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Underground Mac Community Foils a Coup

Posted by kdawson on from the fortunately-bloodless dept.

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."

58 of 253 comments (clear)

  1. Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:Who cares? by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 4, Funny

      Pot, kettle, etc.

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

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    3. Re:Who cares? by rlp · · Score: 3, Funny

      Underground Mac community?? Do Morlocks use Macs?

      --
      [Insert pithy quote here]
    4. Re:Who cares? by ksheff · · Score: 5, Funny

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

      --
      the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
    5. Re:Who cares? by vertinox · · Score: 3, Interesting

      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.

      --
      "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
      -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
    6. Re:Who cares? by Foerstner · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.
      --
      The US free market: two halves of a government-granted duopoly are free to set the market price.
    7. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative
      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?

  2. tag this whocares by Kreigaffe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    seriously, e-drama. seriously.

    --
    ... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
    1. Re:tag this whocares by quanticle · · Score: 5, Insightful

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

      --
      We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
    2. Re:tag this whocares by ScytheBlade1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    3. Re:tag this whocares by sg3000 · · Score: 5, Funny

      > 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.

      --
      Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
    4. Re:tag this whocares by quanticle · · Score: 5, Funny

      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

      --
      We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
    5. Re:tag this whocares by mikael · · Score: 4, Funny

      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.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    6. Re:tag this whocares by m0nkyman · · Score: 3, Funny

      I would have said four digit UID...

      --
      ~ a low user id is no indication I have a clue what I'm talking about.
    7. Re:tag this whocares by 24-bit+Voxel · · Score: 4, Interesting
      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.

    8. Re:tag this whocares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      THAT WAS YOU???

    9. Re:tag this whocares by Himring · · Score: 5, Funny

      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]...."

      --
      "All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
    10. Re:tag this whocares by Capsaicin · · Score: 2, Funny

      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 ...

      --
      Better to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident a security. --Edmund Burke
    11. Re:tag this whocares by jcr · · Score: 3, Funny

      Dude, he was every chick in the BBS days.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    12. Re:tag this whocares by bytesex · · Score: 2, Funny

      You forgot: [Exhales]

      --
      Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
  3. This Is News For Nerds?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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?

    1. Re:This Is News For Nerds?? by DeepHurtn! · · Score: 3, Informative
      "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.

  4. who fucking cares? by Reality+Master+201 · · Score: 2, Insightful

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

    1. Re:who fucking cares? by Derek+Loev · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:who fucking cares? by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Funny

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

      --
      My blog
  5. Days of our lives by dekkerdreyer · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

    --
    Dekker Dreyer
  6. WGAF by DoctorPepper · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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!

    --

    No matter where you go... there you are.
    1. Re:WGAF by thijs_w · · Score: 3, Funny

      [...] 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.

    2. Re:WGAF by Poromenos1 · · Score: 5, Funny

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

      --
      Send email from the afterlife! Write your e-will at Dead Man's Switch.
  7. One person was by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  8. Subterranean Homesick Blues by zeromorph · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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?

    --
    "Hannibal's plans never work right. They just work." Amy/A-Team
    1. Re:Subterranean Homesick Blues by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 5, Funny

      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...

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    2. Re:Subterranean Homesick Blues by david.given · · Score: 2, Funny

      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.

  9. It had to be said by Cait+Sidhe · · Score: 5, Funny

    Internets: Serious Business

  10. How the hell did this make the front page? by djkitsch · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

    --
    sig:- (wit >= sarcasm)
  11. Oh god... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

    1. Re:Oh god... by rtyhurst · · Score: 4, Funny

      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!!

  12. tag: firehoseabuse by Nimey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I see the trolls are gaming the firehose.

    --
    Hail Eris, full of mischief...

    E pluribus sanguinem
  13. In Other News by Stevecat · · Score: 5, Funny

    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

    1. Re:In Other News by iroll · · Score: 4, Funny

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

      --
      Repetition does not transform a lie into the truth. - FDR
  14. kdawson is a shared account by Nymz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

  15. I found it interesting.. by erktrek · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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...

    1. Re:I found it interesting.. by EllynGeek · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

      --

      we will end no whine before its time

    2. Re:I found it interesting.. by osu-neko · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
  16. Underground, overground... by edittard · · Score: 3, Funny

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

    --
    At the bottom of the /. main page it says 'Yesterday's News'. Well they got that right.
  17. Ob: lame dupe joke, about dupes (lame, not funny) by edittard · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
    --
    At the bottom of the /. main page it says 'Yesterday's News'. Well they got that right.
  18. Well, quite! by djkitsch · · Score: 2, Funny

    I thought this site had editors....!

    --
    sig:- (wit >= sarcasm)
  19. File under "Who gives a shit" by rudy_wayne · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

    These guys really need to get a life.

  20. Drat! by peacefinder · · Score: 4, Funny

    "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...

    --
    With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter. -- William Lloyd
    1. Re:Drat! by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2, Funny

      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.

  21. Hypocrisy by lena_10326 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

    --
    Camping on quad since 1996.
    1. Re:Hypocrisy by jjohnson · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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'.

      --
      Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
  22. Oh My God - Did You See! by Bob+Cat+-+NYMPHS · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison are wearing the same outfit!

    --
    The latest Slashdot meme.
  23. Honor among thieves? by cypherz · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

    --
    This sig kills fascists.
  24. Press releases for nerds, stuff that's made up by ebcdic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

  25. Hey Apple stole FreeBSD by Ice+Station+Zebra · · Score: 2, Insightful

    so this kinda things seems to run in the family

  26. Curses! by DragonTHC · · Score: 2, Funny

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

    --
    They're using their grammar skills there.