Underground Mac Community Foils a Coup

An anonymous reader writes "In an attempted palace coup that would not have been out of place in a Shakespearian tragedy, a moderator faction at Mac Serial Junkie, one of the largest underground Mac communities, was shut out this weekend after it was discovered that many staff members were plotting a coup. The plans included a surreptitious takeover of the domain name macserialjunkie.com. In an Open Letter to the Community, the founders of MSJ explain how a number of people at the highest levels of the underground planned their takeover activities for almost two years, only to be foiled at the last minute."

Comments

Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

I assume this is some sort of piracy forum, but regardless, who cares? This stuff happens all the time on forums and IRC. Owner X doesn't do much/disappears leaving Y in charge. Y gets upset that he's doing all the work while X enjoys ownership. Y plots takeover, and either does or fail and is replaced by Z.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yea, it's a site to swap software serial numbers. Amusing that people who are content to rip off other people's hard work suddenly think they have the moral high ground when they're about to be ripped off themselves. Pot, kettle, etc.

Re:Who cares?

[gEvil (beta)]

Pot, kettle, etc.

Boiling water? Tea? Why yes, I would love a spot of tea.

Re:Who cares?

[rlp]

Underground Mac community?? Do Morlocks use Macs?

Re:Who cares?

[ksheff]

CmdrTaco is getting scared that CowboyNeal is going to take over.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Owner X doesn't do much/disappears leaving Y in charge. Y gets upset that he's doing all the work while X enjoys ownership. Y plots takeover, and either does or fail and is replaced by Z.

Wait... so is kdawson Y or Z?

Re:Who cares?

[wdhowellsr]

Exactly! This is computers were talking about, not social and political regimes that affect our lives. I've worked with almost every type of computer, operating system and programming language over the last thirty years and when deciding what is best for a client I don't act like some high priest, either for MS or AP, when deciding what type of system to implement. I don't care if you don't believe in God but please don't replace him (or her) with Steve Jobs or Bill Gates!

Re:Who cares?

[vertinox]

Amusing that people who are content to rip off other people's hard work suddenly think they have the moral high ground when they're about to be ripped off themselves.

Are we talking about the CEO who laid off half the development team, required the remainder to work over time, and then gave himself a bonus by firing the rest after the product went gold or the pirates?

I say this because more than naught developers are underpaid for their work and then have the hounds released on them by the bean counters when quarter figures need to look better.

I don't say this to justify piracy (and I highly disapprove of it), but at the same time it could be developers work is being undermined by pirates when they are really getting the proverbial shaft by their management or publisher is often the real root of the bane of the developers.

Personally, I always buy direct from small time developers directly... It helps them more than having a large corporate structure of marketing types showing government officials powerpoint presentations on all their theoretical losses so they can get a tax break and still lay off their developers.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Pot, bong, etc.

Fixed that for you.

Re:Who cares?

[Paperkirin]

The worst thing, IMO, is that that kind of place tends to rip off mostly Mac shareware developers, the people who sell their apps for about €/£/$10–30. Hardly expensive stuff, and these guys are probably the ones hurt most by piracy.

Re:Who cares?

[NeilTheStupidHead]

Grues perhaps? It is dark. Etc etc

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Personally, I always buy direct from small time developers directly...

Foolishness. I prefer to buy indirectly from small time developers directly. Although on occassion I'll buy directely from small time developers indirectly. Have to keep ambiguity on its toes. There's nothing worse than complacent ambiguity. Except for the evils of tautology.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Mac users are more willing to pay for the software they use. That said, sometimes a pirated serial is the only way to test or run an app.

For me, it's because the developer/software company doesn't accept PayPal.

I've paid for lots of software with my PayPal account, but without a credit card I can't purchase the other programs I'd like to.

So, I get a pirated serial and use that.

Every time the developer releases an update, I check to see if they (or Kagi) have started accepting PayPal yet. If so, I happily give them my money in exchange for a proper license. If not, I continue with the working serial.

Other good reasons to use a pirated serial include requiring internet activation when you don't have an internet connection, testing the software for longer than the 15- or 30-day trial period, or getting screwed on update charges when you only recently purchased the (formerly current, now out-of-date) program and the developer releases a paid upgrade a month later.

Re:Who cares?

[Foerstner]

Are we talking about the CEO who laid off half the development team, required the remainder to work over time, and then gave himself a bonus by firing the rest after the product went gold or the pirates?

I say this because more than naught developers are underpaid for their work and then have the hounds released on them by the bean counters when quarter figures need to look better.

Nice little Freudian slip there.

I'd wager that most of the successful commercial software companies treat their developers with a modicum of dignity. Sure, there have been dozens of exceptions over the years, but by and large it's hard to stay in the business if you treat your programmers like shit. It's a good way to make sure your company is a one-hit wonder. Perhaps that's why Adobe, Microsoft, and Google have all been on the "Best Companies to Work For" list, as have other software firms. They may not please all of their employees, but they generally have a reputation for taking care of their own.

It's often a meaner existence for programmers who work for non-software companies like financial or logistics firms--they're viewed as a "cost," not a revenue stream.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've paid for lots of software with my PayPal account, but without a credit card I can't purchase the other programs I'd like to.

PayPal gives you a virtual credit card that can be used at any online store that accepts MasterCard. Next excuse?

Re:Who cares?

[myowntrueself]

I'd wager that most of the successful commercial software companies treat their developers with a modicum of dignity. Sure, there have been dozens of exceptions over the years, but by and large it's hard to stay in the business if you treat your programmers like shit.

Would you still place your wager if we were talking about a game company?

Re:Who cares?

[Seumas]

Is this some sort of Slashdot attempt to still look topical and relevant by discussing the behind the scenes events of some "underground" site that all the kids are talking about these days?

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not for Canadian customers, as far as I've seen.

Re:Who cares?

[DreadfulGrape]

People who plot for two years to take over a Serialz website? Bunch o' loozahs!

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Methinks kdawson already has.

Re:Who cares?

[lakeland]

Game companies are different. They no that no matter how badly they treat their staff, there will always be an unlimited supply of young talented but inexperienced kids^Wgame developers just begging to work for them. Where there is virtually unlimited supply of cheap inexperienced labour it wouldn't be capitalism if you paid your inexperienced staff more than peanuts.

Not being an expert in the gaming industry, I would suspect that the managers there are quite well paid - they have to deal with young, inexperienced staff and manage a high attrition rate while still delivering to deadlines.

Re:Who cares?

[noidentity]

Oh god, I thought it was a reference to the Mac's long-time serial ports (no, really!). The idea of serial numbers never crossed my mind. Now, who's going to give me a super-geek card?

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not for Canadian customers, as far as I've seen. My first credit card was backed by a ~$1200 GIC. If I do a major default on the credit card, I lose the GIC.

Alternativly, you could try using a bank debit card rather than a credit card. This might not work, thus you'll have to contact your bank for assistance.

Re:Who cares?

[Alizarin Erythrosin]

It's often a meaner existence for programmers who work for non-software companies like financial or logistics firms--they're viewed as a "cost," not a revenue stream.

Sadly, its like that at my current job. Would you like to stage a coup at my employers?

Re:Who cares?

[Frosty Piss]

've paid for lots of software with my PayPal account, but without a credit card I can't purchase the other programs I'd like to.

So, I get a pirated serial and use that.

Honestly, that's a pretty lame excuse for pirating software. You can afford to pay but don't like the fact they they require a credit card and you refuse to get one? That sounds like your problem, not theirs.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bad credit isn't reason enough for you? It's not that I refuse to get one, it's that they won't give me one.

Re:Who cares?

[@madeus]

You're not wrong. I don't get all the introspective navel gazing people seem to love doing (in place of anything more constructive).

A significant number of people seem to have nothing better to do than think up buzzwords (for things we already have names for), discuss about software / development methodologies and paradigms and generally do anything other than actually do whatever it is they seem to talk about about doing.

I am often frustrated (in and outside of work) that people would rather talk about 'what language to use', 'what framework to use', 'what revision control system to use', 'what wiki software will be use' than just pick a decent option and get on with building things. Sure, everyone wants to avoid picking a lemon, but at some point it's "good enough" - it's just important to ensure nothing too wacky / niche is being suggested. I like discussing the relative merits of different systems in and outside of work, I don't want it to become my work in and of itself though.

If people want to write software, I don't get why they don't just get on and do it. If they want to trade / publish / collect serial numbers (and I'm not suggesting they should) I don't see why they don't just go ahead and do that without a big dramatic hoo-ha.

A short message like "X was a jerk and tried to split up the group, so we kicked out a bunch of trouble makers" would cover all the drama in this case. That's really all there is to the story. Stuff like "a new graphical look for the website" and "a new forum" (and for some reason taking down the existing one first, load of sites do that for no good reason) and announcing "they are returning, stronger than ever" (or something to that effect) is all totally irrelevant to what they are actually claiming to be about, which is pretty straightforward and doesn't require a song and dance. And yet, this saga is repeated ad nauseum all over the place!

Re:Who cares?

[McFadden]

Are we talking about the CEO who laid off half the development team, required the remainder to work over time, and then gave himself a bonus by firing the rest after the product went gold or the pirates?

Nothing to stop you starting your own company, shouldering the risk, and then creating jobs for other people. Go out and change the world if you think you can do better. Alternatively, take your route: sit on your ass and moan about hypothetical people who perhaps did all of the above.

Re:Who cares?

[echnaton192]

Or you could purchase a prepaid credit card - yes, these do exist.
http://www.google.com/search?q=prepaid+credit+card /

Re:Who cares?

[Jarik_Tentsu]

Some historiography people. A 'coup' is only the liberal side of the story. What about the claims that it was a 'communist revolution'!?

~Jarik

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Katz, KDawson, whats the difference.

Re:Who cares?

[GeckoX]

Argument: They'll sell it to me, but I can't give them what they want for it, so I'll just take it.

That is exactly what you state. So is it suddenly ok to take anything you want that you don't have the means to purchase? What's the difference between your example, and someone 'taking' a $20000 car because they only have $150 in the bank?

Just because you don't have the means to do something does not make it right to then just take whatever you want. It really doesn't.

Re:Who cares?

[decavolt]

Amusing that people who are content to rip off other people's hard work suddenly think they have the moral high ground when they're about to be ripped off themselves.

It's not an old concept - "honor among thieves".

Re:Who cares?

[jamar0303]

Those are nice and everything, but is there a Discover one? Sounds weird, but Discover/UnionPay (essentially the same thing when you get down to it) is what most of China (where I currently live) uses, and not the big-name cards (well, big stores in places frequented by non-Chinese have support for Visa/Mastercard/AmEx, but I don't go there because they rip off the foreigners; so sad).

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wrong. see http://www.moneymart.ca/titaniumcards/

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

I never said it was 'right' of me to do. I said it's my only recourse, short of not using the program (and therefore not ever buying it, because I won't know if it works well for me).

Thanks for the car analogy, I would be disappointed if there wasn't at least one used in my thread.

However, the developer is not missing a car from their car lot. They are not missing any inventory. Therefore it's not the same.

Again, I'll pay for the software I decide is worth my money if and when they start accepting PayPal.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

You need to visit a Money Mart to do that. The nearest Money Mart from my house is a 2 hour drive. I should do that every time I want to purchase something online?

Re:Who cares?

[GeckoX]

I'm sorry, but you're pulling the 'fair use' argument into an excuse to steal.
Yes, you are indeed stealing, particularly with the way you set up this conversation.
If the only reason you won't pay for the software is that you can't be bothered to, it's most certainly theft, and you damned well know it. And in this context, is EXACTLY like stealing a car.

We're not talking about making a copy of your latest mp3 or something. We're talking about something that can only legitimately be obtained by paying for it, and you proudly circumvent said payment. That is theft.

You are doing fair use harm rather than good. Please stop.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm making no excuses.

I can't pay the devs because they don't accept PayPal.

I can't get a credit card because I have bad credit.

So, I can't pay the devs, and yes, I choose to continue using the program, knowing that when my credit is good again and I can get another credit card, or they start accepting PayPal, that I will happily pay for a legal license.

Is that clear enough for you?

I don't know where you get the idea that I can't 'be bothered to'.
If I could, I would. I can't (yet), so I won't until I have another CC or they accept PayPal.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

... 'taking' a $20000 car because they only have $150 in the bank? Just because you don't have the means to do something does not make it right to then just take whatever you want. It really doesn't.

Financial success is determined mostly by intelligence. Intelligence is mostly fixed by the time you're born. You can work hard, you can be lazy - this is a minor factor. As such, it's unlikely you with the $20k car have worked any harder than the $150. So sure, if he sells the car and gets you each a $10k car, that sounds fair to me.

Any argument that comes down to rights on the basis of intelligence - a mostly inherited trait - might as well be an argument that comes down to right on the basis of skin color.

tag this whocares

[Kreigaffe]

seriously, e-drama. seriously.

Re:tag this whocares

[quanticle]

No kidding. This is like the stories about scams and drama in EVE Online, but even more irrelevant.

Re:tag this whocares

[ScytheBlade1]

This is one story that I honestly feel could be deleted, and no one would care.

Because no one cares.

Get this off the front page.

Re:tag this whocares

[sg3000]

> tag this whocares

No, there's too much of a risk that someone will think that Dr. Who or those simpletons the Grinch was ripping off actually care about this tempest in a teapot.

It would make more sense if Slashdot started a section specifically for stories like this. They could combine it with stories about changing alliances among pre-teen girls at our local Junior High School and which C-list celebrities are feuding with their former cast members. They could even reuse the OMG Ponies theme.

Re:tag this whocares

[quanticle]

Yes, and to further drive home the distinction, they could even place it under a different domain. Something like, Fark.com perhaps...

/kidding
//this is probably too irrelevant even for Fark
///slashies on Slashdot

Re:tag this whocares

[mikael]

Yes, and to further drive home the distinction, they could even place it under a different domain.

Perhaps the Mac Serial Junkie People's Front?

or the Popular Front of Mac Serial Junkie?

or even the People's Front of Mac Serial Junkie?

but not to be confused with the Popular Front of Mac Serial Junkie.

Re:tag this whocares

[Anonymous Coward]

Splitters!

Re:tag this whocares

[pegr]

Yes, and to further drive home the distinction, they could even place it under a different domain. Something like, Fark.com perhaps...
/kidding
//this is probably too irrelevant even for Fark
///slashies on Slashdot


 
Dang! If you had a 5 digit or lower UID, that comment would have been even funnier!

(metamod note: Consider the context of this comment before moderating. Gawd, I love self-referential humor...)

Re:tag this whocares

[m0nkyman]

I would have said four digit UID...

Re:tag this whocares

[Bing Tsher E]

It reminds me more of the fat unhappy chicks who would vie to be the 'chatroom moderator' by sucking up (not literally, bleah!!) to the sysop on the old multi-line dialup Chat BBSes before the Web became mainstream.

Re:tag this whocares

[Anonymous Coward]

It reminds me more of the fat unhappy chicks who would vie to be the 'chatroom moderator' by sucking up (not literally, bleah!!) to the sysop on the old multi-line dialup Chat BBSes before the Web became mainstream.

Not literally? I knew a couple of chicks (some fat, some otherwise) that would "blow for co". Those old MajorBBS systems attracted some weird personalities... I'm glad the Internet wiped 'em out frankly.

Re:tag this whocares

[24-bit Voxel]

Funny you should mention this. When I was just a kid of about 12 or 13 years old the going modem rate was 2400 baud and BBS's were where it was at. The rules to get access to the adult sections were always crazy like send in a photocopy of a drivers license, and often times pretending to be a girl and flirting with the sysop gained you entry within 10 minutes, no ID required. Most of the time I just typed out word for word the bs letters from penthouse/playboy I'd found in my dad's closet. (In these days porn 'video' found online was usually about 12 frames of animation that was looped very well so the male was in a perpetual thrusting motion. Hilarious.)

The best is when they called you out for downloading porn that obviously was predominately female, and telling the sysop that you really liked girls as well as guys and before you know it you have superuser status. You could download all kinds of things with that. (I think this is how I played police quest 2.) I remember having to setup fake 'meetings' with some of these sysops, just to keep status for a few more days. Nothing elevated user privelages faster than the possibility of some "hot chick" who is into girls and wants to meet you. Then I'd hide out for a few months and repeat the process all over again.

My pops at the time didn't have unlimited local calling for the phone line and our first months phone bill was something like 700 dollars. Ah, those were the days.

Anyway, don't always assume that the "chatroom moderator" isn't just out to find some busty images back in those days. Often it was guys pretending to be girls.

Re:tag this whocares

[Anonymous Coward]

Snacks is back, in pog form.

Re:tag this whocares

[Anonymous Coward]

THAT WAS YOU???

Re:tag this whocares

[Himring]

And the editors reject so many worth-while stories. LoL! I can see it now:

[Takes hit off joint] Editor: "Let's see [in a holding-breath-talking-way-that-pot-smokers-do], submissions, submissions, submissions.... Hrmm, 'Life found on mars' ... nah [rejected], 'ancient silicon chip found in egypt' ... nah [rejects], "ETI found 20 light years away" ... nah [rejects]. Omg! e-drama among mac geeks! Yes!!! [accepts]...."

Re:tag this whocares

[ari_j]

Fucking People's Front of Mac Serial Junkie...

Re:tag this whocares

[fractoid]

Where's the forum going to gestate? In a box?

Re:tag this whocares

[Associate]

12 frames of animation that was looped very well so the male was in a perpetual thrusting motion

Sounds like something I remember from high school called Mandy Video. It fit on a 3.5 floppy. I kept mine with the file attribute set to hidden, locked in a footlocker in my closet. I'da been beaten had my mother ever found it. I did catch the computer lab teacher and one of the baseball coaches watching it after school one day.

Re:tag this whocares

[Capsaicin]

I knew a couple of chicks (some fat, some otherwise) that would "blow for co". Those old MajorBBS systems attracted some weird personalities... I'm glad the Internet wiped 'em out frankly.

I guess you weren't a BBS sysop then ...

Re:tag this whocares

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, and bring back Jon Katz while you're at it, he could run the show with super sensationalized yellow journalism!

Re:tag this whocares

[jcr]

Dude, he was every chick in the BBS days.

-jcr

Re:tag this whocares

[bytesex]

You forgot: [Exhales]

Re:tag this whocares

[jimbojw]

As the old adage goes:

"My time on IRC has taught me a valuable lesson... On the Internet, all the men are men, all the women are men, and all the children are FBI agents."
--OnyxIR

Re:tag this whocares

[thegnu]

You forgot: [Exhales]

Oh, I thought this was a public service announcement from the drops-suddenly-and-bangs-head-on-coffee-table dept.

Re:tag this whocares

[libkarl2]

Get this off the front page.

Otherwise, it will get 230 replies complaining loudly about how irrelevant the story is, and moderators will spend countless mod points modding up every single pithy remark about how irrelevant the story was. This is all after the website in question gets slashdotted!

And much better stories were (and still are) only a few clicks away.

We do it to ourselves people!!!

Re:tag this whocares

[Lars T.]

Hey, the first three are dupes anyway.

Re:tag this whocares

[bandmassa]

Meh, nobody _really_ did this, they were _really_ hacking in DoD computers. (I roll my eyes.)

Stereotypes just never die :(

Re:tag this whocares

[tehcyder]

My pops at the time didn't have unlimited local calling for the phone line and our first months phone bill was something like 700 dollars.

And presumably your second month's bill was $20 and your parents sold all your computer equipment to pay the first?

Re:tag this whocares

[darkpixel2k]

I kept mine with the file attribute set to hidden, locked in a footlocker in my closet


Instead of logical security, I opted for physical security.

I had one of those super tiny locks with the weird diamond logo on it locked through one of the holes on the floppy.

I was betting on the fact that my parents didn't know how to take a floppy apart and toss the media into another floppy 'shell'.

mrahahahaha...

[Anonymous Coward]

The mac evil shall continue...!!!!

Hmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hm. I wonder who submitted this story? The foiled coup members, maybe?

Re:Hmm...

[edittard]

If they mention anything about locked bank accounts don't believe them. Or at least, contact me so I can act as an intermediary and route the fee payments through my account. This will firewall you from any small possibilty of attempted fraud.

This Is News For Nerds??

[Anonymous Coward]

This sounds like it should be an item in a high school newspaper. No wonder, it's a kdawson story, poster of all useless and leftist drivel.

Are you guys going to cover how Timmy is going to plotting to take over the treehouse next?

Re:This Is News For Nerds??

[Anonymous Coward]

As a Leftist, I take offence to that comment.

Don't know what kdawson's deal is, but don't try to pin his actions on us.

Re:This Is News For Nerds??

[Anonymous Coward]

But all he can do is sit in his wheelchair and say his name....unless....oh god its the perfect cover! I better grab my magnum and get up that tree pronto!

Re:This Is News For Nerds??

[Phroggy]

No wonder, it's a kdawson story, poster of all useless and leftist drivel. Would you mind explaining what about this story is "leftist"?

Re:This Is News For Nerds??

[Anonymous Coward]

The phrase "poster of all useless and leftist..." could be strictly interpreted that the two both need to be there, but then in common use you could say "supporter of all male and female..." which most wouldn't interpret as only applying to hermaphrodites.

So by interpreting this in a common -- rather than the stricly logical -- manner, this fulfills the "useless" criterion.

Re:This Is News For Nerds??

[DeepHurtn!]

"Leftist" drivel...? He posts shit in general, but I don't think it's particularly lefty stuff. I *wish* it was; I'm what most people would call a leftist, and I think /. could use a bit more (but I know this place leans towards U.S.-style capitalistic libertarianism, so whatever). But did you catch kdawson's gem from a couple of days ago? That's some pretty crazy right wing nutso land crap he posted to the front page.

No, kdawson just posts crud. Period.

Re:This Is News For Nerds??

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't agree that it's inanely stupid?

Re:This Is News For Nerds??

[Phroggy]

You don't agree that it's inanely stupid? Are you suggesting that "leftist" is synonymous with "inanely stupid"?

Re:This Is News For Nerds??

[Anonymous Coward]

It looks like ScuttleMonkey posted the article you linked to...

Re:This Is News For Nerds??

[NotmyNick]

"Leftist" drivel...? He posts shit in general, but I don't think it's particularly lefty stuff. I *wish* it was; I'm what most people would call a leftist, and I think /. could use a bit more (but I know this place leans towards U.S.-style capitalistic libertarianism, so whatever). But did you catch kdawson's gem from a couple of days ago? That's some pretty crazy right wing nutso land crap he posted to the front page. No, kdawson just posts crud. Period.

G.I. Joe No Longer the Real American Hero? Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday September 07, @10:37PM from the pussification-of-the-modern-male dept.

Without taking an opinion on the premise of yours and the GPs posts, I've got to wonder about the mods who gave your rant a +5 informative.

Re:This Is News For Nerds??

[DeepHurtn!]

Hey, me too! Looks like I misremembered. Although I hardly think the two or three lines I posted count as a rant.

who fucking cares?

[Reality Master 201]

No, really, who fucking cares? Is there nothing better to post as a story, anywhere on the intarweb?

Re:who fucking cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

kdawson found this news why? whoc ares about some Mac privacy site that no one even heard of before

Re:who fucking cares?

[Derek Loev]

I've said it before and got modded down. But I'll say it again (and get modded down).
Was anybody surprised Kdawson posted this? Seriously, anybody.

Re:who fucking cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Let us all follow Reality Master 201's example. We need to completely ignore that any one of us could take the time to submit a more interesting story for peer review in the firehose. Instead we should post dumbshit remarks on a thread we care nothing about.

p.s. the captcha is dumbfuck

Re:who fucking cares?

[morgan_greywolf]

y34h, 1tz n0t l1k3 n3 b0dy g1v3z a cr4p ab0u7 w4r3z 4 m4cs!!! a11 th3 31337 d00dz us3 w1nd0ze!!!!

Re:who fucking cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

n0 wai w3 ju5t di5s M$ 4nD 8i77 6at3s

didn7 u g3t t3h m3m0??

Re:who fucking cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder if that would make a good password.

Re:who fucking cares?

[Dogtanian]

I've said it before and got modded down. But I'll say it again (and get modded down).
Was anybody surprised Kdawson posted this? Seriously, anybody. This is possibly the worst story I've seen on Slashdot ever. Seriously; it's so obvious that 99% of people will neither know nor care about MacSerialJunkie and its stupid infighting that one has to suspect there were other motives behind putting it on the front page.

I've never accepted that the editors are as stupid or as incompetent as some people think they are. For example- the dupes situation. In at least one case, a duplicate story has been posted by the *same* editor who did the original (Zonk IIRC). Yet everyone seems to be go along with the "crap editors" theory... and never seems to consider that being a commercial site, /. wanted to get more mileage and page views out of a good story, and intentionally "duped" it.

So I'm kind of sceptical about the reasons for such an obviously duff story going on the front page. I don't know what they are. Maybe kdawson is secretly getting paid by Digg to make /. look bad (much as I loathe Digg, I suspect that even this story wouldn't have made it to their front page- or maybe I'm giving them too much credit). Okay, so maybe not- perhaps they just wanted to generate discussion. Bingo- they succeeded! Or... whatever it was there has to be a reason for inflicting such obvious non-news on us.

Re:who fucking cares?

[jollyreaper]

I've said it before and got modded down. But I'll say it again (and get modded down).
Was anybody surprised Kdawson posted this? Seriously, anybody. Me. But I'm new here.

Re:who fucking cares?

[edittard]

Hey, it works for my luggage!

Re:who fucking cares?

[Reality Master 201]

Eh. You eat penis.

Re:who fucking cares?

[Reaperducer]

Since you brought up Digg, I'll ask you...

Slashdot blows.
Digg blows.
Fark is borderline.

Any GOOD tech-friendly "social news" (or whatever the term is) sites out there these days?

Re:who fucking cares?

[Dogtanian]

Fucked if I know. I'll say that for all its flaws (and this story shows it definitely has them) Slashdot is still miles ahead of Digg. That's not saying much, mind you.

Re:who fucking cares?

[Just Some Guy]

When I discovered that I could read that all full speed, a little part of me died. I hate you.

Re:who fucking cares?

[geekboy642]

The things my cat leaves in her litterbox are more intelligent than the entirety of Digg. And still I go there sometimes, because hey, maybe I wanted to see another LOLcats animation.

Re:who fucking cares?

[gaderael]

It's really sad that I'm pretty drunk at the moment and can actually read this. Gah, hate leet speak

pirates are not honest ?

[Anonymous Coward]

well who would of thought that

darwin in action

Been there... done that... split appleinsider...

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, this isn't the first mac related forums/web site to undergo a major fractious split. It happened three plus years ago with Appleinsider cum Appleinsider and AppleNova...

So?

[Usekh]

And 99.9999% of Slashdot readers even vaguely care why? I mean this type of thing happens on dozens of boards/MU*/groups or whatever just about daily. Whop-de-fucking-do

Days of our lives

[dekkerdreyer]

This is quite a soap opera, but I think only people who regularly post on those forums could really care. So here's to the three of you.

Next week on slashdot: How one moderator over at knittingmachines.org thwarted an attempt by 31337gr4ndm4 to copy the patterns of beloved moderator iknit4u.

Re:Days of our lives

[Erik K. Veland]

I have been a member there for 6 years and even I couldn't care less.

Re:Days of our lives

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Yeah, from the headline, I somehow thought it might be at least somewhat relevant to some part of the real world. I thought it would be something about a Mid-East or SE Asian country, or at least something like Luxembourg, but coup against a web site?! Come on kdawson.

Re:Days of our lives

[Phroggy]

Yeah, from the headline, I somehow thought it might be at least somewhat relevant to some part of the real world. I thought it would be something about a Mid-East or SE Asian country, or at least something like Luxembourg, but coup against a web site?! Come on kdawson. Not just a coup against a web site, but a coup against their own web site, which most of the rest of us (many of whom are Mac users) have never even heard of.

Re:Days of our lives

[Altus]

Ive certainly never heard of it before and Ive been active in the Mac community for a very long time.

But what I want to know is, what is this web site exactly. I mean, maybe it was different before the soap opera but right now I see a big letter and 3 buttons at the top of the page. two of them roll over to broken images and the forums button just tells me I don't have permissions. There doesn't seem to be anything else. Was there ever? Is this web site so "underground" that its just not usable?

Meh, whatever, I wasted enough time just reading half of that drama.

Re:Days of our lives

[Ash Vince]

I have been a member there for 6 years and even I couldn't care less. But have you been back since?

WGAF

[DoctorPepper]

All of you GROW UP! go on, get out of your parent's basement, into the real world. Get a real job and a (girl|boy)friend and just get on with your lives!

None of this shit means anything outside of your silly little group. Sheesh!

Re:WGAF

[Anonymous Coward]

And who says I give a shit about what's outside of my "silly" little group? Now, I don't even own a mac. Never visited the site. I'm just tired of people like yourself pissing on how other people decide to live and spend their time.

Re:WGAF

[thijs_w]

[...] get out of your parent's basement, into the real world. Get a real job and a (girl|boy)friend and just get on with your lives!

You must be new here.

Re:WGAF

[Poromenos1]

Man, you did not just use a regular expression when telling people to get girlfriends. Tell me that's not it.

Re:WGAF

[QuantumG]

Yeah! Stop being all cerebral and get back to breeding ya dirty apes.

Idiot.

Re:WGAF

[flosofl]

Stop being all cerebral and get back to breeding ya dirty apes.

Idiot.

WTF is so cerebral about being a serial number clearing house for Mac software?

Moron.

Re:WGAF

[QuantumG]

Well it sure isn't primate.

Blowhard.

Re:WGAF

[Anonymous Coward]

Logical falacy, my friend. Having a girlfriend doesn't imply you're "grown up". It only proves you want sex or companionship enough to put up with some unknown quantity of nagging, spending money, and whatever other bullshit may be involved.

Re:WGAF

[Anonymous Coward]

It also could have been logical or of boy and girl. I'm not sure what the results are. A Chia pet maybe?

Re:WGAF

[Anonymous Coward]

No, your mother.

In response to prior comments: I CARE

[heinousjay]

No, I'm lying. I couldn't possibly care less.

*Yawns*

[ZwJGR]

Story is irrelevant, and the title is a contradiction.
It's hardly "underground" if it's on /. and every man and his dog can read all about it.
This story sounds like a gaggle of teenage Wow/second life-types plotting little games from their mums' basements...

Hardly: "News For Nerds. Stuff That Matters"

Re:*Yawns*

[Derek Loev]

The "News for Nerds" part seems relevant. It's that "Stuff that Matters" part that's the problem.

One person was

[Anonymous Coward]

Zonk, and boy, he's pissed he didn't get to post it.

Slashdot has officially

[Anonymous Coward]

become digg. Nonstories nonstop!

Subterranean Homesick Blues

[zeromorph]

Thanks so far, for making sense out of this post, but:

"... one of the largest underground Mac communities ... a number of people at the highest levels of the underground planned their takeover activities for almost two years,...

WTF? No seriously WTF?

Re:Subterranean Homesick Blues

[gEvil (beta)]

Highest levels of the underground? That means they're just below the surface, right? And they've been planning their takeover for almost two years? They don't sound all that motivated to me...

Re:Subterranean Homesick Blues

[zeromorph]

Maybe they were digging their way up.

But why then on slashdot? /*ducks*/

Re:Subterranean Homesick Blues

[david.given]

Highest levels of the underground? That means they're just below the surface, right? And they've been planning their takeover for almost two years? They don't sound all that motivated to me...

I presume their train got stuck at Edgeware Road.

Re:Subterranean Homesick Blues

[UbuntuDupe]

Mixed metaphors: if you don't understand them, please, just don't use them. (tm)

Re:Subterranean Homesick Blues

[Nazlfrag]

No, it just means that after two years, they were going to be the first ones to venture out of Moms basement. Luckily their plans were overthrown, and the real world is safe once again.

It had to be said

[Cait Sidhe]

Internets: Serious Business

Re:It had to be said

[Anonymous Coward]

web serial swapping warez forums: THE DEEP UNDERGROUND OF THE INTARWEBZ

And people wonder why slashdot is 1/4th as popular as it was years ago.... this is some of the worst rubbish that has ever made it to the front page. You guys are taking your Apple fanboyism too seriously... I much preferred the over powering FOSS Linux fanboyism.

coup? underground movement?

[z_gringo]

If that wasn't a joke, These people seem way too full of themselves.

Who the hell are those people anyway? I have never heard of any of it.

How the hell did this make the front page?

[djkitsch]

I mean...really? Slow news day, huh?

Re:How the hell did this make the front page?

[OS24Ever]

Thought I was on Digg for a minute, I got pretty confused.

Re:coup? underground movement?

[Loke the Dog]

Well, it wouldn't have been very underground if you had.

Stupidity

[MikeBabcock]

Why on earth did this get posted to the main page? This might be the dumbest tripe I've seen on Slashdot in a while (although I'm sure someone will reply with worse).

Re:Stupidity

[1u3hr]

This might be the dumbest tripe I've seen on Slashdot in a while (although I'm sure someone will reply with worse).

G.I. Joe No Longer the Real American Hero?

Re:Stupidity

[MikeBabcock]

I dunno, it might've just been a bad day, mind you I think the GI Joe "article" as moronic as it was may have had more global appeal than the underground mac community most of us have never heard of.

I wonder...

[Ginger_Chris]

...If this mac coup and the dead parrot mentioned earlier are somehow connected in a larger and more fiendish plot to take over all the internets. Maybe kdawson is trying to show us simple, innocuous (and downright boring) news pieces, and believes that a bunch of intelligent (and handsome) people such as ourselves will solve and prevent the diabolical plot. Maybe.

Oh god...

[Anonymous Coward]

You know I'm going to hold you personally responsible for this if they create gossip.slashdot.org. I can just hear them now discussing how popular sites like TMZ and The Smoking Gun are.

On the plus side, though, it might bring more girls to Slashdot.

Re:Oh god...

[rtyhurst]

Helloo.

I am hot Russian chix.

You are makng me all moisty with insighful, funy and interstink commemt.

Moderate me from behind, you big trouts!!

Re:Oh god...

[8ball629]

Oops...

I think you meant to check the "Post Anonymously" box before submitting that...

Re:Oh god...

[UnixUnix]

LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN :-D

Re:Oh god...

[orclevegam]

Oops...

I think you meant to check the "Post Anonymously" box before submitting that...

Or even worse, maybe he didn't!

tag: firehoseabuse

[Nimey]

I see the trolls are gaming the firehose.

Re:tag: firehoseabuse

[Moderatbastard]

I see the trolls are gaming the firehose.

That I can live with - I won't worry until they can manipulate the moderation syste
>> Post truncated - below threshhold

The motive is clear

[darkhitman]

They did it for the lulz.


... Which would explain this story, if this were 4chan. Since it's Slashdot, though, one can only wonder.

Re:The motive is clear

[deftcoder]

If this were on 4chan, nobody would give a fuck either.

In Other News

[Stevecat]

SmR writes
"In an attempted anthill coup that would not have been out of place in a tragic Discovery Channel special, the red ants in my backyard, owners of one of the largest anthills underground in my backyard, were doused with gasoline this weekend after it was discovered that a faction of the worker ants were plotting a coup. The plans included an unprecedented and sneaky incursion into my kitchen trash containing an old big Mac, cereal, and tasty junk. In an unexpected move I placed some honey-soaked borax in their trail and the poison infiltrated into the highest levels of their underground empire. Then dousing thier anthill with gasoline I ended their reign of almost two years, and thus they were foiled before my wife got home."

Honestly, I think my story is more interesting.

SmR

Re:In Other News

[Anonymous Coward]

If you dump confectioners' sugar on your wife's "beave-pie", the ants will march right in and carry off the eggs. This will prevent you from accidentally impregnating her when your downstairs neighbor slams the front door and startles you into an orgasm while you're having sex (and using the rhythm method for contraception). It happened to Barton George Dawes. *nods spastically*

Re:In Other News

[Derek Loev]

I for one would have welcomed your new ant overlords.

Re:In Other News

[iroll]

It had a Mac in it, and thus is relevant to my interests!!

Re:In Other News

[couchslug]

"Honestly, I think my story is more interesting."

So do I.
My fire ant recipe is a bucket full of laundry detergent and water. I use it for hand cleaner when wrenching, then dump it into the nearest fire ant mount. Kills 'em every time and is biodegradable. :)

Mac's

[pjh3000]

This involves obscure mac stuff. Does anyone normal care?

Re:Mac's

[mrzebra]

I was wondering the same thing. This hardly seems newsworthy.

kdawson is a shared account

[Nymz]

Anytime there's a story that's not story-worthy, or obviously false politcal propaganda, they use the kdawson account to publish it, thus saving their own reputation. There is no way it could be one man.

Re:kdawson is a shared account

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes! kdawson, the Bourbaki of Slashdot.

Re:kdawson is a shared account

[sootman]

I don't know. The very first kdawson stories (AFAIK) were the ones that used the 'enlightenment' icon incorrectly. No group of slashdot regulars could be that dumb... and at the same time, I don't think the slashdot regulars are smart enough to lay a foundation like that intentionally. I have to think it's one not-so-bright person.

Re:kdawson is a shared account

[trudyscousin]

"Anytime there's a story that's not story-worthy, or obviously false politcal propaganda, they use the kdawson account to publish it, thus saving their own reputation."

So you're saying Slashdot has its very own Alan Smithee, of sorts?

Re:kdawson is a shared account

[UnixUnix]

Hee hee, the mathematician John Littlewood was told once, upon having been introduced: --So... you really exist! I thought you were just a nom-de-plume for G. H. Hardy's lesser papers. Yours, Nicolas Bourbaki

Re:kdawson is a shared account

[Anonymous Coward]

+5? Give me a fucking break.

If you believed anything you wrote you'd be in Iraq right now, as a soldier. You aren't there because you're just an idiotic keyboard warrior.

I sincerely hope you die in a terrorist attack, you awful, civil rights-hating, big-government loving, fascist GOP loser.

I have often wondered about doing this

[Anonymous Coward]

Many organizations could be taken over by a small number of people. Some of those organizations actually matter to the rest of us. For example, we have Microsoft's latest efforts to subvert the ISO.

I read the letter mentioned in TFA and was quite puzzled about what the mechanism for the coup would be. It seems to me that the only real way to take over the message board would be to capture ownership of the domain name. It's something like the freedom of the press belonging to the guy who owns the press.

The message board in question isn't very interesting to most of us. On the other hand, the same sort of thing could happen to organizations that we do care about.

Profit?

[laparel]

Hmm, so we got the suspects. Do we have motive? How much does the site earn? It may be interesting if profit is a driving force for the coup... If you were the site owner, what can you do when a coup does go successfully and hijacks all the ad revenue of the site?

coup member

[Anonymous Coward]

i am one of those who attempted the coup so i am really getting a kick out of these replies.

Re:plot thickens

[autoDuelreturns]

wait, there's got to be more to this. an "underground" site exposed on slashdot. could the story submitter be trying to bring the forum to ruin from a different angle. yep... I tried... I still don't care.

I found it interesting..

[erktrek]

I know nothing about this site and I found it interesting from a social dynamic perspective. Also it's probably important to learn about such co-opting strategies.

Not sure who is in the "right" here but the domain owners kinda get the last word on what they want and how to do things don't you think?

It's also kind of curious that the first few posts here seem to be so vitriolic against the posting of this article. As I recall /. is supposed to be "news for nerds" or some such. It seems to me "Coups" and "Underground Mac Movements" are about as nerdy as you can get.

Then again, I must be new here...

Re:I found it interesting..

[EllynGeek]

It's also interesting how many people who don't care took the time to post flames about how much they don't care. It's important to the people involved, and as you said possibly a good lesson for any online community. As far as nerdy stuff goes, well, /. is heavily-infested with trolls who are not nerds, and don't really have skills of any kind, except wandering all over the Internet putting down everything and everyone.

Re:I found it interesting..

[Anonymous Coward]

Try watching wall paint dry - you'd probably find it interesting from material state transition and fluid dynamic/energy transfer perspective.

Re:I found it interesting..

[Jeremiah Stoddard]

Too true... This will probably have no effect on my life whatsoever, but I deal with posts like this specifically because I don't come to slashdot for general interest stuff. If I wanted something that was supposedly of great interest to everybody, I'd hit up Google news or Yahoo! (despite the fact that even they are chock-full of useless crap). Since I want something a little more tech-oriented, I come to Slashdot and happily sift through to find the few things that really interest me.

I feel inclined to mention this because hopefully those few that take an interest in this post won't turn around and tag something useful to me with "whocares", etc...

Re:I found it interesting..

[osu-neko]

It's also interesting how many people who don't care took the time to post flames about how much they don't care.

It's the difference between a mature human being comfortable with his or her place in the universe, and an immature person who thinks he or she is the center of the universe. The mature individuals know some things interest them and some things don't, but that some of those things that don't interest them do interest other people. They simply skip over anything that doesn't interest them. The immature people get upset that something that doesn't interest them was posted. If it doesn't interest them, why did anyone waste the time posting it? If anyone else is interested in it, they must be "losers".

The real problem at the core for them is, every time something is posted that doesn't interest them, it proves that the universe does not revolve around them, and they just can't stand that. So they must complain. Any time the universe does not appear to be specifically tailored for them, they must complain. Obviously something is wrong with the universe if it isn't arranged for their ultimate convenience.

Re:I found it interesting..

[MikeBabcock]

That makes a whole lot of sense if we're talking about political discourse, but in this case its a news for nerds website with a fairly well set precedent for what type of story is newsworthy (GI Joes aside).

This is a community of users, not just two users, and I have yet to see any insightful comments about the article at all, just proving the point that nobody really is interested in this article. Even most of the mundane Slashdot articles get actual insightful comments added, but this one has almost entirely flames about the articles' existence. If indeed the majority of users here think this is useless stupid tripe, then they're probably right, its news for /them/.

Dr. Ron Paul will win the NH primary

[Anonymous Coward]

What is this , spam spillover from digg?

My How Slashdot has fallen.

[SirStanley]

Seriously... this is news?

Re:My How Slashdot has fallen.

[Zephiria]

Its not news, its GEEK-FARK.com(TM)

Re:My How Slashdot has fallen.

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe it is time for an underground slashdot faction to organize a coup? We're going to have to turn some uf the higher ups, what kinda leverage can we get on them?

Splitters!

[edittard]

It's been a while since any mention of Michael Sims, one-time darling of the sladshdot in-crowd - a person guilty of exactly the tactics mentioned in TFA - has come up.

Re:Splitters!

[Anonymous Coward]

Michael Sims: Gay Nazi Conspirator
Why Slashdot Fired Michael
Ein Tag im Leben von Michael Sims

Re:Splitters!

[mikael]

You mean Michael Sims - slashdot.org editor -

From the following articles, he seems to have made himself extremely popular...

Underground, overground...

[edittard]

I'm a womble, you insensitive clod!!!!

Ob: lame dupe joke, about dupes (lame, not funny)

[edittard]

Zonk, and boy, he's pissed he didn't get to post it.

Not true. Strictly speaking, he only didn't get to post it first. Just wait a day or two.

Well, quite!

[djkitsch]

I thought this site had editors....!

There are losers on the internet

[sholden]

News at 11.

Actually...

[djkitsch]

...even us obscure Mac owners don't care. It's that tedious.

If kdawson is having such a boring Sunday that this stuff appeals, why don't we petition for an OMGPONIES!!! revival to liven up the day? Everyone likes ponies...

Or, alternatively, a topical OMGPARROTS!!! day - a memorial, if you will.

Re:Actually...

[Bing Tsher E]

What is an obscure Mac owner? Someone who collects really obscure Macs, like an SE with a different colored case, or a 20th Anniversary Mac, or a Cube with unique features?

I consider myself an obscure Mac owner because I own a whole bunch of Macs but not a single one capable of running OS 10. I 'collect' things like images of old Mac HDs which get burned to folders on CD-ROMs using a really old version of Toast.

OS 8.1 forever!

etc.

News for Nerds.

[MillionthMonkey]

Stuff that would not have been out of place in a Shakespearian tragedy.

Re:THIS IS IMPORTANT

[Ajehals]

I agree with the sentiment of your post, this is News, maybe not front page, but if there is nothing else, why not. Saying that,the sociological element of this is probably not all that important, I am sick and tired of people

1) ..Creating on-line versions of real life things (like social networks) and then claiming them as innovative and new. They are not, the technology may be, the speed of intercommunication may be, but the concept is not new, novel or otherwise innovative.

2) ..Being surprised that on-line versions of real life things tend to create activity and patterns that are similar to those of their real world counterparts. Just because you have taken something and put it "on the net" does not mean that it will be drastically different that in the real world. Communications are faster and the scope is larger, that's all. It is not magic.

Anyway, on a less serious note:

I defy any of the self-righteous posters to tell me they've never installed Windows with the same CD twice, or Office, etc. You're right. Always download a clean CD image before installing, never use the same Windows or Office CD twice.

Well that's the policy I use for my Debian CD's, 100+ NetInstall CD's and counting, they don't seem to work for more than one install.... on account of them being used as coasters afterwards usually. The down side of this activity is that I seem to have gotten into the mindset that CD's are easily replaceable and readily downloadable, it comes as a shock every time I destroy a Music CD or DVD, that I can't just replace it. Damn you open source!!.

File under "Who gives a shit"

[rudy_wayne]

After reading the "open letter" only one thought comes to mind.

These guys really need to get a life.

Re:File under "Who gives a shit"

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah, internet turf wars over domain names. What'll those crazy kids think of next?

Re:File under "Who gives a shit"

[Nazlfrag]

He's got a life... he's a mysterious, dangerous agent in the mysterious dark caverns of the Mac Serial Underground, a shadow world where people are known only by a cryptic screenname and danger lurks at every corner.

It's either that, or just the bad lighting in the basement.

Drat!

[peacefinder]

"Yea, it's a site to swap software serial numbers."

Darn, I was hoping it was a site about Mac serial ports. I was gonna go ask a question...

Re:Drat!

[Bing Tsher E]

The connector is round. And it's the same connector as on certain Sun boxes (the IPX is one, I believe). So you can use Apple Modem Cables and a nullmodem plug to connect to a headless SparcStation as the console.

Some of the finest Macs ever made use that serial connector, i.e. the SE/30.

Re:Drat!

[kon23uk]

But on the plus side, it sounds like a great replacement for train spotting as I get too old to sit on plaforms anymore! Anyone want an anorak and thermos flask?

Re:Drat!

[vimh42]

"Darn, I was hoping it was a site about Mac serial ports. I was gonna go ask a question..."

The odd thing is, that actually would have been very useful. Oh well.

It's not bad - it just needs the "humor" tag

[CharonX]

From the site ...began to plot their dastardly plans...
Come one, who can avoid imaging those Villians twiddling their beards in glee, in anticipation of their devious dastardly deeds.

Mac fanboys is serius bizness

[Anonymous Coward]

From a purely social standpoint, this is relatively interesting. Understanding how such a takeover was planned and later thwarted, I can see this as a human interest story, and I can see why the leader in question is rather proud.

Except that it's a failed leadership change at one, just one, singular website that very few people care about. One. A number that is even less than two, though it's debatable that this story is worth more than zero. If I wanted to track zomg teh internets drama TIHS IS SERIUS!!!1!!1!, I'd track MySpace. What's next? Front-page news about how some random fansub group is changing their font? A Harry Potter fanfic site nobody's ever heard of running out of ideas? A report on how some sysadmin successfully patched his/her webserver to use the latest version of PHP due to security flaws?

Oh, wait. It's a Mac fanboy website . This changes everything. Thanks, Slashdot. It's great to know the sort of stuff that matters.

Wake me up on Monday.

[Anonymous Coward]

Big. Fucking. Deal.

The head admin first realised something was amiss

[JamesRose]

When the second in charge was caught using windows.

Hoax anyone?

[gbulmash]

So you've got this overlong, poorly-written drivel on their front page and that's all that seems to exist. All the links into the site result in 404 errors.

Anyway, anyone knows that if you want a serial number, you download a keygen off a filesharing network. And make sure that you *don't virus scan it* or you could break it.

- G

Arrrr, there be idiots there

[itsybitsy]

It's bullshit. Move along, nothing to see.

that reminds me of a similar situation

[larry bagina]

Hey, remember when Zonk and kdawson plotted a takeover of slashdot? too bad they succeeded.

Nah, Zonk would only post this...

[Anonymous Coward]

...if it was related to his beloved Australia.

mac underground?

[Anonymous Coward]

anyone else find the term 'mac underground' incredibly funny? and they swap serials? oooo! they`re so naughty!

The "elite" Mac UnderGround scene, our own side. Or so we thought. elite. hahahahahahahaha.

pathetic assholes.

Hypocrisy

[lena_10326]

The general consensus seems to be this story is a non-story, of course I would agree, but I find it highly illuminating that the consensus was very different when a similar story appeared regarding virtual corruption in the game of Eve, which in my opinion was a very non-story.

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/26/ 0016226

By the way, don't give me any bull that one is free and the other is a paid for service... they're both internet communities. No one is forced to use them.

So, I guess the lesson is it only matters to you when it's a forum you happen to use.

Re:Hypocrisy

[jjohnson]

Not quite. Regardless of ./ers participation in Eve, it's well known that it's a 100K strong community, so any interesting community dynamics are newsworthy, moreso because they reflect on the MMO genre itself.

Most of the reason this is a non-story is that there's a total of four people with two servers involved. I'm far from certain that there's more than 100 people who even give a shit about the 'attempted coup'.

Re:Hypocrisy

[Blakey Rat]

It's a matter of scale. Almost everybody reading Slashdot has heard of EVE Online, and EVE has tens of thousands of regular players. I think it's safe that nearly nobody on Slashdot, apart from the person who posted this story, has ever heard of this "underground Mac community." Guess what, a story about World of Warcraft, which has millions of regular players, would be bigger news than EVE Online news.

Adding to the "who cares" factor:

1) The story is a non-story; there was no coup, and no domain name changed hands.
2) All the people involved are software pirates, so it's really hard to feel any sympathy whatsoever for any plight they might have.
3) The summary is poorly-written and doesn't bother to explain why anybody should give a crap about this story.

Re:Hypocrisy

[lena_10326]

"20% Troll"

I will never understand the psychology of a slashdot moderator. I guess the definition of troll has changed since the 90's.

Re:Hypocrisy

[necro2607]

Umm, I am getting really tired of seeing post after post of people saying "no one gives a shit". Trust me, it's pretty notable news in the Mac 'scene'. There are thousands and thousands of users on that forum (I'd give you an exact number if the forums were up) with easily hundreds of posts on any given day. It is basically THE prime source for Mac software/serials other than private systems (there's Mac TKA too but it's invite-only and apparently the invite system is no longer functioning).

Just because you guys aren't members of the community and don't know anything about it doesn't mean there isn't a huge community there who are pretty concerned about the site.

Oh My God - Did You See!

[Bob Cat - NYMPHS]

Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison are wearing the same outfit!

Honor among thieves?

[cypherz]

Very funny when pirates are upset when somebody tries to steal their board. Why would they think that their membership would behave honorably?

Re:Honor among thieves?

[Ren.Tamek]

Apparently you've never heard stories of how we pirates treat a mutiny...

Arrr!

Re:Honor among thieves?

[necro2607]

Actually, downloaded any warez lately, or in the last, say, 15 years? Notice how there's always a "group" tag at the end of the filename like razor1911, PARADOX, DEViANCE or the like? Those are highly organized groups that release pirated software and have been doing it for years and years. Razor 1911 has been releasing since 1985.

So, just because they're software pirates doesn't mean they're horrible people who are going to stab you in the back and steal all your valuables when they come over to visit... ;)

To be fair...

[Anonymous Coward]

I was the first poster of both stories (as you can tell by my Who Cares) in each. I actually care less about the EVE story, and in that case was modded troll. This time? +5. I may need to make a "TheWhoCaresGuy" account if I keep it up.

Press releases for nerds, stuff that's made up

[ebcdic]

If you're a computer security company no-one's ever heard of, you "conduct" an opinion poll showing that 84% of people will tell you their password in return for a jaffa cake, and the BBC will treat it as news. If you're a bunch of wannabe hackers that no-one's ever heard of, you make up a bunch of nonsense about a "coup" in your non-existent "community", and hey presto Slashdot will wet themselves.

Re:Press releases for nerds, stuff that's made up

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, MSJ is fairly well-known among Mac users - I've been using it for years.

But still. Not news.

Re:Press releases for nerds, stuff that's made up

[Anonymous Coward]

"Fairly well known" ?? - it's hosted the Serial Box/Surfer files for many years. It's _the_ site for Mac piracy.

Re:Press releases for nerds, stuff that's made up

[Anonymous Coward]

MSJ? What has MicroSoft Journal got to do with it? :-)

Work to live or live to work.

[gnutoo]

The only thing more pathetic than living to work is trolling message boards with said opinion. Get back to work, or you have violated your reason to exist. The rest of us will continue to enjoy life.

Another non-story posted by kdawson

[uofitorn]

...at least he can't be labeled anti-MS. He posts junk on all sides of the spectrum.

Whatever happened to gopher?

[Dogtanian]

Are you too blind to see that the existence of coups in the online universe is something important?
IT IS IMPORTANT FROM A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE! This is an interesting display of the dynamics of social networks carried through the medium of the web rather than through good old sound and flesh to flesh contact! [..] WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT A COUP TOOK PLACE ONLINE, AND HOW SAID COUP TOOK PLACE. 1994 called, they want their insights into the sociological aspects of cyberspace back.

Hey Apple stole FreeBSD

[Ice Station Zebra]

so this kinda things seems to run in the family

Re:Hey Apple stole FreeBSD

[gn0min0mic0n]

The title reminded me of the internal Mac vs Apple ][ battle, as depicted in the movie Pirates Of Silicon Valley.

Slashdot = Digg?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is the Slashdot to Digg transition complete then?

Sadly this story wouldn't even get Dugg. Insert jump the shark/golden years/old skool reference here, but it does need to be said: this kind of item is beneath Slashdot.

Reputation?

[Eevee]

You'd have to prove that any of the editors actually cared about their reputation. Considering the number of dupes, pointless stories, and poorly edited postings there are here, you'd almost think they enjoy trashing their own reputations.

Turn the fucking firehose off

[freshmayka]

Please... Slashdot stories are getting worse and worse each day.

Or just change the slogan to:

"News for nerds (and anybody else), Stuff that matters (or doesn't)"

Hey, let's not all define what is newsworthy

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it's clear that very few people on /. actually use macs and need software for them, else the overwhelming response wouldn't be so annoyed or apathetic.

I post on the msj fora every now and then and didn't have a clue that this happened. I'm a nerd. It was news for me. Isn't that the point of slashdot?

Just because you never heard of it and don't have any reason to go there (it's a fine forum all in itself aside from the shares) doesn't mean it's not worth posting. Just stop reading the apple section if you don't care, or something :p

You guys are missing the point

[FUD spreader]

This was clearly a government conspiracy, just like 9/11. Don't fall for it! The government doesn't like Mac's because they don't give them all they tools they need to spy on you and make a Big Brother like society! Don't get sucked into the propaganda!

only to be foiled at the last minute.

[BrynM]

(everyone say it with them)

Drats!

Curses!

[DragonTHC]

and I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for you damn mac fanboys!

Gopher

[Anonymous Coward]

He co-hosts an AM morning radio show in Washington, DC on WMAL called Grandy and Andy.

Oh Noes!

[MeridianOnTheLake]

If this was Fark, someone would now post a pic of the Oh Noes! flaming paper bag guy: http://www.wildyams.com/blog/archives/oh_noes.jpg

Then we'd get miscellaneous funny cat pictures before the thread devolved into a Bush flamewar.

/And finally some slashies

Re:Oh Noes!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm an underground mac serial junkie so I am getting a kick out of these replies...

Re:Oh Noes!

[Anonymous Coward]

O'RLY!

Wow - great community

[unity100]

But, the question is, is taking over cool ?

LOLWUT?

[Anonymous Coward]

LOLWUT?

Shakespearian?

[1u3hr]

In an attempted palace coup that would not have been out of place in a Shakespearian tragedy

Spotty nerds spatting on a warez forum is a "Shakespearian Tragedy"? That must have been one of the lost folios.

really?

[boltik]

Mabe i should start my own BBS

Like everything else Mac related -- they failed --

[barbam]

Ho hum ---

Thanks

[HanClinto]

Thanks for the good read -- I thought this was a very good article, and I enjoyed reading about it. As someone who is involved with a number of online communities, it was good for me to read an overview of what can happen when members get disgruntled, try to take over, and seeing the methods/tactics they employed to do it.

All that to say, I for one really enjoyed the article. It's one of the few articles that I found interesting and read in this morning's lineup, and I thought it applied very well.

Thanks! :)

--clint

P.S. Why do all of the trolls on the first page of discussion navigate into articles that don't interest them just to complain? Haven't they realized that if they're not interested in reading a particular article, that _they don't have to click on it_? Slashdot's an omelet with all of the fixin's, and you're bound to hit topics that you don't like. Everyone has their anchovies -- just eat around them, and let us enjoy our articles in peace. If a particular article has 4 comments, then it will be painfully obvious that it was a boring article -- we *don't* need 200 trolling complaint posts that drown out real discussion from people who are actually interested in the topic at hand. [/rant]

P.S.S. [oblig] I must be new here. [/oblig]

Re:Thanks

[DaveCBio]

Not everyone that disagrees with a stories merit are trolls. There is a limited space on Slashdot's front page and sometimes articles get posted that have little to no value except to those with a vested interest. Those are usually the stories that get lambasted.

Re:Thanks

[HanClinto]

I guess I'm wondering what all those posters are hoping to say. Are they trying to say, "Such and such a thing doesn't interest me!" or are they trying to say, "Such and such a thing doesn't interest enough Slashdot readers to warrant a front-page spot?"

If the former, then just leave the article alone. As is painfully obvious from things in the Slashdot Games section, if an article garners less than 20 comments, then it's pretty strong feedback to the editors that it was a dud.

If the latter, then I was just wanting to post to be a vocal happy party. It's easier to be loud when one's angry than loud when one's content, so I just wanted to help balance out the reader voice and say "I thought it was a really good article".

A large part of the future of the Internet is going to be with online communities. I'm heavily involved as a relatively new administrator for an active online community, and information like this is of particular interest to people like me who are trying to build these online venues. After reading the summary, I saw that there were a couple of hundred comments about this article, and I clicked in, looking forward to a discussion about the difficulties managing such communities, sharing experiences, advice, and anecdotal horror-stories.

I found little or none of that in the entire first page of comments, because it was flooded out with trolls. I wish I had 50 mod points to give out redundant mods after the first wave of "I don't care for this particular article" posts. To adapt some of what you wrote, I would say this: There is limited space on an article's first page of comments, and sometimes comments get posted that have little to no value for the topic at hand. Those are usually the comments that get lambasted.

Thinking about all of those people complaining that off-topic articles drown out helpful discussion makes me want to mod that whole first page "-1 ironic pot/kettle black"

FWIW, this and the "Alex the Parrot" were two of the most interesting articles for me this morning -- the latest happenings of the iPhone or Toby McGuire or the latest rumors about AMD aren't in my interest realm. I don't see why everyone needs to be up in arms over this one in particular, since this is an article about social management -- something that many people (such as myself) feel that *matters*.

So I do appreciate you trying to bring some perspective as to why people might have posted so vociferously about this article, though I think that the Beowulf cluster of Slashdot readers definitely went overkill with what they were trying to say.

--clint

Fatal Cliche error: line 2 --------- ^^^^

[Anomalyst]

Villians[sic] twiddling their beards

Conventionally, mustaches are twirled by bad guys, beards are stroked by good guys. Usually a scientist/philosopher as they nod knowingly. Twiddling would be far too effeminate for either stereotype.
Additional nit, the aforementioned stereotypes are more commonly imagined rather than imaged.
HTH.

You forgot ...

[Anomalyst]

You forgot kdawson, that would make it 101 "people who even give a shit".

obscure Mac owner?

[Anomalyst]

Seems redundant, aren't almost all Mac owners obscure? You rarely come across someone becoming a celebrity for espousing a Mac, except for that guy in the last Die Hard film with the unbelievable physics (the films physics were horrendous, the guys physics were all right, I guess, if your into that kind of thing).

Website drama

[DaveCBio]

Is now newsworthy? The standards around here for what gets posted baffle me.

So if this is news, then I got a scoop for you

[Anonymous Coward]

In wow, there is this click of people in our guild that are going to try to take over the guild from the guy that leads it now. For more information, slap your head against a wall until you care.

Are you kidding?

[Overly Critical Guy]

Slashdot is the biggest pro-piracy website in tech right now. Everyone here hates copyright, hates artists, and loves piracy (except when it comes to someone pirating GPL code...then all the sudden copyrights are a good thing). I'm sure plenty of readers care about this news.

Re:Are you kidding?

[Anonymous Coward]

You're an idiot.

"Piracy" is VERY different than looting. In looting, things are taken, and someone is deprived of something.

"Piracy" is just copying. The owner has, at the end, EXACTLY what he started with. NOTHING is taken.

And even a fool can see that. Clearly, you're even stupider than a fool.

Free Mac Games and Soft Ware

[Anonymous Coward]

MSJ down, come here!

http://www.mutineerbooty.com/forums