There has been a lot of folks in here commenting and asking the question about "If he finds it in violation, then what?", how about the converse question? What if Eben finds that it is not in violation?
Novell has copped an awful lot of crap over all of this. SJVN has also written an interesting perspective pointing out that Novelle is not SCO and a lot of the angst that is being directed asgainst them is quite possibly unwarranted.
You know somewhow, I can't see everyone who has bagged Novell over it coming out and saying "oops I was wrong".
So, what if Eben finds that it is compatible with GPL?
Tp
No the minute he says it is compatible with the GPL, he is immediately labeled a traitor by the community. And no one will pay it any mind at all.
Thats how this whole thing goes.. no matter what whomever says that even suggests that this may not be the bad thing it's getting all the hype about, they are labeled a troll, thrown insults, vile comments and the like.
No, the admin side of the house is appropriately secured from the student side. But there is only one Internet connection.
In a perfect world there would be unlimited funding, unlimited bandwidth and no restrictions. This is not a perfect world. I appologize that this must come to a shock to you, and it must completely shatter your vision of the world.
There seems to be this general thought that social networking sites, mp3 downloads, unlimited bitorrents are somehow necessary to education. I have yet to hear something that justifies this (in the aspect of having the RIGHT to do it all the time). I said I would love to have some packet shaping/monitoring software so that the filtering/blocking would not be necessary.. Funds prevent that, I'm sorry. Printing my own money to purchase it is against the law.
If any instructor comes to our department and expresses the need and justification for their students to visit some site that we feel was questionable and already blocked by whatever means, we will TEMPORARILY remove the block.. This would allow the students/class to complete the assignment. After that the block would be reinstated.
This is no way interferes with education. Not a bit.
Now, rather than prevent a larger portion of the school from suffering from the needs of the those who desire these kinds of things, the restrictions/blocks allow the majority to get where they need to go. If because of this, I have stomped on your daily entertainment download, I guess I know where your priorities are (selfish as they may be). My thoughts are that if you are more concerned about getting your daily dose of unlimited mp3's, bitorrent's, playing world of warcraft on a faster connection, etc.. your obviously not putting your best effort into what you are supposed to be in school for anyway.
Unfortunately I see a disturbing trend of pushing more and more computer based education as a replacement for face to face instruction (notice that I do not say "in addition to"). The implication that this type of replacement is more economical for schools than funding real instructors just does one thing... it cheapens the value of education (in the wrong type of way). I would rather the school fund 10 more instructors than to spend the dollars on the improved internet connection and/or new servers to place their content on.
I could get into a whole other discussion of what I think of a few of the latest high school graduates (as in where I think their work ethics are, and what they expect to gain out of a college education vs what the college/instructors expect out of them), but that is not appropriate for this forum. I'm not saying ALL students by the way. A small select few always seem to spoil things for the majority.
While the government seems to place a high priority on funding education, it is not funding the internet connection especially to provide entertainment. The priority is placed in the areas of the school that need it. Providing this kind of service is not one of them (at least not at the moment).
And as far as publishing the name of the school.. that is in our public information officer's job description, not mine. My job is make sure that the network and/or internet is available to the folks who need it when they need it and to do within the confines of the limited budget and staff that we have.
I Agree with this 100%.. bandwidth (and the money to pay for it) does not grow on trees. We block a number of sites, and I would like to block a whole lot more at the moment.
One thing that I haven't seen mentioned a whole lot, is liability for copyright violations. If students (or even faculty/staff) were to misuse their high speed connection for bittorrent downloads, movies, mp3's or other illegal downloads, the school would be held responsible for it. I know easy fix.. Some software tracking system to identify them and deal with them.. That depends on $$$, some equipment (again $$$$), and staff time ($$$$) all of which we do not have. I see a disturbing trend here.. $$$$$
Next, with all the social networking sites, there is the problem of questionable content. I have seen some content on myspace, and a few other sites that have offended other students in labs, and had to be involved in the nasty mess that follows a student complaint such as that.. That content has NO JUSTIFICATION for educational value. NONE. Unfortunately for every one social networking site you block, 5 more pop up the next day just about.
Due to our rural location there are a large number of folks (both student and staff/faculty) that are still relying on dialup. So yep, you guessed it, let's all listen to those online radio stations while we are working at our desks, or working on homework since the college has that high speed connection. Everyone thinks that the whole T-1 line is their own personal pipeline.
These people have not heard of a radio (and headphones) evidently
No one seems to understand the fact that one or two users.. that isn't a lot of bandwidth. but when you have at a minimum several hundred computers online, then it becomes a problem.
The other thing to consider here on the bandwidth side, is you don't just have to deal with just users outgoing/incoming traffic.. that bandwidth is also needed for the college's incoming (off campus) traffic too. You know the satellite offices, the college's web server, the colleges distance education server, email......many others.. Those are not on their own private internet connection. Everyone has to share it.
Ok, next argument - packet shaping. I want one.. again we run into that stubborn $$$$ problem. Yes we asked for one, and sadly no there wasn't money available. Try again next year.
We can't implement student lab fees to recoup this money either. Already tried that route. Of course the minute something like that got implemented (not that it ever would), there would almost certainly be student outrage over the increased costs
Administration sees the cost of IT that keeps going up every year - maintenance contracts, software license upgrade costs, outdated/aged equipment. This is something that anyone who manages budgets is keenly aware of.. we can't keep asking for more money, that doesn't grow on trees either.
I too have no problem with a site that is needed for educational purposes. As more and more instructors find all this new internet material, our limited bandwidth is going to get stretched thinner and thinner. We have to manage what we got, with the only tools we have available at the moment. Sorry if it pisses you off.
Maybe you all would happier with tuition increases..
User name says it all.
hate networking too.
Slashdot Mirror
LOL.. i was correct on the troll part WOOT Was I wrong.. Nope 100%
I think I saw one of those lunatics that would actually try to pull this in another post in this topic!!!! LoL
No, the admin side of the house is appropriately secured from the student side. But there is only one Internet connection.
In a perfect world there would be unlimited funding, unlimited bandwidth and no restrictions. This is not a perfect world. I appologize that this must come to a shock to you, and it must completely shatter your vision of the world.
There seems to be this general thought that social networking sites, mp3 downloads, unlimited bitorrents are somehow necessary to education. I have yet to hear something that justifies this (in the aspect of having the RIGHT to do it all the time). I said I would love to have some packet shaping/monitoring software so that the filtering/blocking would not be necessary.. Funds prevent that, I'm sorry. Printing my own money to purchase it is against the law.
If any instructor comes to our department and expresses the need and justification for their students to visit some site that we feel was questionable and already blocked by whatever means, we will TEMPORARILY remove the block.. This would allow the students/class to complete the assignment. After that the block would be reinstated. This is no way interferes with education. Not a bit.
Now, rather than prevent a larger portion of the school from suffering from the needs of the those who desire these kinds of things, the restrictions/blocks allow the majority to get where they need to go. If because of this, I have stomped on your daily entertainment download, I guess I know where your priorities are (selfish as they may be). My thoughts are that if you are more concerned about getting your daily dose of unlimited mp3's, bitorrent's, playing world of warcraft on a faster connection, etc.. your obviously not putting your best effort into what you are supposed to be in school for anyway.
Unfortunately I see a disturbing trend of pushing more and more computer based education as a replacement for face to face instruction (notice that I do not say "in addition to"). The implication that this type of replacement is more economical for schools than funding real instructors just does one thing... it cheapens the value of education (in the wrong type of way). I would rather the school fund 10 more instructors than to spend the dollars on the improved internet connection and/or new servers to place their content on.
I could get into a whole other discussion of what I think of a few of the latest high school graduates (as in where I think their work ethics are, and what they expect to gain out of a college education vs what the college/instructors expect out of them), but that is not appropriate for this forum. I'm not saying ALL students by the way. A small select few always seem to spoil things for the majority.
While the government seems to place a high priority on funding education, it is not funding the internet connection especially to provide entertainment. The priority is placed in the areas of the school that need it. Providing this kind of service is not one of them (at least not at the moment).
And as far as publishing the name of the school.. that is in our public information officer's job description, not mine. My job is make sure that the network and/or internet is available to the folks who need it when they need it and to do within the confines of the limited budget and staff that we have.
I Agree with this 100%.. bandwidth (and the money to pay for it) does not grow on trees. We block a number of sites, and I would like to block a whole lot more at the moment.
.. $$$$$
One thing that I haven't seen mentioned a whole lot, is liability for copyright violations. If students (or even faculty/staff) were to misuse their high speed connection for bittorrent downloads, movies, mp3's or other illegal downloads, the school would be held responsible for it. I know easy fix.. Some software tracking system to identify them and deal with them.. That depends on $$$, some equipment (again $$$$), and staff time ($$$$) all of which we do not have. I see a disturbing trend here
Next, with all the social networking sites, there is the problem of questionable content. I have seen some content on myspace, and a few other sites that have offended other students in labs, and had to be involved in the nasty mess that follows a student complaint such as that.. That content has NO JUSTIFICATION for educational value. NONE. Unfortunately for every one social networking site you block, 5 more pop up the next day just about.
Due to our rural location there are a large number of folks (both student and staff/faculty) that are still relying on dialup. So yep, you guessed it, let's all listen to those online radio stations while we are working at our desks, or working on homework since the college has that high speed connection. Everyone thinks that the whole T-1 line is their own personal pipeline.
These people have not heard of a radio (and headphones) evidently
No one seems to understand the fact that one or two users.. that isn't a lot of bandwidth. but when you have at a minimum several hundred computers online, then it becomes a problem.
The other thing to consider here on the bandwidth side, is you don't just have to deal with just users outgoing/incoming traffic.. that bandwidth is also needed for the college's incoming (off campus) traffic too. You know the satellite offices, the college's web server, the colleges distance education server, email......many others.. Those are not on their own private internet connection. Everyone has to share it.
Ok, next argument - packet shaping. I want one.. again we run into that stubborn $$$$ problem. Yes we asked for one, and sadly no there wasn't money available. Try again next year.
We can't implement student lab fees to recoup this money either. Already tried that route. Of course the minute something like that got implemented (not that it ever would), there would almost certainly be student outrage over the increased costs
Administration sees the cost of IT that keeps going up every year - maintenance contracts, software license upgrade costs, outdated/aged equipment. This is something that anyone who manages budgets is keenly aware of.. we can't keep asking for more money, that doesn't grow on trees either.
I too have no problem with a site that is needed for educational purposes. As more and more instructors find all this new internet material, our limited bandwidth is going to get stretched thinner and thinner. We have to manage what we got, with the only tools we have available at the moment. Sorry if it pisses you off.
Maybe you all would happier with tuition increases..
User name says it all.
hate networking too.