Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda Resigns From Slashdot

After 14 years and over 15,000 stories posted, it's finally time for me to say Good-Bye to Slashdot. I created this place with my best friends in a run down house while still in college. Since then it has grown to be read by more than a million people, and has served Billions and Billions of Pages (yes, in my head I hear the voice). During my tenure I have done my best to keep Slashdot firmly grounded in its origins, but now it's time for someone else to come aboard and find the *future*. Personally I don't have any plans, but if you need to get ahold of me for any reason, you can find me as @cmdrtaco on twitter or Rob Malda on Google+. You could also update my mail address to be malda at cmdrtaco dot net. Hit the link below if you want to read some nostalgic saccharine crap that I need to get out of my system before I sign off for the last time.

It was the summer of '97 and I was a college kid working part time as a programmer at an ad agency. I wrote a simple CMS: practically my first perl program (I was so happy to not have to write in anything Microsoft!). I got an old DEC Alpha Multia in exchange for some freelance Java work. I stuffed it under my desk at work and registered the domain name in October. Jeff "Hemos" Bates chipped in on the registration fee. Within months we were serving thousands of people per day on a system that looked remarkably similar to the Slashdot you see today. It was simple: I just was sharing stories that I stumbled on with a small group of friends.

When I wrote the essay "Simple Solutions" a few months later, we doubled in traffic almost overnight. New hardware had to be purchased. Soon we exceeded the bandwidth capacity of our ISP and had to start co-locating. This meant banner ads. I barely made it through the end of college, working night and day on a site that was growing so fast, it was all I could do to keep up. We started making a little money and I eventually was able to quit my job and dedicate myself full-time to Slashdot. I barely graduated. Soon my friends followed me, eventually forming our company Blockstackers.

As my little hobby became a full blown business, it became clear that we needed help. The burden of running Sales and Marketing and HR it was to much for us. Slashdot was sold to Andover in '99. Since Slashdot was founded, my business card has read Blockstackers, Andover, Andover.net, VA Linux Systems, VA Software, OSDN, OSTG, SourceForge, and finally Geeknet. My title has changed several times: from my first card which read "Lies and Misinformation", until today when my title read "Editor-in-Chief of Slashdot.org". During that entire time, my job has been some version of the same thing: Make Slashdot Great. I always did my best, and I'd like to think that I got it right more often than not.

In the last 14 years, Slashdot has covered so many amazing events: The explosion of Linux. The rise of Google. The return of Apple. The Dot Com Bubble. The DMCA. 9/11. Wars. Elections. Numerous successful Shuttle Launches and one Disaster. Scientific Breakthroughs galore. Cool toys. Web2.0! Social Networking. Blogging! Podcasting! Micro-Blogging! The Lord of the Rings being filmed and an entire trilogy of new Star Wars. OMG Ponies!! So many moments that I could run this paragraph for hours with moments where we shared something important, meaningful, or just stupid. But the most important to me was my marriage proposal to Kathleen. Slashdot has posted Over 114,000 stories so far. And there will be many more to come. I just won't be the one picking them.

Slashdot has been read by kernel engineers and billionaires. By sys-admins and CEOs. By high school kids and government bureaucrats. But what brings so many of them together is that we are nerds. It never ceases to amaze me the similarities that I find between us all when I climb out of my dungeon and go meet readers. From the inside of some of the most wonderful places on earth, to conference halls with useless wireless connections, to cube farms, you guys always reminded me of why I started this thing in the first place. We share something important and unquantifiable.

The internet has changed dramatically since I started here, and that's part of my reason for leaving. For me, the Slashdot of today is fused to the Slashdot of the past. This makes it really hard to objectively consider the future of the site. While my corporate overlords and I haven't seen eye to eye on every decision in the last decade, I am certain that Jeff Drobick and the other executives at Geeknet will do their best. I am unquestionably confident in the abilities of the Slashdot editors and engineers- some of whom have been here just short of forever. They have proven themselves in the best and worst of conditions to be capable and dedicated.

As part of my resignation, after this story appears I will lose the ability to post. For me, this is the most bitter pill to swallow. Posting stories has always been my favorite part of the job. I created Slashdot to share these stories with my friends from IRC and school. It was never 'work'. Now I will have to go cold turkey. I'm walking away from the soapbox I built. I wish I could continue to post stories forever, but those closest to me know that if I maintained the ability to post, I'd never move on. I'll continue to read Slashdot and hopefully my occasional story submissions will make the cut. My old mantra: News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters still holds true here today. Nobody does it better.

As for what's next, I really don't know. I don't have a job lined up. I have no plans. I'm gonna spend some time with my boys and my wife. Read some books that have been on my shelf forever. Maybe it's time to write a book of my own.

If you want to get ahold of me, my email is now malda at cmdrtaco dot net. Geeknet has graciously agreed to continue to forward malda at slashdot dot org forever, but you should still update your address books if you care. I'm available on twitter as @cmdrtaco and Google+. My homepage hasn't been updated in a decade, but it's still CmdrTaco.net. And since I'm going to have to find a job in a few months, I'm on LinkedIn as well.

Thanks to everyone who helped build Slashdot over the years: the list is far to long to fit in this textfield but you know who you are, and you all know that I've got your back in a knife fight. Lastly, thanks to every Slashdot reader for giving me your time all these years. I hope I've wasted it efficiently and enjoyably.

Pants are optional.

Comments

Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[chrisd]

In 1997, right after Chips n' Dips had faded away, to be replaced by the enigmatically named http:///..org, all of us free software nerds hung on its every story, comment and poll like it was carved on tablet and flung from a burning bush. A year later I had started at hardware maker VA Research and /. was falling down for lack of machinery, so we rummaged through our returns piles and sent Rob and Jeff some 2u servers to help out. That was for me the beginning of some of the most important friendships in my adult life.

Its hard to explain how important Slashdot was to all of us 10 years ago. Indeed, without it it would be hard to imagine HN, Reddit, Digg, Fark or any of a thousand lesser sites. The editorial perspective of Rob and the other editors of /. is what kept people coming back and for a long time that perspective was Rob's, then Rob and Jeff and a bunch of us (some, like Timothy and samzenpus, still around!), but then Jeff left, now Rob. In some way I see this as a passing of an era in free software.

Throughout, while some have left for those greener shores, slashdot abided even while buffeted by the markets and the de/evolving internet news world, and it has remained a default tab in my and many others' browsers.

I didn't mean this post to be about Slashdot though, but about my friend Rob. I'll only say that while the site will be the lessor for you leaving, I firmly believe that computer science will gain my. While this note reads like an epitaph or the last pages of a book, it is really no more than a thank you note from me and many I know to your for your decade+ of work on the site. So...

Thanks.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Seumas]

I still remember in the beginning of my career, when a colleague came over and showed me this website that he went to every day. A site that a short while later became Slashdot. A site that I read often and, eventually (though far too late to have a cool UID, damn it!) created an account on. It's strange that Slashdot has pretty much been part of my life for my entire career and that it has maintained its ready place in my regular "hangouts" after all this time. Even despite the complaints and failures, it has still had a pull that none of these other linkbaits from Digg after could manage.

Sometimes, I like to go back and read random headlines on Slashdot from years ago. Back when we even paid attention to the byline of a post. Back when people knew why Roblimo was Roblimo. So much has changed around us and this same group of strange geeks has been along for the ride. In this same time, I also ran my own project that started shortly after Slashdot and that I just finally shut off this past year. Experienced the same surprising scaling issues when this thing I did for kicks took off, like Slashdot did. It was a huge experience that consumed most of my life and I, too, experienced the delayed closure. The feeling that it was time to move on, but this nagging hesitance to do so. This feeling that it had been such a part of my life (as Slashdot has been Rob's) that I was almost obligated to continue it and maintain it. And yet, cutting the cord and stepping away has been such a breath of fresh air. Such a release. I can only imagine this must feel much the same way.

Best wishes ahead and all, but I have to say that in light of yesterday's news, maybe this could have been postponed another week to have come across a little less "whacky".

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[mikael]

The domain names MyCleanPC.com and DoubleMySpeed.com are both owned by a company called CyberDefender, a known spyware vendor.

Locker Gnome

Having read some of those back magazine adverts, you could pay $65 for a disk cleanup tool, and find that someone has just sent you the command line program to format the disk.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[dylan_-]

A site that I read often and, eventually (though far too late to have a cool UID, damn it!)

At least you got your username. I nearly took "Seumas", but decided against it...

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[mosch]

Rob-

Thanks for Chips n' Dips, and Slashdot.  I hope you enjoy a little bit of respite while you discover what you want for the next step in your career.  You started out with a big, highly influential bang, and I'm glad you're getting a bit of rest now.

All the best,
- some asshole on the internet who you don't actually know, but who is glad you did what you did.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[SiliconJesus]

From another of us with low UID and remembering chips and dips, thanks for your years running the site. Good luck in the future Rob.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[EricWright]

This post really takes me back those 14 years to grad school... like the parent, I found out about /. in the pre-user account days when another grad student in my office kept talking about the site. Again, like the parent, I didn't actually register early enough for a cool UID, but low-5 digits is close enough to old school for this story to bring a single tear to my eye.

Times, they are a changing, and I for one am not too sure I like where they are headed.

Bon voyage, Rob, and indeed, thanks for all the fish wrapper.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Snirt]

Hey man, are you Steve Jobs? Am a young /.er http://telegraph.co.uk/technology/steve-jobs/8721479/Steve-Jobs-resigns-as-CEO-of-Apple.html here

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[theGreater]

Yeah, I spent many a night in college reading Slashdot instead of doing coursework. At work instead of being productive, I read Slashdot and Fark, then Slashdot and Digg, now Slashdot and Reddit... well, you get the idea.

I keep coming back for the comments and the people, trolls and all. Who hasn't wanted to flamebait every now and then? So from this little karma-moderated corner of the Internet, thanks. I eventually got my own Beowulf cluster thanks to you slags.

-theGreater.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Anonymous Coward]

Rob Malda and Steve Jobs - are they ever seen together?

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Hatta]

" For me, the Slashdot of today is fused to the Slashdot of the past."

Taco says a lot right there. It'll really be a shame if /. loses what it has left of its connection to the past. I feel like the suits have killed yet another good thing.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Stachybotris]

The first question my boss asked me after the technical portion of my interview concluded was 'Do you read Slashdot?'. To this day, I advise all of our new hires to keep up with it if they really want to have a clue about where the industry is headed.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Stachybotris]

P.S. - Thank you, Rob.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Wyatt Earp]

I got my first IT job in August of '97, think I came across this website that had a "Chips and Dips" tagline in September or so. For years it was one of the first pages I went to each day.

Rob said I was the first one to email in that I saw his picture in Wired when the magazine showed up in the mail, that must have been in the spring of '98.

Eventually I went back to school and wasn't doing the IT thing so /. fell down in my priority, but I still lurk here and sometimes pick fights.

Thanks for building this resource and community, not the same without you.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[nomadic]

"Having read some of those back magazine adverts, you could pay $65 for a disk cleanup tool, and find that someone has just sent you the command line program to format the disk."

So in other words it did remove the virus.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[nomadic]

didn't actually register early enough for a cool UID

I actually think I DID register early enough but I couldn't for the life of me remember what that userid was. Tried all the usual handles I was using around that time but could never figure it out.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[eviljolly]

For me it was high school. I started browsing Slashdot late 97 or early 98. Before I knew it, I was here daily.

I never posted much, but I always read comments. I still remember the first time I got mod points. I felt so important. ;)

Slashdot is associated with a lot of memories for me. Not only has it been a huge source of my tech news, but also a topic of discussion amongst friends. "Did you see that article on Slashdot?" was something I probably heard every day. Good times.

Commander Taco, you will be missed.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Hylandr]

All good things come to an end. It's the cycle of death that keeps us all alive.

- Dan.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[isaac]

What Chris said. Thanks for the fun ride & for providing a space for nerds and trolls of all stripes.

Also, I'll always remember that bitchin' party at the China Club.

Have fun with the next thing.

-Isaac

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Toad-san]

In 1997, right after Chips n' Dips had faded away, to be replaced by the enigmatically named http:///..org [..org], all of us free software nerds hung on its every story, comment and poll like it was carved on tablet and flung from a burning bush.

[clumsily raises from full genuflection]
[extinguishes candles on /. altar]
[looks around]

Nope, no burning bush. But the rest is true enough.

Sigh ... things change ...

Toad

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[mikael]

Yes, and it's own little rootkit with keylogger and remote desktop viewer.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Erbo]

Through several jobs, a number of projects, and at least one marriage, Slashdot has been a constant in my life, keeping me grounded in "who and what I am" always.

Good luck, Rob, and one more piece of wisdom: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around every once in awhile, you could miss it. (The words are not mine, as I'm sure you recognize...that doesn't make them any less true.)

Regards,
Eric J. Bowersox - "Erbo"
Professional Java Developer and Geek among Millions
http://about.me/erbo

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[mtm_king]

Fond memories.

April 1 2006 - Slashdot Design Changes for Wider Appeal - I think that was my favorite.

September 11 2001 - Slashdot was like being with friends on that lousy day.

You did waste my time efficiently and enjoyably. Thanks.

Good luck and be cool.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[cHALiTO]

Same here, I can't remember whan I first started reading /. but I've been visiting daily since then. I managed to get my username, but I missed the 5-digit UID threshold by 1462 registrations =P

Bye Rob, and thanks for all the fish!

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Rysc]

I didn't mean this post to be about Slashdot though, but about my friend Rob.

It's hard to talk about CmdrTaco without talking about Slashdot, and vice versa. I was trying to explain to some of my less-nerdy and (let's face it) younger co-workers just what this all means, and I kept doing the same thing. Where does the site end and the man begin? I guess we find out, now.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[dgatwood]

Not going to mod parent up as Funny because I might want to post in this thread at some point, but I LOLed.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Naosuke]

The Road goes ever on and on/Down from the door where it began/Now far ahead the Road has gone/And I must follow, if I can/Pursuing it with eager feet/Until it joins some larger way/Where many paths and errands meet/And whither then? I cannot say.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[pkphilip]

Well, I signed up just before you ;)

Thanks Rob for all your work. Learnt much from this site over the years and have been grateful for what you put together. The term slashdotted exists thanks to you :). Best of luck with whatever you set out to do.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

I think I was here like "Uh, Clem" - "Before The Beginning". ;-)

Thanks Rob.

p.s.: You didn't mention "Duck Pins" in the farewell
p.p.s: I hear that the CEO job is open at Apple.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[ESD]

*waves*

I don't know how many posts and comments eventually led to invaluable information that I still use daily (underneath the mountain of completely useless but often entertaining stuff that covered it.) Most of the knowledge I use at work didn't come from my university degree but their network did give me access to it all and /. is still a part of finding that random stuff.

The low UIDs were all gone pretty fast, I was just lucky that I noticed the post about the UID system just after it got posted. Sometimes it's an advantage to be in a completely different timezone.

So long and have fun!

Ow... I still try not to use TCWWW :)

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[after.fallout.34t98e]

me too :(

I have actually signed up for this site at least 5 times now. I remember the logins for 3 of them but not the password and the email accounts they were linked to no longer exist (2 at yahoo that I didn't log in to for several years and when I went back they didn't let me in, and one at eudora.com).

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[farrellj]

Ah...those days...it's definitely Nostalgia Day on Slashdot! What with this, and the first Linus posting about Linux....I've loved this space, and I was one of the earlier adopters...and used to brag about the site to others saying that tomorrow's tech stories that matter have already shown up today on Slashdot!

Thank you for your insanity in starting this thing!

ttyl
          Farrellj,
          user #563

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[zisyfos]

I think you have a cool UID

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

You spent 14 YEARS in grad school!!!!???

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Oh. My mistake. Grade School.

Anyone could have made it, really.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Thomas Charron]

Has to be the first time 'Mines Smaller!' was a bragging right.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Mytho-X]

I personally would like to thank Rob and everyone that has made /. such a fun site to visit over the years. I have fond memories of meeting Rob and Hemos at Linux World. Rob inviting me for some pizza at the /. booth and sitting on crazy blow up furniture. The early days of linux were great and the community was great! Thank you Chris as well for the good job you have done as well.

-Matt (mytho-x)

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Jose]

haha, yep...I hear ya on the mod points thing.

it has always made me feel more connected to /.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Tim]

Same here, Rob. You've had an amazing run. Good luck!

-Tim

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[mounthood]

So say we all.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[spiny]

I remember reading for ages before I found a story that I wanted to post on, so registered quite 'late'
still, I got a decent username :)

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Halo Nine]

Some people do spend 14 years in grad school, though!

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[pez]

I still read /. almost every day, but I'm an infrequent commenter. This post is quite nostalgic for me, as well as many of the other 2, 3 and 4-digit IDs who still hang around. I can still see those icons in the left rail of "Chips and Dips" and the distorted ROB MALDA lettering on CmdrTaco's home page.

Rob, you were an absolue inspiration to so many of us. I'm sorry to see you go, but thank you for the many years of entertainment and education.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Doorways in the Sand.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[maxhead]

CdrTaco, I found /. all those years ago via C&D when looking for animation videos on the web. Possibly the longest internet diversion ever, but undoubtably the most interesting of all. Live long, and prosper, friend.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[pez]

Do you remember how you first heard of /. or Chips & Dips? I've been trying to remember, but haven't got a clue.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[rho]

What he said. Cheers, mate.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Amazing Proton Boy]

The influence and importance of Slashdot in those early to mid years really can't be over stated. Heck, I used to ask job applicants for their UID just to help me sort through all the resumes. Those that answered "What's Slashdot?" went to the bottom of the pile. ;->

Good luck & thank you Rob.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[SnarfQuest]

Nope, no burning bush.

Obama's been in office for almost three years, and you're still burning Bush in effegy?

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[sweetooth]

I remember when they added user accounts I signed up pretty much right away but no one else I knew was registerting so still stayed mostly anonymous. By the time I went back to start posting under an account I couldn't remember for the life of me what I had used. I would be willing to bet there are a lot of old unused low uid accounts like that.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[D4rkn1ght]

Wow! Thank you for all the great years. :D

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[vranash]

Ironically enough I found out about slashdot in 1999 from a rather nerdy little fellow named 'Phil Smith' (No relation to Will Smith!) who was primarily a math teacher doing some initial web design courses in the Business and Computer Science department at our local community college. I started out reading sporatically, juggling it with a MU*ing habit I'd had since six months after getting on the net (Brought on by a combination of an HTML class in '95 when I was but a wee lad, a visit to the Compass Rose booth at a certain festival, and a giant interest in Battletech brought on by a comic shop, Mechwarrior 2, and the short year or so period where we had the benefit of a Virtual World Entertainment location in my otherwise podunk city.) My first skims of the site took place on an AT&T 14.4k modem that was purchased after a rigorous 6 months of chores, grades, and generally responsibility; things that were all shirked when the infinite possibilities of the internet were being discovered.

Sadly nothing has lead to the same level of excitement as the pre-2000 internet. Geocities, Sarna.net, hell, even Gopher! (Which always seemed like an inferior BBS interface to me!)

To all the people I once knew, in all the years prior to 2002. I bid you adieu. And perhaps now slashdot too.

As my parting comments: Mr. Malda: Thanks for all the years of wasted time, links to new places I never would've heard of, interesting links, history, etc of the computer world I've had a negligable impact in, and good luck in your retirement and marriage to Steve Jobs,now that he's finally free to devote his time to you. :)

And to Professor Smith, in case you're reading: 'Yes, yes we did feel the rush. Thanks for showing everybody in class the biggest time waster we could've fathomed back in those days. Without it I might've actually had to work for my links :D'

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[hazard]

This story made me realize that I have been following Slashdot since 1998, e.g. ~57% of my life. Wow, what a waste. :)

Seriously, CmdrTaco, congrats. It must be special to be part of something that has literally changed the world.

P.S. And it sucks to be in the 4 digit UID club.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[wwphx]

Dear Slashdot:

I never thought this would happen to me! I was working late one night in the machine room when our sexy new admin came in....

Of course, it took more than MyCleanPC to clear that virus!

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Critter]

Had to login and add a comment on this thread, if just to remember my UID.

Good luck with your future endevours.

Last post!

All spelling intentional.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[kju]

Same goes for me. Still reading but not much commenting. But whenever I see some discussion where posting with a low UID would be fun, I (have to) do it :-)

Seeing Rob leaving really brings nostalgic feelings. I can't say when I exactly started reading slashdot (of course before the UIDs were introduced) but it's a very long time and when I think what all happened in my life in this time and how the internet has changes so drastically... Only slashdot was kind of constant through these years.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[voidref]

I could swear I signed up in like 97, but my user id is way higher than yours.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[hawk]

Yeah, his insistence on using cookies delayed my registration for I forget how long . . . So I have this long 4 digit uid

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Aighearach]

I know a social historian who spent 30 years getting his PhD. He got a little closer every few years. He finally got it around age 60.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[ESD]

I'm pretty sure I first found CnD when looking for Enlightenment themes (0.9? 0.11?). I think I even used one of his themes for a while, even though I can't find it on his site anymore; even the wayback machine doesn't go back that far. It was a light brushed metal desktop with a cutout at the top revealing a darker brushed metal background.

Some time later I found it again when it had become /. and that's when I started reading regularly. I also still remember the coverage about the F00F bug (a pair of contradicting instructions that cause some old Pentiums to deadlock in hardware), with FreeBSD having it patched in software within a couple of hours and Linux following in a day or so. Has Windows ever been patched?

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[thelenm]

Hey, me too! I thought I must be the only one. Ah well, I may not have a nice UID but I know I was there.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[simpsop]

Thanks for all you have done for the IT community over the years. I'll miss your imprint on the stories here. Have been inspired to try new things by many a post, and I am grateful for your influences. Best of luck as you continue your journey.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[DG]

I still read daily, although my comment frequency has dropped somewhat.

Notwithstanding, I'm not leaving.

Odd how /. has been one of the few constants in my life over the past years. I have read and posted to slashdot from a Solaris machine in my cubicle, from a Linux machine in my house, and from a terminal in Afghanistan.

Good luck Rob. You did good here.

DG

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[jjohn]

Thanks to Rob and the gang for making Slashdot. It's part of my nerd heritage. However, I am happier to hear you are moving on. 15 years at one job? Is this Mad Men or something? WAKE UP TO THE NINETIES!

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Neil Boekend]

Good torture takes time.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[vrmlguy]

And I lurked long enough to get a low six digit id. Also, didn't get my first choice of a username, and my second choice was either inspired or lame, the jury's still out. I try to visit every day, but when I miss a day I feel compelled to go back and read the days I've missed (thanks, OCD!)

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[LizardKing]

You probably signed up in 1998, as I did. Just like Seumas a few posts up, a colleague brought Slashdot to my attention. I can't remember my colleagues surname or username, but if Robin who worked at Blackwells in Oxford, UK during 1998 reads this then it'd be cool to get a reply from him.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Rival]

I'm very happy for you, Rob, and wish you the very best in your future endeavors. Try not to give in to the siren call of wanting to work on another "small project." Enjoy your family time! That's stuff that matters!

P.S. It's been great seeing all the old farts chiming in here. It's like an old-timey convention. I wish they could have put the original UI back for slashdot for this story. :-)

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[pez]

Holy crap that brings back the memories! I think my path was very similar.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Paul Fernhout]

"some asshole on the internet who you don't actually know, but who is glad you did what you did."

Same here. :-) I don't have mosch's low number, but I read for a long time before I finally posted.

Thanks for creating such a wonderful community forum, Rob. I gained so much understanding about contemporary technology stories through slashdot as well as feeling in touch with the pulse of geekdom. I probably would not be half the technologist I am without slashdot.

All the best with your new ventures as well as finding a new healthy balance in your life.

And remember:
    http://science.slashdot.org/story/08/06/24/0125225/Lack-of-Sunlight-Could-Lead-To-Early-Death
    http://science.slashdot.org/story/07/04/29/0724246/Vitamin-D-Deficiency-Behind-Many-Western-Cancers
    http://www.google.com/#q=site:slashdot.org+vitamin+D"

And get your vegetables, too! :-)

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Anonymous Coward]

Rob-

Thanks for Chips n' Dips, and Slashdot. I hope you enjoy a little bit of respite while you discover what you want for the next step in your career. You started out with a big, highly influential bang, and I'm glad you're getting a bit of rest now.

All the best,
- some asshole on the internet who you don't actually know, but who is glad you did what you did.

Rob-

Thanks for Chips n' Dips, and Slashdot. I hope you enjoy a little bit of respite while you discover what you want for the next step in your career. You started out with a big, highly influential bang, and I'm glad you're getting a bit of rest now.

All the best,
- some asshole on the internet who you don't actually know, but who is glad you did what you did.

Rob-

Thanks for Chips n' Dips, and Slashdot. I hope you enjoy a little bit of respite while you discover what you want for the next step in your career. You started out with a big, highly influential bang, and I'm glad you're getting a bit of rest now.

All the best,
- some asshole on the internet who you don't actually know, but who is glad you did what you did.

I am also building a fan site, used to think I can do their own business, but the whole of the two sites, http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/905884 http://www.aliexpress.com/fm -store/316403, this is my website address, but please give the points to guide, support it!

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[bored]

That is a trick question, I ask it too. People who are too eager to answer tend to spend more time on /. than coding...

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[tsm_sf]

The correct answer is "Yes, but I avoid the comments."

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[SuperQ]

Yup, thanks to Rob for all of the fun over the years.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[m0nkyman]

Good Luck in whatever you go on to. As a non-techie, this site has been educational and fun since I first ran across it.
Cheers!

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Colourspace]

I agree, I think I was in the low 300K's when I first signed up in '98 when no_horizon first brought it to my attention. And like so many others here, have visited pretty much every day since. 2 UID's later (500K now). Makes me realise I've been married to /. far longer than anything else, and yeah people will troll about it, and it is a filler and no killer on some days, but I will be coming back here until the shark is well and truly jumped. Thanks Taco.

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Halo Nine]

Ha ha!

Re:Thanks for all the Fish Wrapper

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Ah. Someone who remembers Zelazny. Do people still read him?

Simple

[airos4]

Thanks. Really. Make sure you have a towel going forwards.

Re:Simple

[wwphx]

Not that I'm leaving, but like most others here, Slashdot has been amazingly valuable to me. I was working at a police department when I Love You broke loose: I read about it here at 7am, went to our security/network guy, showed him the story, we went to our router and just pulled the incoming line. Saved our bacon, very minimal problems. Upstream, at the City, they got hammered. So definitely thanks! And it's always a good idea to know where your towel is, especially in our field: DHMO and expensive electronics usually don't mix very well.

My standing offer to take you to Apache Point Observatory stands if you ever get the hankering to see a 3.5 meter telescope up close and personal. Best of luck in your next job life!

Re:Simple

[Anubis350]

*amen*

Slashdot's been an absurdly important portion of my life, from the geekery and tech to the reading the responses on voices from the hellmouth (I didn't even have an account yet, but I was here, lurking!) back at the beginning of HS.

It sounds weird to say it, but the internet's just going to be the same without Taco at the helm here!

Re:Simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Cmdr Taco, you are going to be missed around here. You have had quite an impact on this whole virtual community building thing.

Re:Simple

[Anubis350]

Dammit, typo on *that*?

should read "internet's just *not* going to be the same without Taco at the helm here!"

Re:Simple

[Zerth]

Indeed, while /. might not always be the freshest on every topic, most of the important stuff comes through. Hope that keeps up.

Re:Simple

[Desperado]

I've always considered Slash Dot to be a "Community Service". Thanks for all the years of "News for Nerds, Stuff That Matters"

Re:Simple

[vidnet]

Good luck, CmdrTaco, and thanks for everything!

Re:Simple

[audacity242]

Ah, I Love You. I've never been an IT person, but have always earned a reputation as resident unofficial techie wherever I've worked. When that virus hit, I read about it here, and at work, my boss let me know he'd received an email, from the CEO, with the subject line of "I Love You." I let him know to not open it, and went down to the sysadmin's desk and let him know we'd been hit. It was early, and he took some precautions, and we were never hit to the extent that some organizations were.

Re:Simple

[Hooya]

As someone else here said, this, to me, is like internet going into retirement.

i started reading /. around 98 and visit at least once a day (there are days i skip these days with 2 kids and all but still..). There were other sites that I visited at their prime (e.g. expertsexchange.com back when they were just starting out and were good and hadn't quite caught on to the "expert sex change" faux pas). But over time, /. has been the only constant site on the internet - and these days with family, almost the only site on the internet worth visiting.

The reason i've kept coming back is that I've learned a LOT from the discussions. Frankly, i've never been able to find something worthwhile to spend my allocated training dollars on because it would never even compare to what i learn here - training sessions have always been a waste of time..

I owe a lot of my success to the knowledgeable discussions here - from intricacies of logical fallacies, to language and grammer (i love the quote that i read here "i helped my uncle jack off a horse" vs "I helped my uncle Jack, off a horse" heh), views on what ethical non-douchey management should be (at least i hope i have been able to avoid becoming a douche to my employees) and last but definitely not the least the "news for nerds". The millions of contributors here have been my mentors - i started at a small company so i didn't really have one in real life.

And that wouldn't have been possible without you. I don't know you personally - and you don't know me but I wanted you to know that what you created has had a profound influence on me and a significant contributor to my own success.

Thank you and best wishes,
Hooya.

P.S. Now quit thinking about Natalie Portman and hot grits.

Re:Simple

[Aighearach]

I was working at a police department when... Saved our bacon

roflol

Re:Simple

[alex67500]

Cmdr Taco, you are going to be missed around here. You have had quite an impact on this whole virtual community building thing.

Is it just me or you said that Slashdot was like Facebook, but just ahead of it's time? ;-)

Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish"

[Hemos]

I left Geeknet aka all the other names Rob has typed already nearly exactly a year ago now, and had stopped really posting on Slashdot prior to that but the work, creation and launching of Slashdot remains one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Rob and I went to the same middle school, high school, college and had the joy of working together for well over a decade; I've been very lucky to have worked with him and the other friends we started with.

Rob and I became friends not actually because of being in the same school, though we knew each other that way. We because friends when we both had modems and got on the BBSes, and that desire to have a place to share news and stuff with friends was what I think Slashdot has done well with. Bringing together the people who have the love of technology in their blood. Rob is really really good at that, and working with him and the rest of the folks has been on honor and privilege.

We've had some good wedding times and some burnination times (Chris, I forgot about the cell phone. That makes me giggle.) And while I could go on and on, then I'll turn maudlin and no one wants that.

I started at Google just over a week ago now, and love what I'm doing -- and I think that's the most important lesson I learned from Slashdot. You won't always like what you are doing but if you working on something you love and with good people around you, that's worth a lot.

If you care to see me poke fun of Rob, you can find me on Twitter as (the imaginatively named) @hemos, or find me on Google Plus as Jeffrey Bates

Thanks for the fun, Rob. We done good.

Succession plan?

[grub]

Well Taco, I hope that you have a good succession plan in place as Steve Jobs does at Apple.

Presumably you've trained all your editors in the fine art of spelling mistakes, grammatical erros and story duplication. If so, the transition should be seamless.

Jokes aside, best of luck and thanks for /. ! :)

Re:Succession plan?

[grub]

sigh... "erros"... can I put my name in the hat?

Re:Succession plan?

[Anonymous Coward]

I love that you misspelled errors. I sure hope that was on porpoise.

Re:Succession plan?

[twilightzero]

Maybe now Slashdot will institute an Altar of Literacy that must be prayed at and passed before commenting ;)

Re:Succession plan?

[Kiaser Zohsay]

Is spell check borken?

Re:Succession plan?

[JustOK]

not on porpoise, just for the halibut

Re:Succession plan?

[cayenne8]

I'm worried now....

No more taco options in the polls?

They just won't be the same...

Re:Succession plan?

[Captain Sarcastic]

I read all of these horrible fish puns. Honestly, I thought they all smelt.

Re:Succession plan?

[geminidomino]

That's a cast-iron grasp of grammar you've got there.

Re:Succession plan?

[Nadaka]

Grammatical Eros sounds kinda fun.

Re:Succession plan?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait a minutes.... CmdrTaco IS the succession plan at Apple!!

Re:Succession plan?

[JustOK]

you'll be hearing from the Sturgeon General.

Re:Succession plan?

[jd]

If you notice, they both resigned at the same time. AND they have never been photographed together. This proves CmdrTaco IS Steve Jobs!

Re:Succession plan?

[Mr Z]

When I first read that in your original post, I thought "well played!" *chuckle*

Re:Succession plan?

[zoloto]

pure gold, old friend.

Re:Succession plan?

[Alioth]

Looks like you are suffering from Muphry's Law. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry's_law

Re:Succession plan?

[Anonymous Coward]

Aw, shucks. I thought it was part of the joke! :-)

Re:Succession plan?

[sg3000]

Well Taco, I hope that you have a good succession plan in place as Steve Jobs does at Apple. Presumably you've trained all your editors in the fine art of spelling mistakes, grammatical erros and story duplication. If so, the transition should be seamless. Jokes aside, best of luck and thanks for /. ! :)

Rob, for old time's sake, please repost your resignation as a dupe in about a week :-)

Re:Succession plan?

[tqk]

I read all of these horrible fish puns. Honestly, I thought they all smelt.

Stop it! Just stop! Carp!

Re:Succession plan?

[Daetrin]

He can't, he gave up his right to post stuff, now he has to submit like everyone else. (...er, that didn't come out quite right.)

"I'll continue to read Slashdot and hopefully my occasional story submissions will make the cut."

Naw! That'll never happen! I bet they've already set up a filter to send all your submissions to /dev/null. They convinced you dropping the right to post stories was for your own good, but no one likes past rulers who have been removed from power hanging around and fiddling with stuff ;)

Re:Succession plan?

[Anonymous Coward]

It wouldn't be a typical /. post without all of the posts about spelling errors and duplication also containing spelling errors and duplication. Keep up the good work!

Re:Succession plan?

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't it clear? Steve Jobs and CmdrTaco are the same person!!!11!

Re:Succession plan?

[ptudor]

Right? anyway, thanks you guys. Maybe it's time to work on some AfterStep plugins... brought me here.

Re:Succession plan?

[Anonymous Coward]

"erros" ????

  Eros !

FTFY.

Re:Succession plan?

[frankie]

Been a while since I posted on /.

I can understand Lord Steve's retirement, considering he's been running on secondhand parts for a while, but Taco?

No one else has abused this meme yet, so I may as well: not letting Taco keep his posting privileges is something that Hitler would do.

EOL.

Given that...

[Anonymous Coward]

...slashdot has sucked since 2000, and the Geek.Net overlords are just as incompetent if not more than the previous squad of "editors", I doubt much will change for the better.

Sorry, but it's the truth.

Re:Given that...

[lejerdemayn]

Slashdot needs to evolve. Become THE reference for newrds. Do a complete cleanup of the platform. Figure out a better way to post and comment. And fix the fucking RSS feed. It's broken for ages.

Re:Given that...

[Anrego]

I know I shouldn't be feeding the trolls..

But truth is, for all I've griped about the "new" slashdot (and then the "new" one after that) ... and the dubious submissions... I still find myself active here quite frequently.

Slashdot isn't perfect.. but it's still a damn good thing.

Re:Given that...

[Seumas]

We need to continue our strengths. Being a platform where old guys can bitch about kids these days.

Re:Given that...

[grub]

Slashdot has always been in a state of flux. Perpetual beta, though it's not labelled as such.

Seeing goofy bugs raise their head as they hack up code is oddly comforting. Like a smallpox infected blanket on a wintery day.

Re:Given that...

[Anrego]

That's actually an interesting way of looking at it.

I agree, slashdot wouldn't be the same if it wasn't for the occasional "how'd that get posted" story and "did some kid code this in his basement" bugs. It's kinda like when freenode went from their home grown (and buggy as hell) IRCd to whatever they are using now. They gained stability, but lost some of that warm n` fuzzy feeling.

Re:Given that...

[Tolkien]

Yep. It's one of the few sites who seem to be resistant to devolution to lolcat pictures and meme reinforcement. I think we can credit the lack of ability to embed pictures in posts for that and I'm very much thankful for it.

Re:Given that...

[alexo]

But truth is, for all I've griped about the "new" slashdot (and then the "new" one after that) ... and the dubious submissions... I still find myself active here quite frequently.

Slashdot isn't perfect.. but it's still a damn good thing.

I'm on /. every day but I have to admit that nowadays it is not because of the way the site is run but in spite of it.

Compared to a decade ago, the front page looks more like a yellow tabloid than a serious tech site. Slashvertisements, titles and summaries chosen for shock value rather than informative content, clueless submitters, incompetent editors.

It's like a good thought provoking series turning into a Brazilian soap opera.

Thankfully, the discussions are still worth it.

Re:Given that...

[Omestes]

Compared to a decade ago, the front page looks more like a yellow tabloid than a serious tech site. Slashvertisements, titles and summaries chosen for shock value rather than informative content, clueless submitters, incompetent editors.

But a decade ago every other story was a case mod story, and the rest were dupes of previous case mod stories. As long as I've been reading /., people have always complained about how it is going down hill. Yet somehow it has never actually died (unlike every other site founded around the same time... ahem K5). Slashdot is undead, and has always been undead.

Of all the things I was doing a decade ago, reading /. daily is the only thing that survived. I have no clue what I'd do with the time I could reclaim by quitting /. Probably make myself into something impressive, rich, and important.

Re:Given that...

[_damnit_]

Get off my lawn!!

Re:Given that...

[_damnit_]

I could have sworn in between the case mod stories there were stories of overclocking to reach 1Ghz using assorted cooling techniques.

Re:Given that...

[Omestes]

You are correct. I found out how to overclock my 300mhz CPU to 325Mhz by submerging it in a Wesson's Oil bath, circulated and cooled by a salvaged window air conditioning unit. Ah.. /., I strangely love you.

Steve Jobs = Rob Malda?

[Danathar]

I knew it!

Good luck Steve..er...Rob...err..whoever you are actually!

Re:Steve Jobs = Rob Malda?

[Abstrackt]

I've certainly never seen them in the same room!

Re:Steve Jobs = Rob Malda?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does that mean Rob's dying of cancer? Shit.

Re:Steve Jobs = Rob Malda?

[Anonymous Coward]

Netcraft now confirms: CmdrTaco is dying?

Re:Steve Jobs = Rob Malda?

[MonsterTrimble]

Oh no. Rob Malda > Steve Jobs.

End. of. Discussion.

Re:Steve Jobs = Rob Malda?

[not-my-real-name]

Come to think of it, I've never seen the two of them together. hmmm...

Re:Steve Jobs = Rob Malda?

[fak3r]

No, just Slashdot - Slashdot is Dying: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2397584&cid=37209054

Aaah, fun early days

[inflex]

They were fun "early days", I remember discovering Slackware 3.x, Slashdot and Freshmeat all around the same time and going crazy with open-source projects and meeting up with some fantastic people. Back then, getting a SSL session running on your browser on Linux was enough for celebration and S3 cards were the thing to have :)

Enjoy the Future CmdrTaco!

Re:Aaah, fun early days

[Frederic54]

I remember too. I discovered /. in 97 or 98, when there was no username, no moderators, etc, I even exchanged some emails with rob at the time :-/

Re:Aaah, fun early days

[inflex]

My biggest regret was not timing things 'just right' to get ID 123321 :(

I see you were in very early :)

I had more direct dealings with Patrick of FM than anyone here in /.

Oh yes and back then LinuxJournal was genuinely very useful every edition :)

Re:Aaah, fun early days

[praedictus]

Think I was between real jobs, doing hell-centre in 99 or so to tide me over when one of my supers twigged me on to this cool site. Helped keep my sanity till I moved on to greener pastures (and warmer climate). Thanks to Rob and the crew, I feel old now too.

Re:Aaah, fun early days

[herring0]

Between getting AGP video cards running in whatever *nix happened to be on my box at the time along with the time I spent on the phones at Dell /. was one of the best diversions I had. Thirteen years and numerous geek related jobs later I'm still here almost every day.

You built something special, thank you.

Re:Aaah, fun early days

[Thomas Charron]

X-D I remember when they added users, moderation, etc.. Funny, but the geek factor was much higher then, but the hate factor was also much less.

Re:Aaah, fun early days

[Wild_dog!]

ditto.... compiling and recompiling
makes me weepy.

All the best

[1s44c]

All the best in the future your d00dness.

Made a vow while drunk, huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

For some reason I'm convinced that the timing of this resignation isn't a coincidence. I'd wager that someone got drunk and proclaimed that he would resign from Slashdot as soon as Steve Jobs leaves Apple (again).

Re:Made a vow while drunk, huh?

[u-235-sentinel]

For some reason I'm convinced that the timing of this resignation isn't a coincidence. I'd wager that someone got drunk and proclaimed that he would resign from Slashdot as soon as Steve Jobs leaves Apple (again).

Rumor has it CmdrTaco is the new CEO of Apple.

Truth? :-)

caio ...

[slydder]

take it easy dude. and thanks for the fun. ;)

Re:caio ...

[slydder]

and you know what. I actually just checked the Calender. Not that April snuck up on me or something crazy like that.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Anonymous Coward]

...what's up with all these Real Names on Google+? How am I ever going to find you guys? Sheesh.

Anyway, bon voyage CmdrTaco!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[JustOK]

you must be new here.

Lose the Ability to post

[Danathar]

Personally I think that's lame. You are the founder of Slashdot. You should be able to keep that as a legacy cool power.

Re:Lose the Ability to post

[AJH16]

It sounds like it was his choice to give up the power based on the recommendation from his friends and co-workers who thought he would keep focusing on it even if he left.

Re:Lose the Ability to post

[A nonymous Coward]

I would guess that, in some ways, the point of resigning is to lose the power to post stories. It's time to move on. Damned hard, but sometimes a taco's gotta do what a taco's gotta do.

Re:Lose the Ability to post

[RivenAleem]

I heard he's keeping a post as chairman of the board.

Re:Lose the Ability to post

[Anonymous Coward]

With great power comes great responsibility.

Re:Lose the Ability to post

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah, this is like when Link goes to the Dark World and becomes a pink rabbit. See, Rob has to get the Moon Pearl before he can wield the sword.

Re:Lose the Ability to post

[villain222]

Hey now, we all know what legacy support means. a few thousand lines of code in linux and 1.21 gigawatts of code in windows. Its just time to let go.

Re:Lose the Ability to post

[Anonymous Coward]

He says he doesn't want to because otherwise he won't move on. It's not like it makes any difference, though - If he submits something it's much more likely to be accepted than the average user's submission.

Re:Lose the Ability to post

[Anonymous Coward]

If I'm reading correctly, he is voluntarily cutting himself off from the cord, so will actually be able to walk away.

See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[ja]

This is like the Internet going into retirement

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[klocwerk]

No kidding.
See ya around Taco!

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[jefe7777]

Thanks for the ride

You guys made boogie?! I'm jealous....

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Seumas]

I have to say, it has me considering the same thing. I wonder about others? After all, I can't really see myself spending the rest of my life (or even just another fourteen years) posting crap on slashdot. Maybe this is a catalyst for many of us to move on? I dunno . . . Slashdot is still the only place I bother to go on an almost daily basis.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Brazilian Geek]

I couldn't agree more - most of my online life has been spent on Slashdot and after this bit of news I feel a little lost.

Oh well, change is the only constant so we might as well push forward into the brave new world that's Slashdot with CmdrTaco.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Hemos]

Thanks. And you all should know that it has been the readers that kept Rob and I going for as long as we did.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[El Lobo]

Really, that was expected after his liver transplantation back in 2008. We could all see that his health was declining... Oh well... RIP, Rob.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[ashpool7]

your faithful readers are now super concerned about the future without any founders direction!

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[poena.dare]

Thanks. And you all should know that it has been the readers that kept Rob and I going for as long as we did.

Dupe. Overrated. Flamebait.

Now that I have your attention: love you guys.

Slashdot is one of the very few sites that has a robust discussion system. It kills me that otherwise decent technology news sites have primitive plain jane comment threads that retard the hell out of meaningful discussions.

While no system is perfect, I've been very satisfied with the way /. handles comments, weighting for friends and enemies, thresholds, and meta-moding. You guys did it right.

Also I must say /. has some kind of magic spell over it. Despite being bought and sold the powers that be seem to have left /. alone which is pretty damn unheard of in this age.

I'll never forget the time that CT handed me a ball-gag and said, "your submission powers slashdot!" :P

They called us geeks and nerds in school but we had the last laugh,,, after the bankers.

Now, anyone going to submit a "Most Embarrassing Taco Moments" article? I want to make more fun of the bastard before he gets out the door.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Cylix]

Yes, It has surprised us he managed to get out of the chains.

More beatings will have to be issued to the remaining priso.... editors.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Anonymous Coward]

It wasn't Al Gore?

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

This is like the Internet going into retirement

In a sense, this is such a watershed moment. Slashdot is one of the few early internet sites which made it big and is still around. It certainly pre-dates Web 2.0, ubiquitous computing and son on. And CmdrTaco's continued involvement since the sites inception gave it a tangible link to the dorm-room/garage/basement origins of so many websites of those days.

So, CmdrTaco is going. The question is, what will go with him? It is a possibility that the site will see significant and off-putting feature creep in the coming months, driving away the steady commentators who made this place what it is.

Of course as many will be keen to add, it's possible that the dupes and spelling errors will go as well. However since those serve to drive off grammar and spelling nazi's, I'm not sure the site can really afford to lose those particular features.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[demonbug]

your faithful readers are now super concerned about the future without any founders direction!

It's okay, now we can have endless discussions about whether such-and-such story submission or minor alteration in site design is in keeping with the founders' vision.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[cholokoy]

I was reading slashdot in 1999 if I remember correctly and have been hooked since. I can honestly say that I learned quite a bit of know-how from the posts and discussions not counting the humor that makes the drudgery of work lighter.

Have a great future Rob Malda!

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Just Some Guy]

And you all should know that it has been the readers that kept Rob and I going for as long as we did.

You mean people actually read what we write? I always assumed I was one step away from standing on a box on a street corner.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[digitalchinky]

I think you might be right, I've been hitting reload here several times a day pretty much since 1997 when permission was granted to mirror a few stories within a secret 3 letter agency I worked at. I never knew Mr Taco personally, but slashdot will not be the same for me without his presence. I don't really know where else to go, though hopefully whatever his next project is, I can get in early and snag myself a decent UID.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[The Psyko]

Indeed!

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Anonymous Coward]

Rob quits, Steve Jobs quits, the space shuttle quits, Tiger Woods should quit. I think America is going into retirement.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Anonymous Coward]

...Rob and me....

(FTFY)

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[skepticult]

Don't blame the victims, pal.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Hemos]

your faithful readers are now super concerned about the future without any founders direction!

It's okay, now we can have endless discussions about whether such-and-such story submission or minor alteration in site design is in keeping with the founders' vision.

Almost like we planned it that way. Too bad we didn't!

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Hemos]

Hahahaha -- ah, the ball gag. That brings back memories.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[tkprit]

LOL, thinking the same thing (even though I "liked" /. on FB and that's where I heard this news just now). Fuck it, I'm going to man up and go back to IRC and Usenet full time. Internet won't be the same. :(

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[M1m3R]

/me makes sure that the /. rookie card is still in the safe place

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Knara]

That's actually kind of a very poignant way of putting it. For me, at least.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[David at Eeyore]

and Slashdot won't be quite the same anymore...
so long and thanks for all the nerdy [fish] tales.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[Anonymous Coward]

Not really. The internet just moved on. I quit Slashdot a few years ago: after idle.slashdot was formed, all the front page stories effectively turned into "idle" stories. Slashdot couldn't keep up with other news sources, and it lost its relevancy.

Re:See You Rob, and thanks for the ride

[turbosk]

This is more like a bright spark that blazed a beautiful beam for a moment, and then went on to dream itself up all over again.

Congrats on an excellent early retirement.

Hmm...

[AngryDeuce]

Think this will make CNN's front page?

Re:Hmm...

[Bob the Super Hamste]

We could try, they have that stupid iReport section and crap from that gets bumped to the front page from time to time.

Re:Hmm...

[felipekk]

Already did:

"CEO of the most important technology company announces retirement"

Re:Hmm...

[cpscotti]

Retirement?

He'll be working at google in a few months (non-compete clauses etc..). Didn't you notice all the guys up there with google signatures and screaming "come to Google+".

Enjoy future @google Cmdr!

Re:Hmm...

[TheCRAIGGERS]

Well played. /slow clap

Re:Hmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Well if someone would submit and link it here I bet we could /. it. Or at least get it on the front page.

Re:Hmm...

[flimflammer]

~Whoosh~

Re:Hmm...

[Jorl17]

Mod parent up!!

iResign

[rmo6]

So ... this doesn't exactly do anything to dispel the rumor that you're really Steve Jobs now does it? J/k.

Best of luck and I wish I still had my my original UID which was much lower than this one.

Re:iResign

[Tolkien]

Show off. :)

Thank you

[jaxtherat]

Thank you. I was fairly late to the /. game, but I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Cheers!

Wait, what?

[Rysc]

After the news about Steve Jobs I really had to check and double-check the date on this. Not April 1st?

Okay, okay... I think I believe it.

CmdrTaco, thanks a lot. I've spent a ridiculous amount of my formative years reading slashdot. It got me into Linux, Geeks In Space specifically got me in to Debian. Without Slashdot I'd be half the man I am today, easily.

Re:Wait, what?

[Wagoo]

Likewise, discovering Geeks in Space was a nice period, that I have some fond memories from. Even now occasionally something amusing will pop into my head randomly from one of those shows.

Maybe they'll have more time to work on some new episodes now. ;)

Cheers for all the amusement over the last X years!

Re:Wait, what?

[Chanc_Gorkon]

I have to say I miss Geeks in Space. ALOT.

Re:Wait, what?

[Anonymous Coward]

With Slashdot I'm twice the girl I am today. Which would be ok except I'm a guy...

Re:Wait, what?

[DarkOx]

Rob, shame on you for trying to steal Job's thunder :-)

As someone who read this site for years, and has been a registered user for about a decade now, I want to say thank you - its been great!

Re:Wait, what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Without Slashdot I'd be half the man I am today, easily.

Hah. You would be, wouldn't you, easily...

Re:Wait, what?

[jez9999]

Steal Job's thunder? He's left is a couple of thousand years too late, has he not?

Re:Wait, what?

[bill_mcgonigle]

After the news about Steve Jobs I really had to check and double-check the date on this. Not April 1st?

What makes you think he didn't promise somebody back in 1999, "I won't retire a day before Steve Jobs does"?

Re:Wait, what?

[Lanteran]

It's the LHC at work again, collapsing all the probable universes. We have Debian HURD, Duke Nukem Forever, Steve Jobs resigned from Apple, and now this.

Fuck you taco!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Not even a single word for Natalie Portman naked and petrified or hot grits poured down people's pants!

Re:Fuck you taco!!!

[couchslug]

"Not even a single word for Natalie Portman naked and petrified or hot grits poured down people's pants!"

The first part was from Craig McPherson, but who originated "hot grits"?

Re:Fuck you taco!!!

[AntEater]

The first part was from Craig McPherson, but who originated "hot grits"?

Probably the same guy that started all those goatse links.

Can we please bring back "Troll Tuesdays"?

Re:Fuck you taco!!!

[Rysc]

Ahh, memories

OOG UPSET YOU NO MENTION OOG

OOG WELCOME NEW SLASHDOT OVERLORDS

I think the lameness filter is what drove him away. Certainly it made posting this message hard.

So long...

[rsidd]

I've been around for a while, reading though not posting often. For some of us your resignation ranks up there with Jobs' (but more unexpected and, one hopes, not for similar reasons). All the best in whatever you do. You must be in your mid-late thirties, and have an entire life ahead of you!

Re:So long...

[ajo_arctus]

Whoops :) Didn't mean to leave that mostly in there, or at least make it sound a /bit/ sarcastic. Ah well. I /have/ enjoyed /. very much, you created something very good and made a difference.

Re:So long...

[luge]

When someone writes the history of the new media and the new communities, /. - and CmdrTaco will get its own chapter. And that's no small thing.

Still, I'm sad you didn't hang around long enough to use ICANN's new TLD program to get the .dot TLD... ;)

Re:So long...

[turtledawn]

Since I refuse to believe anything I read on Fox, does this mean I'm having a bad dream and when I wake up all will be ok?

Re:So long...

[jmorris42]

Well as long as it is just FoxNews who cares, right? Now if NETCRAFT confirms it......

Gotta hit all of the slashdot memes today.

Re:So long...

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been around for a while, reading though not posting often. For some of us your resignation ranks up there with Jobs' (but more unexpected and, one hopes, not for similar reasons). All the best in whatever you do. You must be in your mid-late thirties, and have an entire life ahead of you!

Don't mind the OP - Steve Job's retirement ranks far lower than yours. You made /. - a place that has inspired a bunch of nerds and kept us fed on new research with minimal effort on our part. Steve Jobs was just Charlie Manson with a better environment, brainwashing a bunch of hippies into thinking they were cool nerds that were different, kind of like Lady Gaga. CmdrTaco is definitely cooler.

Re:So long...

[swapn07]

for someone who have wasted long hours on slashdot, it definitely does. All the best Rob!

Re:So long...

[tkprit]

lol, well there have been some bumps along the way :)

Thanks

[jimand]

Thanks Cmdr; you've created a lasting part of the internet. Will you be auctioning off your UID?

Re:Thanks

[Pikoro]

no kidding. I wonder what the going price for a uid of 1 would be... Rob.. Auction it off and either use it for retirement money or donate it to a charity for homeless perl programmers or something.

Re:Thanks

[mwvdlee]

Was thinking the same thing.
His UID could bring in a lot of money for a charity.
And afterwards, just give CmdrTaco UID MAX_INT :)

Re:Thanks

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot has always been a beacon of good taste on the Internet.

Also a hive of poorly spelled comments.

Re:Thanks

[hypertex]

I sense the candle flickering.

All the best Rob.

Re:Thanks

[Just Some Guy]

Slashdot has always been a beakon of good taste on the Internet.

I've never heard of a Slashdotter who reads the articles but not the comments. At least, that's the only possible interpretation of your words. I love me some Slashdot, but I've never, never heard anyone accuse us of good taste.

And typing that just now, I choked up. I wrote "us", and realized that I meant is as much as if I actually owned part of Slashdot. I mean, it's not really mine in any way but it still feels like it is. This has been my geek home on the Internet for well over a decade and now it's fundamentally changing. Good luck and godspeed, Rob. This site has shaped my career and life for the better in a lot of ways over the years. You built something special and I appreciate it.

Re:Thanks

[Anonymous Coward]

It helps me stay grounded to the truly important stuff that matters in a chaotic world of information overload.

Yeah, it's all about the hot grits and certain lady's pants.

Re:Thanks

[Unequivocal]

Well said.

Re:Thanks

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot has always been a beakon of good taste on the Internet.

Not to mention a beacon of bad spelling. ;-)

Best of luck, cmdr.

Re:Thanks

[SomeStupidNickName12]

whats a perl programmer? is that kind like an old person that can still read morse code?

One of the biggest influences...

[islisis]

...at one of the best times of my life

This site has been amazing.

Thank you for my future! :)

Thanks CmdrTaco

[diorcc]

For the site and resources/time you devoted into the community. It has been and is a good way to keep up with news and to get a BS-filter discussion going most of the time. I'm sure you'll still be involved somehow. Let's head-hunt for the next 'care-taker' of /.

Thanks for everything

[deblau]

I could write a long rambling ode, but I think I'll just say thanks for the last 14 years. You did good.

Re:Thanks for everything

[Richard_J_N]

Indeed. Thanks a lot for a wonderful resource. I've been on "/." since 2000, and it taught me a lot. I've read it almost every day since then. Well done.
P.S. The /. name still confuses non-geeks :-)

Re:Thanks for everything

[The Apocalyptic Lawn]

Rob, thanks for all the good stuff, and have fun doing whatever it is you'll be doing next :)

Thanks

[Denny]

Like so many here will no doubt be doing, I just wanted to say 'thanks'. Slashdot was not only my favourite source of news for many years, but also Slash (the 0.3-pre tarball!) was my introduction to coding in Perl, and out of that I built my career. So my sincere thanks for all you did here, and I hope you enjoy whatever you do next.

As having a rather "OLD" userID...all i can say is

[Anonymous Coward]

Godspeed Taco. I enjoyed and still enjoy those "Stories for friends". Even dupes are fun :)
Everything changes and so we do.
Enjoy and see you around.

WORST DAY EVAH!!!!!!!!

[lejerdemayn]

Taco is out of Jobs! :(

Re:WORST DAY EVAH!!!!!!!!

[TeknoHog]

Hey, at least it is the birthday of Linux :)

Thanks for the ride.

[soda]

Sad news. Thanks for the ride though. Good luck on your future adventures.

Thanks, Rob.

[taoboy]

Thanks for conjuring the website I've come to daily for about a decade for everything from giggly entertainment to real insight immediately useful in the day job.

Thanks for keeping it largely the same in all that time, I don't brook change very well... :D

I wish you the best in whatever comes next your way, and hope you find another gem to polish and foist upon us...

Glenn Butcher
Colorado Springs, CO

Wow! So long, Taco!

[Pope]

Thanks for all the towels, Rob. Slashdot has been one of those sites that I always come back to after not reading for a while, sometimes days, sometimes years. It's provided me hours of entertainment and informative debate on just about every topic under the sun.

See ya in the funny papers.

Live Long and Prosper!

[Anonymous Coward]

Good Luck with your future endeavors! Live Long and Prosper!

Thank you

[Sabathius]

Thanks for creating one of the best Websites on the Internet, in my opinion. Others may talk trash, but this is a Website I've visited consistently since around 2000-1. Best of luck in all that you do, my friend.

Dupe

[said213]

Isn't this s dupe? Or, will that happen on Saturday?

Thank You, CmdrTaco

[kilo_foxtrot84]

Mr. Malda, thank you for all that you've done for us. I wish you nothing but the best. -KF

Re:Thank You, CmdrTaco

[dtmos]

You're welcome, Kathleen.

The world is your oyster.

[Win Hill]

All we can say is THANK YOU for a great website, for your leadership, and for all the great stories! The world is your oyster.

I have some difficulty understanding this

[gzipped_tar]

Car analogy please?

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Anonymous Coward]

Car analogy please?

GM has decided to quit producing the Corvette. It's just not the way of the future anymore.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[virg_mattes]

Imagine getting into your car, and driving away, and not coming back.

It's like that. Mr. Malda, you'll be sorely missed. Thanks for all of your efforts. You've made this site a place where geeks of all stripe can find a good story and a good troll.

Virg

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[nschubach]

It's kind of like Ford not making cars anymore.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Asic Eng]

Car analogy please?

Uhm .. he built a car himself out of junk parts. It took years and needed lots of maintenance but it could fly and swim. He sold the invention to a huge multi-national. Now he bought a new Toyota.

It's all about getting older and letting go. Where once the eternal junkyard was a theoretical concept, now you wonder whether you should trade in or do one more road trip across the country.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[simcop2387]

It's like when the Delorean Motor Company went out of business.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[proverbialcow]

It's like someone took the air filter off the engine. Now the crap will start to get in, and turn the engine into something it wasn't designed to be - i.e. something no can or will want to use.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[evil_aaronm]

You say that like it's a bad thing...

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Anonymous Coward]

The wheels are about to fall off

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Anonymous Coward]

Or like F1 best driver resignes....I bet it will be like when Schumacher stepped down....only to return a couple years later with its lowest performance ever so everybody can say 'what the hell is wrong with this guy'

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[pmontra]

Henry Ford is leaving Ford. Thank you CmdrTaco!

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[vitaflo]

Taco is just attempting to make a Beowulf cluster of tech resignations.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[jd]

Slashdot is like the cars built and raced by Malcolm McLaren or by Donald Campbell. His retirement is comparable to their tragic ends in that it marks the end of the Golden Age.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Anonymous Coward]

Old Pintos break down from time to time, and sometimes they are un-repairable. It's best to junk them and get something else.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[FrankNFurter]

Now now - Schumacher is performing as good as ever. (Save for the occasional bumping into other cars...) His problem in his second career is the lack of a competitive car.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Just Some Guy]

Saab.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[alex67500]

GM has decided to quit producing the Corvette. It's just not the way to the future anymore.

Of course not, everyone knows that the Delorean is !

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Anonymous Coward]

Karl Benz retired

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Bucc5062]

Dad's retiring and handing the keys to his nice shiny car to a bunch of kids. Whether or not they know how to drive remains to be seen.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Anonymous Coward]

Car analogy please?

They're replacing the transmission belt.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Anonymous Coward]

I was not Aware Rob was running drugs too.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Anonymous Coward]

Its like the 1987 Chevy C/K pickup, when they went to fuel injection. An important difference under the hood, but the (essentially) 15 year old design was otherwise largely unchanged. ...uh, actually...until a year later in 1988, when they redid the entire platform. Let's hope that's where this analogy breaks down.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Anonymous Coward]

In this economy I think it's more like getting into a car, driving to a cliff, and off it!

Good luck my Commander of Taco's, you will be surely missed.

I'd also like to take this opportunistic time to announce that Anonymous Coward, aka me and long time reader will also be retiring.
So long and thanks for all the fish.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Iskender]

You've made this site a place where geeks of all stripe can find a good story and a good troll.

My name is Natalie Portman and I've just poured hot grits down the pants that cover the lower part of my petrified body. Thank you.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Anonymous Coward]

It's like you've been driving a car for a really long time. Now you finally get out and decide to lock your keys inside on purpose so you can't ever drive the car again.

Re:I have some difficulty understanding this

[Announcer]

How about a "Toy Story 3" analogy? When Andy drives away from Bonnie's house, leaving all of his beloved toys with her.

Roll Credits.

Wasn't expecting that..

[Tridus]

Slashdot's been a constant read in my life for so long now that the idea you might leave never really crossed my mind. But I guess all things must change, eventually.

Well, thanks for all the years of reading and I hope you enjoy whatever you wind up doing next! :)

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[jank1887]

uid 2, huh? I bet you just missed the first first post, too.

OMG..

[Dynamoo]

You created something that has given a lot of people a lot of pleasure. Thanks! And always remember... OMG Ponies!

Re:OMG..

[INT_QRK]

I looked all over the Object Management Group site and can find no reference to a UML stereotype called "Ponies!"

Re:OMG..

[Chanc_Gorkon]

Best April Fools EVER!

Re:OMG..

[MonsterTrimble]

Is it sad every April 1st I pray that Slashdot turns pink? That was Epic.

Re:OMG..

[Mr Z]

For the nostalgic, I saved a screen cap...

So long...

[ajo_arctus]

Best of luck. I've been a mostly silent reader of Slashdot since about 1999, but I've enjoyed it very much. Mostly.

I guess it's true. Slashdot is dead. Fox News confirms it (seriously: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/24/gawker-7-other-formerly-popular-sites-dead-or-dying/)

So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[TimeForGuinness]

Somehow this has hit me harder than Jobs stepping down. I've been coming to Slashdot for the news/commentary for about 13+ years...and still plan to do so.

Man, it's weird, I've never met Rob or corresponded with him...but it feels like I'm losing a good friend or family member. The internet can be weird sometimes.

Godspeed Taco!

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[Tapewolf]

Somehow this has hit me harder than Jobs stepping down. I've been coming to Slashdot for the news/commentary for about 13+ years...and still plan to do so.

I think that sums it up for me as well. Wish I had created an account when I started reading, though.

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[basscomm]

This is a pretty big shock, but I can't say that it's completely unexpected. I kind of got the impression that Taco was phoning in some of the posts of late (he hasn't commented on anything since 2009), and the stories about him visiting tech companies' campuses seemed to be some kind of effort to get this site back toward its roots.

But, without being too big of a downer, I'd like to thank Rob for all he's done and wish him the best in whatever he ends up doing.

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[Bob the Super Hamste]

I think that sums it up for me as well. Wish I had created an account when I started reading, though.

So I am not the only one who has that regret.

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[Zembar]

You're far from alone. Stupid lurking.

But thanks CmdrTaco for

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[Zembar]

I'm going to have to add "making a site that doesn't post what the preview shows" instead of what I actually wrote.

Oh well, at least it's does its job consi

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[dtmos]

No, the line forms to the left on that one. . . .

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[CrackerJackz]

Yeah, I missed the low UID boat by a mile because I didn't want another password to remember back then :)

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[The Great Pretender]

Somehow this has hit me harder than Jobs stepping down. I've been coming to Slashdot for the news/commentary for about 13+ years...and still plan to do so.

Man, it's weird, I've never met Rob or corresponded with him...but it feels like I'm losing a good friend or family member. The internet can be weird sometimes.

Godspeed Taco!

Ditto

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[C-Shalom]

Thanks for all you've done.

This is one site I truly come to for the comments.
I often lurk and rarely post, I'm just not that social.
It's an end of an era now that Taco is gone.
But thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

Obligatory XKCD: http://xkcd.com/301/

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[saitoh]

I agree with this (and even made a point to log in and post for once!)

Steve Jobs had been making a transition out due to health for a while. I knew he would resign eventually. Maybe not this year, maybe not next, but he's human as much as the SuperJobs persona tries to hide that.

In the back of my mind, I never thought Taco would leave. Irrational at best, but that through just didn't fit into my mental universe.

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[gatzke]

Me too. Jobs was expected, this was not.

Years and years of slashdot reading, and it feels like it may be ending. Or at least changing. Ouch.

And I have gotten email from Rob on some /. technical stuff here and there. Surprisingly responsive, considering he ran such a site.

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[TimeForGuinness]

Years and years of slashdot reading, and it feels like it may be ending. Or at least changing. Ouch.

I felt the same thing when I opened up slashdot today. Sadness. Over time, my daily rotation of webpages changes...but slashdot was/is the only constant. So much learning one can do in this corner of the internet. I hope that spirit continues when moving forward.

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[TimeForGuinness]

It's funny, I feel the same way...if there was one thing I held true on the internet is that CmdrTaco would be running Slashdot until I died.

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[boss_hog]

nope. I registered somewhere later within the first 3 years of the site, and was bummed I waited so long and didn't get into(or under) the 100k's.

  I remember the one-line text-box CGI he had that (supposedly) would throw messages on his console. I remember the cool "I know that guy" feeling I had when they posted a KDE article that one of my college friends submitted (talk about your 6 degrees of separation/15 seconds of fame. the article was this one, before there were even comments! http://tech.slashdot.org/story/98/07/12/239217/KDE-Hits-10)

despite all our bitching about what slashdot has become over the years, thanks Rob and Hemos and everyone else coding/editing-wise who has contributed to the site.

Re:So long and thanks for the OMG PONIES!!!

[Trogre]

I maintain that CmdrTaco has done more for the computing community than Jobs, and that the empire he built is much, much less evil.

Thanks!

[Dri]

This I'll remember as the WORST /. story ever. Take care!

Re:Thanks!

[mce]

Similar situation here. I've had /. set up as my home page at work and at home for as long as I've been around on the site, which goes back to before the days of UIDs. I finally stopped being active in January'11 because the latest redesign made the site unbearable for me to use (and even plain technically impossible on one of my computers). I guess I also somehow stuck to the Slashdot of the past, even if maybe not in the same way a Rob.

So today I'm making an exception, loging in for the first time since January just to say thanks to Rob for all the work he did and all the joy I got out of it. Especially in the past. ;-)

Thanks.

[Lorien_the_first_one]

I found this site by accident and I've been hooked for years since. I look forward to seeing your next project, CmdrTaco.

Be well.

Thanks

[Chang]

Rob,

Thank you for creating Slashdot

I know you had plenty of help along the way but as a wise person once said - ultimately, all we have to offer to each other is ourselves. You definitely gave more than your share of time and energy to making plenty of people happier. You suffered fools with class and you should be proud of what you have done.

Good luck

Thanks Rob!

[G]

Don't comment very often but have been here since pretty damned close to the beginning. I've read just about every day of my life since then. Hope everything is and will continue to be great. I'm sure there will be the normal trolls and whatnot, but the bottom line is: You will be missed.

Godspeed!
Gerald

Re:Thanks Rob!

[G]

btw: First Post(er)! Only one older (by UID) is Hemos and he doesn't count. Denny comes close but I still win. . .for the moment.

Gerald

Re:Thanks Rob!

[iceaxe]

You old farts and your low UIDs. Bah! ;)

Thanks for the community

[WyzrdX]

Just wanted to sat good luck and thank you for the /. Hope you find something else to do with your time.
.
From ages 11 to 40 Well wishes from the Arthur Family

Re:Thanks for the community

[WyzrdX]

Just wanted to sat good luck and thank you for the /. Hope you find something else to do with your time.
From ages 11 to 40 Well wishes from the Arthur Family

Wow I cant spell this morning Just wanted to SAY*

Thanks Tacoslut

[Demoknight]

Been a regular visitor for a decade. /salute

Fuck dude, good luck

[bernywork]

It'll be interesting to see what you do next, I'll put money on anohter website. Maybe web journo? I think there are more than enough people out there who would give you a chance because of what you have done for the tech community.

Best of luck,

Berny Stapleton

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[chrisd]

For the record: I really thought that champagne cooler was empty.

Thank you!

[Anonymous Coward]

For being my favourite source of geeky and tech-related news and discussions. /. was the first website I actually added to my - very small - list of Adblock Plus exceptions.

Good Luck

[Anonymous Coward]

Good luck with you and you're life.

As part of my resignation, after this story appears I will lose the ability to post. For me, this is the most bitter pill to swallow. Posting stories has always been my favorite part of the job. I created Slashdot to share these stories with my friends from IRC and school. It was never 'work'.

Hey, I have a suggestion on that. Why don't you start a CMS in perl or something, and post stories that you like there?

Re:Good Luck

[Hognoxious]

Why don't you start a CMS in perl or something, and post stories that you like there?

Post them several times, just to be sure.

Nice little site you made here, Rob.

[jcr]

I hope you have a great time doing whatever you decide to do next.

-jcr

I knew it!

[elrous0]

I always thought it suspicious that I never saw Taco and Steve Jobs in the same room. Now I finally know for sure that they're the same person!

Thanks for giving us this forum Taco/Steve. But I still hate iOS.

Good luck!

[jawtheshark]

The subject says it all...

I first had to check whether it wasn't the first of April, though.

Farewell

[Smivs]

All the best for the future...thanks for your services to Geekdom - beyond the call of duty.

You're welcome.

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

End of an era. /. is and has been in good hands.

What do you plan to do from now on? Are you going to pursue the Peter Gibbons dream of doing nothing?

Re:You're welcome.

[CaptSlaq]

End of an era. /. is and has been in good hands.

What do you plan to do from now on? Are you going to pursue the Peter Gibbons dream of doing nothing?

Waiting for the obligatory "f'n a, man. f'n a..."

Re:You're welcome.

[Illusion2269]

What do you plan to do from now on? Are you going to pursue the Peter Gibbons dream of doing nothing?

That, or two chicks at the same time.

Re:You're welcome.

[Thing 1]

Are you going to pursue the Peter Gibbons dream of doing nothing?

So I just got the meta-punchline of that movie: the human protagonist is named after a lesser ape. (And a penis.) Thanks Rob!!!

Thank you, CmdrTaco

[rumith]

Slashdot is firmly ingrained in geek culture, it is a nexus for our kind (and hopefully will be such for many more years to come). May all your future endeavors be as successful as this one. Salute!

A fitting end

[m50d]

Looks like we just slashdotted your site.

You will be missed

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for /. CmdrTaco, I grew from a geeky 10yo playing with Free-DOS to a hardware hacker, programmer, UNIX sysadmin, network engineer, and most importantly a Linux user. Over these years from young child to adult, /. has always been there. I always looked forward to waking up and seeing what amazing things happened in the IT world while I slept.

So thanks for all of this, and good luck CmdrTaco.

what about Jon Katz?

[inkscapee]

No nostalgia for Jon Katz? Goodbye Cmdr Taco, I will miss your staunch defense of typos and bad grammar. You done good with Slashdot, long may it reign!

Re:what about Jon Katz?

[Seumas]

Slashdot was really at its prime around the Hellmouth days.

Today ...

[nosfucious]

Today a little piece of my inner nerd just died.

Please don't let me wake up and suddely find that I'm a responsible 40 year old IT professional/business person. I'll be repeating that as I stumble home drunkenly tonight.

Re:Today ...

[Nidi62]

Today a little piece of my inner nerd just died.

Please don't let me wake up and suddely find that I'm a responsible 40 year old IT professional/business person. I'll be repeating that as I stumble home drunkenly tonight.

I think it will partly depend on where you stumble home drunk to. If it's back to your mom's basement, then you're ok. If it's to a house with a family, then unfortunately you're a responsible 40 year old IT professional/business person.

Re:Today ...

[Anonymous Coward]

OMG.. you said it! that says how i feel PERFECTLY!

Please don't let me wake up and suddely find that I'm a responsible 40+ year old IT professional/business person
Please don't let me wake up and suddely find that I'm a responsible 40+ year old IT professional/business person
Please don't let me wake up and suddely find that I'm a responsible 40+ year old IT professional/business person
please.....

In seriousness, thank you Taco for everything! Been reading this site since '99.. Best place ever for news important to me.

Re:Today ...

[Brazilian Geek]

Heh, I'm with you on this. My inner 22-year-old nerd that discovered Slashdot all those years ago died a little today.

Good thing I already had a booze-fest scheduled tonight with my running buddies, all of them definitely non-nerds so no Slashdot war stories.

Re:Today ...

[MonsterTrimble]

I think that little piece of inner nerd will CAUSE you to stumble home drunkenly tonite.

Re:Today ...

[FreakyGreenLeaky]

Please don't let me wake up and suddely find that I'm a responsible 40 year old IT professional/business person

Sigh, too late for many of us.

Thanks

[Gruuk]

I've had the pleasure of meeting the Slashdot crew waaaaaay back in 1999 (I think at ALS); seeing the people responsible for my favorite geeky site was very cool (and so were they). It will be strange to not have CmdrTaco on the only website I've visited almost every day since 1998.

Thanks dude, you made many days spent at work a lot more enjoyable.

So long...

[SIGBUS]

...and thanks for all the first posts!

It's been a great run - I hope your next endeavor hits it big.

It's hard to imagine...

[SwedishChef]

I can't imagine a Slashdot without a Cmdr Taco. You have written and posted things that were - at least at the time - important or interesting or funny or memorable. Not everyone can say that. Best of luck.... and, oh, one more thing.... I always assumed that the name /. came from the Unix method of executing a program or utility in the subdirectory you were in but since that's ./ (the reverse).... how in the world did the name come about?

Oh well.... thanks for all the fish.

Re:It's hard to imagine...

[alexhs]

how in the world did the name come about?

It's because of h-t-t-p-colon-slash-slash-slashdot-dot-org.

Re:It's hard to imagine...

[Anonymous Coward]

and, oh, one more thing.... I always assumed that the name /. came from the Unix method of executing a program or utility in the subdirectory you were in but since that's ./ (the reverse).... how in the world did the name come about?

Wikipedia says: The name "Slashdot" is described by Malda as "a sort of obnoxious parody of a URL", chosen to confuse those who tried to pronounce the URL of the site ("h-t-t-p-colon-slash-slash-slashdot-dot-org").

Re:It's hard to imagine...

[paimin]

Well, you could think of it as a reference to a dotfile at the root. But the above is the official explanation.

Re:It's hard to imagine...

[tqk]

how in the world did the name come about?

It's because of h-t-t-p-colon-slash-slash-slashdot-dot-org.

Er, what is it about recursion that you don't get?

T'anks Rob. You've enabled many great memes to have been born. I hope your next gig will be just as fun. Take me with you, please?

Aside, I think it's pretty funny that the spellchecker won't accept "slashdot" as valid (it just did it again, damnit!). As for the low vs. high UID controversy, anything under 1M is "cool" as far as I'm concerned. :-)

Re:It's hard to imagine...

[iceaxe]

how in the world did the name come about?

http://slashdot.org - read it out loud, and say "slash" and "dot" where you encounter "/" and ".".

Re:It's hard to imagine...

[Provocateur]

Retirement = RM + Internet

Oh, wait...

Re:It's hard to imagine...

[alexhs]

Retirement = Rm * internet => e = n or Retirement = 0.

But Retirement = RM + Internet looks just wrong.

Thanks Rob!

[lisco]

Thanks for the years of great news and a great site! Good luck on your future adventures, you will be missed!

Stop ruining the economy!

[Anonymous Coward]

Get a job, you out-of-work bum!

Nooooooooo!!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

This anonymous coward (I had an account, several actually, long ago but have forgotten all my login info) who's been there from almost the very beginning says thanks for everything all these years but especially Natalie Portman, covered in hot grits and not for all the goatse links. It's been great fun and the place won't be the same without you . (damn, it's not even April 1st). Fare well and good luck.

Re:Nooooooooo!!!!!

[Savantissimo]

Yeah, I was just thinking: this is just like Natalie Portman, covered in hot grits, except without the grits. Or Natalie Portman.
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of those, and you've got a really big empty space.

Best of luck and thank you.

[Lord Juan]

I just added you in G+, so I am guessing this is not the last that I hear from you, but it is going to be strange to not see your name in many articles in the future. Good look in your future endeavors.

Thanks so much

[Anonymous Coward]

Just wanted to say thank you for everything man.
It's been a hell of a ride!
You take care and good luck to you in your future endeavors!

goodby

[Nf1nk]

Been a long time, the place won't feel the same without you.

Malda and Jobs

[jitterman]

Both guys quit within 24 hours of each other. Veeeerrrry eeeeeeeenteresting!

Theories, people?

Re:Malda and Jobs

[JustOK]

Oh, what is my theory? This is it. My theory that belongs to me is as follows.
This is how it goes. The next thing I'm going to say is my theory. Ready?

My theory by me. This theory goes as follows and begins now. All slashdot stores are thin at one end, much much thicker in the middle and
then thin again at the far end. That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me and I own it, and what it is too.

Re:Malda and Jobs

[Anonymous Coward]

He wants to piggyback on the Steve Jobs hype, because at any other time, nobody would even notice.

Re:Malda and Jobs

[digitalgiblet]

Both guys quit within 24 hours of each other. Veeeerrrry eeeeeeeenteresting!

Theories, people?

They come in threes! THEY COME IN THREES! OMG!!! WHO'S NEXT???

Re:Malda and Jobs

[93 Escort Wagon]

Both guys quit within 24 hours of each other. Veeeerrrry eeeeeeeenteresting!

Well, for one - has anyone ever seen the two of them together? And have you noticed what a fan "Malda" is of Apple hardware?

(Speaking seriously now - good luck with your future ventures, Rob)

Thanks

[fons]

Slashdot has always been a beakon of good taste on the Internet.

It helps me stay grounded to the truly important stuff that matters in a chaotic world of information overload.

It helped me be confident about my own opinions.

Thanks
Peter Van Hende
'Trendwatcher' for Belagcom

New Poll!

[NoseSocks]

New Poll!
When you saw the news that CmdrTaco was resigning your first thought was:

1) So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish: 99.99%
2) Some other option
3) Yet another option
4) A fourth option
5) CowboyNeal

Seriously, I think the collective all thought option 1 at the same time.
We all are individuals.
-NS

Re:New Poll!

[SoTerrified]

When you saw the news that CmdrTaco was resigning your first thought was:

2) OMG! CmdrTaco is Steve Jobs!

Re:New Poll!

[RivenAleem]

My first thought was, "Who's this CmdrTaco and why is this covered on /.? It's not like this is some guys personal blog"

Re:New Poll!

[FrankNFurter]

You must be new here.

Re:New Poll!

[ginbot462]

6) Dupe (CmdrTaco is dead long live CmdrTaco)

Re:New Poll!

[Feynman]

> We all are individuals.

I'm not!

Re:New Poll!

[iceaxe]

I always pick CowboyNeal

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[c]

I think it's fair to say that the average uid in the comments on this post will be the lowest in the last few years... possibly the last decade.

If I don't check /. for six days consecutively...

[iguana]

I can't even remember when I signed up for /. Been a long long time.

I visit several times a day, nearly every day. Even when out in the boonies of the world (Yachats, OR), I found a way. Dial-up and Links were enough to get my slashdot fix.

I jokingly say I have a living will: if I don't check /. for six days consecutively, consider me brain dead and unplug the machines.

Thank you so much for being a huge part of my geek life these last many years. Best of luck in your future endeavor.

Thank you Rob and colleauges

[capedgirardeau]

Slashdot has contributed a great deal to our world.

I've been a lurker for about a decade, and I want

[Anonymous Coward]

to say, thanks for all the dupes :)

It's been Fun!

[nebular]

Of all the posts, I never disliked a CmdrTaco post. You are/were the soul of this place really. I'm not sure where the site will be going, but this news just makes me feel older. I'll miss the slashdot of old and hopefully I'll feel just at home as it moves into the future.

Thank you Rob!

[digitaldc]

Thanks so much for /. and for all the thoughtful articles, comments, and unique points of view over the years.

Hoping for more good things in your future!

Good luck Rob!!!

Congratulations and Condolences

[AB3A]

I wish you well. This must be hard for you, walking away from something you have herded for the last 15 years.

Don't look back. Make something cool.

Steve Jobs isn't the only leader in this world...

*Takes off Hat, Salutes*

[aeroelastic]

Good night, funny man.

Godspeed Sir

[psyclone241]

Wow, it's amazing how time has flown by.... It was 97-98 that I began my career in IT and in 99 was introduced to Slashdot. I have to admit, I read anonymously from my darkened caves and never posted, I didn't even sign up for an account. I've been reading pretty regularly, almost religiously since then. I finally created my account in the last little while and actually posted a couple of times. I hope that you have great success in whatever life is leading you into. I am glad that you are spending time with family, tis important, very important! You have been part of my 'extended' family for a long time, very sad to see you go. News for Nerds, stuff that matters! It's the reason I still read /. Thank you for what you started. Good Luck and Godspeed Cmdr, you will be missed.

Thanks a bunch

[tweewo]

/. has for ten years been my top bookmark.

I say gnutoo inTheLoo

[tepples]

"erros"? Is that a typo for Eros? Or perhaps Erris from back when Twitter meant "sock puppeteer" and not "microblog host"?

Re:I say gnutoo inTheLoo

[broggyr]

Muphrey's Law (not Murphy's Law) is in full effect.

Re:I say gnutoo inTheLoo

[broggyr]

Gah! I believe it's supposed to be "Muphry's Law". Glad I was able to prove it.

Cmdrtaco = Anonymous Coward

[Anonymous Coward]

Cmdrtaco = Anonymous Coward

Good Luck!

[TulioSerpio]

Good Luck!

Enjoy what's next

[plover]

Rob,

I hope you enjoy the next phase of your life as much as I've enjoyed Slashdot!

Congratulations, and thanks!

John

Please Visit..... often

[realsilly]

Sad to see you go.
Happy you're heading to your next adventure.
Please come visit us.
Hardest...breakup.....evar! ;)

Good Luck Rob!

Thanks for the thousands of hours well wasted

[QuasiEvil]

CmdrTaco - it's been a great fourteen years, and of the sites I started reading when the web really started exploding, /. is the only one of the original batch I check at least once a day (and sometimes just sit in the reload button, waiting on new stuff). You've provided millions of us with interesting reading and commentary, and built something (along with Hemos, CowboyNeal, Roblimo and all the other infamous editors of the past) that's acted as a common nerd meeting ground for years. Can't thank you enough for the thousands of hours of my own personal and my corporate overlord's time that this site has stolen. Best wishes for the future.

I remember trading emails with you back in 1998 or 99, when a group of us at Iowa State were trying to get slashcode to run on our machine. Eventually got it with some of your input, but mostly we were just honored that one of the internet's first nerd celebrities would actually respond and try to help. Ah, the good old days.

Taco and Jobs absconding together.

[obarthelemy]

I just knew it !

Best wishes to both of you !

All the best

[trg83]

I wish you all the best and offer my most heartfelt appreciation for all you have done. Slashdot has been a part of my daily life as long as I can remember. If I had just signed up instead of lurking, maybe I could have had a lower UID to go with my obsession. Any time I am sitting on the couch with my laptop and half-listening to my wife she asks "are you working or Slashdotting?"

I've heard various explanations of the recent earthquakes, but I am starting to suspect it is the universe trying to adjust to all the tech leaders resigning this week!

Taco's Post About Shopping?

[Iskender]

Does anyone have a link to the post about CmdrTaco buying underwear? In one of these nostalgic Slashdot discussions someone linked an ancient post where he said he had bought some pairs of underwear, meaning he now had a "full set" that would enable him to go a week without doing laundry.

It was such an excellent example of how Slashdot started out as a personal blog, not to mention funny. Many thanks if someone can unearth it (yes, I've tried all kinds of Googling.)

Re:Taco's Post About Shopping?

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you no decency, sir? At long last, have you no decency?!

Re:Taco's Post About Shopping?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh man, I was a summer intern at the Geek Compound my frosh/sophmore summer. I can still remember waking up one morning and seeing Cowboy Neal wearing nothing but a pair of pink crotchless panties. I vomited immediately, although that was more due to the extreme amount of beer and jaeger guzzled the previous night.

Anyhow, the point is, I never once saw malda wearing underwear as the dress code stipulated leather chaps at all times.

Here's to you Rob!

Re:Taco's Post About Shopping?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Heh who knew we'd go from discussions about a week's worth of underwear to bunching our panties over smartphone OS's!

Re:Taco's Post About Shopping?

[Anonymous Coward]

It was such an excellent example of how Slashdot started out as a personal blog, not to mention funny.

And if he'd post that now he'd get hordes of frothing self-important nerds bitching incessantly that Slashdot is not his personal blog and that all traces of "humor" should be removed from the site for efficiency. Sad, sad times now.

In fact, I'm surprised I haven't seen the "zomg tihs is NOT UR PERSNAL BLOG U [insert long unbroken string of racial slurs here]!1!!!!1!" posts under this article yet.

Re:Taco's Post About Shopping?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I did try google. No luck. Although I have to admit the stuff I turned up in the intersection of "Rob Malda week's worth of underwear" or "Rob Malda underwear laundry week full set" or the same searches with "CmdrTaco" was worth a good laugh. When I restricted the searches to "site: slashdot.org", the results were even funnier. :-)

Hmm... maybe I should try Bing now?

Re:Taco's Post About Shopping?

[Single GNU Theory]

Was it in Slashdot proper or was it in TacoHell? I feel like I read the same ancient post.

On an only tangentially-related note, one of my favorite comments ever was this one:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=30833&threshold=1&commentsort=0&mode=thread&cid=3313595

Suddenly everything has changed...

[spacepimp]

So in a matter of two weeks the entire tech world as we knew it, was shifted on it's axis. The untouchable TouchPad became the un-buyable tablet du jour, as HP exits a hasty retreat from Hardware and tablets into services to parrot IBM. Steve Jobs resigns from Apple before the iPhone 5 and next version of iOS. Google buys Motorola and shifts the landscape of Android. Rob the fact that you're leaving is the only one of these shifts that really matters to me. You built a community here that is firmly entrenched in the past, as they predicted, despised, trumpeted and bickered about the nerd things of Today Tomorrow and Yesterday: Because it matters. Sure you've been imitated, by sites with more funding and slash2.0 ideas. But the quality of the user base here makes the difference. Good luck and Thank You for all the hard work.

thanks cmdrtaco

[bacchu_anjan]

hi there,

    thanks for slashdot. This was my first kinda forum and opened me up to what the new world in the west was like. I've been here for the last 13-14 years and although I don't come here multiple times a day every day, I still enjoy it.

  Good luck with your vacation and new job.

BR,
~A

We've

[tepples]

How am I ever going to find you guys?

It's better than "Hemos", which is Spanish for the incredibly common word "We've", used to introduce a perfect tense verb phrase.

Re:We've

[Hemos]

And also why I get some very odd spam sometimes. Although nothing tops: "Hemos, pink flicks! Merhabalar! Super Viagra is here!"

Re:We've

[facetiousprogrammer]

so who has id # 1? cmdtaco?

Re:We've

[Anubis350]

Yup! http://slashdot.org/~CmdrTaco

Bravo. Looking forward to what's next.

[oostendo]

Rob, in the 15+ years I've known you I can't say there is a more gutsy thing you've done than what you're doing today. You are a man of tremendous creative intellect, and I think you'll have a great time finding something new to build. I'm looking forward to many more adventures.

I have no doubt Slashdot will be your "first big thing". Hell, when I drop your name around Makerworks, you're better known as "the guy who built that awesome MAME cabinet".

Nate Oostendorp
http://oostendorp.net/

Are you doing this because of Steve Jobs???

[madhatter256]

Are you leaving because of Steve Jobs resigning???

First Steve Jobs leaves and now you.... gee, I wonder who else will leave. Maybe Eric Schmidt will leave Google now. I see a trend forming here....

Good luck bro! Thanks for all the times I used here in reading the interesting articles, instead of using that time to study, work, etc... you know bettering my life... :-P.

Been a reader since 2000, member since 2002 (or 2001?)... Boy it's a long time...

Re:Are you doing this because of Steve Jobs???

[cpscotti]

Maybe it was a pub bet... I can hear it almost:
Hemos: I wonder what'll happen when Jobs leave apple!
CmdrTaco: What do you mean? He'll never leave.. he'll die CEO!
Hemos: I don't think so, we both know all this corporate overlords stuff, stock market and all.. He will eventually leave!
CmdrTaco: NO! The day Jobs resigns I resign from Slashdot (and go to google)! ..

There's plenty of room under the bridge.

[Anonymous Coward]

Rob there's plenty of room under the bridge with us trolls.
Maybe you'll drop by from time to time and fling some poo at the nerds with us, just for old times sake.

Oh no!

[AntEater]

"The internet has changed dramatically since I started here, and that's part of my reason for leaving..."

I hope that doesn't mean that we're going to see some radical change in direction here. That reads like the money holders want to take the site in a direction that CmdrTaco isn't interested in. Hopefully I'm just being pessimistic.

I've been on since the late 90's myself and I've really enjoyed this site over the years in spite of the spelling and grammar issues. I hope it continues on even without Mr. Malda's influence.

Now watch as the low UIDs to take over the discussion on this post.

Re:Oh no!

[gig]

It was brave of you to suffer through the spelling and grammar issues.

Re:Oh no!

[AntEater]

It was brave of you to suffer through the spelling and grammar issues.

I still struggle with it. It is the artistic content that makes it worthwhile.

Re:Oh no!

[uncledrax]

> Now watch as the low UIDs to take over the discussion on this post.

Actually even just getting to this post it's been a low-ID-a-thon, and one that makes my paltry low-6er blush.. (although in my defense, I didn't register until I had something to say.. so long time reader before that anyway).

Regardless, it'll be interested to see if /. moves in another direction, what Taco goes on to do (if anything... hopefully he's been successful enough that he could just retire if he wanted to?), and so on.

Re:Oh no!

[viking099]

Really the only thing you can be reasonably certain about with a UID pissing contest is that you'll pretty much inevitably lose. :-)

Re:Oh no!

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, unless you're CmdrTaco... or Anonymous Coward!

Re:Oh no!

[JasterBobaMereel]

davidu (18) Wins ....!

Re:Oh no!

[parkrrrr]

Sad, isn't it?

Re:Oh no!

[olau]

I read that as the opposite. Maybe CmdrTaco wanted to try something new, but Geeknet doesn't want to risk losing the current readership. Anyway, time will tell.

Re:Oh no!

[davidu]

Really the only thing you can be reasonably certain about with a UID pissing contest is that you'll pretty much inevitably lose. :-)

If it were a competition that mattered, I feel like I could compete. :-)

Re:Oh no!

[waveclaw]

Good luck and God's speed.

What will happen to the CmdrTaco's Links slashbox?

Will the Funnies change?

Now watch as the low UIDs to take over the discussion on this post.

Hesitation means a higher ID for those who asked: to register or not to register? Back in the day that was a serious question.

Long time reader, only one time submitter (I still have to remind people I'm not associated with any of the sites I linked, talk about obscure references.) Been coming to this little site since randomly typing slashdot.org into a url bar back in '98 or so. I don't recommend doing that today with DNS hijacking and domain squatters. But I did get sent to some funky Chip'n'Dips site with the most ugly color scheme outside of geocities. It kinda grows on you though, that green glow.

So, for next job ideas how about opening a restaurant?

I hear 'The Commander Taco' is a good name.

Re:Oh no!

[Anonymous Coward]

If it changes direction I'm sure your not the only one that will leave. *Everyone walks speechless out the door while looking at our own 2 feet...*

Re:Oh no!

[richdun]

I share your cautious pessimism. The Internet has changed a lot, some for the good, some for the bad, but it's important to remember and even maintain the "founding" institutions just so we can always come back and remember where we've come from.

Remember when news blogs became popular, posting stories every few hours or minutes or seconds, not daily like newspaper sites in those days? Slashdot was doing that long before.

Remember when user comments on stories became popular, so anyone (unfortunately/fortunately) could add their 2 local lowest denomination of currency about the important happenings of the world? Slashdot was doing that long before.

Remember when your online persona and reputation became an important identifier of which user submitted content would be more widely read and even accepted by the community. Slashdot has prior art on +1 and "like," but used much more interesting variations on "like," such as "funny" and "off topic" and "troll." (What's that? Those last two give -1? Oops.)

Slashdot set a lot of foundations for news and user interaction on the wild wild web, even while changing only slightly over all this time. Change can be great and inevitable, but change because of what's now shouldn't cloud what is or was. (I, for one, still kinda like the pre-Michigan UI better...)

TPTB would do well to let those that work with Taco keep /. the way it is.

Re:Oh no!

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been on since the late 90's myself and I've really enjoyed this site over the years in spite of the spelling and grammar issues.

...like the people who write " 90's " instead of " '90s "?

http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/

Sorry, I had to.

Re:Oh no!

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been on since the late 90's myself and I've really enjoyed this site over the years in spite of the spelling and grammar issues. I hope it continues on even without Mr. Malda's influence. Now watch as the low UIDs to take over the discussion on this post.

Indeed, although I've been a perusor since the late '90s, my current(second) username is from '07, & I feel self-conscious logging in with a 7 digit uid... : )
Fare well & good.

Re:Oh no!

[howlingfrog]

Hopefully I'm just being pessimistic.

I hereby present you with the Best Thing Said On The Internet Today award for 8-25-2011.

Re:Oh no!

[AntEater]

I've been on since the late 90's myself and I've really enjoyed this site over the years in spite of the spelling and grammar issues.

...like the people who write " 90's " instead of " '90s "?

http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/

Sorry, I had to.

If only we had more people (and editors) that could catch that kind of thing. We all do better when held to a higher standard. Thank you!

Re:Oh no!

[treeves]

You must be like the thousandth person with a five or six digit UID to come and post that they would have had a lower UID but they didn't want to register for yet another site so they just lurked and lurked and then finally registered after having been here for AGES.

No intention to single you out and pick on you, but I had to pick someone who said essentially the same thing.

I signed up the first day I visited, which was about five years ago, I think.

Anyway, good luck to you, CmdrTaco.

Thanks!

[hawkeyeMI]

My feelings about slashdot in the past ten years have varied quite a bit, but I keep finding myself coming back. I most remember first finding out about 9/11 on slashdot, just in time to turn on the TV in my dorm room and see the second plane hit. Hopefully the place will only change for the better in the future (which I don't mean to be a jab at cmdrtaco).

keeping troll-dition alive

[Anonymous Coward]

As part of my resignation, after this story appears I will lose the ability to post. For me, this is the most bitter pill to swallow. Posting stories has always been my favorite part of the job.

Yay! No more crappy movie "reviews"!


Damn Taco, we're gonna miss ya. With out you, what are we gonna bitch about?
This post certified safe by MyCleanPC.

Best wishes.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sayonara.
Au revoir.
Good Bye.
Good luck.
Peace.
Long life.
And, most of all, thank you.

Thanks for helping to make it awesome.

[TheSpoom]

Good luck in wherever you go.

Won't be the same without you....

[Anonymous Coward]

But good luck, and thanks for all the fish ;-)

Goodbye and thank you!

[Sits]

Hopefully some of the older or famous commenter will pop in to say goodbye. It feels like there's a need for someone to post a history of big events on Slashdot to recap the history (ideally in separate posts so they can be modded up separately)

It's been fun reading the stories on the website (well and community) you created with your friends and I wish you good luck on what you move to next!

First Jobs, now this?

[gig]

Next you will be telling me that HP is getting out of the PC business.

Ok but WHY?

[amliebsch]

No plans? Looking for a job? I hope you aren't being forced out, and I hope it's nothing bad in your personal life.

Good luck.

Good luck!

[SDrag0n]

I've never been a huge contributor here but I spend a lot of time reading Slashdot and I just wanted to say thanks!

"The future"

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot has worked well because it has maintained its focus on what it does best -- aggregate geek-oriented stories and provided moderated comment threads on them. The idea that this is too "rooted in the past" and must be "replaced by the future" is terrifying. If (though I fear "when" to be more accurate) this becomes a giant pile of "web 2.0!" nonsense, dominated by rambling/trollish submitters (do I need to name names?) and incompetent, do-nothing editors (I definitely don't need to name names), I'll have to remove it from my RSS feed. After, 12 years of reading slashdot nearly daily, that'll be a sad day indeed.

All the best

[flend]

Good luck with your new endeavours. For whatever reason, I still find myself coming back to this site year after year :)

-flend

What a great run...

[davidu]

You guys provided the platform which educated, informed and helped shape my views on technology and the Internet.

Thanks for all the fish. :-)

-davidu

Best of luck

[raph]

As you can see from my uid, I've been with you since almost the beginning. At times I've been frustrated with the quality of the posts, especially the pseudoscience garbage, but /. has always been one of my go-to places, and always enough interesting content to make it worthwhile to visit. Plus, the format of the site, especially the moderation system, has proved to have enduring worth, even with all the other changes going on. I wish you the best of success in whatever you choose to do next.

Re:Best of luck

[Vintermann]

You are the originator of Advogato, right? Raph Levien?

I think that the original moderation system on slashdot, and your efforts with Advogato, are among the best experiments that have been done with social media. So much of what has come after has just been better marketed, not better in any fundamental way. In particular, for quality of discussion concerns, the reddit/digg model of moderation is markedly inferior to slashdot's. But it has disappointed me that the fundamental insight of slashdot's insight (use of sortition to get more fair outcomes) and yours (robust metrics for trust) has not been extended upon.

Part of me wishes that Malda really wanted to, but was prevented by his evil corporate overlords, so that he maybe gets an opportunity for it now, haha. But whatever he decides to do, I'll be grateful for what he's done - and for what you've done, since you were one of the few who actually took a scientific approach to such issues.

Re:Best of luck

[raph]

Yep, that's me. And thanks a bunch for the recognition. I think there's more life in those concepts, and we'll probably see them continue to evolve, but it's taking way more time than any of us imagined in those heady, fast-moving days.

Re:Best of luck

[Hemos]

Thanks man. Advogato 4 lyfe.

The never ending thread ends

[Anti Cheat]

Thank you, What else can be said. Anything I could write comes up short....sniff

From a long time reader of almost 15 yrs. and eventually I even made an account, just because I could..

That explains it!

[Anonymous Coward]

I knew there was a pro-Mac bias here, but it was unclear why. Steve/Rob, what will do in your absence? Tim never Cooks for us!!!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[MacJedi]

Indeed. (I'd post some hot grits here if only I weren't on a smartphone.)

Good work, Good luck, and hopefully not Goodbye

[coldfarnorth]

It's been great - by focusing on "news for nerds" you've built one of the most fascinating communities on the internet. I wish you the best at your future endeavors, and hope that you have many more wildly unexpected successes - and some expected ones too.

Best Regards,

-coldfarnorth

Farewell

[cuby]

As a long time reader of slashdot I must say i'll miss your posts because they were well above average.
Only the best for you and I hope slashdot will honour your legacy.

I can't believe it!

[JoeWalsh]

After all these years, it will be bizarre to think of Slashdot and not think of CmdrTaco.

Thank you for creating this site and seeing it through its first 14 years. Although I don't post much any more, I do appreciate all you did and I still read the new stories posted to the site several times a day.

May your future be filled with all the happiness and fulfillment you've earned.

Thanks

[mkkohls]

Thanks and good luck. It was time well wasted. Pants or no.

Thank you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you and best wishes. My you find your path and follow your dream.

Best of luck

[Kinthelt]

I've been mostly a lurker as of late. But I come out of the shadows every now and then.

Best of luck, CmdrTaco! You truly built something special here.

bye rob

[circletimessquare]

i've been coming here daily, weekly, since 1999. we've even exchanged a few emails in that time. you've always been a gentleman, and while i've groused about dupes now and then, the overall impression of slashdot, for me, is of course, excellent. you've done a great service with this site, you deserve much kudos and appreciation, and you have mine

cheers,
circletimessquare

Re:bye rob

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you could do a movie about Slashdot zombies. That would be great.

Re:Classy.

[Anonymous Coward]

If it's not douchey, then someone else offer a better word for doing this less than 24hrs after Steve Jobs announced his resignation for clearly health reasons?

you will be missed

[swestcott]

Just wanted to say thanks and you will be missed best of luck to what ever you decide to do thanks for creating a place that made feel part of a community even if I just mainly lurked around

Your new role

[Anonymous Coward]

I assume you offered to take a new role as chairman of the board, director and employee of Geeknet.

Thanks for all the years. Good times...

Taco, you magnificent bastard!

[Abstrackt]

I started hanging out on this site pretty much the same time I met my first girlfriend, the only female geek in school, went through a few UIDs before I learned proper password management (it's not security if you can't remember the password), and grew as a geek because of the stories, the flame wars, and interesting discussions here. You created something excellent and should forever be proud of that fact. Thank you for this site.

Re:Taco, you magnificent bastard!

[Short Circuit]

Taco, you magnificent bastard!

But he hasn't written the book yet!

More seriously, thanks, Taco. I grew up here. Through here, I was integrated into a massive circle of about 100 or so people who still call themselves the Journal Circle. And that group of people is still pretty well tied together. It wouldn't have happened without what you built.

Re:Taco, you magnificent bastard!

[Abstrackt]

Taco, you magnificent bastard!

But he hasn't written the book yet!

No, but he wrote the site. ;)

changed the Internet..

[rootrider]

it was a great ride.. thanks for creating and standing behind one of the most iconic web sites of all time. The slashdot comment system and user news submission alone helped to change how the Internet works, and that influence is still seen in most web sites today. What an amazing feat... looking back.

Government is at fault for this

[roman_mir]

Clearly CmdrTaco is moving his financial capital out of US dollar denominated assets, which is a smart move, but this shows government work in progress - the inflation and income taxation, as well as business regulations are destroying businesses and driving businessmen out of US economy.

What should be done here is all the wars, SS and other government spending programs eliminated and departments shut down, so that more money can be spent by non-government private businesses.

OK, it's a stretch :)

Taco, finally you will find out what it's like to try and get a story posted on this site in an honest way and not through magic powers of account #1.

A word of advice: beware of moderator flash mobs, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Cheers.

Re:Government is at fault for this

[roman_mir]

PS.

The lame filters, the lack of Unicode support, the whole thing with trying to limit postings by time delays and numbers of comments that can be left from a single account with a 'non-excellent karma', attempts to lock out IP blocks (worthless attempts), you must recognize all of this was just a terrible mistake. When you write your memoirs, admit it, you should have done that differently.

Goodbye and thanks

[ecesar]

I wish all the best for you.

I haven't posted for (what seems like) decades, and this is probably my last post.

But I still read almost daily, and I hope the site stays true to what it was.

Thank you.

[gnarfel]

Thank you.

thanks, since you're leaving...

[PJ6]

maybe you can tell the new guy to update the broken user interface

DUPE :Steve Jobs = Rob Malda?

[Anonymous Coward]

In that case, "Dupe!" http://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/08/24/2251249/Steve-Jobs-Resigns-As-Apple-CEO

I mean come on, it's still on the front page, only 10 stories down!

Best farewell message I could think of for Cmdr Taco. ;)

Sweet

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe Slashdot will improve now and not post stories that are 3 days old and have made their rounds on every other website.

Thank you

[Craig Maloney]

Thank you, Rob, for an awesome ride. I'm glad to have gotten the chance to meet you as a colleague, and I look forward to your next gig.

The Longest Good-bye

[alphatel]

If this thread is left open, it will not just be the longest most commented post in / history, but the longest thread in internet history.
I believe this because slashdot has always made history, and this post is in itself, an embodiment of all that is, fish or no fish.

Good luck, and thanks for things that mattered.

[kalpol]

It's a long road back to 1998 or 1999 when I first started reading Slashdot. You'll do well in whatever you put your mind to.

I wear no pants as I write this.

[Stu Charlton]

Rob, been here a long time, mostly lurking as of late.

Been here a long time... also was the lucky 10 millionth hit way back in 1998 or so. This was my first stop in the morning and at night for many years.

I fondly remember the years where the community here was a huge voice. You and this place really changed the world, and that's fantastic. You have a knack for forming or running online communities, hopefully you'll find a new outlet for that some day.

Good luck to you!

Is the end of the world near or what?

[higuita]

not seeing CmdrTaco in slashdot will be very strange!!

well, all i can say its THANK YOU for slashdot and good luck!

The part that is most important...

[inject_hotmail.com]

The part that is most important...is that you'll be spending time with your family. Spend as much time with your family as you possibly can. You can always get more money, more things, more education, more technology, more of almost anything else...once a time or event has passed, it is irreplaceable.

Farewell.

So long...

[Anonymous Coward]

...and thanks for all the fish.

Things haven't been the same for a while now. For me, the last update of slashcode made browsing /. threads much more difficult. (7 replies with a score of 5, but only 1 visible? WTF???)

I'll probably stick around for a while. If nothing else, no other site has the community of nerds as this place does, and the moderation system helps keep the comments entertaining, even if the articles are dupes. ;-)

Thanks again.

My friend babysat Rob.

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been coming to /. for what seems like forever now. A friend of mine mentioned a kid who he used to babysit had put up this site, and after checking it out I was hooked. I'm not as technological as many of the readers here, but it's always great reading the stories with mouth agape, just marveling at the things Science has accomplished.
 
Thanks for the memories, Rob! One of the few "famous" people from W.MI!

just thanks

[Anonymous Coward]

best wishes buddy. Thanks for everything. I remember in the 90's sometime commenting to a friend that slashdot.org was an awfully long domain name :) Years later and we still post each other interesting stories found here... Cameron FlamingText.com

Mandatory old slashdot joke

[phlinn]

In soviet Russia, Slashdot leaves you!

At least I didn't post a connection to goatse.xe in here...

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[cayenne8]

I don't understand...why are they removing his account/ability to post?

Is this come kind of corporate thing? If so...just not fair....they guy started the thing...he should have access and account for life...

:(

It all makes sense now

[Anonymous Coward]

Steve Jobs =:= Rob Malda

First Post...

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks. For everything.

I felt a disturbance in the Force...

[Millennium]

..as if millions of Slashdot trolls cried out at the expiration of their material, and were suddenly silenced.

Good luck to you. Bummer about Steve Jobs stealing your thunder, though.

Re:I felt a disturbance in the Force...

[GameboyRMH]

Stealing his thunder!?

How I reacted to Steve Jobs retiring: "meh. Hopefully the next guy won't be such a control freak."

How I reactived to CmdrTaco leaving: "OOOH NOOOES HOW CAN THERE BE SLASHDOT WITHOUT TACO!?!? T_T "

Thanks

[Anonymous Coward]

I wish you the best of luck. The Slashdot you created has been a wonderful addition to the Web and long-term uses like myself appreciate the work you put into it.

And yes, you can look back and think that you made a difference.

-c

The day Slashdot finally proved how amazing it was

[Anonymous Coward]

Rob, 9/11 was the day when Slashdot really showed itself to be a great site. I couldn't get anything but timeout errors from CNN, ABC, or the NYT, but Slashdot was up and responsive, and people were posting comments about what they could see from their NYC apartments or what they had seen on their morning commute past the Pentagon. It was an amazing moment and that finally demonstrated what an amazing thing you, your fellow staffers, and all the readers had created here. Thanks!

I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents ...

[eldavojohn]

As are we all.

We've had some good wedding times and some burnination times

I wasn't around for these but, as a member lost in the masses of astronomical UIDs, let me say we'll miss both of you guys as well. Slashdot gets a little less personal but I hope this site is remains permanent and always here showing the world what you created.

Re:I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents ...

[afidel]

Don't feel bad about the high UID, many of us that have been here since the beginning didn't sign up for an account right away. Heck if it hadn't been for John Katz (and more to the point the ability to block his "articles") I might still be posting as AC.

Re:I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents ...

[lysdexia]

Don't say that name!

Re:I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents ...

[Rogerborg]

Holy Carp, well reminded. It's been years since I've read any [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/29/technology/afghan-e-mail-seen-as-too-geek-to-be-true.html?src=pm]Katz vomit[/url]. I almost - almost - feel nostalgic for his deluded ramblings.

Re:I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents ...

[Hemos]

Thanks -- it was always the personal part that made me happiest.

Re:I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents ...

[afidel]

Slashdot still doesn't recognize BBCode, only a limited subset of HTML =)

Re:I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents ...

[Thomas Charron]

When the UID's started to go over 500k, I remember telling myself I could have had a 3 digit UID if I'd have just signed up and not lurked. :-D

Re:I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents ...

[laetus]

I've been a long-term reader and like everyone else, am sad to read about Rob's departure. /. was required reading early on in the .com boom days and the rise of Linux. If you weren't reading /., well, you were pretty much out of it. It's now 2011 and I'm still a loyal reader. That says alot with all the abundant distractions on the net.

Rob's biggest contribution by far is the community he and others created here. I mostly lurk given that I'm by far nowhere near the level of expert you encounter here so often, But I've learned more useful tips and been pointed in the right direction by /. commenters more times than I'd care to count.

Thanks to Rob and the entire community.

BTW, seeing your reference to John Katz made me LOL. That shared history (the good AND the bad) is an integral part of /.

Re:I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents ...

[epine]

Blocking Jon Katz accounts for more than half of all the customization I've ever done here. It might have been my finest tick-box moment ever. Thus Spake Zarathustra poured into the sound-track of my life as I executed the triumphant mouse click.

Later on, somewhere else, I stumbled over a piece by Katz on Border Collies, maybe a book excerpt, that was actually not half bad. These days, it's just too easy not to give a guy a fair chance. Can't say I miss the adolescent boarding-house memes. I was never here for the antics, and I've never seen a piece anywhere that made me rethink "hot grits".

My brother loves the investment maxim "leave a nickle for the next guy". In other words, don't try to ride it up until the apogee of detonation. That always seemed to be the editorial philosophy around here: don't make it too perfect at the outset, nobody shows up to intervene noisily over a bike shed that doesn't swoon like a leaning tower. But hey, it worked.

Re:I Was a Victim of a Series of Accidents ...

[Cheeko]

Some of us also registered 2-3 times before settling on an account. I still wonder if I could ever recover my 5 digit account. Not even sure what email I used now.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[x6060]

ok, that was pretty funny. And this post makes me wish I had my 5 digit UID still. =(

Re:-1 Sad

[thegarbz]

Oh to mod -1 Sad :'(

Don't be a stranger.

[rjh]

It's been a hell of a ride, friend. Thanks for sharing it with us.

(Loyal reader since Chips and Dips.)

Slashdot

[JanneM]

Slashdot has been a daily - no, constant - companion to me ever since I started reading it as a student. It's been my go-to timewaster all trough grade school, when writing my thesis, through postdocs and temp jobs.

Sitting here as an overage postdoc on the tail end of a temporary project I can't even begin to imagine where I would be if slashdot and CmdrTaco hadn't been there whenever I needed a distraction - tenured professor perhaps, CEO, jet-setting billionaire...

Rob, thank you for all these years.

Thanks

[b0bby]

You done good.

Thanks for slashcode

[metrix007]

No thanks for the poor editing, late stories, exaggeration and FUD, misrepresentation and bias that has come to define the site. Thank god for the users who truly make Slashdot what it is.

Re:Thanks for slashcode

[Samantha Wright]

I was going to post a silly "article is riddled with errors" comment that went on about how the original story was about Fish Jesus making peace with the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and that it was Pope Benedict XVI who was leaving Slashdot (in disgust), but that seemed maybe a bit much. Thank you for communicating the same point in a more direct manner.

Leaving your post

[scarboni888]

I hear that in the military you can be shot for less.

O Captain! My Captain!

[Zamphatta]

Thanks for /. Commander. One of the few sites I've been coming to since I was led to it in 1998. Others are either gone, or just not worth visiting anymore. We'll miss ya.

Thanks for all the /.

[Imabug]

Thanks for all the work you put into /.
it's been my main source of news and laughs for most of the 14 years it's been around.

Best of luck with whatever comes next

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[whoop]

And to think I waited a few days before registering an account here. "Damn, yet another site wants me to register a name/password?" If only I had known then how much this UID would help me get the girls...

Farewell

[Gunfighter]

OK, now I really feel old. The 90's were mostly a blur, but Slashdot will always stand out for me as a key part of the "forming" years of the dot com era.

Thank you for everything.

Thanks for the mammaries!

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been around since the early days. Thanks for making this site what it is... and was. This is the site that led me to avoid Microsoft at all costs. This is the site that led me to follow Linux religiously. This is the site that I went to for breaking tech news, clicking the links hoping to find that the site was already 'slashdotted'. This is the site that led me to endless hours/days of trying to get drivers working on Linux. Reading about great gaming industry news on Slashdot, I loaded Windows 2000... still hating the Bill Gates Borg... "only to play games" I told myself. As the years went by, I dual-booted, bought my wife a Mac because it ran on 'unix'. Then came the 21st century; running Windows 7, Linux on USB, and hating Apple for their monopolies. ./ --> thanks for the mammories and have fun, CmdrTaco!

*looks at calendar, notices it's not April 1*

[Joseph Vigneau]

Best of luck, Rob, in whatever endeavor you end up undertaking.

cmdrtaco.net is down

[pcjunky]

Looks like you slashdotted yourself!

Re:cmdrtaco.net is down

[maxwell demon]

Well, what could be a more apt way to leave?

What a day.

[toopok4k3]

First Steve Jobs and now you? I've got this gut feeling that something is wrong with the world now. However, I'm pretty sure I'll just write in the address slashdot.org to my browser tomorrow and continue reading the news for nerds like nothing has changed.

Anyway, big thanks from Finland!

It seems like we are all turning the corner

[Hangtime]

I was sophomore in college when I found Slashdot, it was 1998. I had P2-266 with 128MB of RAM and 8GB hard drive and a dorm room T-1 connection that I saturated nightly because nobody had a computer hooked up to the Internet yet. I don't even remember how I got to Slashdot, but I know that it has been with me ever since. I don't comment as frequently as I once did, but I do come to the site everyday. In essence, Slashdot and the posting I have done here over the past 12 years is a record of how I have grown and changed as person. From starting out as MIS major (don't snicker Comp Sci guy - I can still run rings around your SQL code), to my first job at Enron, to going back to grad school to get my MBA (yea, a geek in suit's clothing) and finally to my current position - Slashdot has been there. Rob, thank you for what you have done, you gave us all a voice.

HT

TU

[bwintx]

Thank you, Rob. That is all, sir.

Thank you CmdrTaco

[16384]

Hi, I've been reading /. since 1999 or so. In these 12 years I've seen the fantastic growth and transformation it went through, with user accounts, more and more customization settings, and a great community in no small part due to the moderation system.

Some mock the /. community (it has its flaws ofc), but even after all these years you can still be surprised by how informed and insightful it can be on nearly anything.

Rob, I wish you all the best in your future endeavours, and hope /. will remain a great community for years to come.

Who is up next, and whats next for slashdot?

[damn_registrars]

I didn't see any mention of an answer to either. I don't mean to repeat the oft-stated meme here but the site is decaying and haemorrhaging users. Every month or so someone sends in another story to the firehose from a news agency reporting the death of slashdot.

What is the plan to make slashdor relevant again? Does one even exist? Who would be responsible for making one?

This is it

[Ripp]

can I have your stereo?

Wait a minute . . .

[UnknowingFool]

First Steve Jobs resigns. Then Rob Malda. I find that an interesting coincidence. I also find it interesting that no one has ever seen CmdrTaco and Steve Jobs standing next to each other. Now I'm not saying that CmdrTaco and Steve Jobs are the same person, I'm just saying that no one has ever denied it earlier. I call on CmdrTaco to answer whether he raped and murder a young story in 1989!

Many Thanks

[StuartHankins]

I really appreciate all the hard work you've done here. I can't tell you how many times I've checked in during the day just to see what was being actively discussed by this community.

Best of luck in the future in whatever you decide to do : )

Thanks for all these years

[J-F Mammet]

I remember finding Fish n Dips through some Enlightenment pages, and being amazed at the idea of doing Linux centric news. Been following the site daily ever since. Thanks for all the news!

For god sakes think of the children!

[cpricejones]

Wish you the best, you insensitive clod!

See you in the comments!

[Sean0michael]

I have really enjoyed reading /. and all the realms it opened my eyes to, from Linux to patent trolls to politics to OMG Ponies!!!.

The thing I will probably .miss the most is being able to reply to Anonymous Coward who bothers to question, "Is this News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters????" Pointing out that it was your post on your site and you can post whatever you want always had some sweet justice to it. Now I'll just have to stop feeding the trolls.

The best of luck to you in whatever you do.

Commander of tacos

[Kell Bengal]

I can't really say anything else but thank you for creating something that helps keep me sane. Slashdot is my homepage.

Thanks for everything Rob

[fineous fingers]

Rob/Taco, I've been a longtime reader for about 10 years and I usually check to see whats going on once or twice a day. It really has been a "stuff that matters" web site for me. Thanks for everything. fingers...

Is this yet another joke without any options?!

[G3ckoG33k]

Is this yet another joke without any options?!

In case not, damnit! But, good luck and thanks a lots for more than a decade's worth of Slashdot!

Thanx

[Hsoi]

Thanx for /. The geek world wouldn't have been as geeky without your efforts. :-)

Good luck to you, and enjoy the time with your family.

Best to you, Taco

[abulafia]

End of an era.

I don't know why this particular change feels so big, but it does. /. has been a big constant in my life for over 10 years now, and /. has always been, to a significant degree, Taco.

I know you're not dying or anything, but golly.

Thanks for making the joint the kind of joint it has been.

Thanks, man.

[Toze]

I've been reading /. on and off for 12 years. I hadn't realized it had been so long. Thanks, Taco.

We who are about to post salute you!

[EvilNutSack]

But seriously, thank you very much for everything that you have done and the community that has grown out of it.

So long, Rob!

[DrWhizBang]

I haven't posted on Slashdot for years, but I want to take a minute to thank you for this site, which meant a lot to me for a lot of years. Good luck, Rob! Write the book - I'll probably buy it.

All things must change

[MrDoh!]

The hot grits are now cold.
Natalie Portman is now 'legal'
Goatse man is able to sit down comfortably without losing the chair.

The world has changed in this time, that's for sure.

(and this comment is NO WAY going to make the filter surely)

Re:All things must change

[MrDoh!]

Well, that's was unexpected.

Ciao!

[Some Guy]

The most important question is: What happens to the poll questions?

Thanks & good luck Rob!

No wifi

[Brannon]

Less impact than SJ's announcement. Lame.

Thanks

[IIEFreeMan]

Thanks for helping me procrastinate all those years. /. literally defines my youth as a geek.

Thanks for a big chunk of your life

[mnelson]

Rob,
Truly sad to see the end of this era. Thanks for all your hard work. You will be missed.
Best of luck on whatever adventure you go on from here.

korishev

Sigh

[Anonymous Coward]

First Jobs, now you. We're all just preparing for the end of the world in 2012, aren't we?

Re:Sigh

[jmorris42]

Yup, and if it doesn't end in 2012 it certainly will in Jan 2013 when an Aggie is sworn in as POTUS. The exploding heads of everyone on the east coast will cause the earth to go out of orbit and crash into the sun.

But I'm putting my money on everything going Foom! next year before the elections ever get a chance to happen. Too many signs and portents to ignore. Today's is just one in a string that the world is going to hell in a bucket. Buy lots of food, buy some gold and then some guns to protect the food and gold and get ready to hunker down.

O Captain! My Captain!

[Fractal Dice]

Thank you for all the hard work in hosting this little club over the years. I can't begin to tell you how much this site has meant to me through its glory years (and to the loweruid-alias-me I misplaced somewhere along the way). I've discovered more nooks and crannies of the Internet because of this site than I can count. Back in the day, it saved my job more than once with something I learned or was forewarned about here.

I wish I could dream up some proper tribute to say farewell with ... some little wave across the 'net. You were (are) one of the great pioneers of the web and the world is a better place for what you did here.

Best of Luck ..

[KevinInGeorgia]

I think this surprised me more than Steve Jobs resigning.. I remember late in 1997 was when I first started reading Slashdot.. Some guys at the college computer lab I worked at got me hooked on it..

Last one out.... turn off the lights.

[Nick Driver]

So.... with pretty much all the original "cast and crew" gone or going.... does that mean that Cowboy Neal is now literally the last one on the list?

Re:Last one out.... turn off the lights.

[Hemos]

Nope, CBN left a few years ago. Samzenpus and Timothy are still around tho'!

Re:Last one out.... turn off the lights.

[camperdave]

I guess that explains the absence of Cowboy Neal options on the polls.

Re:Last one out.... turn off the lights.

[ProfBooty]

That explains the change in tone in the sight over the past few years. I thought it was some sort of corporate direction. Its refreshing to learn its because the old timers have moved on.

Re:Last one out.... turn off the lights.

[steelfood]

So that's why Cowboy Neal hasn't been an option in the polls anymore.

The Truth(tm):

[Hartree]

Actually, Cowboy Neal staged a palace coup!

Best of luck, Taco!

I don't always post on slashdot anymore

[finkployd]

But when I do, it is to say good bye to someone who created a site that let me find a "home" and figure out that there were more people like me back in 1998. Thanks Rob, and thanks for all the memories. The great Roblimo contraversies, OOG THE CAVEMAN, hot grits, naked and petrified. We had some good times :)

Re:I don't always post on slashdot anymore

[Anonymous Coward]

I really thought for second there you were going to end your post with, "Stay thirsty my friend" Chalk another win up for the evil marketing dudes for planting another useless product slogan in my head.

Thanks, Rob

[Youssef Adnan]

Rob/Taco, Thanks for Slashdot. I've been a reader since 1998 - I was at college at the time too. I've been reading /. almost daily since then. I lost my original UID but hey, even the "new one" is not that bad :)

Dupe!

[Anonymous Coward]

Come on - not another Dupe!

Thank you!

[Anonymous Coward]

I come here every day, multiple times a day. This website is awesome. Thank you so much! Best of luck going forward.

So any one else

[Xphile101361]

Read this article before the Steve Jobs one? I think this one will actually affect me more since I'm not an apple fan-boi. Thanks Taco

Good luck

[craw]

All I can really say at this time is

MEEPT!!!

Best wishes

[space_hippy]

Thank you for starting and maintaining a great web news portal. My hopes for the best go out to you. Enjoy.

Good luck Rob!

[emeyer]

As a long time registered user and follower of SlashDot, I can say that you will be dearly missed here. Please continue to submit stories and hopefully they will get posted.

Again good luck,
Eric

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[hinchles]

Think this is my 5th account on slashdot over the years now for various reasons been reading since it started pretty much. Good luck in the future whatever you end up doing

Best of luck

[Anonymous Coward]

Been reading Slashdot every day for years, best of luck to you and your family. Job well done.

Thank you

[magoo]

Thank you so much. I'm a long time reader, since 97 or 98, and Slashdot is the only website I'm still visiting from that era. I guess you guys have done something right :)

Good luck for what's next.

Fare well and geek on!

[Xenious]

Hope you do well in wherever you head next. I remember stumbling on top of slashdot way back in the day and quickly making it my main source for news. Now days not everything shows up first here, but the discussions are always enjoyable and no one can DoS a link like the king, /.!
Cheers!

No more "taco" poll options?!

[orthancstone]

Frightening thought, and probably one of the biggest losses of all.

Good luck CmdrTaco!

Re:No more "taco" poll options?!

[penguinchris]

Maybe this means we'll actually start getting joke options in the polls again, whether they involve CmdrTaco or Cowboy Neal... or something entirely new and strange.

Car Analogy?

[E IS mC(Square)]

Taco has been driving this old Jeep Wrangler for quite a while with bunch of other drivers, having built most of the engine and shit themselves - he is kind of the chief mechanic. It's not the fastest vehicle out there, but it keeps going, be it snow, thunderstorm or sunshine, while the shiny new toy cars appear and disappear on the internet highway.

Now he is dropping out after taking the car from nowhere to somewhere and is saying "See you, bitches!!".

So long

[icebraining]

I'm a reasonably new reader, but as far as I'm concerned /. is still the best aggregator out there - the combination of science and technology makes me come back everyday.

Thanks for the hours of entertainment and learning - and to many more under a new helm!

I don't believe it.

[mwvdlee]

I'll believe it when the dupe is posted.

Re:I don't believe it.

[markana]

Look about 5 stories later....

Lets raise a toast to Rob...

[Anonymous Coward]

What a day of announcements! First Steve, now Rob!

But more importantly, thanks Rob. Spend quality time with your family, they are the most special thing, above all. I'll be raising a toast of thanks to you at our next IT meet and I'm sure others will too.

Cafeteria Crashing Thanks

[retroworks]

Can't remember how I got on /., but its been more than ten years, and for the first few years I considered myself a wannabe geek who was crashing the slashdot party. It was a party with cooler and more interesting conversation than the one I should have joined. It was like when I sat down at the science geek nerd lunch table in high school cafeteria... the conversation was irresistibly more interesting and funny than the "cool kids" table others wanted to sit at. Now it's like one of the seniors at the head of the table is finally graduating and leaving school for the real world. Are you going to eat the rest of those fries?

Thanks, Rob

[hansamurai]

Thanks for everything and good luck.

Thanks!

[Skip]

I haven't logged into /. in years but just want to say thanks for your effort.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Andy Dodd]

Get to a PC. We need our fix of hot grits and petrified Natalie Portman.

CmdrTaco - I've had this site as my browser home page since I discovered it near the beginning in 1997 when I was in high school. It will be interesting to see where things go without your guidance. Thank you very much for creating a great thing.

Thank you!

[americamatrix]

Thanks for /. and good luck !

Thanks, Rob

[aaarrrgggh]

And good luck with your next adventure. I've really enjoyed the last 14 years, and al the things I learned about here on /.

Thank you, Rob!

[hardwarejunkie9]

You've been amazing at the helm. Thank you for exposing me to so many interesting stories and opinions. I would be a good deal more foolish if it wasn't for your work. We'll miss you!

Thanks

[revnight]

Thanks for providing me with amusement, information and distraction (not necessarily in that order) for the last 12 or 13 years.

Cmdrtaco, Can I have your old screen name?

[xavieramont]

if so, send me the login info. much obliged.

Bestest Wishes

[sgt scrub]

Thank you for the best site ever!

cat supreme.overlords.list | egrep [^CmdrTaco] > chillin.villin.list

Thanks Taco!

[tommy_traceroute]

You have truly contributed an important piece of geek/nerd culture. Thanks again, and best wishes!

Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of CmdrTaco's

[LWATCDR]

It took me a while to actually decide to get a password so I was their when the ucSimm story started that meme. As of late Slashdot I have not been two happy with the stories submitted and the spin on them. Even saying that Slashdot is still the best news site with the best community I have dealt with on the internet.
We will miss you CmdrTaco and some day I really want to know why you are leaving.

Re:Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of CmdrTaco's

[Nimey]

I'd expect we'd all like to know why.

I'd suppose either he's finally had enough of us, or of his corporate overlords.

Didn't read about Jobs, did read this

[Cynic2sceptic]

When you think some things are constant, you find out that they are not.
We are going to miss you, but I really wish you all the best.
As a reader, more then a commenter. But still!

Is slashdot gonna get slashdotted now?

Another obligatory

[hellfire]

If we get Taco a Beowulf cluster, will he come back?

Cmdr Taco...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cmdr Taco just got tired of the small penis comments and finally came to terms with the truth.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[flappinbooger]

I don't understand...why are they removing his account/ability to post?

Is this come kind of corporate thing? If so...just not fair....they guy started the thing...he should have access and account for life...

:(

Well I thought the same thing but I then figured it was the ability to post stories as an editor, he should still be able to post comments....

Good luck with your future endeavors

[Snaller]

I frankly hate the new website you introduced recently, but Slashdot was always one of the good things about the web, and your efforts have been appreciated.

Jobs who? Its CmdrTaco leaving that is the story that matters today.

Re:Good luck with your future endeavors

[Seumas]

I think people are going a little overboard. Slashdot was fantastic in its prime, but Rob leaving has pretty much zero impact, as far as I'm concerned. It has been *years* since the byline mattered on submissions. It felt, to me, that Slashdot lost its personality years ago. Stories are still posted. People still comment. But the soul has been gone for ages.

Thanks For Everything

[mrpacmanjel]

Just want to say thank-you for keepin an old burnt-out programmer entertained for the past 14 years.

"All your base are belong to us!"

Where did all that time go?

[doop]

I remember having your site bookmarked when it was still called "Chips'n'Dips".

Thanks for an awful lot of enjoyably (and, in retrospect, quite productively) wasted time!

Well that's not very exciting

[l00sr]

No stock-selloff. Less important than Steve Jobs's resignation. Lame.

Re:Well that's not very exciting

[calzones]

=) no mod points, but one of the more amusing posts I've read on here in some time

Moo

[Chacham]

I stopped reading the front page a while a go as the stories were not what they used to be. (A friend told me about this story.) I even stopped JEs here in the last major UI change. It's a new generation and i am not with the new style.

Taco, thanx for the website. I kept up with news here for a few years, and learnt to write JEs here.

I remember finding the site and loving it. It was already /. but before UIDs. I spread the word to my friends, and read it every day. One morning i woke up and found UID were added, and was lucky enough to get a small UID. I still feels good to have. It's my small part in Internet history. Slashdot is that big.

Re:Moo

[Lord Kano]

I wish I had signed up when I first started reading the site. I'd be in the 4 digit UID club if I had.

LK

Re:Moo

[Chacham]

Heh. Maybe. Approximately 5 hours before i signed up, someone else got uid 17 (outside the US). So, before morning broke in the US, 2 and most 3 digit uids were taken. Those numbers went (relatively) fast. I wonder how long the four digit ones were open.

Let me add my thanks to the chorus

[sgtrock]

I first ran across Slashdot when the UIDs were in the mid 20,000s, I think, but took forever to register so I could post. I'm glad I did finally get around to it, because I have learned so much here. I hope my small voice has been a positive contribution.

This site has always had a unique voice. I have found the debates here to be some of the most informative, interesting, and insightful ones that I have read anywhere. Yes, we do have the funny threads that seem to trail on forever, along with some over- and under- rated ones. The flamebaits and trolls? Well, reading at a +5 takes care of most of that! ;-)

Thank you, Rob. Thank you, Jeff. Thanks to all the rest who have been babysitting this site for so long.

P.S. My favorite story? DEFINITELY your marriage proposal. And my favorite post? Kathleen's acceptance. It was no more than you deserve. :-)

Thanks for everything, CmdrTaco

[mj01nir]

Best of luck, Rob.

Can I Have Your Stuff?

[tgeek]

But seriously, can I have your stuff? Anyways, thanks for helping me pass the time at work, and good luck and best wishes in whichever direction the winds take you.

Thank you

[BrainBug]

I've been reading /. for so long it seems like I can't remember a time I didn't read it. I'm not sure I've ever posted a comment before, but that is me. I wanted to take time to say thank you, both your stories and the site over the years have been important and informative, funny and sad, real and at times really bad. Thank you for creating a place for nerds to just be nerds and for spreading news that ultimately only nerds would care about. Best of luck in the future, and Thank you.

From us lurkers...

[Anonymous Coward]

...thank you CmdrTaco!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Seumas]

Indeed. I occasionally lament that I waited so long before creating an account.

yet another thank you

[dgoldman]

No brilliant, witty quip, just a thank you. We are all grateful for this creation of yours.

The end of an era...

[YuppieScum]

... or is that "error"?

Whichever, thanks and good luck.

Thankyou Slashdot

[mlush]

I came to computing from a biology Degree and PhD and I have to thank Slashdot for bringing me into Geek culture, for although its full of timesinks it has made me a better jobbing bioinformation and general IT guy :-)

Best wishes for the future

[Tony]

Rob,

I'd just like to pile my thanks on top of all the others here. This site helped define the geek community just when we needed it most. Your hobby turned vocation has made the world a better place.

I wish you good fortune. May your hours be pleasant, and your years many. May Cthulhu eat you first.

A sad day, but a good legacy

[Chirs]

Like many others I've spent a lot of time on this site over the years. For all its flaws, it's still managed to keep the core that keeps me coming back.

Thanks for everything.

Thankyou

[zyzko]

Thanks for your work.

This site has really helped me being a better nerd. What you have done is really appreciated. I hope Geeknet has good replacement for you, the war doesn't need one soldier, but good Cmdr helps a lot.

Just Thanks

[matt_king]

/. is the site I've been visiting daily since I "discovered' the internet in college in 1997...I can't imagine the site without you, but I'm hoping all the best for you in your future endeavors.

I still remember (unless im cloudy) when http://slashdot.org added http://www.slashdot.org as an alternate DNS, and thinking I was cool because I still used the old address (stupid now I know, but it seemed cool to my teenage self at the time :-)

Thanks

[drsmithy]

I'll also throw a thanks out there for creating Slashdot. There have been very few sites I have visited - and participated in - more over the ~20 years I've been on the 'net.

Best of luck in your future endeavors

[hcs_$reboot]

No comment. Just a title.
Sorry not to write something deeper, but I'm too new here to imply that I may maintain any particular relationship with Slashdot..
At least, I mean it (the title).

Btw, cmdrtaco.net is slashdotted...

T-Shirts

[PineHall]

What brought me to Chips and Dips (early name of Slashdot) was the great Linux "Don't Fear the Penguins" T-Shirt that you made. I still have mine. There is now a lot of history connected with that T-Shirt. I wore it on my first date with my future wife. Thanks for making Slashdot and making it great.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[somersault]

They're not removing his ability to post, just demoting his account from an admin account. He can still submit stories and post like the rest of us.. and he's still number 1 :p

I hope you enjoy your next job as much as you've enjoyed Slashdot, Rob! :)

You made something awesome!

[Agent0013]

Good luck on your future endeavors CmdrTaco. The site you started is one of the coolest places on the net.

Thanks!

You'll be missed.

[msk]

You'll be missed. I found Slashdot in 1997, as my low UID attests.

In the name of all anonymous cowards

[Anonymous Coward]

Been reading and posting on /. since 1998, sometimes even been trolling (you know: the funny trolls, not the frustrated trolls). In name of all anonymous cowards: thanks & good luck!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Tolkien]

I lurked for more than a year or two before I finally signed up. :(

Just a big thanks

[menkhaura]

Chimed in to join the big THANK YOU chorus. Have a good life and keeping fighting the good fight.

THANK YOU!!!

[ultimatefish67]

I'm a fresh grad with a BS and over my four years, half of what I learned came from my recreational readings from Slashdot. You will be missed, and Thanks for taking the time to keep this alive!

Best wishes 2.0 (with beer)

[Zilog]

May Slashdot be with you. Tempus fugit, we will miss you more than some Arch-CEO (e.g. SJ, BG).

Good luck!

[Robert Frazier]

May you have fair winds and following seas.

Best wishes,
Bob

"Katheleen Fent Read This Story"

[scorp1us]

I still remember after all these years.

So long, and thanks for all the fish

[Lisandro]

Thank you for making the Internet a much more interesting place, Cmdr. We are all in debt here.

I wish you the very best of luck in your future endeavors.

Still my favorite site

[Peter Simpson]

Thanks, Rob, for wasting so much of my time over the years. It's not the same Slashdot I signed up for, but it's still fun enough to have on my browser bookmark bar. You done good. Be well.

Peter

So long, and thanks for all the fish

[SpinyNorman]

Hopefully the US economy will recover now that the geeks can get back to work and stop browsing /.

Sad day, passing of an era.

[Anonymous Coward]

I need me some hot grits and Natalie Portman to cheer me up.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[ch0rlt0n]

I think it's fair to say that the average uid in the comments on this post will be the lowest in the last few years... possibly the last decade.

Talking of which...

Hey Rob, if you're not using it any longer, can I have your user ID? Mine is pathetic.

Time Flies Huh?

[PotatoHead]

Rob,

Thanks. That's it really. I've read and contributed since near the beginning, and I wish you good things to come, and lots of family time. Only comes once you know.

Good luck!

[shanebush]

Good luck Taco! You'll be missed.

Thank you.

[AtariDatacenter]

Thank you for all the work you put forward in entertaining me for free.

Thanks!

[grandemtn]

I've never posted to Slashdot before, but I just wanted to say thanks! I've been reading for probably 10+ years... Slashdot has kept me in the loop for lots of technical developments in the industry that have helped me in my job, lots of great perspectives by comments about real-world events, and many stories that are just plain fun!

The biggest impact to my life though, was I found out about the Hacker's Diet because of Slashdot, and proceeded to lose 60 pounds in the last year.

I'm half the man I was because of Slashdot! (not really half, but you get the idea :) )

Thanks for all you've done Rob! And enjoy your family, your kids only grow up once, and they do it WAY too fast!

From Anonymous Coward

[Anonymous Coward]

After all the years of posting as Anonymous Coward, and never registering for the site, you've made posting anonymously something which I cherish about this site. Thank you for everything you've brought to the IT community. You will be missed.

Signed,
Anonymous Coward

Last post?!

[drachen]

Rob,
I've been reading this site nearly since the beginning (though I'm mainly the lurker type) and it has always provided me with some good reading material. I'm happy for the success you've had in this venture and in life and I'm sure that after you take a nice break that you'll find some other thing to be hugely successful in. The comments on your last post are a testament to how many people will miss you on this "little" website you've created.

Thanks and good luck!
James

coincidence?

[Aeros]

You and Steve Jobs stepping down on the same day....hmmm. OK doesn't mean a thing I guess

Thanks for the all your efforts

[Anonymous Coward]

i have been a reader of slash dot for a pretty good while. it is certainly a must read every morning as i start the day.

thanks for everything you have done for the community. good luck in your future efforts, whatever they may be!

Thanks Taco!

[PoiBoy]

I first started reading slashdot in about 1999, and I've been reading it everyday since. I don't know cmdrtaco or any of the other editors here, but after a dozen years it feels like a fraternity or family. Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Fitting Sendoff given Jobs announcement

[Grizzley9]

No future plans. Not as much flair as Steve Jobs. Lame.

Thanks!

[metalcup]

I found this site in ~2000 (about when India got TCP/IP in an affordable way) and I've been there ever since (though I only realised I could register much later).
Its been the only site that I check every day for the last 10 years. That is amazing consistency for me!

Thanks and all the best with whatever you decide to do!

Thank you...

[that IT girl]

As many have said, just.. thank you for everything over the years. I wish you nothing but happiness and success in your life, and I'm sure your family will be glad to have you around a bit more :) We'll still always be just a click away! We love you!!

Re:Thank you...

[that IT girl]

Oh, and I'll never wear pants again, in your honour!

Thank you for all the good times on Slashdot

[Peter H.S.]

It has been a great ride following Slashdot all these years. Thanks for trying to keep up the integrity of Slashdot, so it didn't become yet another soulless and bland tech site.

Cheers to you and your new future!
--
Regards

Best Wishes!

[InsertCleverUsername]

Best of luck wherever you land Supreme Commander Taco. This /. you've created is a wonderful thing. With browsing set to 4 and above, it's like reading the news with a bunch of really Interesting, Insightful, and Informative people.

Thanks Rob.

[iCEBaLM]

Thanks for creating something amazing Rob. Good luck in your future endeavors.

As a going away present I would like to award you with this limited edition, naked and petrified Natalie Portman statue that if you take it to Soviet Russia she will pour hot grits down YOU!

Logged in for the first time in ages...

[ksheka]

...just to say thanks for everything.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Jake73]

Bummer. I sort of liked not knowing your real name all these years. Hemos is dead. Long live Jeffrey Bates.

def

[Skal Tura]

definitely an end of era :(

Welcome our corporate overlords, as thou shalt squeeze the last dime out of /. on it's deathbed. We welcome thee, Slash Yahoo . org
(You know i'm just joking, right? tho i somehow kinda expect that)

Wow, thanks. You'll be missed

[loftwyr]

I've been reading this site for very long time (longer than 5 digits shows, I was slow in signing up) and it was you and Hemos and Cowboy Neil and all the rest that got me to stay thorough all the changes and editors and weird and Ponies.

Watching the bunch of you slowly move away from this has been strange, and with you gone, I'll still love what you built but can't help but feel that it's no longer the homepage it's been for the past 12 or so years.

You'll be missed and I look forward to your future as ruler of all things geek.

What a Long Strange Trip it's Been

[Pneathery]

I want to say thank you. Personally I have a very hard time communicating my thoughts through my hands, as such I have lurked /. Since 99 or so. What you have done here has changed my life. Words are more powerful then most realize, and you have brought many ideas out of the corners and into the light for the world to see, it had been a LONG time since a /. Article brought down a major site from just linking to it, but I do remember it happening quite frequently in those early days. You (or I should really say all y'all from the beginning) helped give a voice to us nerds that the world noticed. What you helped create truly did change the world. This is a place where people who normally would not mix, do mix. We are all equals here. In those early days I would return from work at one in the afternoon, and this was the frost site I would hit, to get cought up on my daily tech. I drove a trash truck. I would always wonder how many more people here were like me, or was everybody a sysmin somewhere. As I said before I don't communicate well through written words, I'm ALOT better at getting out what I truly feel/meen by speaking nmad dyslexia! But I hope I got my point across. I totally agree with your statement that we are all alike here, if you had met me then it might have felt weird in my "cube" but underneath I'm sitting there wondering where I can get away setting up that new mandrake box that I started building the night before, somewhere that the wife wont mind in our tiny little house. That was then, this is now, I am now less then a mile from the beach in SC, lots better then Atlanta, and life is good, and you will be missed, your touch on the site will be missed, but I think what I truly will miss most of all is you speaking for all of us when those overlords say that /. NEEDS to look more like CNN, or MSN, that we need to bring this site up to date! They are the fools, thank you for speaking our thoughts to those guys/gals, and giving us a little corner of the Net all our own for the last 14 years. But you deserve a rest, you deserve some peace in your life. A little advice, you are free now, take advantage of it. Live where you dream of retiring some day, you have a wonderful opportunity at this moment. Follow your heart and the most satisfactory years of your existence will lie ahead of you. Bon voyage my friend. Thx for the memories. Preston. Professional Beach Bum.

Fare thee well

[Chaos1]

Thanks for the all past years of loss in productivity and good luck.

too late

[cornface]

Slashdot could have been Digg or Reddit before either of those existed. Instead the intentional policy of marginalizing the userbase even as the editors and management stopped caring about the site led to increasingly outdated and irrelevant stories, and users who left and never came back.

The introduction of the "firehose" was just salt in the wound because the peek behind the curtain it gave just confirmed the speculation, that there _were_ actually decent posts already written and ready to go, only to be ignored by the slashdot admins in favor of slashvertisements and week old news.

I still come here, but it is for the same reason drudge is still my homepage. It is a relic of an internet that no longer exists and there is some joy in watching something die that you watched as it was birthed.

I'm imagining that right now Taco is wringing his hands because he no longer has the name recognition he once had, never bothered learning how to write content, didn't keep up with programming in any relevant way, and based on slashdot's stats, doesn't have any real skill in running a large website in the 21st century. I'm not sure what he is going to do. Maybe get an honorary position at a publisher with no real responsibility or turn into the web 1.0 version of c-list former television stars haunting conventions for increasingly pathetic fans.

Who cares.

Fairewell

[Eugene]

Thank you so much for creating the best experience on the internet... when /. effect was what everyone feared and loved...

Re:Fairewell

[aggie_knight]

Rob, I read your blog long before I ever signed up for an account (where I was promptly taught that I wasn't smart enough to post here). '97 was so long ago. Thanks for everything. I hope you find happiness in your next opportunity.

Re:Fairewell

[rward]

Nothing could compare to the /. effect - thinking of it just makes me smile. Thanks for everything and good luck.

Re:Fairewell

[Anonymous Coward]

Where do all the oldfags go though? Farcebook? This article makes me have a sad. I am happy that Jobs left actually, and apple has now come out of the closet. But this... Goddamn stinking web 2.0

Also, I wanted to second half of your posts guys. Lurked a lot longer than since I registered, and I never even sign in anyway. I just love my daily new headlines and come straight here after email checking, daily.

Thanks CmdrTaco. You crazy bastard.

P.S. I am only saying that to sound internet tough. I am seriously grateful for what you have done and pioneered, and for this community. Keep coming back guys and don't let this shit die okay? I might even have to start allowing cookies and logging in and posting more regularly. Cheers Rob, and also all /. users, ever. Big ups and love to you all. [Captcha - tribute.] :)

Re:Classy.

[JVolkman]

Coincidence?

Thank you and best wishes

[DoomedPhil]

I don't usually post much, but I wanted to add one more voice to the thanks being shared. /. has been my first landing spot on the web for what seems like always. I predate the internet and the web by a few years. I can't imagine what the web would look like without a slashdot to spread the word and provide a place for snarky comments that wouldn't have anyplace else to go.

Happy trails mate!

Thanks for the ride

[sdr]

This brings back lots of good memories (and not so good ones: Jon Katz!) I hardly ever post here and these days just look at the RSS feed unless something interesting catches my eye. For this though I had to get out of lurker mode.

Take care Rob and good luck with everything.

I bet...

[DrEasy]

...this was posted on Reddit a month ago!

Best of luck with your future career, whatever it may be.

I think I speak for a lot of long-term lurkers...

[phatlipmojo]

...when I say, "Thanks. And good luck with whatever is next."

Thank you and good luck

[anglico]

I wish you the best, for you and your family. Slashdot introduced me to Ubuntu/Linux, EFF,CDT, so many cool breakthroughs in medicine or technology all because they were posted here.

Thank you.

[sgerdt]

Thanks Rob, In my case 11+ years I've been readin /. - means you did something right most of the time I suppose. Sami

So long, Taco

[multisync]

As someone who absolutely hates change, I'm sure I'm not going to like what happens to Slashdot after you depart, but it will still be the default page on any browser I use. Thanks for staying true to your geeky roots, and for all the fish, of course.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[mister_playboy]

Couldn't be bothered to RTFA even for this story, eh? :)

He's just losing the ability to post stories as an editor, he says he'll still do some story submissions and post like a normal user.

Thanks Sir

[aarku]

Happy trails and thanks for being my first site and shockingly still one I visit regularly.

First Post!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

^_^

Thanks for the references!

[f64]

15000 stories, huh? Could you put that in LoC?

So Long and Thanks For All The Fish

[Atypical Stranger]

Reviving a long dormant account to say Thank You. Through my last years of high school and early university /. was near the centre of my Internet. I'm pretty sure it was here that I first heard of a little search engine called Google. It introduced me to Open Source, BSD, helped me understand Linux, and convinced me not to buy an iPod.

Thanks Rob.

Re:So Long and Thanks For All The Fish

[tkprit]

damn, I bought an iPod anyway (and most generations ever since) — WISH I would have listened to that piece of advice, lol.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[tepples]

To put it into perspective, I have account #1 on English Wikipedia and I've never been an admin there. Therefore, "less than" on an autoincrement field in a users table isn't a good predictor of privileges on the system.

Thank you Rob.

[Max Romantschuk]

I could go on and on, but I think the subject will suffice. :)

Cheers mate!

[drincruz]

Thanks for *every* story you posted! I seriously don't get through a day without reading /. ...okay, maybe on those rare occasions when I'm on vacation and I don't have internet access... Cheers! ~Drin

First post^H^H^H^Hbid!

[sootman]

I'll give you $20 for your UID. :-)

I'm a bit sad that my UID is as high as it is. I was reading here for a long time but never felt the need to post, so I never made an account in the early days. I only made an account after Slashdot had become quite popular--once it got to the point where a standard page had so may comments that it was taking too long to download by 33.6 modem, I made an account so I could set a default threshold for comments to make the pages shorter.

Thanks for all your work. I've spent many an enjoyable hour here, and I'm proud to say I have never once read an article.

I, for one, welcome...

[Anonymous Coward]

In Russia, Slashdot resigns from Commander...

Aw, screw it. Thanks for all your work. You are appreciated.

Thank You for Your Dedication and Service.

[AndyMcL]

CmdrTaco,

I have been reading and a part of the community since 1998 (or 99?) when I worked for the University of Georgia in computer services. The articles and comments were the best and most up to date on tech and open source information out there for years. I checked the site multiple times a day and sometimes still do. Thank you again for helping create Slashdot and democratizing information plus helping gives others a voice (that said, sometimes the high school kids were a bit much ;) ).

No matter what you can always remember fondly of the term that was spawned from the success of your creation: the dreaded Slashdotting of websites!

Thank you again and I wish you all the best in whatever you endeavor to do!

Best regards,

Andy

CmdrTaco.net

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone have a mirror of CmdrTaco.net? Looks like it's been /.'ed.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[volsung]

Hah, I thought the registration thing was silly for a while as well, though clearly a little longer than you. :)

Thanks!

[BRSQUIRRL]

Despite the (relatively) recent proliferation of tech news blogs, I've continued to read Slashdot over the years because I could be sure that what I was getting was really "stuff that matters". Thanks so much for all of your hard work in making it happen and keeping it going, Rob!

Been reading forever and sad to see you go...

[arwild01]

Speaking as someone with a pretty low ID number....

I stumbled across your home page in the summer of '97 and was looking at your rendered animations and chips 'n dips. Been following pretty much ever since. Sad to see you go, but I wish you all the luck.

I guess it's about time I circled you on Google+.

Cheers and farewell

[inca34]

I have not been here as long as some, but I did enjoy the pre-Web2.0 Web 2.0 means of becoming informed. Slashdot stayed true to their values, never removed comments (that did not bring down the server), our record of free speech, and strived to inform through the peer review of stories. As with peer-reviewed things, it we were usually a week behind but the quality of content was the balance. Thank you, Rob Malda. I hope that your next innovation will deliver us the already over-promised Web 3.0. Cheers!

Thanks!

[davechen]

Thanks for all you've done and best of luck to you!

Thanks!

[rootchick]

CmdrTaco, it's been an honor. Thanks, & best wishes!

Thanks for the good times

[thunderbee]

Even though I posted less here, I always kept an eye on /. (and had been a lurker even before I registered).

Good luck in your future endeavors, may they be just as successful!

Good bye!

[Mindjiver]

Thank you!

Good Luck!

[Kid Zero]

...has it been that long already? Wow. It won't be the same. Thinking of the places on the Net today that owe you guys at least one beer for the inspiration is amazing.

Thanks!

[Anonymous Coward]

God's speed through Texas!

Good Luck With Everything, Rob!

[jacksonyee]

I was in high school when one of our fellow lab assistants by the name of Lucas (although I cannot remember his last name to save my life at the moment) introduced me to Slashdot in 1997. It was one of the few sites that I went to everyday along with ESPN and the New York Times. I've lost my login three times since then, so I will definitely not be competing with the rest of you for lowest UID status, but I can definitely say that this is one of the sites which has really influenced me throughout the years, and has helped me view all of the marvels of life from perspectives foreign to my own. I know that we complain a lot here about broken JavaScript, CSS, and the horrors of Slashcode, but at the end, other than Arstechnica, this is the place that I come to for stories that interest me.

Thanks for all of your work here, Rob. I never knew you personally, but your contributions have shaped our generation more than you'll ever know. May God bless you in all of your future endeavors.

Linus tomorrow

[Roger W Moore]

I know what you mean - I'm half worried that I'll be reading about Linus' retirement tomorrow!

Thanks Rob - It has been a real pleasure to read your site just about every day, good luck for the future...with the number of people who know about you and Slashdot I imagine you'll definitely be able to find something fun and interesting!

What's up with the timing?

[suso]

Steve Jobs came back to Apple officially in September 1997.
Slashdot was founded in Septemer 1997.
Steve Jobs quits in August 2011.
Rob Malda quits in August 2011.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Things happen in threes, they are trying to get Steve Balmer out of Microsoft. (Couldn't resist)

Re:What's up with the timing?

[roy23]

It is spooky, and I have never seen them together in the same room!

Re:What's up with the timing?

[LordEd]

That's how restraining orders work.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously -- is this a coincidence, a joke, or planned?

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Steve Jobs is Rob Malda

Re:What's up with the timing?

[jandrese]

Have we ever seen Steve Jobs and Rob Malda together in the same room?

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

wonder if they can morph :D.

Thanks for slashdot man!

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Proof that Steve Jobs is really Rob Malda!

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Quazion]

Rob Malda is Steve Jobs, makes way more sence...

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Steve Jobs came back to Apple officially in September 1997.
Slashdot was founded in Septemer 1997.
Steve Jobs quits in August 2011.
Rob Malda quits in August 2011.

Holy crap! Steve Jobs is Rob Malda??? Or Rob Malda is Steve Jobs???

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously ... CmdrTaco, Rob Malda, and Steve Jobs are all the same person!

Re:What's up with the timing?

[zildgulf]

Maybe it is convergence. We salute you CmdrTaco!

Re:What's up with the timing?

[DrPepper]

Steve Jobs came back to Apple officially in September 1997. Slashdot was founded in Septemer 1997. Steve Jobs quits in August 2011. Rob Malda quits in August 2011.

They're the same person.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well there are two job openings that John Sculley can apply for.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[FranktehReaver]

So you are saying Rob is Steve jobs? That explains everything....

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sssh, don't destroy his secret identity.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

What will we do???????

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

I almost looked up at the sky to see if Halley's comet was passing by...then I remember I was in the basement.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Rob Malda is Tim Cook's son. He will move up in Apple. :-)

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe CmdrTaco is Jobs in disguise.

But really, thank you from us Anonymous Coward's as well, for we are many.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Steve Jobs is Rob Malda?

Re:What's up with the timing?

[recharged95]

Timing?

Let me guess Rob, you lost the bet with Steve.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[recharged95]

and thanks Rob, your creation and dedication have made ./ one of the most honest and trustworthy sources of the Internet.

One can say your creation is truly the McLaughlin Group of the tech blogosphere.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Cloud K]

o_o

Well, it explains why Slashdot has always been so Pro-Apple!

Kidding about coincidences aside, best wishes to Rob. That parting message got to me a lot more than the Steve Jobs thing (and I'm an Apple fan), particularly the thing about us all being nerds together. *salute*

1997... it seems like yesterday. I feel so old!

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Steve Jobs came back to Apple officially in September 1997.
Slashdot was founded in Septemer 1997.
Steve Jobs quits in August 2011.
Rob Malda quits in August 2011.

Doctor Malda and Mr. Jobs :)

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Araes]

Perhaps the second generation of the information age is over, or the age itself. Computers are ubiquitous, but decreasing in expansion speed, the internet is nearly universal, but slowing to incremental change, and all of the old guard are leaving their posts.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Jorl17]

Look. It goes like this.

OMG Ponies!

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well obviously Steve Jobs IS CmdrTaco.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[TheSpoom]

Nobody knows you're really Steve Jobs.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Zeroblitzt]

CmdrTaco: Secretly Steve Jobs. Thank you and all the other editors & readers that make this amazing site possible. This is going to sound harsh but hopefully you won't be missed - I feel that if the other editors aim to do their jobs at the bar you set, Slashdot will move above and even beyond what it is already. Thank you once again!

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Beeftopia]

No one's ever seen them together in the same room. Hmmm.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you ever seen Steve Jobs and Rob Malda in the same room, at the same time? I haven't...

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple == /. ?

Aside from jokes, heartfelt thanks from an AC from the beginning. With you gone, I am wondering if AC will also go away.

Re:What's up with the timing?

[bruno.fatia]

yeah you cracked it he is that guy :/

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

They are clones?

Re:What's up with the timing?

[danfe]

Nice one. Tweeted it, no space for credit left, sorry!

Re:What's up with the timing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Twins separated at birth as part of a secret government program to determine if it was nature vs nurture vs genetically-engineered superintelligence that made the difference between success and failure.

Superintelligence wins!

Re:What's up with the timing?

[dennism]

Clearly this means that Rob and Steve are the same person ;)

Thanks CmdrTaco for all the hard work!

[JohnWS(CTZ)]

It's going to be sad to see you go, I wish you good luck in all future endeavors.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[lysdexia]

Nor, unfortunately, is there an inverse relationship to slashdot number and penis size. More's the pity.

Thanks Rob/Taco

[alazor]

That's it. Just thanks.

Genuine Thanks.

[marbike]

I stumbled upon /. late in 1998 and found it immediately useful. CmdrTaco, thank you for all of the stories, the news and the humor that this site has given me over the years. I wish you good luck in the future and beg you to write a book. I'd love to read it.

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

[onosendai]

Like many, Slashdot was the first and last site I read every day for the longest time and i just wanted to add to the chorus of Thank You's for creating one of the greatest geek communities on this here internets. Thank You Sir, Thank You

CmdrTaco will always be with us!

[Requiem18th]

at the end of every poll.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[jabberw0k]

Are there Slashdot Achievements for "Creating a post with the highest/lowest average commenting UID" ...?

I searched the comments, and one word was missing:

[markhb]

"Weblog"

Remember that word? It was coined to provide a generic noun for this sort of site that appeared where people linked to, and wrote about and commented on, things they browsed on the web. One of the sites that it was used to describe, of course, was Slashdot, back in those early days of no logins and The Glorious MEEPT! and Ogg the Open-Source Caveman and TacoHell if you knew how to find it and hot grits (Natalie Portman, naked and petrified, came along slightly later). Of course, the word was quickly shortened to "blog" and now everyone knows what it is, but slashdot was here first! For better or worse, CmdrTaco, in this space and using your own widely-criticized software, you were --and will always be-- one of the inventors of the blog. As Felix Unger used to say, "Let it be on your head!"

Good luck, Rob. May you always be the person your dog believes you to be.

Thanks for nuthin'

[ricosalomar]

Seriously, this site is largely responsible for my decision to change careers 10 years ago. I will never be able to thank you enough. Godspeed.

Big thanks

[mrfett]

Pretty much what everyone else has said. I didn't find Slashdot until probably '99 or so, but since then I've turned to it for news almost daily. It has certainly helped shaped my worldview, while also helping me know I'm not the only one who thinks the way I do. The Internet HAS changed, and the reason you give for leaving makes sense, but still... definitely the end of an era. Thanks for all the insight, laughs and frustration when you haven't met my high expectations :-) Best wishes Taco.

comments comments comments

[alphadogg]

Best thing to me about CmdrTaco's Slashdot has been the site's unique ability to generate comments in quantity (and sometimes quality) unlike I've seen on any other website. Wishing Rob the best on his next venture

So long....

[Taim]

Here's hoping your next adventure lasts as long and has a positive impact on as many people.

Marriage proposal

[Anonymous Coward]

I still remember your pathetic marriage proposal using slashdot.

> http://slashdot.org/story/02/02/14/143254/Kathleen-Fent-Read-This-Story

I'm glad you're out.

Thank you and Good Luck!

[Mad Leper]

Very sorry to see you go. Way back in the hot grits days, Slashdot was literally the only forum that I'd read every day without fail and for a long time the only place I had ever deemed worthy of actually registering an account with.

I hope that you'll continue to find the time to read Slashdot, I'd feel better knowing that CmdrTaco is at least keeping a watchful eye on the old place

Thank you and best of luck for the future.

Thanks

[tuck3r]

I have not posted a whole lot over the years. But I am on the site almost everyday.. Thanks for all the stories and hard work! You will be missed on /.

Good Luck, Rob!

[CaptTofu]

Hey there, it was great working with you. We haven't spoke much in the last 10 years because life has become busy, but it was great to have worked with you in the early days, getting Slashcode 1.0 and then 2.0 released, trying to find ways to cache before memcached, removing the variable "$shit" from the code-- those were the days. I know it must be incredibly hard to come to a close for something you created. Good luck with whatever you do!

Memories

[jisom]

Thanks for all the memories and enjoyment of wasted time.

Thank You Rob

[kortex]

Dont know ya, never met ya, but Slashdot helped to shape the career and geek that I am today. I am forever indebted and grateful for what you did man. GodSpeed.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[philj]

Heh, I fondly remember the Natalie Portman/Hot Grits spam. Often made for an interesting read. Whatever Happened to Oog The Caveman? (Or did I just make that up?)

Adios, mi amigo! And thank-you.

[haaz]

Hey Rob, I think it's been over a decade since we've seen each other, probably at the Atlanta Linux Showcase. (Don't Fear the Penguins!) But I just wanted to say thanks. For /. actually helped make my recovery from that horrible car crash that I was in a lot easier. I still have the cards that people sent—the huge folder full of cards from around the world. Thanks to everyone who wrote in because of that. Whether you sent a card or just posted on here, you all helped. I remember coming home from the hospital, and after a few weeks, I fired up the computer. Slashdot was one of the first few sites I looked at... and that in turn gave me the confidence to try using vi again. And by golly, it worked—even after your brain gets used as a ping pong ball by a drunk driver. That's cool. But anyway, yes, thank you! Have a great life. I'll see you down the road a piece!

Imagining cmdrTaco and Steve together on the bench

[smooc]

Well it's a bit sad to see all the oldtimers go (sorry 'taco :) ). With you guys there is only a bit of nostalgia left. Not many remember the days of using lynx to access /. due to having IRQ issues with mouse and modem: it was damn unreadable, so not much has changed in that regard :-).

I just try to picture you together with Steve on a bench together with Achmed the Dead Terrorist screaming 'I kill you'

Thank you for the great job you've done with /.

[CptJeanLuc]

Have been browsing slashdot more or less daily since around 97/98, ever since I heard about it the first time. The day wouldn't be quite the same without it. Thank you for everything you've done with slashdot, it is greatly appreciated!

Fare thee well, Sir.

[SgtPepper]

Slashdot came around just as I was starting college... perfect timing and really influenced me at the time. My interest has waxed and waned, mostly waned in the last five years or so, but the influence Slashdot had on the burgeoning web can not be denied. Godspeed CmdrTaco. Godspeed.

Never posted before

[Anonymous Coward]

but always loved reading. I hope you have as much fun in your future as you've given me over the many years I've been coming here and hanging around!

I hope you have as much success with your next project, be it big or small!

You people forget #1 rule of i.t. :

[unity100]

If it aint broke, dont fix it.

slashdot has become like this, slashdot has become like that, blah blah blah, and yet, you are still here every day to blabber about it ?

it means, it apparently worked, and there was no need to fix it.

and i am at a failure to understand malda's resign too. see, i commend japanese in their understanding of life/work. if they are doing something they like, they do it until they die. not even 76 or 86 years of age stops them. i had had seen an engineer who was in turkey to undertake some engineering for a national turkish textile manufacturing plant. he was STILL working at the age of 75, and he was so lively, energetic, looking young (you couldnt say he was over 45 at best by looking at him), slender and tall that, you could easily mistake him for someone who is just into senior engineering years. yet he was there, getting up earlier than everyone else, working more than everyone else, and going younger everyday for it.

so, i say it is rather stupid for the parent company of slashdot 'fixing' something that already worked. and it is stupid for malda to quit something he likes doing.

on a sidenote, the moment i glimpse that profits and shareholders has become more important than the principle this place was running on, i will quit this place. i dont need a 'better' slashdot, or anything else. if something works, let it work. its that simple.

Thanks

[Edd]

Just adding my voice to the masses to say thanks.

Thank You

[hyades1]

Guess I won't be able to use all these Moderator Points here, 'cause I have to say thanks. There was something I liked about Slashdot from the first minute I stumbled across it. I hope the sense of irreverence and fun survive your departure.

Thanks for helping to create Slashdot and thanks for the incredible amount of work you've put into it. Inadequate, I know, but I ain't no frickin' Shakespeare.

Via con huevos.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Rudy Rodarte]

I waited far too long to create an account, too. :(

Thank you sir.

[JustAnotherIdiot]

I only started posting recently, but I've been reading slashdot since my friend showed it to me roughly 5 years ago.
Best of luck in the future to you sir.

Thanks Rob

[Obvius]

For creating something wonderful and giving it to the world for free

Re:Thanks Rob

[wideBlueSkies]

But before you go, can you please fix this UI bug?

>> 513 of 512 comments loaded .

Thanks. :P

Thanks for selling out!

[Kurt Gray]

As employee #3 of Andover.Net I want to personally thank you Rob (and Jeff) for selling out and thus giving me a role in keeping my favorite web site running, except for the time the router went nuts, that sucked. ... and the first set of load balancers we attempted ... in fact let's not remember the downtime, instead let's remember ripping it up in NYC and Vegas. Good luck in your future ventures! I'm sure that whatever you choose to work next will be just as successful.

Re:Thanks for selling out!

[Hemos]

Hahaha. I had forgotten about the LBs. Hope you are doing well soon.

Thankyou

[IamTheRealMike]

Don't have much to add really. Slashdot is one of the best and most interesting reads on the net, and has been consistently so for many years. I've been a loyal reader for a decade now and hope to have another decade behind me soon. Good luck!

Significant contribution to Internet culture

[FridayBob]

Thanks, Rob, for what I think can be described as a significant contribution to Internet culture. You may have created /. simply as a way to share stories with your friends, but because those stories were a reflection of the type of person you are, and because your site allowed all of its visitors to interact, you unwittingly ended up creating a place that attracted a whole lot of people who were much like you. Like me. And all the rest of the folks who hang out here. And we all found out that there's way more people like us out there than we used to think! So, although its sad to hear of your departure, I will probably always be able to identify more with this site and its visitors than any other, simply because it will continue to attract the attentions of people like you, hopefully for a long time to come.

Thanks again and all the best,

Jaap Winius

PS -- Sentimental drivel? You bet!

Yup, fun days indeed

[coder111]

I went through the same things. Add debian to the list as well :)

And best of luck, Rob!

bye CmdrTaco

[Anonymous Coward]

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

thanks

[Jeek Elemental]

Thanks for all the work, slashdot has always been a unique spot on the interwebs.
Steve Jobs gonna be pissed at you, taking the spotlight like that.

Something to be proud of

[BitZtream]

As you resign, it may suck to give up your admin rights, but at least you can look back at it with pride knowing that the reason your sad about giving them up is that you are giving away a piece of you that you are proud of.

Slashdot is a name that will be spoken among geeks for years to come. It saw MySpace come and go, will probably watch Facebook and Twitter do the same. And through it all, it just kept doing what it does rather than just following the fad.

Be proud of what you've left behind, I would be if I were you.

So ... you were replaced by a script?

[rastos1]

Seriously: thanks for creating this site. It taught me not only about technology but also formed my political and ideological opinions more than anything else.

Thank you

[Thorfinn.au]

I somehow found /. well before the first sale and found it always useful. CmdrTaco, thank you for all of the stories and for posting sme of my story submisions.
Now following you on G+
(for awhile and until they catch up with me with their name policy)

Thanks, Rob. You helped my nerd-dom.

[eepok]

It's true. I grew up ghetto poor and got my first modern computer in 2000 by means of an advance on a scholarship the summer before I went off to college. A kind neighbor ran some ethernet cable from his router next door to my window and told me "Read Slashdot. I'm pretty sure you'll like it" and that was it-- I found my community of, not-always-similarly-opined dedicated thinkers. People who just want to know and let others know.

I lost my 2000 UID when I stopped reading during my first year in college (you know how distracting it can be), but when I eventually recreated the account for the sake of posting I re-realized why Slashdot is great. I love posting my ideas and opinions here. I love sharing what I know. I love it when people feel confident enough to disagree tactfully and even more when people offer advice or help.

And it's all possible because you took a time to create a system where good conversation can be protected and advanced while bad conversation can be ignored.

It's a masterpiece of forum theory and I always refer to it at work, in casual conversation, and when asked about my experience with online communities.

Thank you.

Honored to have been edited by CmdrTaco

[AngryNick]

Only two of my story submissions have been accepted and both were blessed by CmdrTaco. Thank you. My .222 batting average will only go down from here.

Thanks for giving us nerds an outlet for relevant news, creative expression, venting, and obligatory quotes. My obligatory quote.

Good. Now I can retry my suggestion.

[advid.net]

Now that you are gone, I can try again my suggestion with the new /. staff : rise the friends/foes limit

We once have discussed this question by email and you didn't want to do anything about it...
I've reached the maximum friends one can define... and I've queued many /. users as potential friends in a journal entry, waiting for such a limit raise.

Actually I'm not happy with you leaving /. , especially if you say you have no plan. I hope we'll have some news here about your next job or hobby. You will be back as a submitter, right?

I feel this is quite a special moment for the /. community.

I wish you a new brilliant idea to start over a new adventure like this. Or if you don't feel like starting such adventure, just email me the idea :P

Wow...

[outlaw69]

Never met you..but feel as I am losing a friend. My UID may not be low...but I have read daily for over 10 years now....Best of luck!

Rob, man... thanks for everything you have done.

[motherjoe]

Rob, man... thanks for everything you have done for geeks everywhere.

  I think I actually fell out of my chair when I saw your farewell and am still in a bit of shock now that it is really starting to sink in. :(

I don't know when I actually found Slashdot, but quickly came to associate it as one of the major arteries of the heart beat of the internet as at least I know it and now I feel like some geek amputee who thinks his right hand is still there, when it ain't, typing away.

F#cking A this sucks....

WILDCAT IS ON TEH SPOKE

[Anonymous Coward]

 

It's Been How Long?

[ti1ion]

Oh man. A different time and a different place from that in which I discovered Slashdot.

I was actually taking an MCSE course, in 1999, with some modifications to it to expose the students to Novell Netware 4, Lotus Notes 4, and Unix (FreeBSD is what we used). In the end, though, it was about getting the MCSE. Our instructor for the Unix portion mentioned this website one day and I immediately checked it out. And I've been reading it daily since. And my browsers have been set to point to Slashdot as their home page since that time, as well. Although I had already heard of Linux by then and even looked into installing Debian on an old Mac I bought for $10, it was after I began reading Slashdot that I became really interested in the OS.

So many stories, so many events and interesting diversions... And so many more to come!

Thank you for creating the site and guiding it along all these years. It will be strange not to see your name attached to the posts.

Good luck to you in all your future adventures.

PS: I should have created an account right then, dammit!

Dear Sir:

[geekoid]

Please consider creating a new nerd sight, and only allow people from /. with a karma of 50 to join.
And no AC posting.

Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

Sincerely:
Devoted reader since '98.

PS: Clearly this is proof that you are secretly Steve Jobs~

Hey CmdrTaco

[slapout]

Thanks for Slashdot. I may not have always agreed with you, but I've enjoyed the journey.

Thank you, Cmdr

[confusednoise]

Thanks for all you've done -- I've visited this site regularly for almost 12 years, waaaaaaay longer than any other spot on the internets. Learned more here than anywhere else too. Fair winds, Rob

End of an era.

[wildstoo]

Slashdot has had its ups and downs, but it remains one of the most informative and entertaining sites on the Internet, and the only site I read every (working) day.

Thanks for everything, Rob!

Best of luck for the future.

MyCleanUnderwear.com

[Heed00]

Bah, it's MyCleanUnderwear.com -- at least get it right.

thank you

[arnodf]

I've been reading Slashdot for a long time until I finally created an account. I love the website for the sarcasm and the great mix of news, whether that's science, IT, SF or even politics. Therefore I say thank you and let's hope many will follow you and the other mods to keep maintaining this website in the future.
Thank you and goodbye!

Rob and Steve

[slapout]

Rob and Steve Jobs both leaving their jobs at the same time!? They must be forming a startup together!

Thanks...

[HotTuna]

Via con Dios Taco...

Thanks Rob!

[kimvette]

Thanks for sticking with the project so long and making /. into what it is today.

Thanks for creating something great!

[Tepar]

Hey Rob,

I don't know you and never met you, but I've been reading Slashdot for over a decade (as my user # will tell you). It's been my home page for forever. I just wanted to let you know how much I have appreciated what you created, and how useful it is. Though I don't always agree with the majority opinion here, I can't tell you how many times Slashdot has been the source of one interesting story after another. I've found it so helpful that I've actually featured it in my book, which should be out in a month (Liferay in Action), as one of the first, if not the first, community blog on the Internet.

So thank you. Thank you for starting Slashdot, for building it into something that could be sustained, and for keeping it going all these years. I wish you much success in the future, both personally and professionally, and am hoping that you find whatever it is that will enable to continue fulfilling your dreams.

--
Rich Sezov

You will be missed!

[trum4n]

I guess the tech world just isn't as fun with out Gates and Jobs to bash. Live long and prosper, my friend.

Sorry to see you go, but I wish you well.

[nobodyman]

I know it probably doesn't mean much from some random guy on the internet, but I've derived a tremendous amount of joy from this site. Thanks so much for your efforts here. I do hope that you update cmdrtaco.net w/ you find out what your next endeavor is!

It's going to be kind of weird....

[poofmeisterp]

I'm so used to seeing "CmdrTaco" on so many posts and in the FAQs that not seeing it is sort of (in a way, kind of... a bit) like withdrawal :)

If you (or anyone else who knows) reads this, who's going to be managing the site / picking posts / picking posters / etc from this point forward?

This is so weird.. lol.. I'll get over it soon. But dude....?.... Dude.

Farewell Rob :)

[ELCouz]

I wish you good luck in your next project ;)

So long...

[ianalis]

...and thanks for the fish! (There must be an H2G2 comment here somewhere...) :)

Every day

[Gilmoure]

Still reading it every day. Can't say that for any other news/info/blog site. Way to go and good luck on the future!

THANKS!

Herding Cats

[Odinson]

I've been a LUG president for almost the same time frame and I agree. We've won, and yet, there are new rules and new fights.

Your ability to make technology reflect the needs of people is your best gift. You are a cat herding Jedi master.

Don't worry, sooner or later you'll get an itch and doubtlessly end up scratching it for all of us. :) So thanks and TIA!

Thank you

[MrSeb]

So long, chief :)

-S

Ultimate UID

[operagost]

So, Rob, any chance you're going to auction off your "1" UID on ebay? Should make for a nice retirement nest egg.

Times they are a changin

[sup4hleet]

In 1998 I started as a receptionist at a local mom-n-pop dialup ISP. Having been a computer geek pretty much all my life I moved into tech support pretty quickly. All of us read /. all the time. Some days you guys just coulnt post fast enough. We were hungry for our geek news. My IT career spanned more than half a decade and reading /. was an enjoyable daily requirement. A degree of burn out and a growing family prompted me to take a new position as a stay at home dad. I still read /. occasionally but I noticed an uptick lately. I just can't not be a geek. Anyways /. and CmdrTaco have been integral parts of my geek experience, one of the more enjoyable parts of that experience honestly. So a very heart felt Thank You, and best of luck in the next chapter of you life.

Thanks for Everything!

[Visigothe]

I've been reading Slashdot prettymuch since day 1. I was one of the resistors of the (then new) login system, and when I finally capitulated, several thousand people were onboard. That's when I really understood how many (and diverse) people viewed this site daily. Recently, I've not been around as much. Mostly reading, almost no commenting, but /. has always had a place in my heart.

I remember going to one of the first Linuxconfs in NYC, where /. had their hangout area. Hemos had logged into the /. back-end on one of the floating laptops, then left the area. I happened to pick up the laptop, and saw /. from "the other side". It was like seeing the code stream in The Matrix (although many years prior to the film). (I logged him out immediately). When he eventually came back, I informed him what had happened, and we chatted for a brief time. Rob and Jeff fostered a community, and while the community has changed, it's still strong.

Rob, /. will miss you, but it'll keep going strong, thanks to your help. May your Karma always be Excellent!

Re:Thanks for everything!

[denobug]

Amen to that!

Thanks Rob

[wideBlueSkies]

Hey - Just wanted to thank you for the site and all the work you put into /. .

I'm just some guy with a high UID, but for the last 12 years this has been my favorite site. Period.

Good luck to you in whatever you do. All the best man.

WBS.

Thanks and good luck!

[kubla2000]

Thanks for everything Cmdr!

Good luck with everything you do in the future... and especially with being a Dad ... probably the most closed-source project you'll ever be involved in. ;)

Good luck and thanks for all the news

[tamyrlin]

Just wanted to thank you for creating Slashdot in the first place. It quickly became the first website I visited every morning and still remains so after many years. While I'm sure that it will remain an interesting place for years to come I can't help but feel a bit sad about the fact that the founder has handed over the keys so to say.

On the other hand, I look forward to seeing your next small personal project which just happens to turn out more successful than anyone would imagine in the beginning :)

A hard act to follow

[chasman]

Rob:

Thanks for the information, discussion, insight & memories. It's been a great ride.

Chas Hoard

Thanks for many great years of /.

[CaptainBJones]

Thanks Rob for many great years of /. !!! Good luck in your future endeavors.

Much like Apple, I guess I will sit back and see where it goes from here.

Thanks

[Kip]

Long time user (Yes I'm aware there are at least 600 people with accounts older than mine), rarely post, but wanted to just say thanks for the site over the years.

Be well and if you're ever in downtown Ann Arbor, swing by the library and say hi.

thank you..for almost 14 years...! can't believe i

[kirthn]

you have been part of my life as well :p...almost since the beginning!...and now that you mentioned it...14 years already!!...and have witnessed your proposal of marriage to Kathleen!...since the beginning checking every day, enjoying the subtitles, and everything you have done for Slashdot!

and as Steve Jobs said...the day has come :)

take care buddy!!

Retiring to roll around your money pile?

[squidflakes]

I first discovered /. and a little comic called "Geek Culture" right around the same time. I was right in the middle of the bubble, learning to master packets and believing that a lunch of Jolt and chocolate covered coffee beans was both right and sane.

Geek Culture is now Joy of Tech and Nitrozac is cartooning about all things Mac, but originally it was about life after the great year 2000 apocalypse. The comic that always sticks with me is the one with CmdrTaco and Hemos waist deep in a swimming pool filled with cash. In the background are four scantily clad women and the smallest part of some enormous mansion.

This is still how I see Jeff today, and hope that this retirement will, at some point, contain a roll in a huge pile of money.

Good luck with whatever it is you decide to do, and I will be watching this little hamster ball related animation clip that's still skunking around on my machine in your honor.

Re:Retiring to roll around your money pile?

[squidflakes]

Wait! No! It was Cowboy Neal, not Hemos. My bad.

So long, and thanks

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks, Taco.

Since you won't need it anymore: I can haz ur login?

(And you forgot hot grits.)

Aloha 'Oe

[Nohea]

As a longtime reader and former creator of a hacked-up Perl-based CMS, i always respected what you built here.

Keep pursuing "the way"

Best wishes...

Thanks Rob

[Rotting]

Best of luck and thanks for all the wasted time!

BTW, are those real transparent rxvts on your afterstep page? How?!? (sorry, had to be asked... again ;) )

I'll miss CmdrTaco more than Jobs

[crosseyedatnite]

Thanks for staring it all, Rob! I hope your next venture is as cool and successful as /.

FUCK YEAH

[Anonymous Coward]

Good riddance to you motherfucker. And your ugly bitch.

Thanks CmdrTaco

[mister_playboy]

My college roommate during the 2002-2003 school year was a Linux nerd. I remember how he would sit in front of his computer and laugh. When I asked him what he was going on about, he told me it was this site called Slashdot. :)

I wasn't a computer guy at that time (didn't even own a PC), but that name stuck in the back of my mind.

By February 2009 I had started to get tired of my Vista computer running like crap and I was ready to change things. I was reading about Linux and decided I need to start running it if I was wanted to become a true geek. My plan had three steps:

1. Install Ubuntu 8.10
2. Convert to the Dvorak keyboard layout
3. Find out just what Slashdot was

I joined then and while I don't post too often, I've visited practically every day for two and a half years.

Thanks for everything, Rob and best of luck to you in whatever you do next! :D

Slashdot won't be the same without you

[VZ]

Thanks for everything!

Fairwell Taco

[MrVictor]

Thanks for 14 years of dupes.

Best of luck...

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember when I first started reading Slashdot in High School, around '98 or so. A friend of mine had talked his dad into buying a cable connection and he quickly setup a Linux box on it. We would shell out to his server from school and use it to bypass the web filters. It was incredibly cool to find a place that was full of stories that were interesting to us, and it especially reinforced my interest in Linux. Thanks for everything you've given to the community over the years.

Xaipe

[Kaeso]

Thanks for making the internet a better place!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[operagost]

Or at least a nice windfall on eBay.

Wow 14 years.

[seann]

Thanks for everything.

Thank you

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you for a job well done!

Thanks and I can't wait for the book!

[modi123]

It's been a good run man, and I am glad you have weathered the years in style. I can't wait for my coffee table "tell all" book to come out... complete with glossy photos of slashdot over the years.

The best of luck and keep the world up to date with your existence!

Slashdot sucks and pretty much always has

[Anonymous Coward]

As a sincere counterpoint to all the wellwishers: I think this site sucks horribly, and although it has been getting steadily worse and worse to become the suckfest that it is, it really wasn't a long trip.

Go fuck yourself, twat.

Can't say anything that hasn't already been said

[tweek]

Rob,

Thanks for Slashdot and the impact it made in my career early on.

Never thought I'd see the day

[twdorris]

Wow. I honestly never thought I'd see the day. I've been reading since forever as well and CmdTaco has ALWAYS been there. It's going to be different, no doubt about it. But it's always going to be "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters".

(Or as my wife jokes, "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters to People that don't")

Thomas Dorris

Many thanks and good luck !

[Anonymous Coward]

Title says it all...

Thanks Taco

[Mr_Perl]

Not much more to be said that hasn't already been said, so thanks, and hope you find a new and satisfying path.

Now where will I send all the ignored bug reports?

[Theovon]

The only Slashdot admin whose email address I have is Malda's, so I would send him occasional bug reports. Now all my ignored bug reports will be even MORE ignored!!! ARGH!!!

The end of an era

[RevRa]

Good luck Rob. Don't be a stranger. :)

I have been reading Slashdot my entire adult life

[garcia]

1997 or so till today. I'm just glad he didn't do this on April 1st or I would have been a day behind.

Thanks for everything guys, it's been one helluva ride.

as everyone else says...

[Garin]

Thanks!

It's sort of amazing that this site has consistently been my browser home page for sooooo many years.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Wyatt Earp]

That was my opinion too. "Why should I register? Aw, I don't need to do that."

A large part of my becomgin a proper nerd

[slimjim8094]

My UID says I've been here for at least a few years. Actually, I joined in 2005... I was 14 at the time. Now, I'm a third-year computer science major at a respected university, and I still read Slashdot every day. Without meaning to sound sappy, I'm not sure I would be the person I am today without /. . In my small high school, it's how I knew that there were a lot of people who had the same interests as I did, and that it didn't matter that I didn't fit in.

So thanks Taco, for making Slashdot. I've stuck with it all these years (I even liked D2!) and I hope your departure doesn't imply change. But I've always felt like you had a powerful presence that kept out a lot of nonsense, even when you weren't posting as much.

Good luck in all your future endeavors, seriously.

Thanks for everything!

[Anonymous Coward]

A lot of pioneers are retiring this week. As one who's been on the intertubes since the late 80s, I thank you for all the information and wasted productivity you've provided me over the years. Bon voyage, Commander!

Bye Taco

[Filgy]

As one of the first 3000 registered users of the site (first pointed to your site by you or Hemos iirc in the Enlightenment WM IRC channel).. I must say wthe obligatory so long and thanks for all the fish. Go on to do better things. Slashdot will continue on but never will be the same without you (as well as Hemos)! Who would have thought a little site to share stories with your friends would have exploded so rapidly.

Goodbyte, Taco...

[Dysan2k]

Thanks for the memories, Taco... I've loved /. for a long, long time.. (Though I wish I could have gotten my original user back after losing the password and changing jobs...) We'll miss ya, man. Good luck on the future and enjoy some family time!

Godspeed, sir

[Scareduck]

I don't post nearly as often as I used to; as Slashdot has grown, it has become more orthodox in its political positions, and hence more likely to crush minority voices (<libertarian>) with the moderation system. But that doesn't mean I don't continue to use Slashdot as a valuable resource for pointing out stories of interest in tech and the sciences -- and sometimes, of momentous news of our time. It was Slashdot, not cnn.com or any of the other news sites, where I first learned of the 9/11 attacks (no one else was up to the tremendous load). You have done well. Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Still needs a "Subject:" just for basic trolling

[Legion303]

Will the new Editor-In-Chief actually proofread submissions and weed out dupes?

Thank you for Creating Slashdot

[Hugh Pickens writes]

Thank you for creating Slashdot - the world's premier web site for discussion of technical issues.

Vernor Vinge dedicates "Rainbow's End" to "To the Internet-based cognitive tools that are changing our lives - Wikipedia, Google, eBay, and the others of their kind, now and in the future." I believe Slashdot should be added to that list as the most important divergent collaborative tool available on the internet.

Slashdot is a brainstorming tool that generates lots of new ideas, then evaluates them, and presents the results to the reader in a number of formats. Slashdot's implicit view of truth corresponds to the scientific method. In its purest form every comment to a story on Slashdot can be thought as either 1) a hypothesis with supporting data or 2) a counterexample which attempts to nullify a hypothesis. One way to look at Slashdot is as an internet implementation of the scientific method in action.

One of the unique aspects of Slashdot that make it the premier news forum for discussing technical issues on the internet and differentiates Slashdot from similar forums like Digg and Reddit is that stories that appear on the front page of Slashdot are editor-selected while the stories that appear on their front pages of other popular tech discussion web sites are user selected which tends to drive the discussion to a lowest common denominator.

Editor selection of stories tends to maintain a good level of quality of the stories that make it to the front page and gives Slashdot a unique editorial voice. There are some types of stories that routinely show up on other tech discussion sites, that slashdot editors simply will not accept. Slashdot's editors stay away from juvenile material and WTF stories and present an editorial voice of serious consideration of the issues raised.

Thanks again for your defining role in creating the best web site in the world for the serious discussion of technical issues. Your role has been crucial and you will always be remembered.

Why I enjoy writing for Slashdot.

Best wishes

[NetMassimo]

Thank you for everything and best of luck for your future!

Good luck

[tsalaroth]

Good luck, Rob. I've not ever really addressed you directly, but watched from afar. You made something big, and that's all that matters, right?

I'll try to remember to add you on LinkedIn tonight. I'm pretty sure we'll be hiring all kind of positions in 3 months, and I'm pretty sure your resume would probably knock HR's socks off, here.

--
Michael

Good luck Rob

[Smallpond]

Now you'll finally have time to take that beginner's Javascript class.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Hemos]

The worst part is that I did miss first post. But it was chrisd who beat me so that makes it slightly more bearable.

Thank God!

[Anonymous Coward]

No more comic book movie reviews! Maybe there's hope for Slashdot yet.

What?

[havoc-]

You mean I actually have to log in and leave a message now?

*sigh*

Very well then.

Thanks, Taco, from the bottom of my heart. You certainly defined my internet experience for the last 14 or so years.

  - Theo

Why did you resign? We Want Information

[rossdee]

The next time CdrTaco wakes up, he finds himself "in The Village"

Of course if the rumors are true, and he is really Steve Jobs, then he won't be waking up for a long long time. (Jobs is going into the (cryogenic) freezer with Walt.and they will wake him up when they can cure the cancer.)

Thanks

[Poppa_Chubby]

I had to wrack my brain for my password since I haven't logged in in some time (since I never posted that much anyhow), but /.'s been one of my favorite sites since before you started offering accounts on it. Thanks for all the great times.

good luck!

[smash]

in any future endeavours, and cheers for providing an interesting diversion during the quiet times at work all these years. Its been fun.

Thank You

[Anonymous Coward]

CmdrTaco (Hemos as well) for Slashdot

-Posting wirelessly , HDD bigger than a Nomad, Definitively not lame.

All those memories ...

[rama]

I remember in 97, when the site was called fish and chips, when I signed up to become a member. Over the years, this site has taken several turns. In 1997, it was one of the few sites that posted Linux news. So, all us linux heads used to gather here. Next up, internet culture itself, which /. pioneered -- not only as a reporter, but also as a participant.

Around 2005 or so, I lost interest. The site is no longer unique; most of the news it reported are already covered well in the main stream. It did not have the same kind of reader participation in the early days. Simply put, the site succeeded and most of the people have grown up and move on.

Just another to the pile

[MonsterTrimble]

I started reading Slashdot back in 2003(ish) and it has helped me jump to Linux and be much more aware of the world around me. It's probably the site I have visited the longest and quite possibly the most.

I just want to say thank you. We meet, I'm buying you a beer.

In the words of one of my inspirations...

[FunWithKnives]

"Good night, and good luck..."

Don't like the new layout, the editors screw up far too often, the polls have become eerily akin to the marketing polls that pop up from time to time in the right column on Facebook, and my list of complaints goes on - but for all of that, I stick around because at its heart Slashdot has been one tech geek's blog about stuff he finds interesting. With Rob gone though, I honestly don't know how much longer I'll be reading. Emo as it sounds, CmdrTaco is the heart of this place, and without him there is the very real possibility that it will become (even more of) a shell of what it once was. For now I'm gonna dutifully keep my homepage set to "http://slashdot.org" in Opera and Firefox, and hope it stays that way. We'll see.

Rob, thanks for all those years of doling out news for us nerds; as much as we all whine and bitch, I think I can safely speak for the majority when I say that in the end we still appreciate it. To conclude, only two words exist that adequately express the solemnity and gravity of this event:

OMG!!! PONIES!!11

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[squidflakes]

Ogg was great, but couldn't post after the all caps filter went in.

Best of luck with everything!

[orallo]

Dear CmdrTaco,

I've been reading /. (not soo much posting or otherwise) since the early days.

I just want to tell you how much I've learned, how much time I have wasted and of course how many laughs I've had.

Thanks for all that and I wish you continued success with whatever endevours you decide to embark on.

Sincerly,
-Orallo.

Thanks man

[whois]

I don't have anything new to contribute, but I've visited this site for over a decade. People have sometimes complained of issues, or new features they didn't like, I know I personally have found other "daily sites" to visit as well, but that never stopped my love of the site you built.

I know this was the first place I've turned to for world-changing news. Not the only news site, but the first news site because this was the first place people really used for meta-discussion, back before CNN/Fox/BBC/everyone had a comment list, or read twitter on air.

This was one of the first "hugely popular" sites to opensource their code. Something that never had to be done, but was great for the community.

My point is that this site has been innovative and inspiring to many people and to many other sites. I hope that you find success with your next venture as well, and I appreciate everything you've done for the Linux/web/opensource/whatever communities.

Godspeed, Sir!

[Greasy Spoon]

Like most, I had to check the date when I saw this story. I thought I had probably blacked out for a few months, as this must be an April Fools joke...

Rob, as one of the early registered users, I too, can't begin to thank you for creating this great community; like most, I spent an inordinate amount of time on slashdot. There honestly hasn't been a day where I've had an Internet connection and I haven't been on slashdot. What does that tell you? Actually, that might be an addiction. I should probably start looking for a 12 step program... I wonder if my EAP will cover that...

Anyway, you and Jeff did good. And you made a difference. I will never forget winning the Sugar Distribution Award!

Take care, and I wish you Godspeed in whatever path life leads you on.

Thanks!

[ald_a]

Slashdot is a real important part of my life for the past 11 years, and now I think it won't be the same again. I hope you can post/submit submit stories once in a while!

CmdrTaco Steve Jobs

[MonsterTrimble]

End. Of. Discussion.

Good Luck and Thanks

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

Thanks for everything you've put into this. Good luck with whatever comes next. By my calculations, /. is neck and neck with Nethack for all-time leading time suck. Congratulations.

So Long Taco!

[swordgeek]

Well...

Really, that's about it. Have a good time in the future. Do something totally amazing! Again!

(Aside: It's weird to feel like a newbie around here. I haven't seen so many 2-5 digit UIDs in years!)

In solidarity...

[mswhippingboy]

This will be my last post as well...

PSYCHE!

Can't rid of me that easy!

In truth though, as much as I enjoy /., I can't imagine spending the last 14 years posting stories - I'd go fricking MAD, so this probably a good thing. Maybe now you can have a life!

Best of luck - see you in the funny papers.

Thanks and good luck

[Bayoudegradeable]

Thanks, Rob. You've given us a great part of our a web life. Best wishes on your next path.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[alexandre]

Everybody knows that new starts at 50!
Oh wait ... :P

Thanks

[kumanopuusan]

We're all really going to miss you, AdmBurrito.

Sorry to see you go

[g051051]

You're the editor with a taste for stories that most closely match my own. I've learned to avoid stuff from some of the other editors that just don't seem to "get it", but your posts were always interesting and in line with my interests, very much News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters. I'm guessing that my interest in slashdot will wane without you at the helm, which is sad because I know from my comment history I've been coming here since at least 1999. slashdot has been my primary destination, the first site I open every morning, and the one I check most often during the day.

Best of luck in all your future endeavors!

this post is useless.

[argStyopa]

15,000 stories posted...114,000 articles.

How many Library of Congresses of that? How many football fields would it cover? American football or European football?

I'm bereft of scale!

So long and thanks for all the...posts

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been reading Slashdot since I started at my first dot.com as their IT manager way back in 1999, and I still look at it every day.

Thanks for all the great posts Rob and I'm definitely going to miss choosing you as the "other" choice in all the polls.

Take care and good luck!

Dave

Re:So long and thanks for all the...posts

[witchman]

I've been reading Slashdot since I started at my first dot.com as their IT manager way back in 1999, and I still look at it every day.

Thanks for all the great posts Rob and I'm definitely going to miss choosing you as the "other" choice in all the polls.

Take care and good luck!

Dave

And wouldn't you know it...I wasn't logged in when I posted this. sigh

Bon voyage!

[Medlir]

It's been a long road, good luck on your future endeavors!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[alexandre]

There is no way you waited a few days with ID 194 :P

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I'm afraid to post in case I raise the average. But I will soldier on.

Re:I searched the comments, and one word was missi

[16384]

I'm glad someone else remembered Ogg the caveman. I still miss his presence in /. sometimes.

YATY!

[bint]

Yet Another Thank You! from a longtime lurker. Not that I know you, but it really feels like a friend is leaving... ...and in addition, I realize just how many hours I spent here over the years! :)

Thank you.

[pdboddy]

Thank you, Commander Taco, for making Slashdot what it was, and is. I've continued to read this site daily, even as other sites fell by the wayside, from the day I followed a link to it.

I've contributed to many a Slashdotting.

The arguments have been fun and entertaining.

And idle is pants.

Pete

PS: Slashdot is dead, long live Slashdot!

Thanks, Rob!

[claytor1]

I've been reading the site almost daily since 1998 and it is still one of my favorites. The stories are interesting, but what keeps me coming back is the great commentary from the incredible Slashdot community. There is no other site like it, and I hope that the new stewards treat it with the same care that you have. Enjoy your time off and best of luck! And write that book!

Vaya con ding dongs! (Go with the Hostess cakes!)

[Chas]

As you're going to be spending more time with your kids, heed this simple advice.

Anyhoo. Thanks for all the effort you guys have put into the site over the last decade and a half.

Thanks

[DaedylusSL]

I don't really have anything new to add to the conversation, but I want to say thanks.

I discovered Slashdot while I was in college, about 10 years ago. I used it to get current events to talk about in my computers and ethics class. Since then, I've checked it nearly daily. I've spent many a happy lunch hour hanging around this site. There are other sites for news and discussion, but I've always come back to /.

Thanks again, Rob. I hope your next project, whatever it may be, is as successful, or at least fun, as this has been.

Thanks and farewell

[MisterClaw]

Good luck where ever life brings you.
Thanks and farewell

I know what you should do next

[killmenow]

Ressurrect Blockstackers Intergalactic and get to work on Everything3

But really, good luck at whatever you do next.

Well earned break

[WyrdOne]

This is where you take some time, do some traveling, see the world and not be stuck behind a desk.

Enjoy the much needed vacation. Wherever you end up I'm sure we'll hear from you again.

Reactivation Button

[TheoFish]

Slashdot should now feature a Reactivation Button to summon you back in case of an emergency... or a Bat Signal... or a Taco Signal.... or something.

Thank you and all the best

[Lieutenant_Dan]

Cheers dude! This is one of the sites I frequent the most.

All the best. I'm sure this must be very hard to walk away from.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Hemos]

You can refer to me as "Norman" if that makes it more palatable.

Thank You !

[nu1x]

/. has been quite instrumental in formation of my inner nerd.

I was reading / posting it since 1999, on many different accounts. Without it, I would not have dabbled in linux as early as 2001 (is it 10 years ago already ?)

Also, introducing me to many influential science fiction authors, and many things that formed my life in such a major way, that I think /. was / is, to me, a definitive site OF the internet.

Though you could use your godly powers and kill 90% of the sites scripting; Ok, ok, you won't do that :D

Good Luck in your future endeavours, CmdrTaco ! ! !

Hats off Rob

[xenophyx]

Thank you. You did a good thing here, and it is obviously well appreciated.

If it wasn't for this place, real life may have stood in the way, and I wouldn't be where I am today.

Everything I learned, I read on /.

[Tastecicles]

In other news, Microsoft acquires Slashdot... more at 10.

Chur bro

[Anonymous Coward]

Chur.

(that's about as good as it gets from a kiwi)

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[c]

> If only I had known then how much this UID would help me get the girls...

Tell me about it. 4 digits just gets me porn stars. I want those cheerleaders, dammit!

Polls

[Baseclass]

Does this mean the "CmdrTaco" option will forever be absent from the polls?

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[pudge]

PANTS.

You're due for a break, Rob. You done good.

Hemos didn't, but you did. ;-)

Thank you and Farewell!

[paleo2002]

Thank you for helping to create and evolve a unique, trustworthy, and fun source of vital information in a comparatively barren web! When students ask me to recommend sources of science news, /. is always at the top of the list! Enjoy your semi-retirement. Maybe you could start a food truck that sells a variety of Mexican-American items . . .

Bon chance

[paimin]

Never met ya, but I feel like I know ya. This place is losing its heart and soul today, I'm afraid. But you're right of course, it's time for you to set sail. Looking forward to seeing what you do next...

Thanks!

[Foo2rama]

Thank you good sir!

This is the end of an epoch. For those of us lucky enough to be around from the first steps of the Internet as we know it today, what you have created has become a part of our lives, an indispensable news source, source of humor, and knowledge of all things that matter to us. Let us not forget the internet term that you accidentally created. We will tell our children what being slashdoted means, when they use it with no idea of from whence it came.


I salute you sir! Good luck in all your future endeavors, Slashdot is not dead, and long live Slashdot!

Foo2rama

Thanks!

[SebZero]

Read the site everyday - thanks for the time and effort you've put in trawling the internets. Had a random person at work spot me reading /. a couple of weeks ago say, "you read slashdot, oh you are a nerd" in the nicest possible way :)

So long and best of luck

[Indigo]

Rob,

tl;dr -- just kidding!

Just wanted to say thanks for all the great times here on /. You've provided all of us geeks with boatloads of information, hours of entertainment, and a great way to stay on the leading edge of the things we care about. You've kept Linux out front where it belongs. And, importantly, you've consistently maintained a focus on tech related human rights issues since the beginning. I hope I can speak for all geeks in saying you should never have to pay for your own beer again :-)

Seriously, thanks for everything dude. Enjoy your time off.

Indigo

Early Adopters Posting today.

[Ken Broadfoot]

Thanks Rob, have been enjoying Slashdot for years...
---another early adopter

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[MagicM]

Thanks for the fun

You must be old here.

Thanks Rob!

[TheJodster]

I've been reading Slashdot for a very long time. I think I had been reading it quite a while before I needed to create a login so I could post on an article. This site is the gold standard of News for Nerds. There are many imitators these days which is the ultimate compliment. Good luck in your future endeavors!

Best of Luck and Thanks for all the Fish!

[Specter]

/. (at #1) tops the WSJ in the list of about 20 news sources I consult every morning.

If you're going to write a book I challenge you to do it using only /. memes. (You can leave out the gostse though.)

Best of luck in wherever life takes you next.

Thanks for the news

[ObsJacob]

It's been a very long time since I've posted here (so long in fact that my account disappeared), but I want to be another one of the ones that wishes Rob well on his new ventures...whatever they may be. The power of slashdot lies in the readers who may not go through and post in the comment threads on daily basis, but can always be felt when a hot story unleashes the "Slashdot effect". I can safely say I've had two webhosts call me and say that their networks were down after stories were posted here from a website that I used to work at. That true power of providing information that was normally unbiased and complete is one of the things that I think you can be proud of, Rob. Thanks again for the fish.

Beacon in the darkness...

[dtjohnson]

Stories on the internet are mindless drivel repeated word-for-word on numerous sites. Amid that, Slashdot was a beacon of light piercing the fog of shallow repetition. Slashdot linked to only the important stories (stuff that matters!) and then provided real insight from its many sharp readers. Thanks for creating Slashdot. With your departure, no doubt it will slowly drift in the direction of other internet media and become what it wasn't but...that's to be expected and something new will come along eventually.

Thanks Rob for all the years. 'nuff said'.

[damitbill]

Posted from my tablet, not my Montgomery Wards PC. Yes they sold PC.s way back when.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[sconeu]

Me too. I waited about 3 or 4 months. I probably could have been sub-50K.

The new CEO.

[vitaflo]

What Taco forgot to mention he has named Jon Katz as CEO just to spite us. And then something about removing ones self from his recreational land planted with grasses.

Thanks.

[jrap]

Thanks.

Thanks for a great job

[PinchDuck]

I really enjoy Slashdot, and have for years. Thanks for creating a wonderful site, and all the best in your future endeavors.

Enough bitcoins to retire?

[Ihatebitcoins]

Well, I'm glad you got enough bitcoins collected to retire.

Another long-time reader saying thanks...

[FrankNFurter]

... for creating a site I've been reading daily since 1997. As a matter of fact I made a habit of saving /. for last during the morning routine of checking the various websites I'm reading. Save the best for last so to speak.

Best luck for your future endeavours, and I hope to hear from you soon, Commander. Suggestion: Apply at Google, then port Google+ to Slashcode.

Thanks!

[ksd1337]

I started reading this site about 6 years ago. It's been the source of tech and YRO news for me, as well as great insight, information, politics, opinion, and laughs from the other readers here.

You've definitely wasted my time efficiently and enjoyably. I've learned so much from this site, it's changed who I am.

I wish you the best, man. Take care, and thank you so much.

Chips & Dips archive

[linebackn]

Just to throw a little more nostalgia on the fire, here is a copy of an archive of Chips & Dips pulled from archive.org before they started blocking retrieval due to a current robots.txt: http://toastytech.com/files/chipsndips.html

Never could find a copy of the original logo graphic.

I guess nobody ever did recover any of the really early Slashdot stores or comments lost in that crash early on. I seem to recall someone saying they had some partial backup tapes.

At any rate, good luck CmdrTaco!

So long and thanks for all the Penguins.

[Torinaga-Sama]

RM,

It seems like I have been doing this whole nerd thing forever. Occasionally, I am reminded that people have been doing it better and longer than I have. Thanks, jerk!

I thank you for helping to foster in me a love of open source software which has opened a number of doors for me, both professionally and personally. Though I have not been reading or contributing much lately do to other concerns (these kids ain't gonna raise themselves), I continue to hold you and this site in high regard.

Best of luck in whatever you decide to do. May there be many Tacos.
Matt

Thank you!

[chucklebutte]

/Salute

Well that was unexpected.

[KingKurly]

Thanks Rob. I'll keep it brief, it's all been said. This came as a bit of a surprise, but I guess everything must end at one point or another.

So long!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[sconeu]

I can't find the actual Slashdot post -- I never was able to figure out how to get the site search to work for me -- but here's the History of the World, According to Slashdot.
2.5 million B.C.: OOG the Open Source Caveman develops the axe and releases it under the GPL. The axe quickly gains popularity as a means of crushing moderators' heads.

100,000 B.C.: Man domesticates the AIBO.

10,000 B.C.: Civilization begins when early farmers first learn to cultivate hot grits.

3000 B.C.: Sumerians develop a primitive cuneiform perl script.

2920 B.C.: A legendary flood sweeps Slashdot, filling up a Borland / Inprise story with hundreds of offtopic posts.

1750 B.C.: Hammurabi, a Mesopotamian king, codifies the first EULA.

490 B.C.: Greek city-states unite to defeat the Persians. ESR triumphantly proclaims that the Greeks "get it".

399 B.C.: Socrates is convicted of impiety. Despite the efforts of freesocrates.com, he is forced to kill himself by drinking hemlock.

336 B.C.: Fat-Time Charlie becomes King of Macedonia and conquers Persia.

4 B.C.: Following the Star (as in hot young actress) of Bethelem, wise men travel from far away to troll for baby Jesus.

A.D. 476: The Roman Empire BSODs.

A.D. 610: The Glorious MEEPT!! founds Islam after receiving a revelation from God. Following his disappearance from Slashdot in 632, a succession dispute results in the emergence of two troll factions: the Pythonni and the Perliites.

A.D. 800: Charlemagne conquers nearly all of Germany, only to be acquired by andover.net.

A.D. 874: Linus the Red discovers Iceland.
A.D. 1000: The epic of the Beowulf Cluster is written down. It is the first English epic poem.

A.D. 1095: Pope Bruce II calls for a crusade against the Turks when it is revealed they are violating the GPL. Later investigation reveals that Pope Bruce II had not yet contacted the Turks before calling for the crusade.

A.D. 1215: Bowing to pressure to open-source the British government, King John signs the Magna Carta, limiting the British monarchy's power. ESR triumphantly proclaims that the British monarchy "gets it".

A.D. 1348: The ILOVEYOU virus kills over half the population of Europe. (The other half was not using Outlook.)

A.D. 1420: Johann Gutenberg invents the printing press. He is immediately sued by monks claiming that the technology will promote the copying of hand-transcribed books, thus violating the church's intellectual property.

A.D. 1429: Natalie Portman of Arc gathers an army of Slashdot trolls to do battle with the moderators. She is eventually tried as a heretic and stoned (as in petrified).

A.D. 1478: The Catholic Church partners with doubleclick.net to launch the Spanish Inquisition.

A.D. 1492: Christopher Columbus arrives in what he believes to be "India", but which RMS informs him is actually "GNU/India".

A.D. 1508-12: Michaelengelo attempts to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling with ASCII art, only to have his plan thwarted by the "Lameness Filter."

A.D. 1517: Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the church door and is promptly moderated down to (-1, Flamebait).

A.D. 1553: "Bloody" Mary ascends the throne of England and begins an infamous crusade against Protestants. ESR eats his words.

A.D. 1588: The "IF I EVER MEET YOU, I WILL KICK YOUR ASS" guy meets the Spanish Armada.

A.D. 1603: Tokugawa Ieyasu unites the feuding pancake-eating ninjas of Japan.

A.D. 1611: Mattel adds Galileo Galilei to its CyberPatrol block list for proposing that the Earth revolves around the sun.

A.D. 1688: In the so-called "Glorious Revolution", King James II is bloodlessly forced out of power and flees to France. ESR again triumphantly proclaims that the British monarchy "gets it".

A.D. 1692: Anti-GIF hysteria in the New World comes to a head in the infamous "Salem GIF Trials", in which 20 alleged GIFs are burned at the stake. Later investigation

Where I really got started

[deuteron]

I got started working with and talking about tech, Linux and other things with some local friends. But this is where we all really started. It's been so long since what turned out to be a loose cable led to one of the first Ask Slashdot posts:

http://linux.slashdot.org/story/98/08/23/1311207/Ask-SlashdotCorrupted-Hard-Drive

Thanks.

...to be the new CEO of Apple?

[PinchDuck]

There are no coincidences...

Thanks man.

[Sauron23]

Slashdot was a great idea and still my favorite site. Enjoy the break.

OMG, sad ponies!

[Anonymous Psychopath]

I was shocked and dismayed when I heard the news last night about Steve Jobs leaving Apple. Mostly because I bought their stock last week.

This, however, is far more impactful to me on a personal level. I can't remember exactly when I created my account, but it has been with me a long, long time. Slashdot has been an almost daily fixture of my adult life.

Thanks for creating and sharing your chunk of the ether with us, and my very best wishes in whatever it is you decide to do.

Well damn

[Maow]

First, congratulations on an excellent, simple site and many, many years of entertaining & informative reading.

The previous posters have been poignant and funny.

But this timing really sucks. Canadians lost a beloved political leader, Jack Layton (yeah, you read that right: it is a once-per-generation thing, I think), yesterday I found out the crows I "befriended" after my beloved dog died had destroyed the nest of a large family of small birds I fed for a long time, who've now disappeared.

Steve Jobs left (personally I don't care a whit about Apple, but the man is too sick to work, that's sad), and now /. is ... different...

I'm going back to bed, wake me up next year.

PS Good luck Rob, and thanks to you and ALL the people who make this site so delightful to read.

--
Salon Kill File
http://salonkillfile.maow.net/

Thank you

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you and good luck

Screenshots of /. over the years

[MontyP]

I've had /. as my default homepage for longer than I can remember. Ah, the green glow. Around '02 my sister even printed a copy of Slashdot for me to read when I was in the hospital post surgery. Over the years I've collected a few screenshots of /. that cracked me up... looking back at these now just amazes me: browser versions, software running, awesome /. design changes...
http://chowned.com/remember-CmdrTaco

Good luck to you Rob. and really. Thanks.

Re:Screenshots of /. over the years

[synapse7]

Nice screenshots. So what was the cause of OMG ponies?

Re:Screenshots of /. over the years

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice screenshots. So what was the cause of OMG ponies?

4/1/06

Re:Screenshots of /. over the years

[_0xd0ad]

April 1st.

Thanks

[RazzleFrog]

Thanks for years of distractions and fevered debates. Good luck to you wherever you land.

Don't forget PJ!!

[sconeu]

PJ also retired from running Groklaw earlier this year.

I, for one...

[TheDealer]

...salute our glorious Cmdr.

For some weird reason this reminds me of Walter Kronkite's last broadcast. The news will still be there, but it just won't be quite the same.

If I may paraphrase

[Anonymous Coward]

No warning. More verbose than a Jobs. Lame.

Good luck, good sir.

Thanks!

[sleepdepzombie]

Thanks for building one of the great places on the Internet. I can't imagine the hours I've spent reading Slashdot over the years.

Thank you and good luck!

Thanks and Good Luck!

[Anonymous Coward]

Live long and prosper.

Thanks man...

[Handover Phist]

Dont worry about finding a job, I once got an interview just by saying I enjoyed moderating on Slashdot (really? How's your IPTables?). It was that quick and natural. Thanks for all your work, I've had a lot of fun!

Sad to see you go

[noahm]

I've got to admit I'm surprised at how sad this makes me. I've been a slashdot reader since the early days. I don't remember how I found the site, but I remember that I was sitting in a dreary general-purpose (i.e. non-CS) Mac lab at school in about 1997. I scrawled the URL inside the front cover of the copy of Lucifer's Hammer that I was reading at the time, because the site was just so damn cool and I didn't want to forget about it. One of the early headlines I remember was "Microsoft scanning IP space" (OMG, what underhanded thing could they possibly be up to? I bet they're going to build a search engine!)

Anybody else remember the dark days of Jon Katz? (sorry Jon! :D)

Though speaking of Katz, I'm surprised taco didn't mention the Colorado school shootings from 1999. Those stories (the "Hellmouth" articles here) have to be high up in the list of all time most comments. After some douchebag misfits decided to shoot their classmates, the nationwide paranoia directed at all sorts of geeks and other socially outcast people really was amplified. Slashdot became a place for people to share stories and get support.

It's amazing how much time has passed. Thanks Taco. You'll be missed.

Re:Sad to see you go

[noahm]

Oh, and I forgot TacoHell. I totally miss TacoHell.

Re:Classy.

[Surt]

Yeah, SJ was quite the jerk for not checking in to coordinate.

I timed ban would be better

[DrYak]

Being only temporary shut of Shlashdot would be the best.

Just enough time to start his own life somewhere else. Then he could come back for a few cameo, just for the rule of cool

Thank you!

[christurkel]

Thanks for everything you did. I could write a long post about my experiences here but I'll leave it at: Goodbye, farewell and amen!

Thank you for making a relatively safe container

[Mr.FreakyBig]

I was introduced to Slashdot by some Open Source geeks years ago, and am grateful for it. I am especially grateful for the wide ranging, interesting articles that came to the pages of /. over the years. The chance to interact in a moderated forum has also been educational, as I believe some of the high ranking comments are often more informative than the original journalism or news piece. Thank you CmdrTaco for your hard work over the years.

Wow, first Jobs, now this?!

[Kevin Stevens]

Rob,
Thanks for everything. I have been here since nearly the beginning (I lost two UID's along the way, though my lowest was still 5 digits), when this site was anything but corporate and it really felt like a bunch of guys in someone's basement just shooting the shit about geeky stuff. I remember around 2002/2003 and people yelling about slashvertisements and such things that I would just scratch my head and be like "this is just some guy's blog." But the perception among most users had changed by that point and there were even editorial standards that people thought you guys should be held to.

Though slashdot has lost its relevance a bit- we no longer see heavyweights like Carmack popping in to post, there was literally a period of 10 years from 1998-2008 where /. was my homepage and I read each and every story. I still read every summary, but I don't dive into the comments for every story, and the discussion has unfortunately just gotten REALLY cranky lately. I kind of miss all the MS bashing, and the flame wars :). Heh- a funny story just popped in my head- I remember the sysadmin at one of my first jobs coming over to my desk saying "errr kev, umm... we reviewed the logs, and you really seem to like slashdot ALOT." and I quickly sidestepped that line of inquiry by telling him that the numbers must be really inflated because its my homepage, and every time I bring up the webapp I was working on, it loads /. first. He kind of knew I was snowing him, but it was good enough to have him move on. Whoo! Another amusing story is when my officemate had one of his pet projects make the front page. I was impressed with myself for even knowing a guy who got on the front page!

This is very sad, with the rise of rss feeds, and sites like reddit, /. has lost a lot of my attention in the past few years. The discussion used to be the big draw, and it just hasn't done it for me lately. Those slow weeks before holidays and between christmas and new years, /. was my savior! Kind of similarly, I recently went through some life changes after going through my "post-college" phase, which lasted 10 years, and am trying to figure out what life 3.0 is going to be about, and how I can find happiness. This event somehow affirms my belief that I can't go home again and its time to be a real adult.

Good luck, somehow I feel this departure is going to lead to the end of my love affair with the site as well.

After all these years

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know what it says about me but I've been reading Slashdot most days since 1998 but this is my very first post. Thankyou CmdrTaco, thankyou very much.

Good luck

[codepigeon]

Thanks for all your hard work. Good luck in the future.

Thanks from all the ACs...

[Anonymous Coward]

No karmawhoring for me. Never did. But a lot of ACs had a lot of fun times on /. thanks to you and the others.

So thank you from all the Anonymous Cowards (and, yup, I got a lot of +++ with AC posts ; )

Thank you.

[TrevorDoom]

Add me to the list of low-ish UIDs saying thank you for creating what was once the absolute center of my Internet experience.

Over the years, /. has kept me informed, entertained, aware, and enlightened. While it hasn't always been the smoothest of sailing, I keep coming back.

Thank you, Rob. Thank you so very, very much.

thanks

[lostindenver]

lots of years and lost o memories

Thanks for one of the best sites around...for now

[Gomer79]

Thanks for creating what became the go to place for all things tech.

Let's hope that without your leadership the site does not cease to be worthwhile or relevant.

Thank you

[wirehead_rick]

Thanks for Slashdot. It isn't perfect but it's damn close. Close enough for me. And having been a Slashdot follower for - uh I don't know how many years - at least 12 or so, it has been a big part of keeping me well informed in the tech arena where I have established my career.

It has helped me make good career and personal tech related decisions. It has helped me formulate a solid view of technology and all the financial, political and social issues involved with technology. I even learned a few things here and there. I can't imagine what my life would have been without Slashdot to follow and enrich it. Slashdot is invaluble to me. That's no BS. I am totally serious here.

Thank you sooo much for being a big part of my life even though you and I don't know each other personally.

Good luck to you and your future endeavors.

Rick

Thanks you

[NathanE]

For selfish reasons I am sad to see you go. Slashdot has been a part of my life in a major way over the last 12-13 years. Literally thousands of hours spent on the site.

Thanks for all your work and the great place to hang out. Best wishes to you and your family in the next phase of life.

First Post in about 14 years of reading

[Anonymous Coward]

Im pretty sure i have never posted just lurked on here since i was 15 literally....Thanks for everything and good luck to you, I am much more sad about you leaving then Jobs...

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[rwa2]

Thanks guys, for pushing forward the state of the art in web-based conversation and assembling this awesome community. I stumbled upon this site out of the blue, but followed just about every post with zeal for several years afterwards. I don't always read the comments, but when I do, they are among the most unique and interesting perspectives that I've seen on myriad topics of import. Even the trolls have a different flavor here (yes I do browse at -1). What you've achieved is quite remarkable. No one talks about the "Fark effect", and certainly no one would bother reading and commenting on a Jon Katz article if it was posted to arstechnica. And I like how you've grown the comment system over the years, even if javascript makes it unwieldy at times and the interface is almost impossible to use on a mobile device. But I've never complained! Thanks for setting the light-hearted tone, not becoming whiny like kuro5hin, and enriching our lives leading these discussions about stuff that matters!

gnulix

[Anonymous Coward]

Best of luck Rob..

I feel this is important..

[Anonymous Coward]

Rob,

I thank you for your years of determination, socialization, and publication..

Its because of slashdot that I was able to stay awake night after night absorbing the best content availiable SLASHDOT.ORG.

I will miss you, but realize all things must move on..

Thank you for all of the years of great stuff.. You will be deeeeply missed.. I do wish you could or would recoinsider, but understand and respect your wishes..
Thank you for your best, I feel sad allready..

I hope slashdot doesnt go to the crapper in the wake of this decision..

Best of luck to you and yours, thank you again for all the stimulating content and years of welll, ya know, lastly good luck and thanks 4 all the Fish,

Sincerely,
GameKeeper..

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[DrgnDancer]

Look on the bright side, at 5 digits I'm stuck with my wife (just kidding honey).

Always been an Anonymous Coward?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought surely over the course of the 13+ years I've visited this site I would have created an account. But it looks like I may have always been an Anonymous Coward. Thanks for all you've done over the years. This is a sad day. Enjoy wherever life takes you next.

Thanks. You're the best

[marcop]

First, thanks for creating such a great and informative site. It has become mine and millions of others daily source of geek news. This place truly has enriched my life, and I thank you for having the vision to create it. You have accomplished a lot and I am sure you will do some more amazing things yet.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[DrgnDancer]

6... 6 digits. The number keys, they are not my friend today.

You rock

[nimble1]

Damn - I haven't felt this "empty" feeling since the last episode of Lost.

I can wholeheartedly say without a doubt, I've learned more from Slashdot than I have in my 4 years of college.

If cmdrtaco is gone, who will be the de-facto poll answer? Do they even have polls anymore? I'm a RSS-only consumer now :)

Now, get on with your life and enjoy your family.

Thanks cmdrtaco

[mclearn]

There's nothing I can say that others haven't already said. I was introduced to this site in 2000-2001 and by then the uids were already in the high 5 digits. I also remember actually being able to have an email conversation with cmdrtaco about some bug or another on /. and being a little amazed at receiving an actual response within 15 minutes. It was - it *is* - the seeming connectedness of us nerds on /. that makes it one of the true cornerstones of the Internet.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[backtick]

I have to agree about the lower average UIDs; this is my 'new' account when I wanted to use a nickname people would recognize me by, so I retired my 'old' account. It became a bit amusing once the UIDs got thru the roof!

Rob (And Hemos and ChrisD since they're reading) Thanks so much for all the hard work and effort. /. is truly one of the cornerstones of the 'modern' geek internet (and this from a guy who watched the WANK worm stumble across VAX DECNET machines and saw the RTM worm do it's little dance aOL and dealt with "Do Not Spindle" cards *gets out his walker*).

Thanks, Guys. And why isn't there a poll up with options? My choice isn't there!

So long, God bless

[perlmangle]

This place has been very special to me since about December of 1997 after my first install of Linux (RedHat 5.0) and I scoured the net every day (using Netscape Navigator 3.01 & AltaVista) looking for news stories and information about Linux. I eventually registered an account and came back, not every day, but darn near it until now. There is something that kept me coming back all these years, and I suspect it was something attached to you, Rob. Wish you the best.

Hmmm

[jdcope]

I was bummed when you stopped writing for CPU magazine. But leaving Slashdot? It just won't be the same. Good luck Rob! Thanks for all the fish.

Best Wishes!

[noldrin]

The earliest I remember reading Slashdot was Spring of 98. You've been a beacon of how to do a website right. Best of luck on your future endeavors!

Thanks for a job well done.

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you for being there for us when we couldn't!

Malda, get back in here right now!

[OldeClegg]

Not finding CmdrTaco postings here just won't be the same (yeah ok that's the point, I guess). Thanks to you and hemos for providing nerd company over the eons, specially during the zillion all night work burnouts. Sirs, I salute you both.

Thanks and good luck

[gibbsjoh]

All the best for the future, Taco. Thanks for a great legacy.
John

Thanks Rob

[Vic Metcalfe]

You will be missed. Best wishes for whatever the future brings!

Keep posting!

[MurukeshM]

Keep posting CmdrTaco! Especially about those interesting trips you take!

How ironic...

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like cmdrtaco.net has been slashdotted :)

I started using the internet daily ...

[Jaro]

... around the time Slashdot came online, back in September 1997 and I've been (mostly) reading here ever since, being very proud to be one of the first readers. Thanks for all the great stories and links and all the best wishes for your unplanned future. I'll stay here and keep reading.

I have to grow up

[tarks]

Thanks for all the fish, indeed (ATM that is a tag of this story).

I started reading /. about one year after I had my first internet connection (A 14k modem which I shared with about 100 people such that 40B/s (yes, bytes, not kilo bytes) was considered to be quite fast and downloading the newest winamp (about 1MB) was quite challenging) but registered for an account much later which spoiled my ID. I think it was about the first useful thing I found on the Internet. Since then I read /. almost every day. It will be a tough change if one day there will be no /. (as we knew it) anymore.

Thanks a lot for starting and managing this site

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Mr Z]

Indeed! I've been coming to this site since 1997 or 1998, back when the RC5 encryption challenge was going on. I was introduced to Slashdot by someone I who was on the team I was on. He asked me "Is /. down?" My response was, more or less, "Huh?" He decompressed his question for me, and in doing so, introduced me to a site that I'd quickly become hooked to. To this day, it's in my top three sites to visit daily: Slashdot, FARK and LWN.

How many of the rest of us "old timers" remember when/who introduced them to Slashdot? Or their first brush with Goatse? Or the introduction of moderation, then meta-moderation? Or the first time you saw "*BSD is dying" and felt the urge to check out the numbers on Altavista? (Remember Altavista?)

I imagine my UID would be lower if I had registered right away. I don't remember how long I put it off. But, at least I ended up with a prime number. :-)

Call to beer^H^H^H^H action!

[frequnkn]

For all of you who felt this news like a punch in the face, find solace in your fellow geeks; let's meet after work, wherever we are today, and raise a glass for 'taco and the /. gang.

I found slashdot on my first day of work, in my first real programming job back in college, and have been bathing in its pale green light ever since. This calls for beer!

Ne Geek References, Just "Thanks!"

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you for creating /. and thank you for investing so much of your life to it. I hope it was as rewarding for you as it has been for those of us, who over many years, have made it a morning ritual.

Good luck

[Matthew Weigel]

Best of luck. I've been here since the main use in going to your website was finding the latest news on Enlightenment, and I really appreciate all of your work.

thanks

[hamanu]

Wow, I read slashdot from the beginning. I remember the days before user IDs when "anonymous Coward" was an actual person, not a meme, and BoReD At WoRK used to post comments. When a reverse DNS lookup on slashdot lead you to triton.imagegroup.com....

I resisted the user ID stuff when the site's geek quotient started to go down, and newbies diluted things, but finally signed up when I just HAD to comment on some story or other. The site never lost it's geek cred even when 6 digit UIDs started to be the norm, so hopefully it will continue to be relevant and true in spirit to the old site. But even so it won't be the same without you!

Thanks Rob, and best of luck!

Thanks

[JJ Zabkar]

Visitor since '99 and trying to RTFA since '02: Thanks for the education, entertainment, and keepin' it free & real.

So long and good luck

[tpjunkie]

When I worked in IT this site was practically my morning reading. Although you may not be posting stories anymore, hopefully you poke around and comment every once in a while, it'll be priceless to see a "You must be new here" comment on something you write. Best of luck in the future.

What's Next? -- Just find an itch and scratch it

[davide marney]

As for what to do next, I recommend you simply look for something in everyday life that bothers you, doesn't have a simple/good solution yet, and give 'er a shot. Worked pretty good last time ...

Thanks for what has been /by far/ the most interesting site on the Internet.

What's really sad is...

[chad78]

CmdrTaco served proudly and valiantly for 14 years, and never even made it to Cptn

Best wishes and a big thank you for everything!

[Pyro]

Been reading Slashdot since 98 at my first job at a dotcom start up as the MIS manager. (Whoever thought giving a kid straight out of high school that job was nuts; what times that was. But then again our CEO was the same one that thought it would be a good idea to give us packs of bottles of custom labeled beer to give to customers, clients and partners at Comdex '99 as some kind of guerrella marketing thing... We mostly passed it out to people we knew personally or those in the industry we respected instead; which meant we made a stop at the Slashdot booth and unloaded a backpack full... Good times...)

There are plenty of other tech/geek/whatever news sites out there, but this is home and the only one I read daily. Thank you again! I wish you all the best in your future endeavors (btw, write that book!)

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[c]

Meh... supermodels are dime a dozen.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Mr Z]

Oh, and who can forget JonKatz?

Best of luck Rob

[scottm]

Slashdot will always be your site in my eyes, and in many ways it's shaped my career. While I can't say I've visited nearly as often in the past few years, when I do I always get nostalgic as soon as the green and white appears.

Thank you for creating and maintaining a the best place for intelligent geek discussion for so many years.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the forum!

[demonbug]

Just wanted to say thanks for your years of hard work in creating and maintaining the site that, to me, embodies what the internet is all about. A great place to discuss ideas and be exposed to new and interesting information. I can't think of any other sites (well, besides Google) that I've been visiting regularly for 10+ years.

I'm sad to see you go, and hope that you find success in future endeavors.

Is it that long?

[Dave White]

Wow, seems like yesterday man. I don't normally post here, but I read /. at least every day. You helped shape the mindset of a generation of geeks, for which I am eternally thankful. Best of luck in the future, Rob.

Thanks for everything Rob!

[nebby]

Many years ago, I ran a site called Half-Empty. It was an exciting time, I was in college, and had hacked together this site (letting my grades suffer in the process) as a way for people to share stories and vote on them. It was kind of like a ghetto version of Digg, where the users posted content not links.

One of the biggest thrills for me ever was when I sent an e-mail to /. about its initial launch and made it onto the front page. My dorm room was Slashdotted, I pulled RAM out of my roommates computers and threw it into my little server, which somehow survived. I knew it was inevitable my cable connection would be cut off so I sent an SOS out for anyone who would be willing to host the site for free, I was a poor college student, and Krellis from DynDNS stepped in. Half-Empty grew for a few years and became a large part of my life and many others. I owe the experience entirely to that initial Slashdotting, which gave the site the momentum it needed to stay alive. I regret not keeping the site up; it was a victim of a hard drive crash and I was enough of an amateur at the time to not have been making regular backups.

So, thanks again Rob. Good luck, and be proud of all you've accomplished with Slashdot. Cheers!

Thanks for the Slashdot

[slashdotterg]

Though I don't read it as often as I used to... it's still my favorite go-to place for nerd news. Great job, and have fun. Thanks again, gabe.

Thanks for all the great years ...

[jdp]

And best of luck in your future endeavors!

Thank you...

[TheCaptain]

...and know that you will be missed here.

Good luck with the next adventure. :)

Thanks from all the ACs

[Anonymous Coward]

From all of us that have been reading for a very long time, but were too lazy/scared/apathetic to create a username...

Thank you and please enjoy the time with your family.

As a reader since 1998..

[Large Green Mallard]

Slashdot was a great distraction before twitter, digg, reddit, facebook, googleplus.. :)

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Thanks for the environment you created

[dlewis]

Slashdot has been my homepage forever. I've always considered it to be the first geek social media outlet. I've leaned so much and had so many laughs over the years.

May you have fun in any (ad)venture that you pursue.

Thanks for all the Lunch break reading

[invid]

Since Jon Katz recommended this site to me, it has been my favorite cubical lunch-break pastime (ok, sometimes I sneak here during a long compile). Thanks for putting this together and good luck!

So long.

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for all the fish.

Thanks

[symbolset]

Not much to add. I've gotten a lot of fun out of your creation. Best wishes in your new endeavors.

Good luck

[Nex6]

best of luck..... i was a good run.....

another Hope College alumnus

[tverbeek]

I was a CS major at the same college as Rob Malda several years before him. I worked in the CIT dept there when he was a student, but I never met him (maybe I reset his password), so that's as close as I get to having an actual connection to early Slashdot. As you can see from my 6-digit UID I wasn't even an "early adopter". (Doing theater with Gillian Anderson in high school is my real I-knew-someone-famous claim.)

One of my CS profs (Herb, in case Rob reads this) commented my senior year that I was not as good a CS student as I could have been. I had to agree with that. I think it was mostly because I had too many other interests (college newspaper, radio, student government, fraternity). I'm smart, and I was good, but I didn't have the hacker drive that Rob obviously had. Which is why he created Slashdot, and I... didn't. I did some half-assed early stuff on the web in the mid-1990s, but didn't follow through with it.

Evidently we're both at "what do I want to do with myself now?" points in our lives. But damn, I wish had something like this to look back at. So some advice to the younger folks (which is most of you, it seems): do what Rob did. Not the same thing, of course. But do something. Make something. And do it now. So that when you're having your mid-life crisis, it won't be tinged with regret.

Another "Pile On" Thanks

[Barondude]

Although my UID doesn't reflect it, I have been reading Slashdot regularly since 1998. It helped me switch careers into the IT field by turning me onto Linux, inspired my to learn Perl, and has given me enumerable laughs. I wish you the best in whatever comes next.

Thank you

[monk]

Just wanted to add my thanks to all the others. I've been reading /. daily since the beginning (who am I kidding, I hit refresh all through the day). You built something fine and unique and should be proud.

Thanks, Rob.

[Evro]

I started college in fall, 1997 and somehow discovered Slashdot around that time. I read and posted for a while, anonymously, and then finally created an account. Linux was new and exciting then, and I didn't really know anything about it, but I knew I wanted to play with it. Slashdot has been with me through it all. My posting fell off precipitously over the years, but I remember some good times, good memes. Signal11 karma whoring (did the term karma whoring originate here?)? Natalie Portman? Hot grits down your pants? Ascii art goatse? The controversies around moderation, karma, metamoderation, etc. The various "redesign Slashdot" contests, and Slashdot finally getting all Ajaxy.

For years, in the beginning, I took a sick pride in browsing at -1 and reading everything -- some of the trolls of yesteryear still stick out in my mind vividly as some of the funniest things I've ever read. But, as time progressed and I got older and more crotchety I bumped my threshold up to 1, 2, 3, and finally 4. I still check Slashdot often, though rarely contribute anymore. I don't know what "the community" is like, but Slashdot seems to have aged just as Linux has; become more mature and stable, more accepted, less weird. Like me, I guess.

Anyway, thanks Rob. Good luck.

Thanks Rob

[bunhed]

/. has been my homepage since I signed up! Thanks for creating somewhere interesting to land in the tubes but mostly for making me think, every time I create and deploy a site, "will this survive a slashdotting?" All the best in whatever you do!

My home page has been slashdot since 1996..

[Anonymous Coward]

My home page has been slashdot since 1996.. This may just be self indulgence on my part but I've only posted maybe half a dozen times in all those years.. And, I don't think I'm going to have a choice but to miss you Cmdr! Job well done in my opinion.

-gary

Countless Anonymous Cowards Say:

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks.

Thanks and best wishes.

[minvaren]

Running a site like this is often a thankless job. Thanks for sticking in there so long, and for setting up and maintaining what has become one of the most well-known sites on the internet.

Thanks, Rob!

[Intosi]

Hey, Rob.

I still remember first hearing about Slashdot from a fellow geek, way back then, and really enjoyed the stories you posted. I never forget the moment I (and all other readers) read your proposal, that was indeed a very special moment. I for one will miss your presence on this site, and hope to see your submissions trickling through the system sometimes.

Cheers,
Edwin

Thanks for everything!

[diggum]

Thanks for Slashdot. I don't visit as often as I used to, but I always kept it at the top of my bookmarks list whenever I switched browsers or computers. I could always count on it for some of the most interesting, thought-provoking discussions online or off. You and Slashdot are definitely a big chunk of internet legacy, like 5 touchdowns in a single game. Have fun, diggum

So long...

[MerlynDavis]

Wow...I've been reading for far long than I've been posting, but I'm not sure I remember how long...

To have worked in one place for so long, and to affect so many folks...wherever you go, it'll be a step down.

Good luck to you!

Farewell!

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for your post and Good luck in the future. I've been an on and off reader for over a decade and I have always posted as an Anonymous Coward. I guess some things never change.

Good bye

[nsupathy]

All the best Rob. I have enjoyed slashdot for all these years (slow to create my account, otherwise I could be in less than 5k), even had my wife threatening to leave me if I kept reading slashdot all the time.

Thanks again.

Best of luck!

[TCQuad]

Though I don't visit as often as I used to, SlashDot is still the top link in my "Daily Sites" folder. Thanks for all the hard work and best of luck in the future!

Thanks

[gregbaker]

Slashdot has been my first click every morning since the fall of 1998. Thanks for everything, Rob.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Rinikusu]

No shit. I've got a 5 digit UID and I feel weird when I see lower UIDs these days. Damn, this is me being a n00b all over again. ;)

Good luck, Rob. My advice: Start a rock and roll band and tour the country in the back of a van at least once.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[baegucb]

The talk on IRC at the time slashdot started with registering of nicknames, was what were they trying to do, and how much spam could we expect in our inboxes? So I waited awhile before registering.

That's the end of a long era.

[jpowers]

Through /. in the 90s I learned about linux, learned to play with other OSes, tools and programming languages, which all made me better at my job back then running machines for nonprofit cancer research. When I followed the link to Old Man Murray, I hung out on their forums and made friends I've watched spread throughout the game industry (not just Valve). For years this place was what we'd now think of as reddit&the reg&hackernews combined.

Happy retirement Rob

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Brad]

We might be able to say lowest average this millennium if enough old timers show up.

Good by and good luck Rob!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[cayenne8]

Actually I did read it..but to me, it sounded like he could no longer have the taco account...that he would have to lose that whole account, not just the ability to post.

And frankly...I think they should allow him to keep THAT priv too even if he can keep the taco account.

Well..

[ryanmcdonough]

Good luck in your future CmdrTaco, don't be a stranger.

Thanks for all the hard work.

[Fazed]

Thanks for all your hard work CmdrTaco! I hope /. stays the way it is. Mind you it would be hard to mess up such a simple concept, probably devastatingly so.

Thanks for all the great stories, knowledge and laughs along the way :)

So Long

[FigWig]

And thanks for all the fish!

CmdrTaco, always thougth that was a neat handle.

[Trax3001BBS]

Don't let my UID fool ya, I've been reading /. since
I can remember. I just never felt worthy of posting, /. was where the intelligent people hung out and posted
(my words). Article on the speed of light and have someone
from CERN post a no no it's this way, for example.

I'd read the stories, and from the comments learn so much
more than I did before. A lot of my online habits came from
reading /..

I take a stand on the "Digg Effect", it's always been
"they were /.'ed" and always will.

Thank you CmdrTaco

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Anonymous Coward]

How about Mr. Bates?

One Two Punch

[mhlo]

First Steve Jobs, now CmdrTaco? It's too much to handle.

In Soviet Russia...

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot leaves you. Sorry, I couldn't help it. Good luck with everything and thank you for all the work you have put in to make Slashdot what it is.

My Slashdot crew memory

[Anonymous Coward]

This happened over 10 years ago so it is to the best of my recollection. I went to a computer show at Jacob Javits center. I believe it was the Fall Internet World in 1999. It was at Jacob Javits Center in New York City. So I go and run into Emmanuel Goldstein, publisher of 2600 Magazine. We start walking around. We come to the Andover booth. It was like if 4chan would set up a booth at E3, every male teenage dork in the venue seemed to be drawn to the booth like moths to a light source. Incredibly, the goofs at Slashdot had been bought out, a sure sign of the bubble soon collapsing. The Andover folks had helpfully set up lots of Internet capable terminals in their very large venue - another sign of the financial apocalypse to come, that Andover had a massive booth, not a tiny one like say, Debian would get for a few hundred dollars. Emmanuel wanted to show me some hacker related news on the 2600 web site. At the time, New York mayor Giuliani was flipping out over a museum which had a painting of Jesus's mother covered in poop. If I recall correctly, 2600's web page at the time had a picture of Giuliani covered in poop. So Emmanuel hits 2600s web page. A young Andover drone is hovering around, and sees a guy looking at pictures of people coved in poop on the Andover computers. It doesn't help that Emmanuel points out to me his lame attempt at humor. So then he clicks through to the real news he was going to show me. "What are you looking at?" says the flipping out young Andover drone. Both me and Emmanuel are ejected from the Andover booth as we are suspected of using Andover computers to browse poop porn.

Of all the websites, in all the towns, in all the

[Anonymous Coward]

From oh so long ago when i found slashdot and started reading it daily, i still read it daily today. There's not other website that i can say that for.
You created something really cool and much appreciated.

It's good not to have a plan

[BifurcatedFocus]

Thanks for everything on Slashdot from '97 on. And good luck with whatever you do next. I'm glad that things are up in the air. It's more exciting when things are a bit up in the air.

so long

[Anonymous Coward]

Take it easy Rob, thanks for all the hard work.

Turbo Teen Analogy

[Tetsujin]

Car analogy please?

I think this is a great opportunity to introduce a car analogy I've been working on, which I think could instantly and effortlessly make a wide variety of scenarios accessible to the "car analogy" crowd. I call it the "Turbo Teen" analogy.

Basically, imagine that Malda is Turbo Teen - that he has the weird ability to turn into a sports car. Now imagine that Malda (AKA Turbo Teen) is leaving Slashdot.

There... See? Perfect car analogy.

You Earned It

[Dredd13]

Two people who made my first forays into silicon valley interesting retiring in the scope of 24 hours, Jobs and Malda. Now, admittedly, I'm not in any way trying to put them both on the same scale at all, but for a lot of geeks who around in the late 90s, the rise of Slashdot, and the resurgence of Apple as a viable entity are sort of "the defining moments" as it were of those heady days.

I may have drifted away from Slashdot over the years, but it still holds a special place in my heart, and Rob's efforts have a lot to do with that.

Enjoy your sabbatical, dude. Check out of technology and go somewhere nice... get a cabin in the mountains for a while, experience all of that sort of thing again free of the shackles of 'being reachable'. You'll be amazed at how much it reinvigorates you when you finally return to civilization.

Thanks for the memories!

[Zugot]

Truly feels like the end of an era. Before all these sites we have now, Slashdot was the place to go to find anything interesting.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Dredd13]

Almost certainly. I'd be really curious to see if someone calculates that. :-)

so long

[dotd]

Take it easy Rob, good luck!

The most important thing in comedy is ...

[Tetsujin]

Steve Jobs came back to Apple officially in September 1997.
Slashdot was founded in Septemer 1997.
Steve Jobs quits in August 2011.
Rob Malda quits in August 2011.

So... Batman ... and Bruce Wayne... Are one and the same?

Best of Luck

[Y2KDragon]

It's been fun.

I've spent many many hours on this site.

[rjforster]

And only a few would be considered wasted.

Ahh yes. Rob's Afterstep page. Chips'n'Dips. Early Slashdot. Me wondering whether to sign up or not on the first day finally getting round to it on the second day; thus the 4 digit ID. I remember when 100 comments was considered huge for a story.

Rob may go but he won't be forgotten.

Everyone cool is quitting -something major coming?

[backslashdot]

Holy shit, everyone is resigning .. I'll tell you what's happening .. they are quitting and going underground filling up a great Ark that will be blasted out to space. When the Texas sized meteor hits the best of our species will survive.

The rest of us are fucked.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[colnago]

here, here. Me too, but not too long. Congrats on affecting the world. Seriously.

Thanks so much!

[Saint Aardvark]

I've enjoyed Slashdot immensely for many years now, and it's still the first page I load every morning at home and every slacking moment at work. Thanks so much for all the work you've put in and the enjoyment you've given me, and the best of luck in all you do.

Just wanted to say

[scenic]

Thanks for building this and inspiring so many to pursue their dreams. The story of how you did this has always been motivation to go start new things. Good luck with whatever you do next. Sujal

Thanks for everything..

[SilenceIsFoo]

...especially the ponies. I'm sure there are countless others like me who have rarely posted through the years but have visited regularly as part of their continuing education. The information superhighway has become far more crowded and noisy in recent years, but it has always been nice to have a place that feels like home right here. Best wishes in your next adventure.

I grew up with Slashdot

[Thakandar2]

I've been reading since at least 1997, when I was a High School Freshman and finally got a computer in my own room with an internet connection. I remember reading Slashdot daily, which eventually led to me trying Linux on my old 386/33 laptop and experimenting with other distros that were just no fun at all to install.

BUT, I learned so much from the different commentators that had an amazing breadth of backgrounds, whether it was an article about digital rights or some new finding by NASA. I loved that Rob and the others built this community of nerds, but that it encompassed so much more than just Linux or hard sciences, and became a real community. Heck, I even learned some HTML to make my few comments look better. SEE!?

Thanks for all the years and stories, Rob, and I pray the best for you.

Re:I grew up with Slashdot

[Thakandar2]

Nah... it must have been Sophmore or Junior by my uid. Oh well.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Niomosy]

Most likely. This is a rare event that will bring out the lower uid's into posting (like me).

Farewell, Rob. You've done well here.

Thanks, man. You changed the geeky Web...

[CWmike]

I just keep coming back for the stuff that matters. Job well done.

Thanks

[beholder77]

I'm pretty sure the entire reason I got into the OSS movement was this site. Thanks for 14 years of interesting stuff.

You and Hemos did a great job.

Good luck Rob!

[justin_w_hall]

Reading the comments in this thread have reminded me why I've always loved /. - the community makes me think and nod and smile. Thanks for starting the fire. Best wishes!

Thanks for all the writings

[someoneto]

Like many folks here i have a similar story, I was introduced to /. in my first IT job in 1998-9 and i've read it nearly every day since,
signed up for a uid to comment on something once years afterwards, I can't remember what....

This may infact be my 2nd comment on here ever ;)

Good luck CmdrTaco!

*pours beer*

Re:Thanks for all the writings

[someoneto]

Actually it turns out that was my first comment! - THIS is my 2nd :P

and I still think CmdrTaco should have the ability to post on here in the future should he want to!

Thank's for the memories and setting the tone.

[siculars]

Hey CmdrTaco,

I've been reading /. since almost the beginning and it has remained at the top of my bookmarks ever since. Thank you for all the hard work and effort you have put into this labor of love. So many threads have stayed with me over the years, particularly 911. On that tragic day, /. was there to share the pain. The larger nerd community is forever grateful for your commitment. Best of luck in your future endeavors and stay true to the news that matters.

Cheers,
Alexander

Thanks Rob!

[Dr. Transparent]

It's been a great ride! Thanks for taking such good care of the site for all these years!

You will be missed

[Anonymous Coward]

I started reading /. in 1998, but never created an account. I enjoyed thoughtful discussions on slashdot. Even though many complained that quality of slashdot is going down, I feel it still is the best place to meet with best minds of our time.

Rob thank you for your dedication to /. , all the very best.

I have a feeling of a massive loss today.

It's been fun

[Anonymous Coward]

I have learned far more from Slahsdot over my nearly decade of reading it than I did from any one of my college classes. Slashdot has helped me grow as a person, becoming well rounded and have one heck of a good time doing it. I hope you have a great time now that you've come out of the dungeon CmdrTaco. Best of luck to you and thanks for everything.

Thanks.

[wembley fraggle]

Thanks for everything. Been a reader for ages. Love this place.

Ah..

[hilldog]

Damn.

Thanks, and good luck

[Sminthian]

Enjoy the time off!

We had some fun with Hotmail, too

[Trailer Trash]

I wonder if that caused a spike in traffic...

This says it all:

[Jogar the Barbarian]

"Nobody does it better."--so true! Thanks for helping me feel like I really had my finger on the pulse of the IT world... and other worlds besides.

Good By...

[maxdamage]

..And thanks for all the fish... You will be missed

Opened Windows and Doors to New Places

[tarsi210]

It is hard to quantify exactly how Slashdot and CmdrTaco has shaped my education within this world of computers and technology, but let's suffice to say that it's been incredible. Slashdot gave me a consistent and no-B.S. direct link to really important information that nobody else had back in my formative years, and I'm forever grateful.

I'm especially thankful for the vision and leadership of CmdrTaco who, despite the growing "corporateness" of the Internet as it raged on, insisted on keeping the same flavor going on at Slashdot because it worked, goddammit, and it got information in the hands of those who needed it.

I know I'm yet another drop in the pool of thousands, but Many, many thanks for your years of dedication and hard work on this project. I believe I speak for everyone on this site when I make a lifetime standing offer of buying you a beer (or ten) should we ever meet.

Good luck and keep your stick on the ice. We're all in this together.

Thanks and Good Luck

[Rob Riggs]

You created a great site here. I think I've had it up on every computer I have ever owned or used since 1997. Good times. Thanks a bunch, Taco.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[landley]

I think everybody with a 4 digit or lower UID is obligated to dig up our logins and escort him out of the building.

Rob

Thanks

[EL_mal0]

I can't say, as many have, that I've been around since the beginning, but since I've been a regular reader (sometime in 2004) I have learned a lot and have been exposed to many thought provoking and insightful discussions. Thanks for building the site that made this possible and provides a place to indulge my inner nerd. All the best in whatever comes next.

Thank you!

[Jack_of_Hearts]

It's been years since I posted, but thank you very, very kindly for your hard work. I've been reading this site since I was in high school, and now have two kids, a job, and a life. Hard to believe things move so quickly... Of the entire internet, Slashdot has consumed the largest share of my time and attention over the last 15 years. Kudos.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[istartedi]

Some guys in the office showed me Slashdot. I spent months lurking and doing the occasional AC post. Like many Slashdotters I resist the whole concept of registration if I can avoid it (think New York Times). Slashdot was different. I've always wondered "what might have been" in terms of UID prestige if only I had been more eager about it.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[rve]

So who is uid 3 ?

And let's not forget his /. hall of fame entries

[Bob the Super Hamste]

And let's not forget his /. hall of fame entries and the formatting that leads to some humorous results:

Strike on Iraq by CmdrTaco
Saddam Hussein Arrested by CmdrTaco
Windows 2000 & Windows NT 4 Source Code Leaks by CmdrTaco
Hotmail Cracked Badly by CmdrTaco
Half Life 2 Source Code Leaked by CmdrTaco

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[DroolArt]

It's literally been 5 years since I've logged in to post a comment, just wanted to thank both of you and wish you guys the best of luck in the future, I would not be the heavy hitter I am today without some of the early stuff I learned from the headlines collected here.

A Site Most Foul...

[camperdave]

I don't get why everyone is congratulating him. He and his cronies have created one of the most insidious and destructive websites on the planet. Do you realize how many man-hours have been wasted over the years by people reading Slashdot? High paid IT admins whiling away the hours posting stories about hot grits and insensitive clods, voting for the CowboyNeal option, and desperately trying to get that "coveted" first post. What a waste. How many of us would have been better off if we had taken that time and upgraded our skills, picked up a cert or two, or even read a book instead?

And it doesn't stop there. How many servers have been brought to their knees by the "Slashdot Effect"? Innocent knitting sites getting knocked off the net because they were hosted on the same server as someone blogging about linux robots. It's Evil! Pure Evil!

Good riddance, I say!

Thanks!

[gknoy]

I haven't read Slashdot since the beginning, and it was a long time before I felt it was necessary to register to post a comment, but thank you. Thank you for the best discussion forum I've ever been a part of, and for building a community that is truly news for nerds.

Good luck Rob

[Graymalkin]

I've been reading Slashdot for what seems like forever and it's definitely had a positive effect on my life. I doubt I'd have my current (awesome) job if it weren't for Slashdot supporting my inner geek. With you leaving it's the end of an era and I truly hope Slashdot doesn't go to complete shit. Despite the dupes, spelling problems, and outright retarded submissions Slashdot is still one of the best geek sites on the Internet.

So instead of a long sob story I'll just wish you the best in whatever you do. Thanks for all of your hard work and giving me a place to be a nerd. May Netcraft never confirm your death and may Natalie Portman show up on your door, naked and petrified. Of course covered in hot grits.

Thank you

[PlatyPaul]

As so many have said already (in so many ways): Thank you. Don't be a stranger.

Thanks

[tero]

Thanks for everything Rob, slashdot has been immeasurably important for me for a big chunk of my professional life not to mention the fun it has provided outside work hours.
Really. You made the best page on the Internet.

Does this mean Ballmer is next????

[markana]

And what will that do to the office-furniture-repair industry?

Thanks Rob, for all the years of distraction and information :-) Future paleo-anthropologists are going to make careers out of mining the depths of the /. archives (you *do* have this all backed up on floppies under your desk, right???)

Slashdot is a big country

[Anonymous Coward]

As long time anonimous lurker, I want to tank you for your work with this explicative image of what is /. today:
http://www.sharenator.com/w/slashdot.org

every day more people than Botswana's knock on /.'s doors.

thank you again, best

Alas Poor CmdrTaco

[kakyoin01]

Alas, poor CmdrTaco! I hardly knew him, Rob, a fellow of infinite loops, of most excellent timeliness. He hath posted /. articles a thousand times, and now gone he is!

Take care, Rob, thanks for all the great articles and the wonderful techie nerd experience here. You helped draw me into /. and I hope it continues on its merry way. Live long and prosper!

All the Best!!

[jsrodrigues]

All The Best Rob!! Enjoyed Slashdot for many, many years...

Thank You

[da3dAlus]

As one of the many faceless among the masses, I also offer my humble thanks for your work, Rob. I graduated HS in 1997, and between working between my first intern job and starting college, the sysadmin at my company suggested I start looking at a site called Slashdot. I followed the site ever since, mostly by directly visiting and in recent years by RSS feed. Over the years I've been exposed to countless meme's, in-jokes, hated authors, anonymous cowards, and definitely the most entertaining and pertinent technology opinions and articles that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. As a CS student, Slashdot encouraged me to get involved with Linux, PHP, and MySQL to create my own CMS, and I thank you for that inspiration. I'm glad to say that we did have a chance to at least meet briefly while the Atlanta area still hosted annual Linux user events (though most times we crossed paths it was when you greenlit my article submissions). Personally, I think you and Slashdot helped set the bar for many technologies and trends to come later: user-submitted and moderated stories (Reddit/Digg), you shared your life with us before it became the social norm (Facebook/Twitter), and produced a fanbase of techies hungry for emerging technologies (like Google, as you mentioned). There is so much more that I can ramble on about, but I'll stop there and just say thank you.

We'll Miss you

[IamAHack]

Ok, maybe maybe most of us won't actually miss you (since we've never actually met you), but we'll miss your posts. When you mentioned your proposal to your (now) wife, it brought back fond memories. Thanks for sharing with us for all of these years.

Thanks!

[Mr. X]

Thanks CmdrTaco! You built an amazing thing, and the world was better for it.

Thanks

[Nelson]

I don't visit it nearly as much as I used to, it's still in my home
page tabs and I scan it regularly but with a family and my career
where it is I can't post as much. Some parts of growing up suck.

The world is so different now. I'll tell you what slashdot showed me
and helped me with, in the mid to late 1990s it became clear that
nerds and geeks could change the world. A couple guys with a computer
and an idea could start a company, make money, employ people and
ultimately make a difference. The hard part of that for most of us
introverted nerdy dudes is "community." A few people can really make a
difference but it still takes a community around them and there are
community skills. "Opensource" was taking off, VA Linux and Redhat
were hot stocks, I was young, fresh out of college, full of piss and
viniger but I didn't know how to take part. (Why is that? I have no
idea, it's really odd saying it but it's true)

I guess I had two experiences: At work, we hired a relatively well
known Linux kernel hacker to help with something and he showed me how
to contribute, the hows and whys of things. It was incredible how it
built the community confidence. I knew how to code, I knew technology
but for some reason I felt like I didn't want to look stupid or be
rejected or I didn't know how to play with others. Second, I took
part in the Loki Hack competition at the Atlanta Linux Showcase. ESR
was there, Ryan Gordon was there a couple other guys that seem to
still be nerd famous, Taco and Hemos showed up with some food or
something a couple times. I remember thinking "these guys are 'doing
it!'" and you guys were cool enough and friendly with *everybody* It
was oddly confidence building. I have no idea why exactly I felt that
way, but being around other people doing the things you want to do,
contributing to a cause, taking part inspires and gives confidence to
contribute and take part.

Community, communication, and all sorts of other
not-quite-as-technical things are incredibly important to making
something like Linux succeed. It's really hard to quantify, but I've
seen and felt the difference, it's incredibly important and valuable.
Thank for that. I've made my career with Linux and opensource
technologies, I've got a home and a family that that stuff has helped
me realize.

Thank you Rob

[Hanzie]

Live long and prosper.

Good Times

[slashtivus]

Guess I'll jump in and say my goodbyes as well. Been a long time lurker from almost the beginning. Truely a day to remember. Thanks for the good times and memories taco.

Good morning, good afternoon...

[Anemophilous Coward]

...and in case I don't see you later, good night! ...and good luck!

Congrats on the next step in life, take care Taco.

End of Line

[nullCRC]

Take care!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Goatbert]

Not sure why I waited, but I did wait a bit as well. Still, I'm proud of a 5 digit UID. I can't think of the last time I saw a 3 digit before this post, very jealous.

End of an era

[Anonymous Coward]

I haven't posted to /. in probably 10 years. The email address to my account doesn't even exist anymore...so I can't even reset the password to post from it. It's almost fitting that I post as a coward. I've read this site every single day since 1999. It shaped who I am as an IT professional. It made me feel like I was part of a community. It made me like ponies. Not to mention that made me see that the most rewarding DDOS attack was the /. effect.

I hope the site doesn't go to hell after this. I have a feeling that it will. But no matter what, thank you CmdrTaco.

my thanks

[yanyan]

Dear CmdrTaco,

Thank you for slashdot. It is the first site i open when i go online.

And to all the smart nerds who have made me laugh or experienced enlightenment, thank you for making slashdot what it is.

Thank you so much.

[Lord Efnar]

[checks to make sure it's not April 1st]

Right, so this is real.

I can think of only one thematically appropriate quote: "So long, and thanks for all the fish."

I've been on Slashdot for just about as long as its been up. It was probably the first web site that I read with any regularity. Your creation was the form of useful community website in my mind; the yard stick that every other site is compared to. It was the start of Web 2.0 that got it's start just as Web 1.0 was starting to come into its own.

You and your site have been there for so many of the ups and downs of my personal and professional life. Deaths, births, news and politics. From the Columbine rampage, the death of W. Richard Stevens, to September 11, and beyond. Your site was a gathering spot for a certain sort. Sure, some of these people were (and are) assholes, but more of them are thoughtful people; friends that I wouldn't have otherwise met.

Please know that your site has touched my life. You have my profound thanks, and I am in your debt. Good luck in whatever life brings you.

Josh

Thanks Rob, and good luck!

[Alcemenes]

I've been stopping by, and occasionally posting, for over 10 years. I think my favorite Slashdot memory was setting up Slashcode for a local ISP. That jump started my Linux SysAdmin career and I never looked back. I've always been able to find a good read here and I hope that continues. Best of luck on whatever path you choose in the future!

Thanks for this time..

[stric]

I read Chips & Dips, and when that newfangled thing called Slashdot came along I kept reading.

Thanks for stuff.

Thanks for all the taco

[Sla$hPot]

And for the most interesting, most vibrant and funniest web site on internet.
Your posts will always be welcome :)

Thank you

[mothrsuperior]

i started checking /. daily in 2000 i'd say and today i find myself tearing up. it's funny what sort of things will grow on you.
beyond even the aggregation and the editorials, the community here and the quality of the moderation have made it practically unique.
  Thank you.
  Now get outside and enjoy the wife and children.

Wow.

[Outtascope]

Thanks, and best of luck to you!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Single GNU Theory]

I wonder if there's an inverse correlation between a post's average UID and average IQ?

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Hemos]

I SEE YOU PUDGE

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[MichaelKVance]

No kidding. I haven't logged in for ages myself but I'll dust off the ole low 4-digiter.

I used to read Slashdot back in the early days when I was at PSU and everyone living off-campus connected through dial-up. It got me interested in Linux, and then when I interned at Intel between my junior and senior years I ended up attending some SVLUG events where Chris DiBona and Larry Augustin helped me install Red Hat 5.2 ("don't worry about the guys complaining about the new libc"). After Larry did the initial lilo.conf setup Chris named my NT partition "CPM" (ba-dum-dish). There's a thread archived on the internet somewhere, too, where Rick Moen makes fun of me for posting an email to svlug asking if /. was still up for people. Good times.

After school I went and worked for Loki and made Linux games and even ran into Rob and Jeff once or twice as part of that (Linuxworld probably?). Ah, memories.

Enjoy yourself, Rob.

Website being slashdotted!!

[bduncan]

Sorry to see you leaving, but happy that you're on a new road to fresh opportunities. I've been a reader (and occasional contributer) since the early days..

BTW, I think your personal website is being slashdotted.. ;-)

Cheers!

Thanks for everything

[T1girl]

The news, the views, the entertainment, the flames, the trolls, the goat stuff, the polls, and for welcoming anyone with the temerity to post a comment into the community of geekdom, and of course for putting Hope College on the map. It's been fun, and surely will survive your departure. Wishing all the best for you and your family.

Thank you for Slashdot!

[Riskable]

I don't think I've missed a single story since I started reading Slashdot all those years ago. Seriously! Erinn Clark used to call me, "The walking Slashdot" since at any moment I would reference recent news posted to Slashdot in my arguments with fellow Linux-users at Jacksonville Linux User's group (we had lots of post-meeting social gatherings). Before RSS I would keep track of the last article I read before leaving the site so I could return and pick up where I left off--even if it was weeks later.

So thank you for not only keeping me (mostly) up-to-date with all the latest geek news and controversies but for also making a site with the best comment moderation system that ever existed. I don't think my philosophical beliefs would be where they are today if it weren't for the thousands of +5 insightful comments I've read on Slashdot over the years. Many times I've had my beliefs shattered by some meanie injecting reality into any given discussion... So long libertarianism, I hardly knew ye! (just one example).

Good luck in your future endeavors. May Slashdot be but one of many bountiful legacies you bestow upon the earth.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[jerk]

I'm only interested if Natalie is involved in some way.

Best site, evar! Thanks mate :-)

[Eg0r]

Good to hear you have things figured-out, even if it's just taking it easy for a while and watch your kids grow.

Best of luck, and thanks again for the good times.

Thanks and good luck

[NoRefill]

As a long time /. reader, I can imagine what a hell of a ride this has been for you, Rob. Thanks for all the effort you put into /. and for the great influence you and /. have had on the whole internet community. Good luck in your future endeavors and enjoy some time off.

I must admit to inadvertently attributing the internet legend of Taco Hell to you, think that's where CmdrTaco came from. Oops.

Just wishing to chime in

[Anonymous Coward]

An Anonymous Coward who has been around since late 90's wishes to extend his heartfelt thanks to You for everything you have done to make the Internet a better place.

Thank you. The daily web-experience wouldn't be the same without you. What you started has amounted to considerably more insightful information than any school or library has ever been able to give me.

Fare well.

-j

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[mcmonkey]

Tell me about it, brother.

At 5 digits (just), I'm stuck with your wife, too!

All Genius Is Simple...

[Anonymous Coward]

...but this required a lot of relentless, albeit enjoyable, work, for which millions of people, of which I, for one, am very thankful.

This must have been a hell of a decision to make, coming out of your comfort zone (or so it seems to me), but I must agree, a necessary one.

I can but wish you luck and all but the best in finding a job that will come closer to being as rewarding (in all senses) as this!

All the best to the Taco family!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[nitsuj]

Ditto.

shame

[Anonymous Coward]

its a shame it lost it's credabily the moment soulskill started posting his biased crap.

Just joining the gang bang

[kid_wonder]

Thanks bro. Sweet site. Made geeks a powerful force, which is awesome.

Thanks Rob!

[AoXoMoXoA]

For all the great news! I have been reading since day 1.../. really helps pass those slow times at the office. Good luck in the future!

be honest now...

[Anonymous Coward]

did you ever censor me?

Long Long ago . . .

[Ruach]

I remember when you implemented user ids. I worried about online privacy way back then and resisted getting a log in until there were over 20k users signed up. (If that self could only see facebook, etc now . . .) Finally, I broke down -- I was tired of posting as an anonymous cow herd :-).
Thank you for all the years.
~Ruach

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[jvmatthe]

Wow. Four digits.

I feel lame with my low-ish six-digits.

Thank you

[HalAtWork]

I gotta put my chips in and say thanks. This site has helped me become more of a geek than I already was. And I love it.

Thanks Rob :)

[deathcloset]

Normally I try to be original in my posts, but in this case I just want to say thank you.

well ok, I want to say thank you AND that slashdot has been, to me, THE nexus of wisdom (both in abundance and lack thereof) on the vast internet world wide web 2.0 blogosphere cloud net network.

Take it easy, and thank you again for the creation of this great monolith of chaos, cosmos and wisdom.

Who can ever forget Geeks in space

[Anonymous Coward]

Rob,

I have been following slashdot pretty religiously for years. It has really been a wonderful creation of you and the guys. Thank you for all your hardwork and care you put in to this wonderful site. And wish you all the best in your future. Live long and prosper!

Thank you!

[dbk25]

Thank you for making one of best, most important sites on the Internet. Seriously. No sarcasm. I have spent more time here than almost anywhere else on the Web, and unlike other places, none of the time spent here was wasted. Also, this site was a pioneer in how to use crowd content review effectively, something that Reddit, Digg, etc., still have not caught up with. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Time Flies!

[doomicon]

I can remember finding your site looking for apps for E sometime in 98!?... time flies! From college to kids in the blink of an eye ;-)

Reminds me now just how much I miss E DR0.9 ha! ./peaCe

Well shucks

[KoNfUzEd]

No posting rights? Less sappy than a Hallmark card? Lame ;)

I never much posted but always enjoyed being able to quickly see what's up in the tech geek world all the way back to CnD. Which I always cross in my head with the Computrex pin that said "Loose Bits Sink Chips" that I just found again.

Good luck, seems to be something in the water for a lot of us at the same age/stage of our lives right now. Enjoy the family and turning off the computer more.

Thank you and good luck!

[nfad]

This site has taught me everything I know :) Good luck with whatever's next!

Looking Forward

[Frightened_Turtle]

Good luck, Rob! I hope your next endeavor meets with as much success as /. did!

Thanks!

[steppin_razor_LA]

Slashdot has been my daily read since late 90s. I love this site. It must feel incredible to see something you've helped build grow into this.

End of an era

[dustpuppy]

/. was one of the sites that got me so heavily into IT. I remember that one of my highlights early on in my IT career was getting an article about me posted on /. (http://slashdot.org/story/01/02/19/1558257/Student-Run-IT-System-Just-Makes-Sense). Sad to see Rob move on - but all the best!

Don't fear the penguins, circa 1997

[six11]

Slashdot was one of my biggest nerd influences during my formative years. Thanks for making the site, and cultivating the community that makes it continue to be (usually) great. I wish you luck in whatever you end up doing.

bye bye

[Cederic]

Thanks, and have fun.

Words can not express how Thankful we are for /.!

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

When I first started reading slashdot I thought I knew something about computers. It quickly became apparent that I knew nothing. I wasn't even 21! Since then, with no formal education, I've risen to a Sr. Analyst spot at a rather large employer in WA state! I discovered that while I got the concepts, I didn't really like programming, but build / support was where I shined. Almost 15 years later, (& I may have gone about things the hard way), but I've learned a ton, and am well respected among my peers. I have many people to thank for that, but certainly you & the /. community. Thank you!

Slashdot is so many things. It's a silent force on the internet, the largest "botnet" for DDOS! Due to information posted on this site, my political views on certain positions have been altered, strengthened, and in some situations abolished. My support philosophy has changed as well. It's the place where we can all collectively debate, console, share, reminisce, appreciate and so much more. I'll never forget crying when reading the 9/11 posts. I remember the Marriage proposal too!

As humans, sometimes to grow we need to leave our comfort zone. Enjoy this new chapter, you're about to soar even higher.

P.S. if you are coming to PAX this weekend, look me up in the PC area! I now manage tech support for that portion of the event!

Thanks again CmdrTaco!

Thanks and good luck

[mcb]

Just want to say thanks and good luck Rob.

I started reading slashdot in 8th grade, right around the time I installed Linux for the first time (Red Hat 5.0 I believe). slashdot kept me hooked on technology and geek culture all the way through middle school and high school. The articles and discussions on slashdot definitely influenced my decision to pursue a BS and MS in computer science, and then begin my professional life working in software development.

It sounds corny but it's hard to think of anything else that had such a profound impact on my life. While I don't read as religiously as I did in those early years, I still drop by now and again for nostalgia's sake.

Thanks again for creating this community.

New nerds

[Anonymous Coward]

Rob,

I am a younger guy - I see myself as part of the next generation of nerds. The ones that will pick up where you and others left off.
I just wanted to say thank you for giving us such a great foundation on which to build. I was introduced to this site in my very early teens and still visit all the time. And I will continue to do so. Slashdot has been such a huge part of my "geek upbringing" and I can't wait to share it with the *next* generation.

Thanks,

Just Damn

[Kenbo]

I remember my friend Kristin (one of the coolest and smartest people I've known) told me about this site that her friend who was a Slackware maintainer had recommended. She suggested that I should check it out.

I did check it out and as a result, like many others, /. was my daily go to site for over a decade.

I remember that slashdot was one of the few 'news' outlets that were able to keep serving data and updates during 9/11. I remember the countless memes, the flirtation with creating stories (hello John Katz) instead of links and comments and the bazillion polls (hello Cowboy Neal). But most of all I remember and think of /. as the place to go to find out what was really happening in the nerd world. There are many other sites that have followed that built on what you all started but I will always think of your cool little site as the foundation of all the nerd news sites out there.

There aren't many folks that will have such an impact on so many people doing something they love. Though I am sorry to see you go I wish you the best of luck with whatever adventure awaits you.

Peace.

The Slashdot Effect

[cryogenix]

Just remember: Before there was a Reddit Effect, or a Dig Effect, there was the Slashdot Effect. /. had the ability to overwhelm sites by creating interest in them on a scale not really seen before. Web servers would tremble if they became a front page story here. I've been a mostly silent lurker for years before I finally set up an account and I'm still mostly silent, but it's we that should be thanking you for all the fish. Wish you luck and happiness in your future endeavors.

Slashdot is Dying

[fak3r]

It is official. Netcraft now confirms: Slashdot is dying

One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Slashdot community when CmdrTaco confirmed that he is resigning from Slashdot, now that Slashdot market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all geek news outlets. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that Slashdot has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Slashdot is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive geek news reading test.

You don't need to be the Amazing Kreskin to predict Slashdot's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Slashdot faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Slashdot because Slashdot is dying. Things are looking very bad for Slashdot. As many of us are already aware, Slashdot continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.

Slashdot YRO is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core contributors. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time Slashdot contributors only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: Slashdot is dying.

Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

Slashdot leader CmdrTaco states that there are 7000 users of Slashdot. How many users of Ask Slashdot stories are there? Let's see. The number of Ask Slashdot stories versus Slashdot posts is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 Ask Slashdot stories users. Slashdot book reviews (or, 'Slashvertisements') are about half of the volume of Ask Slashdot stories. Therefore there are about 700 Slashvertisments. A recent article put Slashdot Security posts at about 80 percent of the Slashdot market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 Slashdot users. This is consistent with the number of Slashdot posts.

Due to the troubles of OSNews, abysmal sales and so on, OSNews went out of business and was taken over by Digg, another troubled geek news site. Now Digg is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

All major surveys show that Slashdot has steadily declined in market share. Slashdot is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Slashdot is to survive at all it will be among geek news dilettante dabblers. Slashdot continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Slashdot is dead.

Fact: Slashdot is dying

Re:Slashdot is Dying

[Anonymous Coward]

wow, I haven't read something with so much pessimism since my college short stories. As long as it is here slashdot is not dead for me though.

Re:Slashdot is Dying

[fak3r]

wow, I haven't read something with so much pessimism since my college short stories. As long as it is here slashdot is not dead for me though.

YHBT, HAND.

Thank for everything!

[cubicle_cowboy]

Thanks for the years of edutainment (and my second Fark green light)! Best of luck to you in your new endeavors.

Thanks Rob

[bdgcorp]

I just wanted to express my gratitude to you. You've done a tremendous job here. I've enjoyed reading your posts as well as others on /. Good luck in your future endeavors, and enjoy your family, time and relaxation.

Toys for Nerds

[bueller000]

Coming soon to a nerd store near you: CmdrTaco Holocrons.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[pudge]

Oops.

Um, uh. Hi! You look swell.

Thank you.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's been an amazing trip, and I can't believe we've been here that long. Thanks for taking such good care of us!

Samba Team Trolls ?

[Jeremy Allison - Sam]

But Rob,

How can the Samba Team Trolls annoy you now ? What a loss to humanity... Tim Potter will be gutted :-(. :-).

So long and thanks for *everything* !

Jeremy.

Re:Samba Team Trolls ?

[Gazzonyx]

Jeremy, I shall carry the torch even if the the Commander is down. It's what he wouldn't have wanted.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Thomas Charron]

I just had a facebook moment and wanted to look for the 'Like' button. X-D

Farewell!

[Bhodi]

It's been fun. Thanks.

First thoughts..

[Terrasque]

My title has changed several times: from my first card which read "Lies and Misinformation", until today when my title read "Editor-in-Chief of Slashdot.org".

So in other words, nothing have changed? :)

Anyway, thanks for the fis^H^H^Hlies^H^H^H^H^Hnice website, which have been a solid part of my life since I first found it (but sadly, didn't register for years)!

+++ATH
NO CARRIER

Thank you

[__aatskl8715]

and good luck with what comes next. /. has meant a lot to me over the years.

Slashdotted

[xanthos]

Because of you Taco, one day "Slashdotted" will be an offical word in the Oxford dictionary!

FWIW - two years ago I left a job after 28 years to allow my wife to pursue a dream of hers. While departing was bittersweet, the change has proven to be the best thing I ever did.

Good Luck and enjoy the ride.

-Xanthos

sayonara, old-timer

[Mars Saxman]

Thanks for all the work, Rob.

Thank you.

[ninjackn]

Slashdot has and continues to make me a much more informed and enriched person. Take care.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Jon_S]

Well, now that the 5-digiters are chiming in, I'll do my part.

Rob: Thanks and good luck!

Helping Aging Geeks Stay Young

[theoa]

CmdrTaco:

I am well into my second century and disabled.

Physical meetups and encounters are limited opportunities for me.

How do I stay technically informed and regularly exposed to new thought patterns?

Yes. that is to say to: News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters.

I <3 /.

Thank you...

Goodbye Commander

[atari2600]

There's an officer on deck. /salute

Thanks for this website.

Say hi to Steve at the unemployment office :P

[Nammut]

Thanks for all the work/time/effort/pain/sweat/patience/aggravation/laughs/insights/... and enjoy the changes!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Slamtilt]

Really, it's no big thang.

Thanks @@@

[jaysunn]

Thanks for everything that you have done for this site and my work day.

Somehow

[Zakolantern]

This hits me harder than I would have expected. All the best in whatever your next endeavors bring. -- Zachary Reiss-Davis , as I seldom even use this username anymore.

Cheers

[Anonymous Coward]

Cheers Rob, all the best

Thank you

[Altanar]

Rob,

This post will likely get flooded away in the sea of well-wishers, but I thought I'd post anyway. Thank you. Slashdot was the very first website I ever went to on a regular basis, and has been bookmarked and visited daily for nearly half of my life. I wish you nothing but success in whatever you choose to do next.

Thanks again,
Jeff

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[tburkhol]

Heh. I only signed up so I could put JonKatz on ignore.

Rob Malda is one lucky bastard

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear Rob

I envy you man. What a great way to make a positive impact on the world for all these years, and you got paid for it!

It's amazing how time flies and how things change. I wish you all the best in your new life.

Cheers!
Another Anonymous Coward

PS. Can I have your stapler after you're gone? ;-)

Thank you

[neves]

You helped to define the way I think. Thanks and good luck.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[WhyCause]

That's OK, I've been looking for reddit up-vote arrows this whole thread.

apropos

[elcid73]

Thanks for all the work and passion- and thanks for fighting to keep the experience what it (mostly) always has been.

Thank you!

[Anonymous Coward]

And good luck.

  - Anonymous Coward

...HP, Earthquake, Steve Jobs, CmdrTaco, Irene...

[Lester67]

Sorry world, this week's full. Try again next week.

Poor Steve

[Huge_UID]

Jobs thinks he's going to get some press notice by announcing he is leaving, but then CmdrTaco drops his bombshell.

Thanks, and good luck!

[dowobeha]

Thanks for the site, Rob. :) I only wish I'd found it sooner.

Thanks

[mikmach]

Thank you for countless hours of information and procrastination.

Good luck!

Good luck trying to be a stay-at-home Dad!

[Anonymous Coward]

From a long-time lurker and daily reader of /. :

so long, and good luck with your career decision. I find my job much more relaxing than handling the two little rascals at home :)

ANOVWL

[Anonymous Coward]

And nothing of value was lost.

Efficiently and Enjoyably.

[j_f_chamblee]

If I had to guess, I'd say Slashdot and I conspired to add six months to my grad. school career, minimum. But I managed to get through anyway, so I don't care. Good luck and thank you.

Thanks for all the work

[Gaurang]

I have not recently visited Slashdot -- but I was ardent reader from 2002 to 2004 -- spending hours everyday here. I used to be so excited to get mod points! I learned a lot here, and importantly laughed a lot. :-) CmdrTaco -- thanks for making this website, and for giving readers like us information and enjoyment!
All the best for the future!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[tugrul]

Aye.

Man, I had forgotten how karma works here, no points to up vote you with :p

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Zergwyn]

Haven't posted in a long time either, but I too want to toss in my small token of thanks for an amazing job and long run.

God Speed, You Fancy Bastard

[empaler]

I really don't have anything more to add, but the spam filter insists that I type in *something*.

Thanks

[sesaetaen]

for all your hard work. May you find what you are looking for.

So long ago

[Chase]

It's been millennia (in net years) since I first logged into Slashdot and it seems somehow longer since I last posted. There was a time when I couldn't help but check Slashdot every 15 minutes for the latest news. Slashdot has been a significant presence in my life. This is where I learned the about the attacks on that morning of 9/11/2001.

Rob created something wonderful for us online that has often been copied but rarely done as well.

Good luck and good life to you CmdrTaco.

Chase

Thank you sir

[religious freak]

I'll echo everyone else's sentiments, but thanks for the site and I wish you well in your next endeavor. I've got a bad feeling this place is going to go to total shit now, but such is the way of the universe, right? Good luck - and seriously, this site has done a lot of tech knowledge!

Thank You

[dangerz]

Slashdot and its community have been an inspiration to me for a long time. Thank you for all you've done and for giving us voice through all these years. Best of luck wherever you may land, Roy

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Pontiac]

Yeah 6.. Never did anything for me.

So long Rob

[xlogan]

Thanks for the site! Good luck in future endeavors!

Complaining about options

[jcoleman]

Can we get a poll about this please? CowboyNeal? You still there?

Thanks Taco!

[suds]

Thanks for letting me waste a lot of time! All the best.

As everyone else has said, thanks

[Cynic]

While I can't say that I've been a daily reader, I have been reading for quite some time, mostly lurking, but I do have to say that in several ways, this site affected the progress of my schooling (all three degrees), research, and politics.

Prost!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[interkin3tic]

It gets you girls!?! Well, I gotta get in on this!

Username: whoop
Password: password

No... hmm...

Username: whoop
Password: 12345

Damn! This might take a while...

Relax...

[adapt]

Don't worry about your job options - HP really needs someone that knows what PCs are for, and Apple has an opening at the very top :)

Jokes aside, thank you for all the daily stories. I have been starting my day at work with /. since the first day on the job, and many jobs ago!

All the best,
Antonio

I quit tooir,

[Anonymous Coward]

I, Anonymous Coward, hereby retire from Slashdot. It's been a fun 14 years of goatse, GNAA, trolls, flaimbait, offtopic, and general piss and shit. So stick my dick in your pipe and smoke it,Taco fucker!

So Long and Thanks

[b12arr0]

Wow, Slashdot without Rob is like Apple without Steve. I've been coming here for years, everyday. Thanks for keeping slashdot the same great site it has been since I first came to it. Good Luck in whatever future endeavor you decide to do.

/. from January 13th, 1998...

[antdude]

http://web.archive.org/web/19980113191222/http://slashdot.org/

With CmdrTaco's posts!

/wave

[Troke]

I wish you luck on the next stage in your life. Your creation has wasted more of my time than anything else, and I am infinitely grateful.

Wow

[gangien]

I feel sad. But GL & HF taco.

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Anonymous Coward]

Always read an article before you leave a comment.

Thank you

[nagudaku]

Dear Rob, thank you for making slashdot what it is today.

Thanks for the ride

[Bruzer]

Cmdr Taco,

I have never known you but you created something that has been very important to me and so many other people. I imagine /. feels like your child and walking away from it must be hard. I hope you are truly satisfied with what you have done, if not look at all the posts, rinse and repeat.

Good luck in your future endeavors and submit a story if you start another venture. I would like to be in at the ground level with a low UID with this next venture! Apparently this low UID thing impresses people!

Thank you sir for all the work,

      - Bruzer

P.S. You guys did not invent posting anonymously, but thanks for keeping the Anonymous Coward feature. I have only used it once or twice myself. I think it allows people to post what is really on their minds (even if it is silly or stupid). I think it is an important part of this site.

I will miss him.

[patjhal]

I always considered him like a younger, more successful version of myself. Wait. Why do I miss him? That little good for nothing punk. (this is certainly to be taken in jest for those who may not understand).

Thank You

[audacity242]

I've been reading slashdot for somewhere around 13 years. Wish I could figure out when on earth I registered this account, I remember at the time being woefully dismayed that I had a 6 digit UID (the friend who let me know about slashdot had a 5 digit UID). In some way, I feel like a part of my youth has been lost. slashdot has been with me through four boyfriends, y2k, 09/11/2001, OMG ponies, the launch of gmail on April Fool's Day, the implementation of the mod system, the rise and fall of Netscape, Dogpile, Altavista, the popularity of Linux distros waxing and waning, the evolution of Microsoft, Apple, and Google, and countless other events, large and small, good and bad.

Years ago, there was some article in which an argument erupted in the comments about whether it was okay to urinate in sinks. I argued against it, and some random guy clicked my profile, found some photography I'd done, and sent me some emails. We lived in the same town. We just celebrated our third wedding anniversary.

I've never been a programmer, nor a sysadmin, or held any IT position. But slashdot has expanded my horizons in immeasurable ways, and in some way, I wouldn't be the person I am today if it had not been for slashdot. In some way, I wouldn't be the person I am today if it had not been for slashdot. I thank you for that.

You probably WON'T read this, but... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

You have one HELL of a great news aggregation site here: Kudos (it literally became my fav. around 2003-2004 & I started posting here as "AC" (as is "my style") @ the tail end of '04 - couldn't resist!)). It's the best out there I have seen to date online (thru the 1980's in collegiate academia, albeit largely thru UNIX BBS' &/or Gophers + FTP mostly, not like the web 1994 onwards for "the masses")... no joke/sarcasm/not kidding.

I never met you, but, I have met "your work" & that says a lot to me about a person... see the above. Nicest part to see of all that you wrote? That you did it because you LOVE it, and passion? Sells... it's a uniting/binding factor with folks with common-ground interests, you noted it yourself...

* In ANY event? Well - Hope you fare well in your next endeavors too... I am sure you will (you can't keep a good man down (not for long @ least)).

APK

P.S.=> Ok, NOW? I finally JUST read your entire "goodbye" post, as is "the style" around here (comment first, RTFA later, right?), which usually ISN'T my style, but, here goes (the inevitable "APK P.S."):

It's good to see a guy out of collegiate academia having done well for a "labor of love" (bet it surprised the HECK out of you seeing it "take off" as it did, right?).

Should be inspirational material for others really, OR, @ least hopefully if anything...

Oh, and - Too bad you're losing your ability to post here (hey - there's always the "APK" route via AC, right? Look @ me, the guy who WILL NOT REGISTER (because of the trolls of course, & of course, also because AndyK has "APK" taken before I ever even came here too - I won't "settle" for being anything else BUT myself is why mostly) - do consider it, because YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T RESIST IT, lol... I hope it's not because of some "NDA" type business b.s. either as to "tying your hands" & being unable to post here anymore though).

Your idea on writing a book - NOT A BAD ONE @ ALL: You are an "online success story" you know, & that means money to others interested in publishing novels based on business entrepreneurship imo @ least... Fact is, I'm surprised a publication like "Entrepreneur Magazine" hasn't gotten ahold of you for an interview also, for example... I think you can expect a bit of that coming your way I'd wager too!

As to enjoying your family? Best thing in the world man - you have the means to do that now, so... ENJOY IT! You'll be back @ something along the lines of this (or not) before you know it though I wager...

Bottom-line: Thanks for creating a site that was based on something YOU enjoyed, because, you said it best in your summation parting message that "geeks getting together" from all income brackets/lifestyles WAS what this was all about, after all... that's infectious stuff (& again, I BET there were or are times you sit back & go "WoW - can't believe it turned into THIS!").

Never met you that I know of here, but it's nice to be able to say what I said to you, because personally? Yea, I love this place, *NIX "bent/centric" though it is, trolls & all, as again, it's my "FAV" & I wish I discovered it years earlier (I might have even registered).

Yes - It's even fun debating the *NIX zealots (the "Pro-*NIX consortium" as I wont to call they), because they give me ideas to combat their zealotry with, & even convinced me to retry Linux again (Slackware 1994 1.02 model user here way back when, & reading on Ubuntu here had me running KUbuntu here for ages in fact)...

So, in the end here?

I suppose, with yourself sounding as a *NIX man (PERL & all I see)? You accomplished that much from me, getting me to "dip my beak" into a form of *NIX on a PC again in fact (mission accomplished on that account)...

... apk

Best of luck Rob.

[RKBA]

As a long time Slashdot subscriber, I wish you all the best in your future life "CmdrTaco". You will be missed (in spite of what everyone says about you, haha! ;-).

Godspeed

[rune.w]

You are lucky that you leave with the satisfaction that arises from a job well done. Congratulations on your achievement and best of luck in your future life. You'll be missed.

Time to move on.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Presence2]

I never paid much attention to when my account was created, but it feels like /. has been a part of my daily news fix forever, and it hopefully will continue to do so. Best wishes to Rob and his family moving forward.

thanks

[YanIsa]

Un-mothballed my account just to post this: Slashdot has been an integral part of internet's late 90s and early 00s for me and for most of the geek world. Thanks for all your hard work.

Full Circle

[Bensam123]

"The internet has changed dramatically since I started here, and that's part of my reason for leaving. For me, the Slashdot of today is fused to the Slashdot of the past. This makes it really hard to objectively consider the future of the site."

Sadly this is something a lot of the popular things are encountering online... games like Starcraft, Warcraft, WoW, Counter Strike, and pretty much anything else that can be labeled nostalgia with enough people to get stuck in their ways. It's sad you can't transform this site on your whim into something better without a huge uproar, so you either have to start something new or update it so frequently that no one can tell the difference as it changes over time. That didn't happen on Slashdot and companies like Google knew better before they even started.

I have been reading here since about 2001, so I'm not as old as everyone else, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this site to go with my morning 'coffee' so to speak. Some stories are more nerd related then others, but it's overall still pretty good. I enjoyed it.

Thanks for something worth checking in the morning

[R-type the unseen]

I haven't really posted here often, but reading the posts is part of my morning ritual at work. This site has been a great place to get info as well as insight. Thank you CmdrTaco.

Thanks for all the great work!

[fluch]

Wish you all the best!
- Martin

Thank you.

[Rifter13]

Thank you for what you have done for us.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[tkprit]

And I remember thinking that (about registering) too! I lost my first uid pw and had to make this one; lurked as AC between times and just said who I was. Still hate registering at sites.

And every /. user posts their respects...

[DisKurzion]

I too must join the swarm. I discovered /. around 2001, and haven't gone more than a few days without it since. CmdrTaco (and crew!)...you have created one of the most influential geeky sites on the internet. I will keep an eye out for your next project.

Farewell

[crisco]

/. has been pretty influential in my life and career and I want to thank you and the crew still on for all the work.

Thank you and God Bless

[farewel]

Not much of a poster but have been an avid listener for years. This has been a spot I have visited daily for the last ten years. Your hard work has really helped, challenged, and inspired me. Thank you, Patrick

Thanks!

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for many years of knowledge, insight and laughs CmdrTaco, you will be missed. Your passion has always been very evident, and I'm a better person because of this site.

Thank you

[simplu]

/. is my no. 1 site. For news and fun. Thank you.

You are a gentleman and a scholar.

[jcampbelly]

Rob Malda, thank you so much for making this site and working so hard to make it the heart of the Open Source Software/Internet Security/Freedom of Information news beat. I can only imagine how stressful it was to maintain quality and balance time/personal life issues with a site of this magnitude. My hat is off to you, Sir.

I've been O.C.D. tailing Slashdot for about 10 years; this site has been the source of much education and a lifelong interest in science, technology, programming, education, freedom of speech, businesses and even government for me. There's nothing quite like hordes of technology masterminds with personality disorders debating furiously until nothing but hurt feelings and rock bare truth remains. The discussions here have been a font of wisdom that I hope remains online forever.

I have a gigantic list of Ask Slashdot threads and various other legendary comments that I will cherish as tomes of barely tapped, limitless technical wisdom. Each thread was sparked by a headline, and then built up by hundreds of deeply interested, knowledgeable, passionate people as well as many times as many fools, whose unappreciated role of making horribly flawed arguments made for golden opportunities to dispense hard-earned real-world understanding. I gleaned much from the sidelines.

wtf mod troll-rated seamas?

[tkprit]

(I know it's spelled wrong; that's how I've always pronounced it in my mind) The timing DOES seem douchey :/

Thanks for everything!

[Xiver]

Thanks for all of the polls with the CmdrTaco options.
Thanks for having a thick skin through all of the criticisms.
Thanks for the slashdot effect.
You were instrumental in shaping my early experiences and expectations of the internet.
Thanks for all your hard work.

Thanks, Rob!

[Scott Ransom]

I've read slashdot daily since it started -- it has been a fantastic source of information, ideas, and laughs. Good luck with all your future endeavors.

Scott

Last Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

Polls will never be the same.

Yet another THANK YOU VERY MUCH post

[lsolano]

That's all.

I just did not want to post it under someone else "thanks" post. I'm being selfish today :-)

The best for you and your family!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[LabRatty]

I did not think there were so many low uids still active.

443 before me, was that a measure of a few days back then?
Is there anywhere your join date is listed? I had a poke about the account section, could not spot it

First post

[Anonymous Coward]

I never created an account or even commented on anything, but I've been reading /. daily since 1999.

"Thank you, CmdrTaco" is all I'll say.

*Salute*

[Admiral Burrito]

I accept your resignation. It has been an honor serving with you.

Thanks

[NitsujTPU]

Honestly, Slashdot has been one of my favorite websites ever since it was shown to me in high school. Within a year or two after I started reading Slashdot, it became *the* place to become "in the know" with what was going on in technology.

A big part of the direction that Slashdot has moved in has been a product of this. More and more people knew that Slashdot was a place to go to to get "in the know," but the pool of truly enthusiastic, sharp, science and engineering minded people became diluted with people who simply wanted to be associated with that. Everyone wanted to participate, and the signal to noise ratio went down. It's unfortunate, but the thing that initially attracted people here was largely due to your vision and your efforts. I don't believe that your departure is likely to improve the site. I know that I, at times, have been critical of the direction that Slashdot has gone in (and at times you have expressed frustrations with the site yourself, or at least, frustrations with what you should do with it), but this change in direction has largely been a product of the change in readership. It has been your vision that has managed to keep it sane.

What is truly unfortunate is that, looking around the Internet for a site that gives me the same enjoyment that Slashdot did in its heyday, I have come up empty-handed. It really does feel like there is nowhere online for the old-school geek anymore. Everyone wants to be part of that now. In fact, being a "hipster" now involves saying how geeky and quirky you are. It's pretty annoying seeing kids who can't even program move in on my turf like that.

Anyway, thanks for all of the effort that you've put into this site, and I honestly do hope that we meet at an Open Source convention of some sort someday. If we do, I'll buy you a beer.

Thank you Rob

[dynamo]

A long time ago, for me, slashdot WAS the internet. It was THE place around with ease of use plus freedom of speech, anonymous posting, and reasonable though eccentric people (and yes, they are still here along with the rest of us.) Thank you for making something so fundamental to the development of developers who developed the modern technological age we live in, that having a four digit slashdot id is something to be proud of.

Yes, that's right - for the sake of old times, in your face, five digit plussers!

So Long, and Thanks for the Laughs...

[slashfucker]

So sad to see an old adversary go.

I wrote a poem for the occasion....

Though I've belted you and flayed you

By the livin' god that made you

You're a better man than I am, Commander Faggot...

Almost.

another longtime reader

[ThorGod]

I honestly doubt my high school, undergrad, and grad years would have been as geeky w/o slashdot.

Thanks, Taco, maybe now I can find a girlfriend and stop being bullied by the jocks!

$ sudo pkill -KILL -u cmdrtaco

[Teun]

Sorry to see you go!

You've set up what has over the years become my favourite site.
The first couple of months I resisted registration as I don't enjoy spreading my details but the way you treated your members convinced me otherwise :).

I sincerely thank you for all the stories and their insightful comments you've exposed me to and wish you a nice new playing field!

Thanks for all

[Anonymous Coward]

We will miss you but we appreciate all the stories you have posted over the years. And the evolution of /. has been fun to watch.

Good Luck!

Good Luck

[Gehenna]

Thanks for the /. stories over the years.

A model for well moderated discourse

[iyntsiannaistnyi]

Slashdot has been a significant part of the formation of my identity in terms of interest, exploring diverse issues, and exposure to technologies that I wouldn't otherwise have encountered. I thank you, Rob, for everything you've done to create and cultivate this community.

I've been thinking more about Slashdot recently because of my involvement in "Nym-Wars". In at least one place Slashdot was cited as a stellar example of the civility and quality that can be fostered in a community that functions primarily pseudonymously, but also allows anonymity (two things I very much are about). The moderation system in place here is complex (I myself still find it a little confusing) but there is no question that it works. Slashdot is one of the few places where I consider the comments on an article as much (often more) worth reading as the article itself. Obviously my appreciation for this applies to the whole Slashdot community, but I am posting this specifically in recognition of CmdrTaco's influence in shaping the community.

Rob, may everything else you do in the years to come be as interesting and fruitful as your work here! Community and communication are essential, amazing things, and I'm sure your contributions to the world at large are far from over.

Fuck you

[Anonymous Coward]

Now suck my Goatse for wasting ten years of my life!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[bill_mcgonigle]

Are there Slashdot Achievements for "Creating a post with the highest/lowest average commenting UID" ...?

yes, but the css has been broken for two months, so you can't see it.

Thanks

[Bludemos]

Thanks from another long-time lurker... You'll be msssed CmdrTaco...

Farewell

[Anonymous Coward]

Like a lot of others here, I was introduced to slashdot a few years ago by another techie - a programmer and artist I corresponded with through a Honda VFR motorcycle list, which was also populated by nerds... but nerds with a cool streak I suppose. She wrote 'you may want to check out this page - news for techies and geeks.' Before you knew it, I was spending a lot of time reading slashdot, at least when things were slow. While I generally lurk rather than post, I can't even recall how many stories cmdrtaco posted, but there was always something by him on the page.

Congratulations on creating something unique Rob, your little piece of history that will leave an indelible stamp. First Jobs goes and now you. Too bad that you will not be maintaining a hand in slashdot to give it the same consistency. Nonetheless, your legacy will last for many years in the memory of techies. I'm sad to see you go. On the other hand, it takes a really brave man to walk away and take on new challenges elsewhere instead of staying where it is safe and secure, and I applaud your courage. Good luck to you in future endeavors. No doubt you will do well, and you can look back on the past with pride and fondness.

First Steve Jobs, now Malda?

[Anonymous Coward]

First Steve Jobs, now Malda? Next you'll tell me that Bill Gates has resigned from Microsoft! What a world!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[mcmonkey]

I usually estimate by folks with numbers close to mine.

So if you don't know, then I don't know. I'm guessing around late-2000/early-2001.

I started lurking at one job in 2000. But I don't think I created the account until another job I started September 2000.

Was laid off in March 2001 (yea dot bomb!) so that narrows it down.

Damn, it's like a president died

[tkprit]

I think I'll remember where I was when I heard this news. Fuckin' Facebook of all places! It's like being caught with your pants down at the Second Coming.

Do not...

[JockTroll]

... Let the door hit you on the way out. It's a good door.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[mcmonkey]

443 before me, was that a measure of a few days back then?

We should start a project to get active folks to post to a thread in order of UID.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[rk]

Absolutely! Looking at some of these numbers I feel like a newbie around here now. It was just zis vebsite, see?

So many memories

[Cally]

Almost all good ones. So, so long and thanks.

Hey, how come my comment didn't post when I hit <return>?

tyvm

[Anonymous Coward]

penis

I just want to say

[WowTIP]

Thank you. That is all.

Dup

[SnarfQuest]

After 14 years and over 15,000 stories posted,

Too bad that it was the same story, duped 15,000 times.

Retirement Party Gift Ideas

[Lawrence_Bird]

someone will surely get him some ponies, right?

First Post!

[SendBot]

I've never done a FP comment before, and now seemed like the time. Am I late?

I have plenty of fond memories reading slashdot religiously after I graduated high school (about the same time /. started) as I stumbled through IT as pertains to the real world. I even started a once very popular movie news blog using the /. db structure, which was overkill, but we implemented the fields we needed and built an original thing in php around it. It was a very fun and rewarding early web project for me and my friends.

Thanks a lot for your contributions Rob!

Happy Trails, CmdrTaco!

[Yet Another Smith]

And best of luck in your future endeavors.

You should try to become an astronaut. That'd be cool.

Resign = Retired?

[akatangac]

Your creation is nothing short of inspiring and invaluable. Simplicity and dedicated focus goes a long way. Thanks for a meaningful contribution to society and IT culture. Godspeed.

So long

[manaway]

Thanks for creating such a +1 informative, +1 insightful, +1 interesting, +1 funny, and broad-spectrum forum. Your good-bye brought nerdy tears to my eyes.

Best of luck

[the_y_the]

I've never met the guy, and I only started reading the site since 2002 (registered much later). But for some reason I felt a real pang when I read this. I still come to the site everyday, despite currently being posted in Samoa where the internet is slow and time limited at best. Good luck CmdrTaco. Cheers for everything.

Thanks for all the fish.

[Halo Nine]

I remember discovering Slashdot in '97 or '98, at my first job out of college, a dot-com job. What a crazy time. How can it have been so long? Twenty years since my first concert - the first Lollapalooza, more than ten years since Fight Club came out, Steve Jobs resigning - but I still have two shares of Apple I bought back then at $32. I still remember the Slashdot blue-green (same as it is today, but without the gradient ;) ) and how every post, and every comment (above 3 or so) was SO smart and thought-provoking. It blew my mind. I've read Slashdot both more and less over the years... but I'm still reading. It'll be a little strange not seeing the CmdrTaco handle anymore, but life goes on. Best wishes, Rob. Anyways I have added you on my newfangled Google Plus. :)

Respects

[fretmore]

Just wanted to say thanks for everything, Rob. Been reading /. forever, it feels like, with this being the one site I've visited practically every day over the last 12 years or so. Best of luck, good sir.

Colin

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[_0xd0ad]

http://slashdot.org/zoo.pl?op=check&uid=3

Also try 666.

14 years?....

[darkstar]

It doesn't feel that long.....

Good luck!

Thank you for creating this community

[zmughal]

I've been on /. for nearly half my life (I finally registered only 8 years later). While I was growing up, I read Slashdot almost daily and every time I would learn something interesting from either the FA or the comments. It is the variety of stories, diversity of opinions, and the signal-to-noise ratio that keeps me coming back here as opposed to than any other discussion site.

I can truly say that this site has changed my life. Thank you, Rob and Jeff. And thanks to all the other editors and users that have made this a positive experience and hopefully will continue to do so.

- Zaki

P.S.: Great timing with the 20th anniversary of Linux. Now I have two things to think about as my own 21st birthday approaches. :-)

Thanks for the memories!

[mstaj]

Thanks for the years of work. I've been reading /. for so long now I can't remember the internet before it.

Best of luck to you!

I liked Taco's comic book flick reviews!

[Anonymous Coward]

He's the person who reminded me to see "X-Men 1st Class" day after it came out (was too busy to keep it @ the "top of my agenda" is why... but, not too busy to not visit my fav. site to date online on the public internet (not via academic means, was doing that in the 1980's))!

* Now, he MAY not like me too much (big Windows fan here is why) IF he even knows who I am, but... I respect & admire anyone that does what they love & do well from it. That's the RIGHT way to go about life imo!

APK

P.S.=> In the end? Well... I just hope this place doesn't change too "radically" with his departure...

This is odd, but... @ first? I hated how /. is "laid out" because I was used to Forums board BBS type layouts (think UBB).

Slashdot was ODD by comparison!

(Even worse now with the Web2.0 b.s & how my fav. browser Opera 11.5x reacts to it with cookies + javascript turned off (I can't see all the comments is why nowadays))

However - it "grew on me" (along with the content): Like I said here in my post to "the commander"

http://meta.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2397584&cid=37210050

I admire ANYONE who does what they love, & does well @ it, is why (and creates something others like/love also), & thus, I admire + respect this guy... this site even got me to RETRY Linux again (after a LONG "sojourn" from it). It's a site where I found the best "tech talent" for the most part too, in 1 spot, concentrated.

I am certain that He'll do well @ other things, you can't keep that kind of person down for too long is why. He's got "the right idea" on how & WHY to do anything is why.

Anyhow... again: I like the comic book flick reviews (grew up reading Marvel stuff is why thru from around 1970 onwards & it's astounding to me in a way to see them not only as films, but inspiring things like actual "Iron Man" suits out of Raytheon & more)...

I imagine that must be like what Taco feels when he sees what his collegiate hobby has become in later reality (best news aggregator site online, imo @ least, bar-none!)...

... apk

Thanks Rob!

[Hadlock]

Let me preface this by saying I received no less than four instant messages about this slashdot article today.
 
I discovered Slashdot early in high school, and before long, all my friends had heard about it as well. I lurked for a few years before registering, which is why I ended up with an early 6-digit ID instead of the 5-digit.
 
But besides that, Slashdot was the premier site for news and discussion of tech news. In the early days, the only other options were news.com (now cnet) and msnbc's "science and technology" section. In my mind, it was slashdot that launched the tech news sector as we know it today, and I don't think any other site is so rooted in bringing the issue of patent law and privacy law to the average user.
 
I now supplement my daily tech news from places like google news, but I was recently down in austin hanging out with several friends from high school and their coding/engineer buddies. We now have other things to talk about besides computers, but here we were, occasionally punctuating conversation with "did you see that article on Slashdot?" "yeah! isn't that wild?". Many of my friends still scan the front page at least daily, and a few months don't go by that some slashdot headline doesn't make our internal mailing list.
 
I'm sad to see Rob go, but I'll be interested to see what he does next in life, and what the yet-as-unannounced new head of Slashdot decides which direction to take it in.

Thanks Rob

[corinroyal]

I've been a mostly daily reader since '98-99 or so. I don't post or comment much, but I've been with you most of the time. Just want to say thanks.

You'll be missed.

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for all you've done to create & maintain this site. I really appreciate the news from a geek perspective, its hard now that cnet is so bureaucratic and engadget (josh) is gone. This remains a place of authentic geekyness :)

Farewell, CmdrTaco. And thanks.

[andrew_mike]

Seriously, this site helped shape my teenage years. It made me even more of a nerd that I probably would have ended up being. It's sad to see you go, but I can understand why you think it had to happen. I could say this place won't be the same without you, but I suppose that was the point, wasn't it?

Good luck in whatever you do next, and here's to another 15 years of Slashdot...hopefully without it getting sold out to CNet or something and becoming mindless drivel.

Good luck in your future endeavors Rob!

[mTor]

Thanks Rob! I've enjoyed this site for many many years and have enjoyed your direction and editorial. Good luck wherever you end up!

So many old folks

[Rinisari]

Thanks! Slashdot has touched many lives, including mine. It's all because of you and yours.

P.S. I have never before seen so many 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-digit UIDs in a single thread.

NO WAY!

[demon]

I heard about this through other channels, but felt a need, like a fish making its way upstream, to come back and throw in a little something.

Yes, I'm one of those early UIDs. I still remember Chips and Dips, and I still remember when one CmdrTaco announced on IRC that we should all check it out. Later, that we should all create accounts. I eventually did so, as have... well, millions of others in the intervening 14 years. (Has it really been 14 years now?)

I've not been reading so much lately, but for a long time Slashdot was a hub of geek culture for me. The passing of the founders out of its good graces, and back into the mass of us "little people", will not be forgotten. Things have changed, but Slashdot lives.

Rob, if you're looking for a place to waste some spare time, #linuxOS is still around. We won't give you too much crap about ignoring us since the olden days. (Well, we'll try not to.) And we won't put any stickers on you. I can promise that much.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[pez]

Got me by one....

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[ibjhb]

Agreed

Still #1

[aztektum]

Even with all that has come since - Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, Engadget, Anandtech, Arstechnica, etc. - the first thing I click in my bookmark bar every morning is /.

I'm getting all misty.

Thank you sir

[jfrank]

I began many, many mornings by checking /. - Thanks for everything, it was a great run.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Very Grateful

[Ezekiel68]

So much of the news that has mattered to me over the last 13 years has come first from slashdot. Stuff relevant to my career, to my health, to my views on public policy. I am very grateful for the virtual space you and your friends carved out that has made this discussion forum possible. All the best wishes on whatever is next for you!

Good Luck

[ibjhb]

I haven't been around as long as some, but still appreciate everything you've done for the site and Internet!

Way back in 1998

[Loundry]

I was still in college and my becoming of a full-blown Linux nerd was a function of my seething hatred for Microsoft. Back then, "News for nerds, stuff that matters" was an anthem for my people. The nerdy ones. I wanted to be esoteric, abstract, intelligent, and I wanted respect for all the things that I liked that had been so commonly mocked and derided during high school. Slashdot filled that void in a very special way: it was new, it was on the web, it was underground, it was filled with people like me: young, male, nerdy. Who was I to know that "Lord of the Rings" would one day win best picture? Back then, "Revenge of the Nerds" was a movie I remember in the theater.

Watching Slashdot grow up wasn't as interesting as watching myself grow up. I became a parent. I learned how to cook. I stopped hating Microsoft so much (I remember feeling ever so slightly conflicted about buying an Xbox). I even returned to my "Apple roots" when I forsook my aging, whirring linux box for an iMac a few years ago. "It's UNIX", I told myself. Funny how priorities change. My coworker, who is in his mid-20s, calls me "old". I call him "post-Jedi", referring to the movie after which he was born. I saw Star Wars in the theater, but I was too young to remember it.

Slashdot is special and will always be. Thank you, Rob, for being there for all of us. And Emacs still sucks.

o/ Rob, thanks!

[Jantastic]

Thanks Rob, your creation made the internet a more interesting, more enjoyable and even more useful place, for many many people.

I wish you all the best with the challenges that lie ahead for you.
I wish us a /. site run the way you have been running it all these years.
Cheers!

Thank you

[koja86]

I was reading slashdot for past 8 years since my high school. I have created this new account just to say THANK YOU. It is almost frightening that such a news about someone who I haven't ever met and who I know just as a strange nick under some of those interesting posts would bring so much nostalgic thoughts. Things are definitely changing way much faster than I would like. Thank you CmdrTaco for all the stuff that matters. Because of you I know what is going on in the world around.

All the best

[scrutty]

The site was important. It worked really well. I'm glad I was there to witness it. It's less frequent these days, but I always come back. The first one is always the most special.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Colonel Korn]

I've been spending a lot of time each week on Slashdot since 1999, but I was such a firm believer in the concept of the AC that I didn't sign up until nearly a decade later. It's strange to hear that there will no longer be a taco at the helm. I feel like I just finished the internet.

Founders are always greatly missed..

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks a lot for /., I've been reading this site since day 1, or something like that. I've not posted much on here, and I don't even have an account, yet I felt that the site was a great contribution to the internet itself. Most of the time I found my information elsewhere, but /. always was a good hint/prod in whatever direction. out

Thanks Rob!

[Rob T Firefly]

I drifted away from Slashdot site long ago, but I had to come back to comment on this. For a certain period of my life, Slashdot was a major chunk of my day, every day. The stories and community here never failed to make me happy, angry, informed, distracted, thoughtful, content, and LOL many times a day, and some of the friendships I made here have held fast since I left. All the best of luck to you, Taco. I look forward to whatever you do next, I predict it will be awesome.

Thanks for being there, daily

[MrJones]

Many thanks Rob!

I registered to the site while on a 28kbps modem, Netscape 2 on Linux 1.3. Since then I have read the site every day, seriously. Sometimes many times per hour. I always recommend the site to people. If I meet someone and he read /., then he may know something about Tech/IT/Science, its a catalyst for finding real nerds.

The best poll was that about toilet paper, if you put the end at the top or the bottom. At the top is the right answer ;)

I'm proud that you accepted a few submission of mine, I'm really are. Don't know why but that makes me happy.

I wish the best luck in your new future, you made history, Godspeed and thanks again!

Slashdot founder buried alive...

[iceaxe]

...under mountain of thank you posts. News at 11.

Here's another.

Thank you, old friend-I've-never-met. The years of slashdot have brought me much good. (Along with heaps of other stuff.)

It has made a difference.

Thanks

[ameoba]

Nothing notable for me to say here - I don't have a super low UID or any special claim to fame but thanks for all the years of work.

The Legions of Geeks Salute you, Sir!

[trellick]

Enjoy the time with the family......and many thanks for all the hard work......

Fair Winds and Following Seas!

It's been the best of times...

[Panaflex]

Thanks Rob for giving us all your time and effort. Thanks for sharing your experiences, your ideas and your fervent hope in better tech, better science and all things awesome.

I think we only chatted a couple of times at random Linux conferences, but I was always in awe that you bootstrapped slashdot from practically nothing. Of course having great friends helped, I'm sure.

SO one final thanks - you did awesome. Hope to see you about!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[vranash]

Hemos: Good Luck with the Google job. But out of curiousity, did I just miss a day or did we not have a big front-page posting of you retiring?

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Cheeko]

Could be worse, I lost the login info for my 5 digit and had to re-register with this gaudy 6 digit thing.

Fair winds and Following Seas

[NoMercy]

Been reading /. for so many years, will miss your posts, and your double posts twice as much :)

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[vranash]

Could be worse, I didn't get around to posting non-AC until like early '00, which is why I've only got a six digit UID. Still, beats the 7 digit my first registration on ICQ had (Sad too because I knew two girls, neither of them overly nerdy who had 6 digit ones. Sadly I never married either of them. Alas the life of loser! (Wasn't nerdy enough for the nerds, was too nerdy for everyone else :D)

Thanks

[alanp]

Is all I can say.

For creating /.
For making it great
For keeping it great
For giving me so much information without the bullshit.

Thanks so much, from a guy you've never met and never will meet.

Thanks

[kingduct]

Wasn't going to post here, almost never do, I'm a lurker. I know that nobody'll ever read this, but I wanted to thank you. This is one of the few websites which has drawn me back day after day for more than 10 years. You did a great job, as have many of the other people who have worked on the site and who have been regular users. Good luck with future endeavors (and with doing nothing for a while).

Thanks!

[rakarnik]

Slashdot has kept me up to date with the geek world for many many years, through college, my first job, and grad school. Appreciate it, and best of luck with your future plans.

Wow

[yerktoader]

Wow, Mr. T. I don't think any of us can imagine this site without you and your direction. For many like myself, you and the site have been a part of our life for over a decade. It sounds like you will continue to have some influence, and considering this is a site - a huge and influential one no less - that you founded, I should hope so.

Fair winds and following seas, good sir.

-Yerk

I'm glad to see a lot of = 4 digit user ids here.

[Thrakkerzog]

I'm glad to see a lot of = 4 digit user ids here. It's amazing how many of us are still around, even if we are not very active.

Making history one day at a time

[teebo]

After having found community in BBSes my direction was set upon this incredible course of life I'm blessed to be traveling down. When the BBS scene began to fade, Slashdot and sCary's Shuga Shack became my new digital communities. I've learned more from the people involved and the cultures that grow out of these collectives than I can possibly articulate.

Thanks for what you started. Thanks for moving on. More adventures will be found.

Truly a sad day

[mcoletti]

As my user number attests, I've been on board /. from nigh near the beginning. I may not read /. with the near obsessive frequency I did in the 90s, but I still poke my nose in now and again for news. I also had the pleasure of meeting you and Hemos at the 1999 Lokihack, which you both judged. I remembered coming away from Marietta more impressed by how sharp and gee golly nice you guys were. I knew then, more than ever, that /. was in good hands. I think I might even have saved some of your original /. business cards.

(The tragic irony is that I learned about your resignation via twitter, and not from checking ./ itself. Oy.)

So very sorry that you're leaving, but I well understand that occasionally one needs to hit the ole magic reset on life, to move on to a new, fresh chapter. We can only keep on the same trajectory for so long before burn out saps the will to live. So, all the best on starting your next chapter; if the previous one is an indicator, it'll be a doozy.

Cheers,

Mark Coletti
(User 367)

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Virtual_Raider]

ok, that was pretty funny. And this post makes me wish I had my 5 digit UID still. =(

Ha! In your face! ;)

Also, farewell CmdrTaco, Sir!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[mithrandir14]

Wow. This is crazy.

So long, CmdrTaco...

[Sigmon]

Thanks for all the memories! I've been pretty much a daily reader since the date I joined.... wish I knew what date that was. Didn't sign-up for an account for a LONG time after I started reading... might have had a 4 or 5 digit number if I had signed up earlier. :-) Good luck in your future endeavors!

-Sigmon

Thanks

[KingMotley]

Just wanted to say thanks Rob for creating a site that I've enjoyed visiting for all these years. We've not always seen eye to eye on many things, but I kept coming back for more. Definitely one of the best sites on the internet, and by far the best news site. Thanks, and I wish you well in your future endeavors, may they be even bigger and brighter (or maybe just more fun?)

Wow. Who'd a thunk it?

[dinotrac]

Shocked, amazed, and not surprised at all.
You don't know me, but I met you and the /. crew at Linuxworld nearly a dozen years ago. You guys were hot stuff back then, but today? Who knew?

Still, so many things have changed --

No more World Trade Center and no more Space Shuttle.
Innocent little cellphones are now GPS-enabled computers more powerful than my old workstation.
Steve Jobs is moving on from Apple (again)
But he's leaving behind iPods and iPhones and iPads.
Madonna's still around, but we're no longer GaGa for her.
Which still leaves her better off than Saddam Hussein and Moamar Gaddafi.

Change is a good thing, partly because the wistfulness it brings drives home how great things were and partly because of the hope -- and real possibility -- that things to come will be greater still.

Congrats for a great run.
Live long and prosper.
Or something like that.

PS: Didn't need the fish, but thanks anyway.

Thanks!

[tickticker]

I first came here doing a search on why my 3 floppy disk install kept failing and discovered floppies suck and linux floppies are or were... sensitive. I remember thinking "CmdrTaco? Must work at Taco Bell to earn money."

After lurking for awhile I had to make some snappy assed reply to someone and finally took the plunge to make an account. I thought ACs were... ACs. Then I promptly forgot said username/password and lurked more until I started taping them to my monitor... j/k!

I remember being thrilled that Slashdot stories were on Google News! So many great stories, so many snarky trolling comments, so many incredibly accurate polls, so much wasted time and time well spent.

Thank you CmdrTaco. I salute you!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[josecanuc]

Looking at your username, are you an Aggie? I also signed up on a whim when I saw that the site offered accounts.

Good luck

[isleman]

Good luck man

Thanks Rob

[mattmcp]

I used to read religiously, not so anymore. Back in the early aughts I spent countless hours here and learned a lot. Thanks.

thanks and good luck

[ecloud]

Yeah it's been a while hasn't it... I think I've read at least 80% or so of the days since sometime in the 90's, it might've been 97; it's like smoking must be (not that I've tried), addictive and fills the awkward moments. You guys threw a cool party "get sloshed with slashdot" at a silicon valley Linux conference in 1999 I think (celebrating the Andover money I suppose); I and a friend from the local LUG rented a minivan and drove from Phoenix for that (well, for the conference, not only the party ;-). I hope the site is not going downhill in any way after your leaving. But I can appreciate the need to find some other meaning to life after such a long time in one gig. ;-) So good luck with whatever you end up doing next, and thanks for all the news and entertainment for all those years. As they say, time flies like arrows...

Thank You cmdrtaco

[Anonymous Coward]

CmdrTaco - Thank you and your friends for /. It means a lot to us, possibly more than you could ever imagine. Good luck to you in the future!

From a long time lurker...

[joeslugg]

Thanks for all the enjoyment you've given through the care and feeding of this site and all of its inhabitants and indigenous species. Whether it was +1 Insightful or +5 Funny, it's always been a great site to read, and I plan to keep reading for years to come.

I also think it is poetically ironic that I had to type this post twice since my first attempt got eaten by the current instantiation of the Slashdot machine :-)

Best of luck to you in your new full time gig defending your lawn from being trampled by young passers by!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Teach]

True enough. Thanks, CmdrTaco, for everything.

Good Luck and Godspeed

[jtippman]

I *heart* Taco.

*snif*

Thanks

[awaterl]

Slashdot was huge influence on my life. I first heard about it as a freshman at the University of Oklahoma in the fall of 1997, when one of the core GIMP hackers told us about it. Thanks for all the education CmdrTaco.

Thank you

[MrKaos]

for wasting my time with all this interesting, educational (mostly) stuff, it was great and is appreciated.

Slashdot works

[fritsd]

Congratulations on getting some kind of intangible aspects of building a discussion forum website exactly right (we wouldn't all be reading and commenting here if you hadn't succeeded). Beats me why Slashdot works, but it clearly does! Many thanks, and good luck in your next career whatever it is!

Best wishes for the future

[MtlDty]

Thanks for the good times. This is still THE site I rely on for my daily dose of nerd news. Don't know how I could ever manage without it.

Just wanted to say thanks.

[nathana]

I'm not exactly the most vocal contributor here, but as you can probably see, I've been around for a while, and believe-you-me your presence will be missed.

Thanks for /.

-- Nathan

Gonna miss you CmdrTaco

[RudyValencia]

Slashdot just won't be the same without 'ya :'(

Being slashdotted

[RogerWilco]

If you create something that ends up becoming part of the language, then you have done something great. Being Slashdotted might not be as widely used as Cleenex of Googling, but it's a clear mark of your impact on the world.

I've been frequenting this site for a long time now, thanks for those years.

That's no taco

[hcgpragt]

I feel a great disturbance in the force. :(

Farewell and Thanks!

[Anonymous Coward]

From the official representant of all Anonymous Cowards

Successor

[starling]

I nominate Jon Katz.

well done

[tcyun]

not many can say that they created something that a mass of people wanted/liked/appreciated.
well done.
i owe you a beer (or six).
 

saw your name

[tkprit]

and I still think demandred killed asmodean.

Re:saw your name

[Taim]

and I still think demandred killed asmodean.

I'd been waiting for the reviews to come in on the Sanderson novels before committing myself to reading them, and was pleasantly surprised at how good they ended up being.

That being said even after re-reading the entire series for what seems like the thousandth time I'm still not sure about that myself.

It was fun

[Nite_Hawk]

Hi Rob,

It was fun hanging out with you in #e along with Raster, Mandrake, Snowman, and all the rest of the gang back in the old days when enlightenment and afterstep were the newest coolest things on the block. Whatever you end up deciding to do, I wish you the best of luck. Thanks for everything!

Mark

Re:It was fun

[Thomas Charron]

Oh wow, holy crap that was THAT long ago?

...nothin but thanks

[Myrcurial]

Rob (who should've had a promotion by now to at least Admiral),

It's been a damn long time.

I used to be ticked off that I didn't register for an account until long after I started reading (I could've been a 4-digit!) and I look now at some of the UIDs and think that you've got to be overwhelmed by what you and Jeff put together.

I'm glad you're taking some family time - just don't stay off the internet for too long huh?

And for (really) old time's sake, I notice that there has not yet been a mention of Petrified Natalie Portman or Grits in this article. Consider the oversight fixed.

See ya around.

Thanks Rob.

[tomtom]

Meeting you and the rest of the guys at Linuxworld '99 was a high point for me.  I was working the UF booth across the aisle, my first time in San Jose.  Envied your awesome inflatable furniture.

Take care of yourself and your family, and good luck in the future with whatever you do.

I have say that...

[denobug]

This has to be one of the post with the most comments in quite a while. 1242 and counting...

Bandwagon!

[JHaselden]

Oh Steve Jobs does it and everyone wants in on the bandwagon!

I've been here (lurking) since '98 - thanks for /. !

i used to be a troll

[decora]

now i have 12+ stories accepted. thanks malda.

Thank You!

[angelus errare]

Reading your goodbye message brought me close to crying...I'm such a little girl. :) Best hopes for your future! /. will never be the same without you.

Thanks

[StArSkY]

A simple thanks is never enough.
From a long time reader, small time contributer, I can't thank you enough for the hard work and effort that has made my world a better place.

Long live /. even if http:// is redundant to the masses.

Thank you

[BELG]

Thank you for providing us all with such a great source of news, enjoyment and discussion. You made the Internet a better place.

Is it April 1st already?!

[he-sk]

(Ponies.)

Thanks Rob!

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember, so many years ago, hanging out on IRC in #e while cmdrtaco would ask endless perl questions as he struggled to build up slashdot. I can't believe it's been 14 years and I can't believe how wildly successful slashdot has been. Good luck in the future!

You're not going to read all these posts.

[Bootsy Collins]

There's too many to read. You won't read them all. But it makes me feel better to say this: thanks. Your work has meant a lot to me.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[underwhelm]

I hope the next epoch of technologists is as interested in sharing information and the philosophical aspects of tech as the outgoing group. These are the folks who bootstrapped us from low-tech to high-tech lives.

Take care

[JesusOfNazareth]

And thanks. Congratulations on a job well done

Sub 2500 UID says thanks!

[sho-gun]

Rob, thank you for all you have done for the 'net and the /. community.

While I may not always login, I read /. daily and consider it my own "personal link" to the other geeks of the world.

Congrats on a job well done, and good luck to whatever you do!

Thank you

[Informationman]

Thank you Rob ! All the best for the future

Why now?

[Lazy Jones]

I'm really curious what made you pick this moment. Today I saw Steve Jobs' Stanford Commencement Speech 2005 again and the part where he talks about looking in the mirror every morning and asking himself whether he's doing what he actually wants to be doing got me thinking about my job too ...

Anyway, good luck with your future endeavours and thanks for slashdot, the Web wouldn't be the same without it.

Best of wishes for the future.

[Anonymous Coward]

You've put together a #1 specialized news site. It's funny how you always know things that I'll have a great time reading. Best wishes for the future Mr. Malda.

So long and thanks for all the Fish!

[raster]

Good luck man! all the best in whatever you do next. It's been a long time since you started /. and I remember its infancy well. Thumbs up on a job well done. :)

Farewell

[Ryosen]

I haven't been here in ages but it's always been a comfort to know that Slashdot is still alive and well. You've done a great job, Rob, and you'll certainly be missed.

I can't wait to see what you come up with next.

- Ryosen

So long and Thanks for all the Fish

[Tadghe]

The subject says it all Rob. As another poster noted -- from a guy you never met, we wish you well and will miss you.

As an aside, with 'Taco gone, what will the default poll option be??!

good night sweet prince

[mrmud]

Well, that's that then.

That'll do, Taco, that'll do.

Thanks and Good Luck

[tamale60]

I have been reading slashdot since 1997 and I wanted to say thanks for all the inoformation and help that this site has given me. Good luck in your future endeavors and I hope you have the same positive impact on whatever you do.

Sigh

[j h woodyatt]

We are old.

Sadness

[jafac]

. . . of all the reams and reams of mindless drivel I have spewed upon this domain over the years, this is the one word which I can today muster.

  - Just Another Fucking Anonymous Coward

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Eric Green]

Indeed, I suspect many of us old-timers will show up now :). Actually, the only reason my UID is so high is that when the Taco introduced the UID system, I was, like, "Puh-leeze. I don't feel like being sorted that way and it won't solve the troll problem anyhow, just give everybody mod points to mod the trolls out of existence." So I commented as "Anonymous Coward" for a while. But that became annoying so I finally broke down and signed up for an ID. Hard to believe that now ID 627 is considered a low ID :).

Thank you.

[Khaed]

I dug out my old login for this one.

Rob, thanks, for everything. Your site has become a major part of my regular websurfing, and helps some long work days go by faster!

Thank you!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[the phantom]

No kidding...

Thanks

[Mathieu Lu]

Slashdot has always been a great place for interesting news and discussion. I wish you the best in your new adventures.

matt

(some random guy who just happens to have a low uid, but let me know if you visit Montreal!)

"News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters. Not Lame."

[Eternal Vigilance]

To me Slashdot surely deserves a place in the pantheon of great technology creations. If the early Internet was the Homebrew Computer Club for the whole planet, Slashdot was a project not only fun and exciting and cool - the kind of thing one told one's friends "you have to see this" - it was worthwhile. Slashdot was the kind of creation all nerds hope to be able to give to the world: something that brought joy to its users while enabling the creation of things larger than itself.

Rob Malda, you've made the world, and my world, a better place.

Thank you and farewell, good CmdrTaco.

thanks for the memories

[RalfM]

Thanks for all your work. A key memory for me is refreshing /. regularly to find out the latest on the Microsoft anti-trust case in the late 90s. Lots more, but for some reason /. as the news source for that sticks in my mind...

Ralf

Good Luck

[Matheus Villela]

And thank you!

So long and thanks for all the fish.

[grey580]

I remember back in the days of the early inet. When I learned about /. I used to be on this site all day every day. Great memories. Good luck in your new endeavors. And by all means write a book. Do a page a day. Pretty soon you'll find you have a book nice and done.

The quote of the day, and great news I would

[spads]

likely never have heard, and that by no means limited to tech stuff. Great science, stuff of political and cultural import. Reminds me of cruel site of the day, but less nasty. Has kept me sane and functioning (particularly the former) while at work. By providing pleasant diversion, I believe it has made me more productive. Good luck and many thanks!

Rob's Posting Priviledges

[ammorris]

Rob's posting privileges should be reinstated automatically each and every year, for just one day... April 1st. You'll be missed Rob! Good Luck and safe travels wherever you may go!

Thank you Rob

[guanxi]

Thank you Rob and good luck.

The comment system combined with the community you attracted produced, consistently, some of the best content on the web. It's had much more impact on my life than any computer/consumer electronics company in Cupertino.

Thanks for your vision and guidance

[Coppit]

A lot of people are saying happy trails, and I join in that.

What I wanted to say is thanks for keeping Slashdot great. When you guys sold into the dotcom boom I really feared that the new corporate overlords would exploit the site for a quick buck. The ads were pretty tastefully done, and the registration a good value-add. I also appreciated that you allowed some folks to disable ads for their contributions to the site (although I'm not sure what I did to deserve it!) Comment moderating was a stroke of genius. And even though there was a lot of grousing about the renovated site, I personally think it's well done.

I'm sure you guys got enough nerd cred and FU money to walk away whenever you wanted. The fact that you stayed on so long while maintaining the quality of the site is probably a testament to the management, your dedication, and perhaps your contract-writing skills. :)

I sincerely hope there was no change in direction that caused you guys to jump ship.

Thank you for helping make Slashdot great!

The first earnest post ever on /.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll remember Commander Ralph
All of the nights I'd comment till dawn
I never laughed so long
So long
So long

Communities may come and
Communities may go and
Never change your point of view
When I run dry
I stop awhile and think of you

Until We Meet Again

[guppysap13]

Although I haven't posted much in the past 6 years, I compulsively read Slashdot every day and really have learned a lot from it. Even though we won't be hearing from you here anymore, I'm sure we'll read about you being awesome sometime in the near future.

Thanks for everything, Rob.

Thanks

[mikecase]

I'm sure I'll be stuck at 0, but I thought I'd pass my thanks along anyway. I;ve been reading Slashdot almost since the beginning (posting AC from time to time, but only registering recently). It's hard to fight back the nostalgia. Others have said it better than I can. You did good.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Thing 1]

DrgnDancer (137700) said:

Look on the bright side, at 5 digits I'm stuck with my wife (just kidding honey).

So, I'm having trouble determining your heuristic. At first it seemed easy, "Oh! There are two zeros, he's eliminating one" -- but then there are two sevens also, meaning only four actually different digits.

On further reflection, I think you were just double-entendre-kidding.

Thanks Rob!

[2DGamer]

So long Cmdr, thanks for the site. I think it makes me very aware of how time is passing away. I started reading /. back in '98, but I was (and still am) only a lurker. I forgot the password to my original ID, and no longer have access to the email account to get it reclaimed, so I had to finally give in a few years later and get this one before the IDs incremented to 7 digits. Anyway, I wish you well, thanks for the source of inspiration and a nice place to hang out during lunch. I'm afraid it won't be the same without your input.

Great job

[RockMFR]

Slashdot is an amazing site. Thanks for creating it. Great work.

Long live CmdrTaco

[galatea2.2]

...and Slashdot. Thank you, sir. All the best.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Now15]

I haven't posted here for years, and only read this article because it was on HackerNews. ;-)

thanks

[Anonymous Coward]

I just wanted to add my thanks.

I was a Comp Sci student in the 90s, moved to Interactive TV, then back end Web Development, and now an Anglican minister. And through it all - Slashdot was there.

Thanks for the memories.

Mike

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[clintp]

Let me help lower that average a bit. Who will I vote for in the polls now? /settles in with some hot grits

Good Luck!

[SyscRAsH]

Thanks for everything you've done. For the past eleven or twelve years, Slashdot has been a mainstay in my bookmarks list. Thanks again.

Thanks and so long from an old-timer!

[Indomitus]

Man, I cannot believe I'm living in a world where CmdrTaco isn't at the helm of Slashdot. While I haven't visited regularly in a while, I've (perhaps obviously from my UID) been around for a long time. I remember when Slashdot didn't have user accounts, when the moderation came in (and changed, and changed, and changed soem more), when Natalie Portman and her grits were topics of conversation. I submitted the story about the official reveal of the name of Star Wars Episode 1 (don't shoot the messenger!). Through all the years and newcomer sites every time I saw a link to Slashdot or visited my RSS feeds for Book Reviews and Ask Slashdot I felt a warm & fuzzy for the old site.

Thanks Taco! I certainly hope you find something to do that makes you happy in the next 14 years.

Good Bye and Thank You

[DrWho520]

Thank you, Rob. I never felt more at home on the web than here. Good luck in your future endeavors.

CmdrTaco, two guys, and my wife.

[jeeves99]

The missus once gave two guys a geek-gasm by dropping a reference to CmdrTaco in a sentence. As she related the story, the guys were dumbfounded that a non-geek (and a woman no less) knew of the great and powerful CmdrTaco.

I don't know what surprised me more-- irrefutable evidence that she actually listens to the geeky things I say or that N=2 nerds congregated in public during the daylight hours.

One thing to say...

[Anonymous Coward]

Awww, fuck.

Thanks and Good Luck

[Nieriko]

Taco: Many, many thanks for investing all that love into this site which I discovered with great joy and happened to read every day since then. Let all the good karma you accumulated these years be with you and your family in whatever activity that you engage next. ...And who knows, maybe you come back more often than you think...

Thanks again to you and to all your team.

Wishing You A Fond Farewell

[The Angry Mick]

So long, Rob, and thanks for all the time and energy you've spent creating this wonderful community. There are only a few sites on the web that I read religiously, and Slashdot will always hold a special place among the nearest and dearest. For me, Slashdot is a little like a common room in a dorm, or the living room where good friends can get together to discuss the topics that mean the most to them; a true geek salon of ideas and dreams. Its a rare thing you have created here, and you should be proud of your accomplishment. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Best of luck to you and Kathleen and the boys, and I here's to hoping we'll never stop hearing from you on this thing we call the Internet.

Good Luck and Take Care

[OceanWave]

CmdrTaco,

Good luck on your change of career and best of luck. I've been a long time reader and enjoy the site.

Take care and hope all is well.

--Robert

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[spinster]

/me Goes digging for the dress with the "Malda Sucks" sticker on it...

I have not logged in in... 10 years? What's my UID?!

Thanks!

[Anonymous Coward]

Goodbye great Rob!
Thank you for this great work in /. you have been read since years ago here in Mexico.

Thank you and the best on your new projects!

Paco.

Sadness

[Anonymous Coward]

I am sad.
The fact that @cmdrtaco is leaving /. hurts me more that the fact that Steve Jobs is leaving Apple.

bye rob

[tooth]

Bye Rob, and thanks for everything.

Good bye, and thanks for all the fish

[jj110888]

I think I've been reading /. for over eight years now, ever since around the time I first started using Linux.

Thank you

Later

[Anonymous Matt]

/. is the only site I followed regularly in the 20th century that I still follow. It's still relevant. I check /. more than I check CNN. That has to say something.

One of my regrets is that I lurked before registering. It didn't seem important at the time, but a low ID has turned into a prized possession. That this is something I sincerely regret has to say something.

About OMG Ponies! When I checked /. that day and saw that plus the pink, it made me laugh in RL. Classic, just classic. It's the standard against which I compare all April Fool's gags. That has to say something.

My post is going to be buried at the bottom, but I'm confident you'll read them all. I know that says something. :) I appreciate everything you've done here.

Goodbye and Good Luck!

[ThoraX695]

Rob,

It's been a pleasure to have been part of this community since 1998 or so. And the community and I thank you for your service in steering the ship for all of these years, despite system issues, trolls, and memes that would not die. (We had memes before we knew what memes were. "First Post!") And who from the early days doesn't remember things like Voices from the Hellmouth? (http://news.slashdot.org/story/99/04/25/1438249/Voices-From-The-Hellmouth) Slashdot appeared during the expansion of the World Wide Web from localized communities of geeks to ubiquitous access to practically everyone across the globe. (And in space... like Geeks in Space!) It helped pioneer large aspects of news aggregation and delivery and aspects of social networking. You know, that's one fun thing about being a geek. Sometimes in our creativity, we don't really know we're creating something new or forging new paradigms. It's good to look back and reflect on where we've been. And Slashdot will always be remembered to be a key player in this era of computing and hopefully continue to be on the cutting edge as time marches on.

P.S. You have our permission to guest post as much as you want on April Fool's Day. And turn Slashdot pink again!

Thanks!

[SETY]

Many hours wasted here over the years, but definitely a very big net benefit.

If you have to go, go well

[DaveWood]

I feel old. I hate to say this, but it just didn't occur to me that one day you'd quit.

Though it's the work of many, there's always been a wise voice in charge here. You've been that guy. I can only be grateful for all the things you've done. Each well-chosen story was itself a gift. But I think your larger, architectural heritage - creating the modern moderation system, proving its success - is something that will echo throughout the coming years, with greater and greater significance. Organizing communities is, after all, our primary occupation as a species.

I feel privileged to have gotten to see it all first hand. And proud to have been able to participate, however imperfectly, in the discussion of this great salon at your end of the Internet.

It won't be the same without you.

Good ol' slashcode

[dark_panda]

I remember installing a copy of slashcode on a Pentium III running Red Hat 6.2 around 11 years ago this summer to run my school labs' bbs system. Somehow I managed to remain sane during that time and I have convinced myself that I am a better programmer and developer for having survived that onslaught of twitchy perl and bash scripts. Thanks Rob teaching me about the virtues of patience in programming and especially when reading other people's code, for slashcode, and especially for slashdot. So long and thanks for all the ponies.

Thanks for the memories...

[wannabegeek2]

Mr. Malda,

I've been visiting /. for twelve or thirteen years. I was first introduced by a coworker and true geek. I've never reached beyond the level of a wannabegeek, but I've enjoyed /. immensely and learned much from it.

I truly appreciate what you and your partners started so many years ago. I truly hope that your departure is of your own choosing, and amicable.

I sincerely hope that you've been adequately compensated for what you've given the community over the years. I also sincerely hope you find peace, happiness, and compensation in your future.

For myself I want to thank you for having made me look far more intelligent and capable than I really am. Things I have learned of on /. have made me look good on more than one occasion.

Both from me, and many others I know, I simply want to say THANK YOU for /.

J.D.

I hope they let you have access to posting polls

[Locutus]

Thanks for the long ride CmdrTaco! /. has been one constant through all the turmoil of the past decade+ so it's with great sorrow to read you're leaving. As my subject states, I hope they still gave you access to post polls. those have been fun over the years of not just to read WTF people come up with.

And I sure hope /. has been trained well and continues even a pinch of the consistency you have in posting New for nerds, stuff that matters.
Live long and prosper CmdrTaco.

LoB

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Anonymous Coward]

wow, that (2) really sends a shiver down my spine :-)

OMG, A Revival!

[Thomas Charron]

Three words...

    'Geeks in Space'

    You know you want to..... :-P

    No, really...

Thanks!

[nherm]

Nearly a decade reading ./, and I did nothing but writing productive posts about "all your base", "in soviet russia" and a joke mocking the cat command... Thanks you Rob and good luck!!

So Long...

[Cid Highwind]

...and thanks for all the posts.

Re:Classy.

[The Dawn Of Time]

Never ascribe to coincidence that which you can bitch about on Slashdot like it's a conspiracy, no matter how retarded said conspiracy would have to be.

I guess as mottos go I won't be getting quoted any time soon.

You made this site a great place

[toofast]

Rob,

Been reading Slashdot for 14 years. Like many, I posted more back then, but I've always checked in regularly.

You did good -- this place won't be the same without you.

Thanks for everything, and good luck moving forward.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[hawk]

>I don't understand...why are they removing his account/ability to post?

I don't understand why it took so long.

After all, the guy hasn't posted a comment in nearly two years, and even then, whenever posted much. . .

hawk

Bye Rob

[Nukedoom]

It's probably starting to be a bit repetitive, but I thought I'd leave some comment history here, long after this story dies down a bit, for the sole purpose of reminding other users years from now, just how much you meant to this site. I'm fairly new here, but this website has a way of probing and bringing the most insightful information from people that I have never really seen replicated anywhere else. And I humbly thank you for that.

With much regard,

Andrew

Thank you, Taco

[Garabito]

While I know that you (or anyone else for that matter) won't read this post, because it will be buried between the rest of goodbye and thank you posts, I just had to write it.

Since I found this site, it has been a big part of my life.

I've spent hundreds of hours (many of them from work, I confess) browsing comments from fellow geeks at its discussions. I've learned and read better commentary and analysis here about the tech industry than listening to or reading so-called experts and gurus. Here I have acquired a lot of insight about Linux and the Free / Open Source Movement; and also about many dissimilar topics, many of them not related to tech.

But the most important thing I think, is to have found a place to hang out with other geeks like me. People that think like me and have similar world views and values. A place where I don't feel like an alien because everybody else in The Real World(tm) is so different from me.

So, from the bottom of my heart: Thank you, thank you, thank you; for having created such an awesome place. Not only did you create an amazing news aggregation site with comments. You created the best community ever.

So long, and thanks for the fish!

Me too

[thsths]

I have to say I understand the emotions. Facebook was great when it came out - it was like nothing else out there - and I am very grateful for it. But time has changed, and facebook isn't what it used to be (of course). We had a great time, but the love is gone, and maybe it is time to move on.

Another humble thanks

[anlag]

While I can rue not discovering Slashdot until a long time after it was born and became great, I've immensely enjoyed the site and continue to do so since that day when I finally got around to checking it out. So nothing fancy, just, thanks a lot for making this possible.

request that comments be stopped at 1337

[user flynn]

Please delete this post and close the thread. :D

A huge thanks

[uofitorn]

I'm a man who is challenged by verbosity. Thank you for the great site you started.

So long...

[nzeer]

and thanks for all the fi.. err stories. Feels a little like a piece of the internet died today :(

Good Luck

[bumptious]

Always enjoyed your posts.
God Speed.

Slashdot Radio

[Aighearach]

I'm imagining this whole thread being read by CowboyNeal on slashdot radio. Things were so much cooler back then, when we had to cluster around the stream and listen to our news. Before youtube came and ruined it all. Or, whatever happened.

Thanks for a job well done.

[MBC1977]

I too would like to say thanks for a good experience. It was interesting and fun at the same time.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Shag]

Holy cow, Pez, I didn't even know/remember you were on this place. :)

And I thought I was an old-timer with my 4 digits... the comments on this post are bringing out the real ancients.

so long...

[Anonymous Coward]

so long... thanks for all the fishes !

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Roland]

Ehh? Maybe Rob will go back to hanging on #linuxos

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[l0cust]

From yet another schmuck who has been through almost his entire youth with /. at his side, thanks for all those years CmdrTaco, and bon voyage.

Thank you CmdrTaco

[Moe1975]

I have been reading slashdot for 6 years or so and it has indeed changed my life as a nerd, as a techie, and as a person. I could go on and on . . .

In spite of the astroturfers and other unsavory characters that have made their presence felt here, there still are indeed very many worthwhile posts every single day, which is the reason I read Slashdot.

Thank you for making all this happen man.

Best wishes,

Mauricio Roman

Thanks!

[Moondevil]

Thanks for all the effort you have put into Slashdot. Since it early days that it has been part of my daily Internet reading.

Uau, it is hard to believe that I am a daily reader for so log.

All the best for your new life chapter.

farewell with gratitude...

[p77gin]

i have been reading slashdot since '98 or '99 i think... and this is story is nothing short of depressing! however, change is but natural and i guess we all have to accept it as a matter of fact! so long, cmdrTaco... i wish you a happy future! :-) i always thought the cmdr was a short for "commander" and he was some retired military guy who had a keen eye for news/headlines, till i read about his proposal to kathleen... lol. so long and thank you! :-)

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Doug Merritt]

And to think I waited a few days before registering an account here.

Tell me about it; my thinking was the same "another site to register at?". But you still managed a 3 digit ID; I delayed a couple weeks I think, when IDs were introduced, and ended up at 4 digits.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[texaport]

I came late to the party ... a link to http://cmdrtaco.net/ was posted in the article and the site is already back up.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[QuoteMstr]

I just wish I had more of a reason to use it. As seminal as Slashdot was in the genesis of geek culture, it's decayed. We've left the nest.

Good work Rob

[zonker]

Been here from the beginning, back in the Chips & Dips days. Thanks for everything. Great work!

Wow - thanks and so long!

[seymour]

It sort of freaks me out a little that I decided to take a look at /. for the first time in months (or years?) today. I remember constantly reading everything here early on, even contributing in my small way when I could. I wish you the best of luck, Rob!

I just don't have the time to spare to read things here there days, otherwise I'm sure I'd be keeping up like I used to!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[seymour]

I don't know, it seemed like I waited forever before registering here... maybe that was Internet Time or something.

thank you

[luigi6699]

Thank you. There's too much to say, so I won't. Just: thank you. For all the years of work and dedication. For having so much fun along with all of us. Whatever your next venture may be, know that you have your own personal army on hand. :)

Keep on keepin on!

[merauder]

Thanks for everything Rob, and best of luck to your future endeavours! I stumbled upon this site in 1998 and am still a daily reader. I would have to say half of my geek vocabulary was developed through this site, and other phrases as they came into being. I've moved around and lived in 3 different countries for IT work and showed everyone I met Slashdot, so it's been a nice constant companion on the crazy web. Slashdot just got a bit smaller today. Take care Rob!

What a ride...

[chuckw]

Thanks for everything Rob. Back in 1998 when I created my account I thought I had fallen into geek heaven. I found myself compulsively hitting reload hoping for a new story to show up.

I remember many a time reading TFA and finding that it linked to something else that was interesting. I followed those rabbit holes for days sometimes, and some of that was even before tabbed browsing... I wish I had the time to describe all of the wonderful things I learned and the places that knowledge took me... Suffice to say, I appreciate what you started, it means a lot to me.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[zonker]

Yep. Hot grits and all.

Hard to believe

[thelenm]

Hard to believe it's been 14 years. Well done, sir. Take a nice long break; you deserve it.

Sob sob

[peetm]

What's that you said, 'Thanks for all the fish'?

Oh, and for the record, I agree that you should have retained the ability to post new stories if ever you felt like it.

the future, the final frontier

[villain222]

I've enjoyed slashdot for quite a long time. at least 10 years or more. Oddly I just a few years ago got an account and did some random commenting. Even though i was a minuscule commenter, I read every day. Slashdot, for me is about hope for the future. I read every day to see that something i can't grasp - A connection with the universe that i want to explore. CmdrTaco, thank you for generous amounts of time and great amounts of information that you've shared with us. With this on your resume, no worries.

So long and thanks for all the posts

[Anonymous Coward]

Altogether unoriginal title, but the thanks are genuine. All the best for the future and many many thanks for the reads of the past about the future ;-)

"Crunchy" "B&Massa" Steve Jay
(Yeh, I know, but for one quick read/day, I can't be arsed to log in ;-)

Thank you.

[wubboy]

Thanks CmdrTaco.

Wubboy

Thanks CmdrTaco

[slackito]

I'm not an old-timer like all of these people with low IDs posting here, but I've been coming here for 11 years (some of them as a lurker, some of them as a registered user) and it's sad to see you go. Thank you very much, and good luck with your future projects! :)

Heartfelt thanks

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi Rob,

well done old chap! A simply top effort with this site and it has been my home page since 1997, when I found it. It is 1, 0 at least to you to; as I have yet to see The Who.

All the very bestest with what comes next.

GreekGeek :-)

Thanks!

[Kolargol00]

Thank you CmdrTaco for my daily dose of nerd news for all those years! :D

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Joe Rumsey]

It is by far my biggest regret in life. I've been so depressed about it I've only managed to post one other time since 2003.

even worse!

[Aighearach]

Dude, you spent 14 years in Grade School?!

This is your brain. This is your brain on /.. Any questions?

So long

[Ailure]

Thanks for all the years, and good luck on your future endeavors.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[c0mpliant]

A big thank you from me and all the generation of slashdotters who are too young to have been around to get a user ID that's respectable to Rob and Jeff and everyone else who were involved in the creation of Slashdot. The site remains a beacon of hope in a sea of mediocrity and subordinacy. Your work will continue to inspire this and future generations to share and be part of a community beyond the childish and throw away culture that has developed else where

Many Many Thanks!

[Evanrude]

I feel so late to the game on this! I must be losing my geek edge...

Best of luck in all your new endeavors. Many thanks to Rob and Jeff for everything they've done to make Slashdot what it is and what I hope it will continue to be.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Aighearach]

Yeah, if only they would let you post as Anonymous Coward, then we'd know your drivel by your name.

Thanks for all the

[freedumb2000]

great times!

The internet is dead

[tachin1]

Really, the internet is dead, long live web 2.0. Not that its going to survive for long but clearly things are not what they used to, now you have to watch what you say on the web. Now when you look for knowledge on the internet all you find is stuff to buy on the web. Now its hard to surf the internet because it tries to narrow your focus so much, trying to give you more of what you want. I'm not trying to make much sense here people, but I suspect some of you can at least visualize the present that I'm describing as the dead, (not failed), promises of the past. I think its time to stop reading slashdot. Thank you Rob.

In Soviet Russia ...

[Yenya]

... Slashdot leaves CmdrTaco.

First time I've logged in a while....

[Elphin]

....but had to say "thankyou". Good luck with whatever you do in the future.

thanks

[l79327]

good times.
I remember when you guys sold out, and I wonderd how long It would take for this site to go to hell.
thanks for the hard work to get an extra 10 years.
good luck

thanks ..

[greggles]

This site has been a constant companion for 13+ years ..

Wishing you well on whatever you plan to do next ..

Thanks!

Thanks to Fatboy Slims track

[de Siem]

Slash_Dot_Dash http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_Dot_Dash Got me intrigued and made me check out the site.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Yert]

No, he's not. :D

One more message of thanks from an old-timer

[grinder]

I don't check in to /. much any more, although from time to time an article on the daily mail recap catches my attention and I click in. These days I'm pretty impressed by the signal/noise ratio. Most of the trolls seem to have moved on to greener pastures. So anyway, thanks for everything.

Watch out for that first step ^^

[Wraithbane]

Many thanks for all the fun and posts. Best of luck for your future.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[dunkelfalke]

Oh, I most definitely can - he's probably still in my "don't show stories by this author" list.

Thanks for the interesting reads

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot has always been one of my favorite sites and a source of interesting information off the mainstream.

Good luck with your future.

Thanks for the interesting reads

[Ceyx]

Slashdot has always been one of my favorite sites and a source of interesting information off the mainstream information sources. You could find real gems in the posts, although sometimes hidden in tons of trolling ;-)

Good luck with your future.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Mr Z]

Well, you haven't forgotten him, only blocked him out. The two are different things....

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Tet]

Well, I suppose I might as well contribute, and do my bit. I wasn't convinced by this new fangled login business, so when /. added them, I held off on registering for what seemed like forever. Eventually, I gave in and created an account, hence my high(!) UID...

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[DG]

I prefer "tribal elder", myself, over "ancients".

DG

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[godsey]

Real fans liked it better as #linux96 .. just saying..
Great memories :)

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[DG]

Way to skew the curve, n00b.

DG

censorship

[Anonymous Coward]

maybe the political censorship will loosen up now

Thanks for the info!

[scottrocket]

Seriously, I couldn't tell you how much shit I've learned off of this site over the last 12 years or so! Weird shit,too! ; ) Anyhow,Good Luck on wherever your road of life leads you!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Neil Boekend]

True.

You made the refresh button useful.

[darkalfie]

I've only used the refresh button your /. and no other site is worth refreshing.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

When geeks became cool

[maffew]

Slashdot was the turning point for technology journalism. On Slashdot, the geeks picked the news, and the geeks revelled in the news. It's hard to remember how bad things were before Slashdot. It was ugly out there in tech news land, the news was stale, shallow, irrelevant and patronising, and it was embarassing to be a geek. Now we have so many ways to connect and to dream. Thanks Rob, for leading the pack. Geek pride forever!

Thank you

[eyrieowl]

For the site, the community, and infusing both of them with your energy.

Never say die

[concealment]

CmdrTaco,

I've followed this site since 1997 in various forms, mostly lurking and rarely contributing anything of value except dumb jokes.

You have created a great resource, one that helped define the web/internet age "in the public," and we are all in your debt.

While it is a weighty thing to move on from such history, this life seems to me defined by principles: "who dares wins" and "never say die."

You will find new mountains to climb, new lands to conquer, and new mysteries to solve.

I'm cheering you (and all who strive) on.

Thanks for your time

[Christopher Craig]

My late father was an assignment editor for a news operation and I can recall multiple instances a decade ago where he told me about some late breaking tech story to which I responded "Oh, yeah, I read about that on /. a couple weeks ago." I have to agree with the currently-highest-rated-comment that it's hard to imagine Reddit, Digg, or Fark without /. I would even go further and say that your comment moderation system was revolutionary. It's certainly possible to imagine that someone else would have thought about it if you hadn't, but you had it first and the political blogs I read still rank comments by order posted, which is why their comments are a morass of inanity while /. comments (and digg, and Stack Overflow (so long as you have a sufficiently high display threshold)) are often more informative than the article.

Thank You and Good Luck

[CyberLord Seven]

I think I saw you once on San Pablo ave driving North towards Richmond. You were in a PT Cruiser (if I remember correctly) with "Slashdot" on the sides. It's been much fun and I have wasted many hours of my previous employer's computer time here. :)

Thank you Rob

[a9db0]

I don't remember when I first started reading Slashdot, but I know it was well before i registered. I vaguely remember my first submission that was accepted and made the front page. That was a long time ago.

Thank you, Rob, for creating this space for geeks to gather. It has been a part of my life for a long time, and an important one at that. I've learned to look for and acknowledge a wider set of viewpoints. I've dealt with stuff from the past, and gotten hints about the future. I've wasted countless hours following story links. And I've had fun.

Slashdot will remain, but it won't be the same. You will be missed.

See you on the flipside!

[Anonymous Coward]

Dif tor heh smusma

Meh.

[Anonymous Coward]

I know I speak for us all when I say "Meh".

Congratulations!

[jbaugher]

I've been reading your work for all 14 years. Thank you!

Congratulations and good luck!

Thanks Rob!

[Kazin]

Enjoy the rest of your life :)

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[_damnit_]

I think it's fair to say that the average uid in the comments on this post will be the lowest in the last few years... possibly the last decade.

Yes, quite likely. It's nice to come back to someplace where we all spent so much time contributing in big and little ways. Many of us are a bit older and rounder than when /. started but the ride has been fun. I still remember grabbing a tshirt from Rob at some Linux conference in the San Jose Convention center. It was in the 1990s I'm sure because I still have Alpha Linux swag as well. Thanks CmdrTaco for the fun times.

I don't really miss the juvenile flames and obligatory nitpicks but I do recall fondly some of the lamer aspects: hot grits, Natalie Portman, MEEPT, first post, endless discussion of whether Jackson would ruin the LOTR movies, "I hate JarJar", whining about poll choices, vi vs emacs, etc. Maybe I'll look to see if there's a BSD fan around here and start a flame war for old time's sake.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[_damnit_]

As good a reason as any. I forgot how much people hated his posts.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[_damnit_]

Yes and originally you could just post with your chosen nickname with the registration hassle. That led to a few obvious problem when people started impersonating people or trolling with MEEPT! and such. I think I waited on the order of weeks to sign up.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Tolkien]

Yep. "No longer anything to see here, move along."

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Tolkien]

Says the under-18k to the over-50k crowd. :P

Another Thank You

[koala_dude]

Thank you for your work with Slashdot. This place has helped keep my interest in tech alive with your combination of neat stories and wry, sometimes sarcastic summaries...the place won't be the same without you.

I discovered Slashdot and Google about the same time in 1997, and since then, both site names have now become part of our day-to-day language...we google stuff on the web only to discover the site we want has been slashdotted! If nothing else, that's a pretty awesome accomplishment!

Best wishes for whatever is next...thanks again, and have fun!

and still taking credit

[Anonymous Coward]

'till the bitter end. if i may quote foghorn leghorn: that's a joke, son.

Thanks

[DBCooper]

Rob, not much to add here other than to say thanks for everything. The rise of Slashdot aligns almost perfectly with my own development as a technologist, and it's probably not too much of an overstatement to say that without Slashdot I might not have learned about Linux at a time when I could use my knowledge to impact my career path in the way it has. The site your nefarious little cabal created made for some of the most productive time wasting of my life. Thanks.

Dupe! Second resignation this week

[RubberDogBone]

We just had a big resignation story yesterday. The editors have clearly let through yet another dupe.

j/k

Godspeed Rob. Thank you and Jeff for coming up with a focal point for so many geeks and nerds and info junkies.
--

long winded for no reason

[hesaigo999ca]

have a good one, enjoy retirement, now let's finally revamp the whole business model, and add facebook tags everywhere....woot woot

Thank you

[ichthus]

Cmdr,

You made history. You wasted time. From my last few years of college (Computer Engineering), and the job I was working at the time (tech support at the crappiest computer company ever: Packard Bell.), until the present -- for the last 14 years, Slashdot has been one of the few visit-multiple-times-daily web sites for me, and I thank you for starting it. We all joke about the time wasted, but at the same time we all know that, over all, Slashdot has been +5 Informative. No other site has kept me as privy to tech, made me laugh, and pissed me off as much as the conversations I've had here. Slashdot is a gem, and you leave a great legacy.

Thanks again,

#72442

My sincerest gratitude

[cameronk]

Slashdot brought me from the BBS era and then UseNet to the web. Many of my big life decisions were (and are) influenced by what I've learned from this community. CmdrTaco this is your life's work---and it matters to me. Thanks for the memories and happy trails!

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[AmiMoJo]

I tried to go cold-turkey once. A tenner says he posts within 1 week of leaving. Wait, make that 48 hours :-)

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Divebus]

This is the funniest goddam thing I've ever read!

No Promotion

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd quit too if I had served 14 years as a Cmdr and never made Capt. I personally think you should be AdmTaco by this point.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[treeves]

Obviously there would be no correlation between UID and a fixed number, namely 100 (average IQ).

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[slapout]

People think that JonKatz left the site years ago. Not true. He still submits stories, but since everyone has him blocked, no one has noticed them for years...

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[bn557]

Same happened to me :-/ I created an account in either late 98 or early 99 (too much happened in the last dozen years to be sure), forgot what my login/pwd were, so I recreated this one with my massive UID. It was still fun at the anniversary party to have a 'low uid' though. Lots of 7 digit UIDs in the Ann Arbor area.

But I need tacos...

[Shisouka]

But I NEED tacos...I need them or I will explode. That happens to me sometimes.

Fond farewell CmdrTaco.

From here to there: a good show

[Trevor]

You played a large part in keeping the FLOSS/open culture flame alive and the world is better for it.

Thank you, CmdrTaco.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[bn557]

Me, the IT ninja

haha, forgot about this picture from the party at leopold bros.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Mr. Flibble]

I thought you got one girl for each number in your UID?

christ, been that long already?

[Omega996]

i remember when i first set up my /. account - with my brand-new UNIX cert and my first sysadmin job, it was pretty cool to find a site that catered to the *NIX mentality back in the day. Even if i was one of the 'new' users of the time period, undoubtedly part of the 'boom' crowd from exposure on Wired or something. I think I was actually referred to the site by my cert instructor, who was a huge linux fan (yggdrasil FTW, according to him).

I don't post on /. much any more - things have changed so much since those olden times, and I've just become even more cranky and cynical and have finally given up on the GPL/BSD flamewar. /. is still the first site I hit up when I begin my daily slog across the Internet, though.

Thanks Taco - /. has certainly changed as the times have changed but I don't think that's a bad thing; thanks for setting things up and keeping 'em running for so long.

Congratulations and good luck

[dave]

I hope you find every success for yourself and your family in the future. You are leaving for yourself a fine legacy in Slashdot.

dave (founder of LinuxToday.com)

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[pez]

*waves to Dan*

Been here since the beginning!

One of the things slashdot rarely gets credit for is that it was among the first blogging platforms (yes, everyone could create their own blog within /. with slash), and also among the first social networks. Those two things definitely influenced the early thoughts behind Multiply.

Lame...

[Anonymous Coward]

I give him the same review he gave the iPod. Another biased "journalist" retires.

Almost missed it

[crumley]

CT, What's the deal burying news in August when everyone is on vacation?

Anyway, thanks to Cmdrtaco. I have been with this place since near the beginning. I came across it based on links from TCLUG, and I was captured.

Oh the many wasted (and well spent) hours reloading this page!

Thanks for the memories.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[x0n]

Look on the bright side, at 5 digits I'm stuck with my wife (just kidding honey).

But it landed a wife that reads Slashdot?

Ahoy and farewell...

[Anonymous Coward]

cmdrtaco, although you will read this far down in the comments, from all of the anonymous cowards to the commander of the great ship /. I wish you fair winds and following seas.

I found slashdot in the very early days, right at the simple solutions point, I believe. You made this site a happy place (even the flame wars were fun).

I commented and posted for many years as an anonymous coward. I actually do HAVE a uid with a fairly low number, but I shall go with tradition and proudly wear the anonymous coward mantle (which I used so often that I actually have the username anonymouscoward on another site.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[bored]

I've always wondered "what might have been" in terms of UID prestige if only I had been more eager about it.

Yah, same here....

I've been here since ~98. I resisted registering, until something or another forced me to create an account. I remember thinking, WTF, now even /. wants me to register, screw them, I don't need that damn site. My UID is pretty high considering I probably procrastinated a six months or so before registering. Its all fuzzy, but IIRC there was a time when the system didn't even require user ids to post, then along came the user ids and later the AC, which IIRC was about the time I registered...

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[whoop]

The way I recall it, Slashdot had been around for a while before they started user accounts. But a big attitude here at the time was to avoid user accounts everywhere (privacy, tracking and what-not). Many stories included a generic username/password right with the submitter's link to a registered-users-only site like NY Times. "cypherpunk:cypherpunk" was registered around many places until web sites started blocking access from multiple IPs. I don't know if that originated here, but I first heard of it here.

I didn't wait a long time though, two days perhaps, so I could adjust the settings/filter things/etc.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[bored]

"another site to register at?"

Yah, same here, I thought /. had gone to the dark side. Took me another ~6 months to actually register.

But that seems to be a common theme, If everyone had known that low /. UIDs would be a measure of geek cred, then they would probably have jumped on it, but that story never made it to the front page...

All in all..

[Neko-kun]

...thank you. Although I no longer use this account due to growing out of my weeabo phase, and barely getting around to recovering the password for it.

Thank you for introducing me to the concept of anonymous posting. It was an odd concept for me at the time when I was young and all I did was lurk. It taught me that the value of the message could transcend the poster and stand on its own merits.
And that many abuse anonymity to be dicks.

Also, OMGPonies.

Wow, I miss a day and now this!

[trichard]

This will really mess with my obsessive/compulsiveness. I'll never miss a day again!

I too go back to the very early days. I started reading about the same time that I did my first Debian install, using FTP over dial-up! In many ways I owe my technology career to Slashdot and by extension to Rob and Jeff.

So many things along the way, but the one that really sticks out was the Columbine thread. Every news/blog/comment site that exists today owes it to Slashdot for pioneering the form. That DEC alpha should be in the Smithsonian!

Thanks for everything!!!

Thanks from another old school nerd

[SpyPlane]

I have nothing profound to say, but like everyone else... thanks. It was worthy of me logging in again for old time's sake.

Thanks!

[AuntieC]

I figure if there hadn't been a Slashdot, there never would have been a NewsForge (yeah, I know) and if there hadn't been a NewsForge, I wouldn't have had three amazing years of an editorial job like no other. Working as an editor on that site was an education in so many ways, and an opportunity that ultimately began with your creation. So, thanks for the opportunity, however six degrees it might have been.

Geeks in Space

[Anonymous Coward]

So I guess there will be no more Geeks in Space... I would start downloads the night before so I could listen the next day... I was hoping that now that the technology exists for you to host a show with people on different coast it might make a special comeback.

Steve Job Resigns and now this??

[surelyserious]

This is about Steve Jobs isn't it? Can someone make a Hitler video about CmdrTaco resigning? Because that's how I feel. CmdrTaco, you don't know me from Adam ('cept I use to sleep on the couch in Roblimo's office) but you have made me feel connected for a loooong time. So long and thanks for all the yaddayaddayadda. [actor-Hitler's ranting voice]"Daily Dot?! It's bunch of college kids circlejerking over news everybody knows and 4chan memes!"

Thanks.

[dumael]

Thanks and good luck on new ventures.

Thanks

[greyline]

This post will likely never be read, buried under the weight of hundreds of other posts, most of them very similar in nature to my own. I was a late comer to Slashdot, picking up reading after I graduated from college and got my first corporate job. This job was a joke and I stayed there for far too long; the reason I did so was because it afforded plenty of free time to browse the web and, in turn, discover Slashdot. While not every story posted was a piece of gold, the community of nerds, geeks, and other tech people kept me engaged in reading the comments, trolls and insights alike. Slashdot will always be a daily visit for me and while Rob Malda won't be an editor in chief any longer, I hope that the letter and spirit of the site he created and raised, like his very own child, will continue to grow and evolve. Stagnation is the worst the could happen with any web site, tech related or not; hopefully this is the beginning of a new era for Slashdot, and I'm both excited and saddened to experience it. Best of luck to you, Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda.

Thanks you

[bartok]

Thanks you

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[yet another coward]

I waited until those sidebars got cool to register. 510 has served me well enough, though.

Thanks Taco!

[CLorox]

Slashdot has been a daily read for many years, I think I have barely missed more than a few days of stories after all these years. Many thanks for years of news and entertainment (comments). Best of luck in your future endeavors.

No words

[Zibodiz]

Hey, I don't have anything new to say that another commenter hasn't already said, but man you created a web site that I visit more than any other website (including my netvibes homepage)... my hat's off to you, and I wish you all the best in your future pursuits.

Cheers, mate.

[Anonymous Coward]

You helped bring some light into our lives.

Sincerely,

the Anonymous Coward.

live long, be happy

[pbjones]

I come back from holidays and see this, and Steve steps down too. I'll miss you more.

Bon Voyage

[Phantasmagoria]

I discovered your site through my roommate back in '97 a little after I joined university. It's been my default page, locked tab, checking-if-internet-is-working site ever since. I now frequent many other blogs, news sites, social networks, etc. But I always come back to Slashdot every day. I'm mostly a lurker but for some reason or the other, signed up early (probably because at that time one could sign up for everything without worry).

I hadn't realized it's been 14 years. Bon Voyage CmdrTaco, good luck in your new endeavors.

Thanks for the good times, CmdrTaco

[EdMcMan]

We will miss you.

Re:Thanks for the good times, CmdrTaco

[DblTall]

When the Internet was first starting, I read Slashdot every day and learned so much. I didn't make it doing cool web stuff and went back to accounting, and somehow stopped visiting. But the knowledge and comfort with technology that I gained by reading Slashdot have helped me become a tech-savvy accountant who can use web-based tools (Xero, Dropbox, Skype) to help clients from all over out of my home. This sounds trivial to all of you, but other accountants I know are amazed that I know about and can use all these new programs.

I remember the OMG Ponies!!! and posted congratulations in the marriage proposal thread. Thank you for creating this amazing community.

(wait - my address is still speakeasy? I haven't been here in awhile ;) It's dbltall@gmail.com now.)

so long

[Masloki]

Thanks for being there through high and low, thick and thin, real and deliriously ludicrous. Best of luck in all of your endeavors! (My UID story is a tad different...around the time slashdot enabled registration, the news on TV was "internet sites are trying to steal your identity!!!11!" So, best not to register... Over time, I read more /. and watched less tv and have been better for it).

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[JabberWokky]

You mean you haven't read his story accepting the role of Editor-in-Chief and promising to expand the scope of the site?

Thanks /.

[C.Su]

Well done.

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[Hognoxious]

I left Geeknet aka all the other names Rob has typed already nearly exactly a year ago now, and had stopped really posting on Slashdot prior to that

Would that be about the same time the editors stopped really editing?

I think that this story only has 1507 comments say

[StormyWeather]

Remember when Slashdot would destroy servers with a mere link?

Re:Hemos Says: "So Long, and Thanks For All The Fi

[bradleyjg]

The geek culture guy?
God he was annoying.

Thanks Old Man

[zixxt]

Been a lurker here since 1999 and I come here at least 10 times a day. Thanks for your hard work and making this site informative and fun. Let me buy you a beer next time your in Detroit.

Good luck, Rob!

[kchapman]

I've been thinking about you all day today, so I thought I'd stop by and leave a good luck comment along with everyone else. Hugs and kisses - and may the best be yet to be!

- Kris

So long

[barutiwa]

I've been following you on Slashdot since 1999. I know I'll miss you. Good luck to ya in all of your endeavors!

Thank you

[Walter Carver]

I owe Slashdot part of my education. Reading all these insightful people saying things I would never find myself.

I feel I owe you Rob. Thank you :)

Signed
A random guy on the internet.

Good luck!

[Gricey]

Nothing lasts forever. Good luck in your future adventures, CmdrTaco! You've wasted a lot of my time over the years. :-)

thank you.

[kapitan_kalamari]

Long time reader, first time poster. Can't possibly thank you enough for all you've done. Thank you.