Ask Rob Malda

We last interviewed CmdrTaco, along with Hemos, in January 2000. Slashdot's 10th anniversary seems like a good time to put Rob back on the hot seat. He's older now and married, his former hobby site now has well over one million registered user IDs, and Linux has gone from "upstart" operating system to a normal part of the IT landscape. So ask away, one question per post. Expect to see answers to at least 10 of the highest-moderated questions next week. And if you miss your chance to participate in this interview, don't worry. We'll probably do another one with CmdrTaco sometime between 2014 and 2017. CT: Also the clock is ticking if you want to sign up for a Slashdot 10-Year Anniversary party if you want a T-Shirt or a shot at the $1k ThinkGeek gift certificate.

Comments

Re:Over/under

[garcia]

Along those lines, "When will long time users, such as myself, who have not had mod points in *years* be given an explanation as to why they haven't seen them?"

Re:Infrastructure

[Anonymous Coward]

FYI: There is an entry in the FAQ: What kind of hardware does Slashdot run on?, BUT it appears to be rather out-of-date (Last Modified: 6/13/00). Taco, could you please see to having this updated? Thanks!

Re:Infrastructure

[Anonymous Coward]

What did you code it in? (a half drunk, coked-up deaf guy screaming HTML into a tin can on a string?) http://www.slashcode.com/

Re:Okay, I'll bite

[Anonymous Coward]

here you go: Surprised by Wealth

Re:Oh, so much karma to burn..

[Kethinov]

If you were in Soviet Russia, would a Beowulf cluster of Natalie Portmans and other insensitive clods as our 1337 new goatse overlords (confirmed by Netcraft as dying) have you naked and petrified with hot grits poured down Cowboy Neal's pants (profit!!!) ?

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

For the newbies among us, allow me to explain all the parts. This post is the culmination of 11 Slashdot memes which are, in order:

1. Russian reversal - in Soviet Russa joke - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_reversal#Russian_reversal
2. Beowulf cluster Slashdot meme - "Imagine a Beowulf cluster of..." self referential joke - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture
3. Natalie Portman obsession Slashdot meme - originally arose due to widespread attraction of Slashdot posters to Natalie Portman - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture
4. Insensitive clod Slashdot meme - joke originating from a Calvin and Hobbes strip dated February 14, 1986 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture
5. 1337 = LEET = elite internet meme - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet
6. Goatse internet meme - a widespread shock image - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatse
7. "I, for one, welcome our new (insert descriptive here) overlords" internet meme - originally arose due to the widespread popularity of the Simpsons episode "Deep Space Homer" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturally_significant_phrases_from_The_Simpsons#Influences_on_language
8. "Netcraft confirms, (insert target of joke here; was originally BSD) is dying" Slashdot meme - one of the original Slashdot troll posts - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture
9. Naked / petrified / hot grits poured down the pants Slashdot meme - a reference to an unusual true story about the cruel and unusual punishment of a southern U.S. woman to her unfaithful significant other - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture
10. Cowboy Neal Slashdot meme - a reference to Jonathan Pater's nickname which is featured prominently, especially on Slashdot polls - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture
11. ??? Profit!!! internet meme - a reference to a joke in a South Park episode - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underpants_Gnomes#The_Gnomes

Re:"Overrated" and "Underrated"

[Kjella]

Well, the purpose is to say something has gone too far like with a +5, Insightful post to say "well, it's not a troll, it's not flamebait, it's not offtopic but it's not very insightful either". In itself the post doesn't warrant a moderation down, but it's more of a "meta-moderation" that others have moderated it too much. I agree on the abuse potential though, in particular it shouldn't allow you to mod a post to oblivion without cause. I think you need to have a pet stalker though, I've never found it to be a big problem but I suppose others might.

Re:What is this crazy tags thing?

[hansamurai]

Well, you don't have to only tag for the community as a whole, you can also tag just for yourself.

http://meta.slashdot.org/my/tags

There you can see all the tags you've written and what articles they're attached to. This can be helpful just for sorting through the articles you've read and maybe your thoughts about them at the time.