill Gates finding out about a Linux server)

  7. Good TLD... by evilviper · · Score: 1, Funny

    I don't know about anyone else, but I want to find out how I can get a ".iq" domain...

    If credit cards aren't accepted, I'm sure I could find a camel to trade, somewhere around here.

    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    1. Re: Good TLD... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Funny


      > I don't know about anyone else, but I want to find out how I can get a ".iq" domain...

      I heard that "low.iq" can be had at a bargain price.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    2. Re: Good TLD... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      I heard that "low.iq" can be had at a bargain price.

      I don't understand.

  8. Tomahawk DoS by mikeophile · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think this might be what Sen Hatch has in mind for copyright violators.

  9. Na, The Iraqi Minister of Information says by cliveholloway · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Our servers were never down. We were just on the receiving end of what you in the West call a 'Slashdotting'. Throughout this time all of our servers were responding quite accurately with the Iraqi insult '500 Server Error'. I am no master of your heathen tongue, but believe the nearest translation is 'die American scum'. A message that I'm sure we will be repeating to you very shortly."

    .02

    cLive ;-)

    --
    -- Trinity in high heels carrying a whip: The donimatrix - there is no spoonerism
  10. Alas, ... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...to survive all that and then be taken out by a slashdotting.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  11. firewalls by rf0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well they aren't that effective against a DDOS by missiles. Prehaps they need to upgrade :)

    Rus

    --
    Cheap UK and US VPS
  12. Re:yeah by Kegetys · · Score: 3, Funny

    At least it will make the geeks go back inside.

  13. Re:yeah by dreadnougat · · Score: 4, Funny

    Uruklink... hmmm... uruk... uruk hai...

    orcs = evil...

    It seems Bush was right!

  14. Re:iq by Imperator · · Score: 2, Funny

    Someone should get one of {0.iq, no.iq, negative.iq low.iq} and CNAME it to whitehouse.gov.

    --

    Gates' Law: Every 18 months, the speed of software halves.
  15. bootlegged software? by MavEtJu · · Score: 4, Funny

    had put in long hours cobbling together bootlegged software and

    Someone needs to tell these guys about FreeBSD and Linux.

    --
    bash$ :(){ :|:&};:
  16. We "liberated" the Iraqis... by switched4OSX · · Score: 5, Funny

    So they would be free to download pr0n. God bless America

  17. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah... by ATAMAH · · Score: 2, Funny

    All this is really good, but what i really want to know is where can i register my pr0n.raises.your.iq ?

  18. Re:someone should offer the guy a job.. by Tsu+Dho+Nimh · · Score: 2, Funny

    And their ability to play hardball office politics and survive could be an asset to the IT department.