Even worse was the bonehead Raiduhs fans going wild about that pick. Even if he wasn't going to get deported, picking a kicker with a top-20 pick is just plain stupid. Especially with Raiduh's historic quarterback woes and Pennington still on the table. Can you imagine if the Jets had picked him? The fans there would've rioted and torn the whole damn place down!
<tutorial level='novice'>If you preview your post, the entities get switched to the corresponding symbols in the new page's submission box. If you're going to use HTML entities and want to preview your post, hit your back button after the preview and make any needed changes there. Then submit your post. Or, if you like doing things the hard way, go to the submission textarea and correct all the altered entities after you preview.</tutorial>
Yes, it's annoying, but not that hard to deal with.
This post (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=00/04/14/0619 206&cid=540) has the information on the vulnerability for those curious to know what the deal is. I shoulda posted it as a reply here to begin with, but am posting this link to it because there probably aren't too many people who will make it down to the 540th post where it got buried. Sorry!
Microsoft has a Security Bulletin and a FAQ about the problem. Although it's limited, there is a vulnerability -- nothing like those password scenerios that have been bandied about, however.
Quick summary: If multiple web sites are hosted on a NT4/IIS4 server with FrontPage 98 extensions installed, then webmaster A with web authoring permissions on his own site could potentially inappropriately read the.asp (and possibly the global.asa, but no others) files of webmaster B's web site if he knew where they existed on the same server. Note that to be able to do this, user B would have had to have granted user A read permissions (explicitly, or by giving read access to "Everyone") on those files -- otherwise, user A would be unable to read the files.
Soooo, this looks like a tremendously smaller problem than everyone originally thought, although there definitely is a vulnerability for the scenario I mentioned above. Corrections welcomed if I munged any of that explanation.
This was posted to the NTbugtraq list by Russ, the owner. If true, there are a whole damn lot of Slashdotters who made fools of themselves jumping to conclusions today. That's all I'll say about that, so, on with the post (sorry for the bold, and the entire repost, but it needs to be seen):
======= BEGIN MESSAGE =========
Ok, here's a breaking update.
Latest reports say that there is
NO VULNERABILITY IN DVWSSR.DLL
Yup, that's right, different again from what I said earlier, and even more different than what I said yesterday to WSJ.
Please accept that I have followed the story published elsewhere and tried to keep you abreast of everything I knew. Also appreciate that the amount of time given to verify and research the claims made by others has been extremely short. I've had probably 30 interviews today by orgs pressing for information on the story as the feeding frenzy occurs after the first one goes to press (WSJ in this case).
MS have had people working on this thing like madmen, trying to verify the claims and investigate all of the possible pieces of code that may be affected. As that research progressed, different observations were made and so the story came out in various stages (with varying levels of "correctness"). Had they been given a reasonable amount of time to respond, nobody would have been in a tizzy about anything (i.e. the press would not have cared to run this story anywhere).
Decide for yourself whether we were better served by (more) immediate disclosure or not. I've stood where I stand for a reason, despite the loathing of others for my stance...
In the end, it turns out that unless you actually have permissions for the file you are requesting, you'll get an error message when you follow the procedures outlined by RFP in his RFP2K02 advisory.
That said, understand that sites that allow connections by Front Page may very well provide you with source asp if you request it. BUT THAT WILL HAPPEN with or without the.dll. Without proper and full permissions applied across virtual servers on a given box, site leakage or manipulation by others will always be possible in myriad ways.
From what I've heard/seen/been told, permissions on the test servers must have either been non-existent, incorrectly applied, or permissioned the user across multiple virtual sites (i.e. incorrectly applied).
I had someone claim that they could get into an FP98 site using "Netscapeengineersareweenies!" as a userID and no password...making them think it was a backdoor userID. Fact is they could get into the same sites using "TomDickandHarry" as a userID too. If the permissions aren't set correctly, anything is possible.
This info may change again before its finalized. It may well be that there is some way to use this.dll in a way that's not intended...it just doesn't appear to be this one. On a box where multiple sites have not been individually permissions, or permissions are lax or non-existent...anyone permissioned to execute the.dll in the first place would have the ability to simply open the other sites and manipulate them directly (i.e. no need to do this junk with the dvwssr.dll)
Finally, to my point out the string not being a password. Elias Levy of SecurityFocus.com and Mark Edwards of NTSecurity.net have both correctly pointed out that using the term password to apply to that string is not beyond the realm of understanding. The client component mtd2lv.dll and the server component dvwssr.dll both need to know this value, and use it correctly, for communications to work. If you try and talk directly to dvwssr.dll and don't obfuscate your communication with the correct "key", it won't understand you. Of course if you don't already have permissions, knowing this value gets you nothing...hence my observation that its not a password. Whatever it is, it appears to be meaningless junk text used as data.
How about something which measures how fast Linux stocks are becoming worthless? You could maybe plot it against the frequency of ESR articles at Slashdot in which he tells all of you how rich he is.
Notable Linux milestones today:
Andover.net's market cap drops below $100 million. Stock approaches single-digit value levels and hits its all-time low price after losing 28% of its value (so far).
VA Linux stock drops below its all-time low price as it loses another 15% today. After hitting 320 in December, the stock has consistently lost over 2 points a day, now sitting down 90% in 4 short months.
ESR's paper worth drops below $5 million (currently at $4.5 million) as VA Linux stock continues its crash. After his ever-so-humble article in December telling us how he was worth $42 million, one can only hope for his sanity that LNUX isn't a penny stock by the time ESR can actually sell any of his stocks in June.
Caldera drops to a mere one-eighth of a point above its all-time low price as it drops 14% of its value today.
Short 'em to the floor, that's what I always say!:)
Whoa, you predicted that MSFT stock would go down after the judge's ruling? You, sir, are a true genius -- no way anyone else could've figured that one out. My heartfelt congratulations.
Didn't you know? The guys who overclock are compensating for small penises. Er, um, not that I overclock or anything, it's just a guess or something...
VA Linux's purchase of Andover.net was trumpeted as being worth 1.06 billion dollars. Surely it had to be dependent on VA Linux's stock price, because otherwise that'd mean that they'd be paying more than half their entire worth for Andover.net (LNUX's market cap is at $1.702 billion right now). Can anyone familiar with the matter give a quick update as to how much LNUX would be paying for ANDN if the deal was closed today? Those of us who don't have a chance to check out EDGAR right now will be eternally grateful.
Hopefully this is a trend by your fellow crew to stop posting inflammatory tripe just because the submitter happened to include it. Sure, there are going to be a ton of trolls on every article anyway, but it's even worse when you put the flamebait right there in the story itself. Thanks.
Yeah, I'm a Brill's Content subscriber, and he was a regular there (I keep asking him what happened with that gig, but I haven't found out from anyone). I admit that I can't recall much about the articles now, but I know that they were much easier to follow than his articles here, because I thought about what he was saying instead of having the poor editing as an annoying distraction nagging in the background. Here, they're just out of control.
IBM wasted all that money on Super Bowl ads about e-Business instead of showing us OS/2's superiority in formatting floppy disks. They coulda turned the whole thing around overnight.
And that is simply because Katz won't use an editor. It was practically painful to read, and there's no excuse for this story to have ballooned into a 4000-word article. I read it the same way I read all of his articles -- read about 10 or 15 paragraphs in, then give up and skim down to the end.
Near the end, when Katz mentions that it only cost them a few hours and some sandwiches, I wonder if he (as well as most Slashdotters) understand that time equals money, especially when you're talking about (1) someone who actually has a job, and (2) that job is an executive position. If Katz recognizes this, it doesn't come through in his articles.
But you specifically said that the donations preclude people from learning other OSes. It's simply not true. Yo_Mama said that he'd feel chagrined and worried that the grants would dry up if he stopped using Microsoft software, but where's the evidence that this has happened?
Here's an article on the program from Applelinks.com. Being an Mac publication, you can guess the slant, although it seems a little disturbing for them to refer to Gates as a "villain" for his donations, even as they admit that the libraries can buy Macs instead of PCs. They just won't get technical support if they do. It's hardly Microsoft's fault, except for their popularity, that tech support and training for alternative OSes is harder to come by, and if the library thinks that the burden of having non-Microsoft-OS-running computers is too much of a burden, nobody's forcing them to take the grants.
And that's the important thing -- the choice. Gates is giving away loads of money to outfit these libraries and schools with free computers if they choose to take them. Even if they decide to go the alternative OS route, it's silly to think that having no computers is better than having some computers but no free support. Hell, I'd practically kill for the offer of free PCs with no OS or tech support or training! It's as if the criticism is for being very generous -- just not generous enough.
And if Gates really isn't doing it out of an interest in increasing the computer literacy, but instead to pave the way for future profits, then why aren't Larry Ellison, Scott McNealy, or Steve Jobs (I'd especially like to ask Applelinks, "Why not Steve Jobs, then?") doing the same thing? Surely you don't think that those three aren't cynical enough to emulate this tactic if it was all about the benjamins and not philanthropy, do you? Of course not. Sheesh, people act like Gates is the only rich dude on the planet.
(Score:-4, Responding to a patent story with "I'm going to patent <insert something everyone uses> and sue everyone who uses it.")
Oh yeah, and instant revocation of moderation privileges for anyone who even thinks about moderating said posts as "Funny," because after seeing the same gag hundreds of times, "funny" it ain't.
Don't mean to pick on you, Garcia, but c'mon people.
There is no such preclusion like you mention, and you clearly aren't familiar with the way the deals work. Schools which receive those donations are free to choose what they want. The only caveat is that Microsoft will support their own software for free, while the schools have to pay for their own support if they don't choose Microsoft. Considering what they're getting for free, it sounds like more than a fair deal to me. Besides, why would you want Microsoft partners teaching you how to use products other than those in which they're skilled?
The most common message just has to be along the lines of "Dump ANDN" (did I mention that it hit an all-time low today?) or "Short all Linux-related stocks." Oh wait, if that were the case, the subtitle would've read "from the MAKE-MONEY-REALLY-REALLY-REALLY-FAST dept.!":)
...how much of a paranoid delusional is Gates, anyway?
Well, just because you have less of a grasp on current events than the common water tick doesn't mean that these things didn't happen. You must have your head buried in the sand if you're not familiar with Caldera and Novell lobbying members of Congress, especially Orrin Hatch. Same goes for the heads of Sun Microsystems and Netscape, both seen lobbying against Microsoft on Capitol Hill, among others.
Do you not understand the difference between PSAs and lobbying, or do you just play an idiot on TV?
As someone who has listened to Eyada.com with both, I can tell you that Eyada sounds better with the Windows Media Player than it does under RealPlayer. Please update your information.
Thanks for the reply, Mr. DiBona. Didn't really mean to pick on your company too harshly in my post, but it stuck in my mind this week, and I probably went a little overboard because of the bogeyman thing. I wouldn't expect you to air the internal details here, but I do think that it's excellent that some accountability is being taken for the IW 2000 thing.
I think that in a market -- the Linux market -- in which emotional arguments and religion play such a huge role, there can easily be a tendency to look closely at good things and just shrug off any bad events as being caused by outside persecutors. In the long run, the willingness to confront and address the bad things, like you did in your post, will be much more helpful to any company's future than will ever be any number of Slashdot posts from the fans proclaiming everything to be perfect.
Thanks again, and just curious, but were you at the show Wednesday morning? I exchanged hellos with one guy, but I didn't check any name tags, so I have no idea who was there at the time.
You bring up FUD in the same breath that you drag out those favorite Slashdot bogeymen, Microsoft (wow, that "M$" spelling sure is original) and the mainstream press. The Linux companies need to get their own acts together, and the Linux community needs to recognize its own flaws before whining about other entities.
Just as an example, I was at the Spring Internet World this week. VA Linux was there, but somehow they didn't manage to make it into the convention's regular program, but rather some flimsy black and white "Addendum" that few people probably read. I stopped by their exhibit, and it was a medium-sized one, meaning that they actually did spring more cash for it than a lot of the smaller booths. However, it seemed totally devoid of any purpose. They had a cool-looking rackmount system, but it didn't look like it was doing anything but performing as eye candy, and the 4 or 5 VA Linux guys there were just standing around smiling with their hands in their pockets. It was definitely the least interactive of any similarly-sized booths at the show.
Was this due to poor and late planning on VA Linux's part? (I only went on the first day, so if they ever improved their booth, I didn't see it.) Anyone have the answer? Anyone here bother to call VA Linux out for this shoddy display? Apparently not -- I guess it's just easier to trot out the old bogeymen.
As I'm posting this, Andover.net is down a full point, Caldera is down more than half a point, Corel is unchanged, VA Linux is down 3.75, and RedHat is down more than 3 points. (The lone bright spot I see is Cobalt, up 6.) This is all while NASDAQ as a whole is up over 124 points. Is it any wonder why a Linux-related company would be hesitant to try a Linux-related IPO? Is the mainstream press not supposed to report on the obscene levels at which the Linux stocks are tanking? It sure doesn't sound like you're looking for objective reporting.
Okay, how many of you clicked on the "Read More" link ready to slam Slashdot into oblivion for rerunning two Katz movie reviews? Fess up!
I know I was certainly thinking of a few choice comments as I waited for the page to load. Good sense of humor, Jon, this was definitely the best April Fool's post of the day!
Was Open Sourcing Mozilla the only way Netscape could stay alive?
Of course not. Netscape alternately could've made a browser that had nice features and actually worked well. I think everyone knows which path they chose.
This post is surely headed to "Troll" or "Flamebait" Hell, but you know it's true. You don't see iCab and Opera crying instead of coding, do you?
Why dont you complete the support for CSS 2.0 in Mozilla for us?
Because it takes a special kind of sucker to work for free to build a browser for the multi-billion-dollar corporation that is Netscape-AOL-Time Warner? If I'm gonna work for The Man, it sure as hell ain't gonna be pro bono.
Slashdot Mirror
Even worse was the bonehead Raiduhs fans going wild about that pick. Even if he wasn't going to get deported, picking a kicker with a top-20 pick is just plain stupid. Especially with Raiduh's historic quarterback woes and Pennington still on the table. Can you imagine if the Jets had picked him? The fans there would've rioted and torn the whole damn place down!
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
<tutorial level='novice'>If you preview your post, the entities get switched to the corresponding symbols in the new page's submission box. If you're going to use HTML entities and want to preview your post, hit your back button after the preview and make any needed changes there. Then submit your post. Or, if you like doing things the hard way, go to the submission textarea and correct all the altered entities after you preview.</tutorial>
Yes, it's annoying, but not that hard to deal with.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
This post (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=00/04/14/0619 206&cid=540) has the information on the vulnerability for those curious to know what the deal is. I shoulda posted it as a reply here to begin with, but am posting this link to it because there probably aren't too many people who will make it down to the 540th post where it got buried. Sorry!
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Microsoft has a Security Bulletin and a FAQ about the problem. Although it's limited, there is a vulnerability -- nothing like those password scenerios that have been bandied about, however.
Quick summary: If multiple web sites are hosted on a NT4/IIS4 server with FrontPage 98 extensions installed, then webmaster A with web authoring permissions on his own site could potentially inappropriately read the .asp (and possibly the global.asa, but no others) files of webmaster B's web site if he knew where they existed on the same server. Note that to be able to do this, user B would have had to have granted user A read permissions (explicitly, or by giving read access to "Everyone") on those files -- otherwise, user A would be unable to read the files.
Soooo, this looks like a tremendously smaller problem than everyone originally thought, although there definitely is a vulnerability for the scenario I mentioned above. Corrections welcomed if I munged any of that explanation.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
This was posted to the NTbugtraq list by Russ, the owner. If true, there are a whole damn lot of Slashdotters who made fools of themselves jumping to conclusions today. That's all I'll say about that, so, on with the post (sorry for the bold, and the entire repost, but it needs to be seen):
======= BEGIN MESSAGE =========
Ok, here's a breaking update.
Latest reports say that there is
NO VULNERABILITY IN DVWSSR.DLL
Yup, that's right, different again from what I said earlier, and even more different than what I said yesterday to WSJ.
Please accept that I have followed the story published elsewhere and tried to keep you abreast of everything I knew. Also appreciate that the amount of time given to verify and research the claims made by others has been extremely short. I've had probably 30 interviews today by orgs pressing for information on the story as the feeding frenzy occurs after the first one goes to press (WSJ in this case).
MS have had people working on this thing like madmen, trying to verify the claims and investigate all of the possible pieces of code that may be affected. As that research progressed, different observations were made and so the story came out in various stages (with varying levels of "correctness"). Had they been given a reasonable amount of time to respond, nobody would have been in a tizzy about anything (i.e. the press would not have cared to run this story anywhere).
Decide for yourself whether we were better served by (more) immediate disclosure or not. I've stood where I stand for a reason, despite the loathing of others for my stance...
In the end, it turns out that unless you actually have permissions for the file you are requesting, you'll get an error message when you follow the procedures outlined by RFP in his RFP2K02 advisory.
That said, understand that sites that allow connections by Front Page may very well provide you with source asp if you request it. BUT THAT WILL HAPPEN with or without the .dll. Without proper and full permissions applied across virtual servers on a given box, site leakage or manipulation by others will always be possible in myriad ways.
From what I've heard/seen/been told, permissions on the test servers must have either been non-existent, incorrectly applied, or permissioned the user across multiple virtual sites (i.e. incorrectly applied).
I had someone claim that they could get into an FP98 site using "Netscapeengineersareweenies!" as a userID and no password...making them think it was a backdoor userID. Fact is they could get into the same sites using "TomDickandHarry" as a userID too. If the permissions aren't set correctly, anything is possible.
This info may change again before its finalized. It may well be that there is some way to use this .dll in a way that's not intended...it just doesn't appear to be this one. On a box where multiple sites have not been individually permissions, or permissions are lax or non-existent...anyone permissioned to execute the .dll in the first place would have the ability to simply open the other sites and manipulate them directly (i.e. no need to do this junk with the dvwssr.dll)
Finally, to my point out the string not being a password. Elias Levy of SecurityFocus.com and Mark Edwards of NTSecurity.net have both correctly pointed out that using the term password to apply to that string is not beyond the realm of understanding. The client component mtd2lv.dll and the server component dvwssr.dll both need to know this value, and use it correctly, for communications to work. If you try and talk directly to dvwssr.dll and don't obfuscate your communication with the correct "key", it won't understand you. Of course if you don't already have permissions, knowing this value gets you nothing...hence my observation that its not a password. Whatever it is, it appears to be meaningless junk text used as data.
===== END MESSAGE ======
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
How about something which measures how fast Linux stocks are becoming worthless? You could maybe plot it against the frequency of ESR articles at Slashdot in which he tells all of you how rich he is.
Notable Linux milestones today:
Short 'em to the floor, that's what I always say! :)
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Whoa, you predicted that MSFT stock would go down after the judge's ruling? You, sir, are a true genius -- no way anyone else could've figured that one out. My heartfelt congratulations.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Didn't you know? The guys who overclock are compensating for small penises. Er, um, not that I overclock or anything, it's just a guess or something...
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
VA Linux's purchase of Andover.net was trumpeted as being worth 1.06 billion dollars. Surely it had to be dependent on VA Linux's stock price, because otherwise that'd mean that they'd be paying more than half their entire worth for Andover.net (LNUX's market cap is at $1.702 billion right now). Can anyone familiar with the matter give a quick update as to how much LNUX would be paying for ANDN if the deal was closed today? Those of us who don't have a chance to check out EDGAR right now will be eternally grateful.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Hopefully this is a trend by your fellow crew to stop posting inflammatory tripe just because the submitter happened to include it. Sure, there are going to be a ton of trolls on every article anyway, but it's even worse when you put the flamebait right there in the story itself. Thanks.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Yeah, I'm a Brill's Content subscriber, and he was a regular there (I keep asking him what happened with that gig, but I haven't found out from anyone). I admit that I can't recall much about the articles now, but I know that they were much easier to follow than his articles here, because I thought about what he was saying instead of having the poor editing as an annoying distraction nagging in the background. Here, they're just out of control.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
IBM wasted all that money on Super Bowl ads about e-Business instead of showing us OS/2's superiority in formatting floppy disks. They coulda turned the whole thing around overnight.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
And that is simply because Katz won't use an editor. It was practically painful to read, and there's no excuse for this story to have ballooned into a 4000-word article. I read it the same way I read all of his articles -- read about 10 or 15 paragraphs in, then give up and skim down to the end.
Near the end, when Katz mentions that it only cost them a few hours and some sandwiches, I wonder if he (as well as most Slashdotters) understand that time equals money, especially when you're talking about (1) someone who actually has a job, and (2) that job is an executive position. If Katz recognizes this, it doesn't come through in his articles.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
But you specifically said that the donations preclude people from learning other OSes. It's simply not true. Yo_Mama said that he'd feel chagrined and worried that the grants would dry up if he stopped using Microsoft software, but where's the evidence that this has happened?
Here's an article on the program from Applelinks.com. Being an Mac publication, you can guess the slant, although it seems a little disturbing for them to refer to Gates as a "villain" for his donations, even as they admit that the libraries can buy Macs instead of PCs. They just won't get technical support if they do. It's hardly Microsoft's fault, except for their popularity, that tech support and training for alternative OSes is harder to come by, and if the library thinks that the burden of having non-Microsoft-OS-running computers is too much of a burden, nobody's forcing them to take the grants.
And that's the important thing -- the choice. Gates is giving away loads of money to outfit these libraries and schools with free computers if they choose to take them. Even if they decide to go the alternative OS route, it's silly to think that having no computers is better than having some computers but no free support. Hell, I'd practically kill for the offer of free PCs with no OS or tech support or training! It's as if the criticism is for being very generous -- just not generous enough.
And if Gates really isn't doing it out of an interest in increasing the computer literacy, but instead to pave the way for future profits, then why aren't Larry Ellison, Scott McNealy, or Steve Jobs (I'd especially like to ask Applelinks, "Why not Steve Jobs, then?") doing the same thing? Surely you don't think that those three aren't cynical enough to emulate this tactic if it was all about the benjamins and not philanthropy, do you? Of course not. Sheesh, people act like Gates is the only rich dude on the planet.
(Score:-4, Responding to a patent story with "I'm going to patent <insert something everyone uses> and sue everyone who uses it.")
Oh yeah, and instant revocation of moderation privileges for anyone who even thinks about moderating said posts as "Funny," because after seeing the same gag hundreds of times, "funny" it ain't.
Don't mean to pick on you, Garcia, but c'mon people.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
There is no such preclusion like you mention, and you clearly aren't familiar with the way the deals work. Schools which receive those donations are free to choose what they want. The only caveat is that Microsoft will support their own software for free, while the schools have to pay for their own support if they don't choose Microsoft. Considering what they're getting for free, it sounds like more than a fair deal to me. Besides, why would you want Microsoft partners teaching you how to use products other than those in which they're skilled?
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
The most common message just has to be along the lines of "Dump ANDN" (did I mention that it hit an all-time low today?) or "Short all Linux-related stocks." Oh wait, if that were the case, the subtitle would've read "from the MAKE-MONEY-REALLY-REALLY-REALLY-FAST dept.!" :)
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Well, just because you have less of a grasp on current events than the common water tick doesn't mean that these things didn't happen. You must have your head buried in the sand if you're not familiar with Caldera and Novell lobbying members of Congress, especially Orrin Hatch. Same goes for the heads of Sun Microsystems and Netscape, both seen lobbying against Microsoft on Capitol Hill, among others.
Do you not understand the difference between PSAs and lobbying, or do you just play an idiot on TV?
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
As someone who has listened to Eyada.com with both, I can tell you that Eyada sounds better with the Windows Media Player than it does under RealPlayer. Please update your information.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Thanks for the reply, Mr. DiBona. Didn't really mean to pick on your company too harshly in my post, but it stuck in my mind this week, and I probably went a little overboard because of the bogeyman thing. I wouldn't expect you to air the internal details here, but I do think that it's excellent that some accountability is being taken for the IW 2000 thing.
I think that in a market -- the Linux market -- in which emotional arguments and religion play such a huge role, there can easily be a tendency to look closely at good things and just shrug off any bad events as being caused by outside persecutors. In the long run, the willingness to confront and address the bad things, like you did in your post, will be much more helpful to any company's future than will ever be any number of Slashdot posts from the fans proclaiming everything to be perfect.
Thanks again, and just curious, but were you at the show Wednesday morning? I exchanged hellos with one guy, but I didn't check any name tags, so I have no idea who was there at the time.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
You bring up FUD in the same breath that you drag out those favorite Slashdot bogeymen, Microsoft (wow, that "M$" spelling sure is original) and the mainstream press. The Linux companies need to get their own acts together, and the Linux community needs to recognize its own flaws before whining about other entities.
Just as an example, I was at the Spring Internet World this week. VA Linux was there, but somehow they didn't manage to make it into the convention's regular program, but rather some flimsy black and white "Addendum" that few people probably read. I stopped by their exhibit, and it was a medium-sized one, meaning that they actually did spring more cash for it than a lot of the smaller booths. However, it seemed totally devoid of any purpose. They had a cool-looking rackmount system, but it didn't look like it was doing anything but performing as eye candy, and the 4 or 5 VA Linux guys there were just standing around smiling with their hands in their pockets. It was definitely the least interactive of any similarly-sized booths at the show.
Was this due to poor and late planning on VA Linux's part? (I only went on the first day, so if they ever improved their booth, I didn't see it.) Anyone have the answer? Anyone here bother to call VA Linux out for this shoddy display? Apparently not -- I guess it's just easier to trot out the old bogeymen.
As I'm posting this, Andover.net is down a full point, Caldera is down more than half a point, Corel is unchanged, VA Linux is down 3.75, and RedHat is down more than 3 points. (The lone bright spot I see is Cobalt, up 6.) This is all while NASDAQ as a whole is up over 124 points. Is it any wonder why a Linux-related company would be hesitant to try a Linux-related IPO? Is the mainstream press not supposed to report on the obscene levels at which the Linux stocks are tanking? It sure doesn't sound like you're looking for objective reporting.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Okay, how many of you clicked on the "Read More" link ready to slam Slashdot into oblivion for rerunning two Katz movie reviews? Fess up!
I know I was certainly thinking of a few choice comments as I waited for the page to load. Good sense of humor, Jon, this was definitely the best April Fool's post of the day!
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Was Open Sourcing Mozilla the only way Netscape could stay alive?
Of course not. Netscape alternately could've made a browser that had nice features and actually worked well. I think everyone knows which path they chose.
This post is surely headed to "Troll" or "Flamebait" Hell, but you know it's true. You don't see iCab and Opera crying instead of coding, do you?
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Why dont you complete the support for CSS 2.0 in Mozilla for us?
Because it takes a special kind of sucker to work for free to build a browser for the multi-billion-dollar corporation that is Netscape-AOL-Time Warner? If I'm gonna work for The Man, it sure as hell ain't gonna be pro bono.
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Now, will someone in this program please adopt Mozilla 5/6 and finish it already? :)
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com