The source of the Java release estimate, Simon Phipps, indicated that he was misinterpreted:
I replied as I usually do, indicating it's "months rather than years", making it clear that the way to interpret that comment is that it's double-digit months and not September!"
SAP is a business process company. The software platform is just incidental to this. They have a huge and (overly) flexible infrastructure that allows them to build a multitude of business processes of top of it.
There are a huge number of tasks that all businesses of a certain size need to do (Customer support, supply chain management, resource planning, HR, financials, online stores, you name it). These aren't tasks that give them a competitive advantage (not being core to the product), but which can cost them dearly if managed poorly. SAP takes care of the common mechanics of running a business so that companies can focus on their actual product.
Not if you use VLANs. You configure the four external switch ports as a VLAN trunk into your core switching infrastructure. Then, just extend the VLANs you want down to the switch.
Then, the Cisco BladeCenter switch allows to to assign VLANs to blades on a blade-by-blade basis. You can run several hundred VLANs down to the switch.
If you are not using VLANs already, then the BladeCenter in general is probably not going to make sense for you.
The Zephyr instant messaging system used at MIT since the late eighties includes the ability for users to write simple bots within the configuration file (.zwgc.desc). You could send remote commands to a computer (e.g. to log yourself off from across campus if you never made it back from dinner) or to provide an automated response to a specifically formatted incoming message. Everything can be authenticated via Kerberos.
Below are some snippets from my.zwgc.desc file. It was last modified sometime before 1995, and the main body of the file was contributed by lwvanels whose last RCS timestamp is July 23, 1991.
See http://web.mit.edu/olh/Zephyr and http://www.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/izeph yr/html/izephyr.html for more about Zephyr.
Begin.zwgc.desc snippets --------------------
# Ignore certain people and let them know it
if ($puntlist != "") then if (upcase($sender) != lany (upcase($user), $sender)) then if (($puntlist == "*") | ($puntlist =~ $sender)) then if ((upcase($class) == "MESSAGE") & (upcase($instance) == "PERSONAL")) then set signature = "Automated_reply:" set message = $user+" is currently not receiving your messages." exec "sh" "-c" "zwrite -n -O zebra "+$sender+" -s "+$signature+" -m "+$message endif if ((upcase($class) != "MESSAGE") | (upcase($instance) != "URGENT")) then exit endif endif endif endif
# # ZEPHYR REMOTE COMMANDS # # The following segment enables the user to send a command to another terminal # provided that user is running a zwgc on that terminal. The command is sent # as the message portion of a zephyrgram and is directed at the terminal named # in the opcode portion of the zephyrgram. # # To receive remote commands with this code requires that the user subscribe to # messages of class Command and instance Personal. This is accomplished with # the following command entered at the prompt: # zctl add command personal %me% # # To facilitate the sending of remote commands, these aliases may be added # to your.cshrc.mine file or your.aliases file: # alias execute 'zw -c command -i Personal {$user} -O' # alias status 'zw -O \!* -c command -i Personal {$user} -m "ps acgx | zwrite -n -q -i status $user"' # alias rlogout 'zw -O \!* -c command -i Personal {$user} -m/usr/athena/end_session' # Usage: # execute <hostname> # ---> Send a command to the machine named by <hostname>. This # requires that you have a zwgc running on that machine and # are subscribed to the appropriate class and instance. The # command should be a standard unix command or the full path # of an executable file. Pipelined commands and commands # requiring arguments are allowed. A windowgram will appear # displaying the command that has been requested. A response # will be sent by the named machine informing whether the # command was executed. There is no guarantee that the # command will actually succeed in performing as expected # once zwgc attempts to execute it: the actual behavior of # the command is determined by the shell in which the zwgc # is running. # status <hostname> # ---> Send a list of the processes currently running on <hostname>. # This is an example of a pipelined unix command, and shows one # way to receive back the output of a command: pipe the output # into a personal zwrite. # rlogout <hostname> # ---> Log off <hostname>. A great way to avoid returning to that # cluster on the other side of campus when you forget to logout. # All processes should die, no unsaved files will be saved. # match "command" fields signature command # Ignore pings if (upcase($opcode) == "PING") then exit endif # Display replies if ($opcode == "reply") then print "@center(@bold("+$aval+" "+$instance+" "+$class+"))\n" print "@center("+$fromhost+")\n" print "@center(has executed the command:)\n" print "@center(@bold("+$command+"))" put exit endif # Verify that sender of request is legitimate user if (upcase($user) != lany (upcase($sender), $user)) | ($auth != "yes") then exit endif # Display command request print "@center(@bold("+$aval+" "+$instance+" "+$class+"))\n" print "@center(From: "+$sender+" on "+$fromhost+")\n" print "@center(To: "+$recipient+" on "+$opcode+")\n" print "@center(@bold("+$command+"))" # Host specified by opcode executes command request if (upcase($opcode) == lany (upcase($hostname), $opcode)) then # Record the command request in specified file set cfile = "/mit/"+getenv("USER")+"/zwgc_command."+$time &nb sp; outputport "request" $cfile put "request" $command closeport "request" print "\n@center(Host "+$hostname+" acknowledges request.)\n" # Execute the command request set command = lbreak($command, "\n") exec "/bin/csh" "-fc" $command set reply = "zwrite -n -q -O reply -c command -i "+$instance+" "+getenv("USER")+" -m '"+$command+"'" exec "/bin/csh" "-fc" $reply endif put exit
Your slashdot buddy command
on
Resident Evil
·
· Score: 1
Today's PC is brought to you by the number 17 and the letters N, S, and A. Tune in tomorrow when we show you how to get rid of that annoying aluminum foil wrapped around your head.
I like Grip. This GPL program can be configured to rip+encode CDs upon insertion and will eject them when done ripping (encoding is a separate process which can be queued up for later since it takes longer than ripping). You can choose from several encoders and the CDDB info is automatically collected. If you install the companion program, Digital DJ, the CDDB info will be shoved into a MySQL database for easy music management/playlist manipulation later on.
I have seen a demo of GroovePort's PUMP system (Personal Ubiquitous Media Platform). It rocks and is slicker than any other music management system I have seen. They're in the process of cleaning up the code for an Open Source release, so good things may start creeping out soon.
"Oh yes, and of course all the potential members out there will handle their private keys absolutely secure?"
Presumably, the requirement for information security training should help some with this problem.
Look, you are responding to an argument which I did not make -- That this whole scheme is a totally good and secure thing. I was responding to your direct assertion that "Some Crackers will crack there[sic] way into the mail spool..." That is the most direct attack to make, since it is pretty easy to determine where the spool resides.
Encryption removes this easy step and weakens, not eliminates, your overall argument. With encrypted mail, the cracker must determine the machine with the mail spool, then determine what machine holds the target's key, then root that box and either break the encryption or hope that the target is sloppy with his key or leaves the emails lying around unencrypted. This significantly increases an attacker's workload and opportunities for detection.
I will leave the debate over whether the whole scheme is a good idea or not to other threads. My argument does not take sides on that issue, and I do not care to hash over it. The system is not bullet proof, but it is certainly not as easily attacked as you suggest in your original message. Your post implied low hanging fruit; there is fruit there, but it is not as easy to get to as you implied. That was my point.
The announcement email indicates that sensitive communication will be encrypted:
Requirements of bind-members will be:
1. Not-for-profit members can have their fees waived 2. Use of PGP (or possibly S/MIME) will be mandatory
3. Members will receive information security training
4. Members will sign strong nondisclosure agreements
Take a look at the Authenticated User Community (AUC) package. It is a GPLed intranet system for providing online classrooms. While it will not handle the streaming audio/video parts of your problem, it is a nice tool for coordinating the class. There is a live demo at the web site where you can discover the following features and more:
Interactive Classrooms with facilities for announcements, assignments, class calendar, and forums.
Fully functional web-based email client
Web based file manager
School Newspaper engine
Web-based maintenence tools for teachers, online aides and the sysop
Actually, it uses Boa as the web server, not Apache.
Strangely, right now I am in the middle of modifying one of these for a portable wireless application (The 2100, not the 2120). I was in the middle of debugging a C cgi program for the camera when this slashdot story appeared.:)
Mmmmm, Apollo. My trusty DN3000 is still sitting about five feet away. I do not fire it up as much as I used to since the disk started making unhappy noises. It is not dead yet, though.:)
No. Unix is a computer virus
on
Is UNIX An OS?
·
· Score: 1
Everyone knows that Unix is not an operating system; Unix and C are the ultimate computer viruses. Check out The Rise of "Worse is Better" for the full story. You have to get about halfway down before you reach the "Unix and C are the Ultimate Computer Viruses" section.
If you have a background process that renders dynamic pages to static pages every few minutes, then static web serving does count, even if your site is dynamic.
There are certain pages which need to be different every time they are viewed, and there are some that only change every few minutes, hours, or daily. Why take the hit to generate these each time when you can cache them?
Just have a gateway script which first looks for pre-rendered pages in one tree, and if it does not find any, serves those pages dynamically. Then have your render script know how often which pages get cached or are ignored.
"Do you seriously think that the new language will be designed in a correct fashion?"
Yes, I do.
Not many of the Linux developers have never take theory classes and the most have no training in software design.
Michael Meeks is heading the Gnome Basic project project. He has a rather nice Engineering degree from Downing College at Cambridge University. In addition to having a piece of paper, he actually knows his stuff and has worked in the industry on real time AV editing and playback systems (something you hardly do with a "let's-hack-something-together" attitude).
Core libraries should be shared with Gnome Basic
on
KBasic
·
· Score: 3
Gnome already has a nicely designed alpha of Gnome Basic (http://www.gnome.org:65348/gb/). This is really a point where KDE and Gnome should cooperate. While they will certainly need to have different front end GUIs, a lot of the back end code can be abstracted into a library and used by both projects. Since they are constrained by a pseudo-standard set by Microsoft, it is not like they will be too inconvenienced by working together.
I hope the KDE team is willing to lend their assistance so that both projects are speeded to completion.
Now, before everyone starts screaming about viruses and the need for this, let me add another thought. At least for Gnome Basic, Michael Meeks was very conscientious about making gb have a secure sandbox from which an evil virus could not escape. The worst thing that can happen right now is DoS RAM consumption.
Also, there is an actual need for Basic in both Gnome and KDE. If we are going to capture any portion of the business users, Open Source must offer spreadsheets and word processors which are compatible with Micro$oft Basic. A large number of companies have huge collections of pre-existing documents which *must* work correctly or they will never even consider switching to Linux/BSD. Gnome Office and K Office must provide this capability before they can make serious inroads in the corporate world.
*sigh* You missed the point entirely. I happened to be around when Linux broke onto the scene in the pre 1.0 era as a happy college user of BSD and System V based Unix workstations. There were plenty of people who thought Linux was a complete waste of time because good Unix solutions already existed, especially after the free x86 BSDs came out.
Linux really did not affect me much then, because I had plenty of other resources. However, after college, an x86 box running a Unix-like environment was the only way I could afford to run my favored applications at home. Thus, Linus' unreasonable stance in the face of other solutions has allowed me to work and play completely in an environment which I prefer. I have all the classes of applications I need, and that makes me happy. It does not make me a zealot; it makes me a satisfied user.
Perhaps the following quote will express the meaning of my original post in a form you can better comprehend.
"The reasonable man adapts to nature. The unreasonable man seeks to adapt nature to himself. Therefore, all progress is made by the unreasonable man."
-Aristotle, Twain, or George Bernard Shaw depending on which source you want to believe.
Let us try to reword this a little and see how it sounds...
I don't mean to disparage the hard work that the authors have put into this project, but do they really think that this can compete with Windows and Unix? Both Windows and Unix have been around for years and have established user and software bases, as well as plenty of corporate sponsorship. They're the de facto standards for computing, and Linux is going to face a uphill battle winning users over.
It seems that Linus' time would have been better spent helping to improve the existing application base instead of coding a new platform from the ground up. But that's just one of the flaws with the open source, model I guess -- we have dozens of teams reinventing the wheel and none building the car.
It sounds about the same, but do you still agree with it?
As long as you are planning to shove an intelligent:CueCat up your ass, why stop at detecting colon cancer? Make a plug-in architecture for your software, and somebody will soon write a routine to detect whether someone is full of sh*t!
"What?" you say, "I am well fibered and squeaky clean. How will I test it?" The answer is simple my friend. Just make certain that Digital Convergence knows about your exploits. They will send one of their lawyers after you di-rectly. Capture the lawyer and use him to perfect your scatological scanning software.
Slashdot Mirror
You might be happier with a Whisky and Prostitutes ETF. Consult your broker today.
You want The Vice Fund (Symbol: VICEX)
Specializing in Aerospace/Defence, Gaming, Tobacco and Booze
http://www.usamutuals.com/vicefund/abt.aspx
"Of course the government and the media lie. The key is that in a democracy, the lies are different."
-Roughly paraphrased from memory. I believe it came from a Steve Jackson game.
Oops, I didn't use the permalink for Simon's blog entry referenced in the parent.
SAP is a business process company. The software platform is just incidental to this. They have a huge and (overly) flexible infrastructure that allows them to build a multitude of business processes of top of it.
There are a huge number of tasks that all businesses of a certain size need to do (Customer support, supply chain management, resource planning, HR, financials, online stores, you name it). These aren't tasks that give them a competitive advantage (not being core to the product), but which can cost them dearly if managed poorly. SAP takes care of the common mechanics of running a business so that companies can focus on their actual product.
Not if you use VLANs. You configure the four external switch ports as a VLAN trunk into your core switching infrastructure. Then, just extend the VLANs you want down to the switch.
Then, the Cisco BladeCenter switch allows to to assign VLANs to blades on a blade-by-blade basis. You can run several hundred VLANs down to the switch.
If you are not using VLANs already, then the BladeCenter in general is probably not going to make sense for you.
The Zephyr instant messaging system used at MIT since the late eighties includes the ability for users to write simple bots within the configuration file (.zwgc.desc). You could send remote commands to a computer (e.g. to log yourself off from across campus if you never made it back from dinner) or to provide an automated response to a specifically formatted incoming message. Everything can be authenticated via Kerberos.
.zwgc.desc file. It was last modified sometime before 1995, and the main body of the file was contributed by lwvanels whose last RCS timestamp is July 23, 1991.
h yr/html/izephyr.html
.zwgc.desc snippets --------------------
.cshrc.mine file or your .aliases file: /usr/athena/end_session'b sp; outputport "request" $cfile
Below are some snippets from my
See http://web.mit.edu/olh/Zephyr and
http://www.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/doc/izep
for more about Zephyr.
Begin
# Ignore certain people and let them know it
if ($puntlist != "") then
if (upcase($sender) != lany (upcase($user), $sender)) then
if (($puntlist == "*") | ($puntlist =~ $sender)) then
if ((upcase($class) == "MESSAGE") & (upcase($instance) == "PERSONAL")) then
set signature = "Automated_reply:"
set message = $user+" is currently not receiving your messages."
exec "sh" "-c" "zwrite -n -O zebra "+$sender+" -s "+$signature+" -m "+$message
endif
if ((upcase($class) != "MESSAGE") | (upcase($instance) != "URGENT")) then
exit
endif
endif
endif
endif
#
# ZEPHYR REMOTE COMMANDS
#
# The following segment enables the user to send a command to another terminal
# provided that user is running a zwgc on that terminal. The command is sent
# as the message portion of a zephyrgram and is directed at the terminal named
# in the opcode portion of the zephyrgram.
#
# To receive remote commands with this code requires that the user subscribe to
# messages of class Command and instance Personal. This is accomplished with
# the following command entered at the prompt:
# zctl add command personal %me%
#
# To facilitate the sending of remote commands, these aliases may be added
# to your
# alias execute 'zw -c command -i Personal {$user} -O'
# alias status 'zw -O \!* -c command -i Personal {$user} -m "ps acgx | zwrite -n -q -i status $user"'
# alias rlogout 'zw -O \!* -c command -i Personal {$user} -m
# Usage:
# execute <hostname>
# ---> Send a command to the machine named by <hostname>. This
# requires that you have a zwgc running on that machine and
# are subscribed to the appropriate class and instance. The
# command should be a standard unix command or the full path
# of an executable file. Pipelined commands and commands
# requiring arguments are allowed. A windowgram will appear
# displaying the command that has been requested. A response
# will be sent by the named machine informing whether the
# command was executed. There is no guarantee that the
# command will actually succeed in performing as expected
# once zwgc attempts to execute it: the actual behavior of
# the command is determined by the shell in which the zwgc
# is running.
# status <hostname>
# ---> Send a list of the processes currently running on <hostname>.
# This is an example of a pipelined unix command, and shows one
# way to receive back the output of a command: pipe the output
# into a personal zwrite.
# rlogout <hostname>
# ---> Log off <hostname>. A great way to avoid returning to that
# cluster on the other side of campus when you forget to logout.
# All processes should die, no unsaved files will be saved.
#
match "command"
fields signature command
# Ignore pings
if (upcase($opcode) == "PING") then exit endif
# Display replies
if ($opcode == "reply") then
print "@center(@bold("+$aval+" "+$instance+" "+$class+"))\n"
print "@center("+$fromhost+")\n"
print "@center(has executed the command:)\n"
print "@center(@bold("+$command+"))"
put
exit
endif
# Verify that sender of request is legitimate user
if (upcase($user) != lany (upcase($sender), $user)) |
($auth != "yes") then
exit
endif
# Display command request
print "@center(@bold("+$aval+" "+$instance+" "+$class+"))\n"
print "@center(From: "+$sender+" on "+$fromhost+")\n"
print "@center(To: "+$recipient+" on "+$opcode+")\n"
print "@center(@bold("+$command+"))"
# Host specified by opcode executes command request
if (upcase($opcode) == lany (upcase($hostname), $opcode)) then
# Record the command request in specified file
set cfile = "/mit/"+getenv("USER")+"/zwgc_command."+$time
&n
put "request" $command
closeport "request"
print "\n@center(Host "+$hostname+" acknowledges request.)\n"
# Execute the command request
set command = lbreak($command, "\n")
exec "/bin/csh" "-fc" $command
set reply = "zwrite -n -q -O reply -c command -i "+$instance+" "+getenv("USER")+" -m '"+$command+"'"
exec "/bin/csh" "-fc" $reply
endif
put
exit
Today's PC is brought to you by the number 17 and the letters N, S, and A. Tune in tomorrow when we show you how to get rid of that annoying aluminum foil wrapped around your head.
I like Grip. This GPL program can be configured to rip+encode CDs upon insertion and will eject them when done ripping (encoding is a separate process which can be queued up for later since it takes longer than ripping). You can choose from several encoders and the CDDB info is automatically collected. If you install the companion program, Digital DJ, the CDDB info will be shoved into a MySQL database for easy music management/playlist manipulation later on.
I have seen a demo of GroovePort's PUMP system (Personal Ubiquitous Media Platform). It rocks and is slicker than any other music management system I have seen. They're in the process of cleaning up the code for an Open Source release, so good things may start creeping out soon.
Presumably, the requirement for information security training should help some with this problem.
Look, you are responding to an argument which I did not make -- That this whole scheme is a totally good and secure thing. I was responding to your direct assertion that "Some Crackers will crack there[sic] way into the mail spool..." That is the most direct attack to make, since it is pretty easy to determine where the spool resides.
Encryption removes this easy step and weakens, not eliminates, your overall argument. With encrypted mail, the cracker must determine the machine with the mail spool, then determine what machine holds the target's key, then root that box and either break the encryption or hope that the target is sloppy with his key or leaves the emails lying around unencrypted. This significantly increases an attacker's workload and opportunities for detection.
I will leave the debate over whether the whole scheme is a good idea or not to other threads. My argument does not take sides on that issue, and I do not care to hash over it. The system is not bullet proof, but it is certainly not as easily attacked as you suggest in your original message. Your post implied low hanging fruit; there is fruit there, but it is not as easy to get to as you implied. That was my point.
The announcement email indicates that sensitive communication will be encrypted:
Take a look at the Authenticated User Community (AUC) package. It is a GPLed intranet system for providing online classrooms. While it will not handle the streaming audio/video parts of your problem, it is a nice tool for coordinating the class. There is a live demo at the web site where you can discover the following features and more:
Strangely, right now I am in the middle of modifying one of these for a portable wireless application (The 2100, not the 2120). I was in the middle of debugging a C cgi program for the camera when this slashdot story appeared. :)
Mmmmm, Apollo. My trusty DN3000 is still sitting about five feet away. I do not fire it up as much as I used to since the disk started making unhappy noises. It is not dead yet, though. :)
-benjy
If you have a background process that renders dynamic pages to static pages every few minutes, then static web serving does count, even if your site is dynamic. There are certain pages which need to be different every time they are viewed, and there are some that only change every few minutes, hours, or daily. Why take the hit to generate these each time when you can cache them? Just have a gateway script which first looks for pre-rendered pages in one tree, and if it does not find any, serves those pages dynamically. Then have your render script know how often which pages get cached or are ignored.
Yes, I do.
Not many of the Linux developers have never take theory classes and the most have no training in software design.
Michael Meeks is heading the Gnome Basic project project. He has a rather nice Engineering degree from Downing College at Cambridge University. In addition to having a piece of paper, he actually knows his stuff and has worked in the industry on real time AV editing and playback systems (something you hardly do with a "let's-hack-something-together" attitude).
Now, before everyone starts screaming about viruses and the need for this, let me add another thought. At least for Gnome Basic, Michael Meeks was very conscientious about making gb have a secure sandbox from which an evil virus could not escape. The worst thing that can happen right now is DoS RAM consumption.
Also, there is an actual need for Basic in both Gnome and KDE. If we are going to capture any portion of the business users, Open Source must offer spreadsheets and word processors which are compatible with Micro$oft Basic. A large number of companies have huge collections of pre-existing documents which *must* work correctly or they will never even consider switching to Linux/BSD. Gnome Office and K Office must provide this capability before they can make serious inroads in the corporate world.
Linux really did not affect me much then, because I had plenty of other resources. However, after college, an x86 box running a Unix-like environment was the only way I could afford to run my favored applications at home. Thus, Linus' unreasonable stance in the face of other solutions has allowed me to work and play completely in an environment which I prefer. I have all the classes of applications I need, and that makes me happy. It does not make me a zealot; it makes me a satisfied user.
Perhaps the following quote will express the meaning of my original post in a form you can better comprehend.
I don't mean to disparage the hard work that the authors have put into this project, but do they really think that this can compete with Windows and Unix? Both Windows and Unix have been around for years and have established user and software bases, as well as plenty of corporate sponsorship. They're the de facto standards for computing, and Linux is going to face a uphill battle winning users over.
It seems that Linus' time would have been better spent helping to improve the existing application base instead of coding a new platform from the ground up. But that's just one of the flaws with the open source, model I guess -- we have dozens of teams reinventing the wheel and none building the car.
It sounds about the same, but do you still agree with it?
"What?" you say, "I am well fibered and squeaky clean. How will I test it?" The answer is simple my friend. Just make certain that Digital Convergence knows about your exploits. They will send one of their lawyers after you di-rectly. Capture the lawyer and use him to perfect your scatological scanning software.
Dude, you seriously need to consider upgrading your CD-ROM before even thinking about moving to Red Hat 7.0.
A: RU-Pentium -- It prevents cells from dividing properly.