Let's not get paranoid here, the problems with these internet DOS and break in attacks all have one thing in common. There is Never Security Anyway on these computers to prevent this. Trying to blame some innocent government agency that would never Never Sanction Abuse of the power they have been given is just immature. Of course, what would easily fix this problem is to allow the proper government groups more power in regulating the internet. Let's face it, privacy is dead and anyone who wants to keep privacy must be a criminal living in the woods waiting to snipe federal agents.
So support better regulation of the internet, you'll be glad you did when you no longer have to fear DOS attacks from some evil hackers.
"The principle occupation [of the MPAA] is to make sure that American movies move freely and unhobbled around the world,"
Yet they are encoded with region codes that prevent this from happening. The MPAA is directly preventing a method (DeCSS) that would actually allow this to happen.
Sorry, but he IS clueless. At least about his own lawsuits and practices.
He's sad really. He seems to hate open source with a passion, but is powerless to do anything about it. He doesn't understand most of what he writes about (given the glaring technical inaccuracies that often pop up in his writing), but he posses strong opinions anyway.
Don't flame him and don't write him explaining x86. Just let him sink into obscurity along with everyone else in this industry who cannot actually accomplish anything anymore, so they are forced to write about others accomplishments.
Perhaps you are not sure how this forum works. They are not writing every story that you see, they simply link to existing stories, which they provide a little (mostly ignored) comment on. Then we (the users) comment on the stories.
ZDNet, Garner Group, and many others have commented on Win2k after working with trial versions. I haven't seen a lot of positive reviews yet. I don't know of anyone who suggests you switch until the vast (65k+ by MS's own admission) number of bugs goes down. Perhaps by service pack 3 or 4, assuming they do not introduce new bugs like they usualy do.
Now lets look at some of the assertions you have a problem with:
Win2k is buggy According to Microsoft. Also considering that it has gone gold and already have a service pack doesn't speak well of it or the testing it went through.
Win2k is unstable This we cannot really comment on. Some of the betas worked perfectly, some crashed like their "stable" cousins, 95/98. To really know how stable it is, it needs to be released and put into use under a wide range of conditions. Given Window's proven and well documented track record on first releases, I know I don't want to be relying on it till it's gone through real world testing.
Win2k is outrageously licensed A matter of opinion, but since Microsoft has pretty much already told us what will be the licensing policies, we can conclude what we want.
Win2k is bloated For an operating system, YES. It's minimum system requirements and (again) Microsoft's proven "add every cpu sucking feature or else" track record testify to this.
Win2k is anti-Linux vaporware No, but between how long it's been delayed, and how many times they have attemped to hype this non-existant product as a *nix killer, I can see why one would think that.
Win2k can't live in a heterogeneous lan See "Windows is unstable"
Any last, What a lot of money Roblimo has saved all of us by supplying us with pre-shrink-wrapped opinions which require no critical thought on our part.
You have no argument. This forum encourages discussion and responses to any story it presents. I will not hold my breath waiting to see if Microsoft changes it's Linux Myths and Solaris Myths pages so that readers can post responses to their (largly) false claims.
Lastly, just because there are other ways to thwart their copy protection doesn't mean that one method should be legal.
Then why aren't my VCR, tape player, and CD burner considered illegal? There is nothing illegal about breaking copy protection for your own use. That has been proven time and again in fair use trials. Who's to say I can't make a perfect copy of my own disk if I know how. The illegal thing would be to sell them, and THAT should be punished.
If we banned every item and program that COULD be used for some illegal purpose, we would have NOTHING.
I've seen DVDs copied. It would be really silly to decrypt it first. That would be like reading a text file off the screen, writing it to a piece of paper, then firing up vi and writing it to a new file on a floppy. It would be a little easier to copy it.
Why not ban pens? Who cared what they were made for, they can be used to copy books for sale on the black market.
The judge and MPAA people are wrong, just as you are.
I hope, but how much is all speculation. I'd kinda like to see someone strip all the debug code out of a milestone release if nothing else just to see what kind of difference it makes
Why not just call it Netscape 2000 and get it over with.
Hell let's bring the linux kernel up into the current decade, considering that DOS 3 has been dead for years, it's embarassing that I have to use an OS that is still in the 2 series. I mean, get with the times, Linus.
Finkployd
Oh, and seriously, I'm eagerly awaiting this release, go Mozilla!:)
So when the the Katz filter is circumvented, no only are you exposed to the article blurb, but also forced to read it and post a response to it?
Wow, those filters must be stronger than I though. I usually can pretty much filter through stuff myself. It's a little trick I picked up somewhere I like to call "skipping the story"(tm)
Perhaps CmdrTaco shared the same concerns as Roblimo before all of this happened. He might have heard that VA was going to buy Andover.net and end up with control of Slashdot.
If that's case, then he made a very intelligent move, and it's called Slash:)
Think about it, there was probably the fear that VA would gain control of slashdot, and there would be nothing the current maintainers of the site could really do. So they rush and get the code out there as a form of insurence. Now, anything happens, they simply jump ship, grab a tarball off of sourceforge and start anew. I don't think there is much doubt that the readers would follow.
I've been trying to figure out why the sudden change in their stance on slash and why they released it so fast, now I think I know.:)
This (while hardly unexpected) raises some serious questions. Is there anyone out there who devotes their time to making sure companies are not taking open source programs or code and passing them off as proprietary? What is the procedure for dealing with these guys? It would be a shame if they got away with this kind of decption. Finkployd
Andover bought Slashdot, the quality of the articles and of the comments have dropped dramatically.
First off, I would love to hear the logic behind the conclusion that Andover somehow made comments worse. I would say that as/. got more popular, it attracted it share of trolls and whiners. Second, I've been reading/. for quite a long time now, and I haven't noticed much of a difference in the content. Sure their tastes have changed slightly, but I don't remember any massive change since the Andover announcment. What I HAVE noticed is an abundance of whiners that came here somehow expecting that every story would interest them, then going off and bitching everytime someone posted a story that they didn't think belonged here.
Perfectly valid and interesting stories are being rejected in exchange for stories relating to Linux and Microsoft.
Hate to spoil your illusions, but this site has been running storied about Linux and Microsoft since it's birth. Perhaps we WANT to see stories about Linux and Microsoft. Perhaps that is why it's so popular... The stories were interesting and valid to YOU, and perhaps others as well, but the maintainers of this site didn't think so, and chose other stories instead of them. You will just have to live with that kind of disapointment in your life, as NO news service reports EVERYTHING it gets.
The server's performance has also slowed.
Or perhaps the site has gotten more popular and the server has been dishing up more content? Nahhh, there must be some conspiricy. I'll be Andover.net forced them to move everything over to old 486s so their CEO could have all of Rob's server hardware.
Slashdot should split off from the combined company and run indenpendently, just like the old days.
Since you seem to remember the old days so well, could you please enlighten me as to what has changed so drastically that you take exception to?
I agree with most of what you have stated, but I would submit to you that slashdot has NEVER been completly without biases (indeed, I don't know if anything EVER has been). Rob and Co. have always had their own agendas, interests, and beliefs. This is not a bad thing, in fact it has made slashdot what it is today. They have always defended some companies and groups, and I have yet to see them do anything inconsistant with they way they operated before (ie, some inexplicable about-face on some issue)
For example, I am a student at Penn State and our computer science program accepts only 100 students per year.
I'm a part time student, full time staff member (remember that degree audit you just got in the mail, I ran the mainframe job that printed it:) at said University and I have to agree with you. He has only done one thing I am aware of and thats give a scholarship to tech degree students who promise to work in PA for x number of years.
As for PSU's computer program, I used to be in it, but the general cluelesness of the faculty (at a commonwealth campus), plus the "we have no actual direction" changes in the program drove me out of it. I've since been hired for jobs that CSE grads have been turned down for:)
Come on, as a resident of this fine, frozen State, I have got to tell you that the Amish make up a very small, overlooked part of it. Half the time, WE forget they are here.
I know this is kind of a stupid story, but it's an important one. Many of us make choices for companies about what bandwidth provider to use, and VERIO is a very popular provider. Knowing what scam they attempted to pull is useful in knowing what kind of company they really are.
Sure, it got rejected, and that is a Good Thing(tm), but what about the stupid trademarks that slip through. It's easy to blame the government for things like this (and they are to blame) but let's not also forget the companies that try to abuse the system. I think the fact that they ATTEMPTED to do this (for what reason, I shudder to think) shows what type of company Verio is. They seem to be trying to scam money any way they can.
This could have happend to any one of us. I'm glad the person it happend to is a smart, level headed, guy who can express himself effectivly and doesn't seem to be doing stuff "just for the attention".
I'm afraid to imagine what this whole DeCSS fight would be like if the one responsible for starting it was a 3133t cracker dude who's only goal is to fsck the system. Joe had the right motives, did it the right way, and we should all be thankfull that he is not buckling under the threat of punishment.
PS: I'm wearing my DeCSS source code shirt to work today, and if I have to explain it means one more time, I'm going to go nuts.
Slashdot Mirror
Let's not get paranoid here, the problems with these internet DOS and break in attacks all have one thing in common. There is Never Security Anyway on these computers to prevent this.
Trying to blame some innocent government agency that would never Never Sanction Abuse of the power they have been given is just immature.
Of course, what would easily fix this problem is to allow the proper government groups more power in regulating the internet. Let's face it, privacy is dead and anyone who wants to keep privacy must be a criminal living in the woods waiting to snipe federal agents.
So support better regulation of the internet, you'll be glad you did when you no longer have to fear DOS attacks from some evil hackers.
Finkployd
"The principle occupation [of the MPAA] is to make sure that American movies move freely and unhobbled around the world,"
Yet they are encoded with region codes that prevent this from happening. The MPAA is directly preventing a method (DeCSS) that would actually allow this to happen.
Sorry, but he IS clueless. At least about his own lawsuits and practices.
Finkployd
He's sad really. He seems to hate open source with a passion, but is powerless to do anything about it. He doesn't understand most of what he writes about (given the glaring technical inaccuracies that often pop up in his writing), but he posses strong opinions anyway.
Don't flame him and don't write him explaining x86. Just let him sink into obscurity along with everyone else in this industry who cannot actually accomplish anything anymore, so they are forced to write about others accomplishments.
Finkployd
Perhaps you are not sure how this forum works. They are not writing every story that you see, they simply link to existing stories, which they provide a little (mostly ignored) comment on. Then we (the users) comment on the stories.
ZDNet, Garner Group, and many others have commented on Win2k after working with trial versions. I haven't seen a lot of positive reviews yet. I don't know of anyone who suggests you switch until the vast (65k+ by MS's own admission) number of bugs goes down. Perhaps by service pack 3 or 4, assuming they do not introduce new bugs like they usualy do.
Now lets look at some of the assertions you have a problem with:
Win2k is buggy
According to Microsoft. Also considering that it has gone gold and already have a service pack doesn't speak well of it or the testing it went through.
Win2k is unstable
This we cannot really comment on. Some of the betas worked perfectly, some crashed like their "stable" cousins, 95/98. To really know how stable it is, it needs to be released and put into use under a wide range of conditions. Given Window's proven and well documented track record on first releases, I know I don't want to be relying on it till it's gone through real world testing.
Win2k is outrageously licensed
A matter of opinion, but since Microsoft has pretty much already told us what will be the licensing policies, we can conclude what we want.
Win2k is bloated
For an operating system, YES. It's minimum system requirements and (again) Microsoft's proven "add every cpu sucking feature or else" track record testify to this.
Win2k is anti-Linux vaporware
No, but between how long it's been delayed, and how many times they have attemped to hype this non-existant product as a *nix killer, I can see why one would think that.
Win2k can't live in a heterogeneous lan
See "Windows is unstable"
Any last,
What a lot of money Roblimo has saved all of us by supplying us with pre-shrink-wrapped opinions which require no critical thought on our part.
You have no argument. This forum encourages discussion and responses to any story it presents. I will not hold my breath waiting to see if Microsoft changes it's Linux Myths and Solaris Myths pages so that readers can post responses to their (largly) false claims.
Finkployd
do you care if I use that as a .sig?
Finkployd
Lastly, just because there are other ways to thwart their copy protection doesn't mean that one method should be legal.
Then why aren't my VCR, tape player, and CD burner considered illegal? There is nothing illegal about breaking copy protection for your own use. That has been proven time and again in fair use trials. Who's to say I can't make a perfect copy of my own disk if I know how. The illegal thing would be to sell them, and THAT should be punished.
If we banned every item and program that COULD be used for some illegal purpose, we would have NOTHING.
Finkployd
You could just play into a video capture card. All DeCSS does is allow you to circumvent an (arguably) illegal practice, ie. region codes.
I've seen DVDs copied. It would be really silly to decrypt it first. That would be like reading a text file off the screen, writing it to a piece of paper, then firing up vi and writing it to a new file on a floppy. It would be a little easier to copy it.
Why not ban pens? Who cared what they were made for, they can be used to copy books for sale on the black market.
The judge and MPAA people are wrong, just as you are.
Finkployd
Finkployd
Really, and what can DeCSS do that is illegal?
Finkployd
I hope, but how much is all speculation. I'd kinda like to see someone strip all the debug code out of a milestone release if nothing else just to see what kind of difference it makes
With an inflated version number, how can we lose?
:)
Why not just call it Netscape 2000 and get it over with.
Hell let's bring the linux kernel up into the current decade, considering that DOS 3 has been dead for years, it's embarassing that I have to use an OS that is still in the 2 series. I mean, get with the times, Linus.
Finkployd
Oh, and seriously, I'm eagerly awaiting this release, go Mozilla!
Just as you are forced to......
....Oh GOD NO!!!! It's a infinite loop!!
Finkployd
So when the the Katz filter is circumvented, no only are you exposed to the article blurb, but also forced to read it and post a response to it?
Wow, those filters must be stronger than I though. I usually can pretty much filter through stuff myself. It's a little trick I picked up somewhere I like to call "skipping the story"(tm)
Finkployd
This is th best news I've heard all week, I honestly hope they do it justice.
So this now begs the important question, who plays American Maid?
Finkployd
Perhaps CmdrTaco shared the same concerns as Roblimo before all of this happened. He might have heard that VA was going to buy Andover.net and end up with control of Slashdot.
:)
:)
If that's case, then he made a very intelligent move, and it's called Slash
Think about it, there was probably the fear that VA would gain control of slashdot, and there would be nothing the current maintainers of the site could really do. So they rush and get the code out there as a form of insurence. Now, anything happens, they simply jump ship, grab a tarball off of sourceforge and start anew. I don't think there is much doubt that the readers would follow.
I've been trying to figure out why the sudden change in their stance on slash and why they released it so fast, now I think I know.
Finkployd
It would be a shame if they got away with this kind of decption.
:)
It's a shame I get away with this type of spelling
Finkployd
This (while hardly unexpected) raises some serious questions. Is there anyone out there who devotes their time to making sure companies are not taking open source programs or code and passing them off as proprietary? What is the procedure for dealing with these guys? It would be a shame if they got away with this kind of decption.
Finkployd
Andover bought Slashdot, the quality of the articles and of the comments have dropped dramatically.
/. got more popular, it attracted it share of trolls and whiners. /. for quite a long time now, and I haven't noticed much of a difference in the content. Sure their tastes have changed slightly, but I don't remember any massive change since the Andover announcment. What I HAVE noticed is an abundance of whiners that came here somehow expecting that every story would interest them, then going off and bitching everytime someone posted a story that they didn't think belonged here.
First off, I would love to hear the logic behind the conclusion that Andover somehow made comments worse. I would say that as
Second, I've been reading
Perfectly valid and interesting stories are being rejected in exchange for stories relating to Linux and Microsoft.
Hate to spoil your illusions, but this site has been running storied about Linux and Microsoft since it's birth. Perhaps we WANT to see stories about Linux and Microsoft. Perhaps that is why it's so popular...
The stories were interesting and valid to YOU, and perhaps others as well, but the maintainers of this site didn't think so, and chose other stories instead of them. You will just have to live with that kind of disapointment in your life, as NO news service reports EVERYTHING it gets.
The server's performance has also slowed.
Or perhaps the site has gotten more popular and the server has been dishing up more content? Nahhh, there must be some conspiricy. I'll be Andover.net forced them to move everything over to old 486s so their CEO could have all of Rob's server hardware.
Slashdot should split off from the combined company and run indenpendently, just like the old days.
Since you seem to remember the old days so well, could you please enlighten me as to what has changed so drastically that you take exception to?
Finkployd
I agree with most of what you have stated, but I would submit to you that slashdot has NEVER been completly without biases (indeed, I don't know if anything EVER has been). Rob and Co. have always had their own agendas, interests, and beliefs. This is not a bad thing, in fact it has made slashdot what it is today. They have always defended some companies and groups, and I have yet to see them do anything inconsistant with they way they operated before (ie, some inexplicable about-face on some issue)
Finkployd
For example, I am a student at Penn State and our computer science program accepts only 100 students per year.
:) at said University and I have to agree with you. He has only done one thing I am aware of and thats give a scholarship to tech degree students who promise to work in PA for x number of years.
:)
I'm a part time student, full time staff member (remember that degree audit you just got in the mail, I ran the mainframe job that printed it
As for PSU's computer program, I used to be in it, but the general cluelesness of the faculty (at a commonwealth campus), plus the "we have no actual direction" changes in the program drove me out of it. I've since been hired for jobs that CSE grads have been turned down for
Finkployd
Come on, as a resident of this fine, frozen State, I have got to tell you that the Amish make up a very small, overlooked part of it. Half the time, WE forget they are here.
Finkployd
I know this is kind of a stupid story, but it's an important one. Many of us make choices for companies about what bandwidth provider to use, and VERIO is a very popular provider. Knowing what scam they attempted to pull is useful in knowing what kind of company they really are.
Finkployd
Sure, it got rejected, and that is a Good Thing(tm), but what about the stupid trademarks that slip through. It's easy to blame the government for things like this (and they are to blame) but let's not also forget the companies that try to abuse the system.
I think the fact that they ATTEMPTED to do this (for what reason, I shudder to think) shows what type of company Verio is. They seem to be trying to scam money any way they can.
Finkployd
No, I'm happy to explain it, it's just I never thought it would generate so much interest. I guess that is a good thing :)
Finkployd
This could have happend to any one of us. I'm glad the person it happend to is a smart, level headed, guy who can express himself effectivly and doesn't seem to be doing stuff "just for the attention".
I'm afraid to imagine what this whole DeCSS fight would be like if the one responsible for starting it was a 3133t cracker dude who's only goal is to fsck the system. Joe had the right motives, did it the right way, and we should all be thankfull that he is not buckling under the threat of punishment.
PS: I'm wearing my DeCSS source code shirt to work today, and if I have to explain it means one more time, I'm going to go nuts.
Finkployd