if my country was invaded by americans, i wouldn't hesitate to consider the use of biochemical weapons (they might not be good for the americans, but they would be good for me)
even torture tools can be used for the greater good. turture a villain's assistant to give up the location of a villain for example. even nuclear weapons are good for protecting the world (ok more due to fear of self-annihalation).
technology is a double-edged sword. whatever can be used for good can also be used for evil, and vice versa. its only limitation is creativity and immagination, and the combined immagination of all of humanity is pretty vast, so if you think you've developed something that could only be used for good, it is a certainty that someone in the world could use it for evil (and vice versa)
the first thing any malware would target is the program that keeps track of the hashes (first offense is self-defense)
same as why disabling of common antivirus software is usually the prime target of the more sophisticated viruses
no matter how many layers of protection you add, the malware would always be designed to disable the top level
infection also doesn't need to be file-based. in this day and age many computers are left running for days or weeks at a time, so malware can do a hell of a lot of damage from residence in memory only
also, how trustworthy can any anti-virus company be given that they make money from the infection of computers rather than prevention of that infection (if computers were never infected nobody would bother paying for anti-virus). i would bet that many viruses are developed (though not necessarily released) from within anti-virus companies in the same way as biological viruses are developed by biotech companies. its like trusting a company that makes guns to protect you from being shot (pretty dumb right?).
yes it can... permissions-based filesystem, locked-down iptables, and some plain old common sense (the software in your head). yes linux machines can be hacked, but its rarely the fault of the software, with most hacks being due to poor configuration. otherwise linux wouldn't be the trusted name in server operating systems that it is.
windows' biggest downfall... lack of a permissions-based filesystem. as soon as this changes, windows will be much more securable (still subject to admin/user sense and competence as always)
what does "marketshare" mean for a free OS such as GNU/Linux?
even with Microshaft's coercive sales tactics, usage of Linux shits all over windoze... datacenters, set-top boxes, android phones, routers, nas drives, etc.
most homes would have one or maybe two windows machines, but would also have at a minimum two linux devices (tv/set-top box and modem-router), and that's not including all the corporate stuff that linux has infiltrated
it will never be "year of the linux desktop", but it is "year of the linux device" every year. Linux doesn't need marketshare to put windoze to shame - Microshaft/Windoze brings shame to itself better than anything else could ever hope for. so what if microsoft makes a shitload of money; so do mafias, nazis and drug cartels.
oh, and you do care or you wouldn't be so obviously offended
i misread the world population off the wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population)
comparison still stands to reason though
cheers
all governments lie when it is in their interest, and the US government is by no means a beacon of honesty.
the chinese government is also keeping the US from going bankrupt, so maybe they should be a little more appreciative.
Re: "they make threats they will never live up to"... i would look at this as being a good thing, as if china had the same foreign policy as the US we would have another world war due to "incompatibility" of US and Chinese policies
if america loves freedom so much, perhaps they should honour the freedom of other nations to govern themselves however they see fit. if chinese people don't like the way they're governed, they will revolt. just because americans don't understand chinese culture doesn't give them the right to change it.
in australia we have "non-trading cooperatives", which is what i was referring to (no shareholders at all, not even employees; hence "non-profit").
if there were no profit in the world, more people would have to earn their keep. these companies might be capitalised by vc (short-term), business loans, grants, etc. this model is much better for the company as it can put what would otherwise be wasted dividends to shareholders back into the company as new capital, which can be used for r&d, wage increases, community projects, or just driving their shareheld competitors out of business:)
the nazis made piles and piles of cash. you gunna envy them too?
i'm not a "year of the linux desktop" moron, just so you know
i do hate capitalism though. the idea of rich, lazy investors getting richer just irks me. i like the idea of non-profit companies (basically the same as corporations except there is no ownership), which is sort of like a cooperative where the purpose of the company is make & sell its wares and support its workers and community.
i may not live in your world, but i don't envy anything about the business practices of microsoft - any company that relies on coercion to make money (no matter how much) isn't really selling a viable product. microsoft's business practices are along the lines of me pissing in a glass, forcing you to drink it, taking your money and then proclaiming to the world that you liked the taste of my piss.
i take windows machines that microsoft chooses to no longer support and put current versions of linux on them with very few problems. these machines still run their older version of windows fine, but would struggle to run Vista or Win7 (if you could even get them to install)
its fine to get on your soapbox and rant, but what is your ranting worth to someone with experience to the contrary? answer: they just think you're a ranting dickhead.
people who try to keep their microsoft software up-to-date keep having to buy new hardware with each new version with windows
because of this, i get free computers that still work just fine for Linux
even works for laptops. if people have trouble with windows, i get them for free and have little/no trouble putting new linux on. i have an old (8 years) laptop that had a dvd drive fuck up so i couldn't use the recovery disc any more. i could fork out money to buy a new dvd drive (or a new laptop) but i can boot it off my linux boot server and install linux using a sd card and a netinstall.
moral of story: linux vendors not required:)
br
btw, you don't have to feel threatened by linux. i'm sure its quite happy coming last (whatever that means). its not engaged in any sort of race in which it could come first. it just exists. there are of course people who don't understand this, but i'm sure you agree they are just fucktards who compare linux with windows. in reality the two are not comaprable. they perform a similar function, but for entirely different reasons.
information is your best weapon. be informed yourself and allow your users to also be informed. in my experience users don't mind listening to security concerns and are content to adhere to security protocols if they know their importance. your example about flipping keyboards is fine for showing off, but in reality what is the risk imposed by it? physical security is more easily achieved than electronic security (such as video surveillance, patrols, locked doors, etc). you can't simply "hack" the lock of a real door, and there aren't that many with james bond's subtle lockpicking skills in the world (most just use crowbars which leave rather obvious signs of forced entry).
the biggest problem with IT security is the attitude of IT security admins, who think they are superior beings and the users that operate the accounts administered by them are all subhuman retards.
hackers can take advantage of that because they know users will do the opposite of what the admin tells them to do (not because its more secure, but because the admin is a jerk)... that's social engineering for you
i agree. people are cunts. why the hell would a prodigy want to mingle with moronic maggots? just because there are people who think there's nothing better than going out on a Friday/Saturday night, pissing away a weeks salary while getting blind drunk and making a fool of themselves, that's not necessarily fun for all. i hate socializing, but that doesn't make me socially unacceptable.
answer to OP's question: why not ask him. seems like he's smarter than all of us anyway. the answer he gives might surprise
debian users see a $ sign at the cli.
by default there is no "sudo" option for my username (i have to add myself to the sudoers group)
i have to "su" to login as root first (which doesn't bother me)
kde is bloated. xfce seems just a smidgin too simple.
gnome2 is sufficient
it will be interesting for all the "year of the linux desktop" morons as they would consider it a salvo into the hull of the rusty old microsoft juggernaut.
by default in a debian installation i don't even have access to sudo. i can use "su" and type the root password. there used to be an option during the installation to select either use of sudo or su, but the squeeze installer doesn't include the option and automatically sets the use of su. then after i install i configure the wheel group [http://www.linuxsecurity.com/resource_files/host_security/securing-debian-howto/ap-checklist.en.html] so that only my own local login can access su.
i use win7 at work and we've had three office-wide viruses this year alone. there is no security by default.
nothing wrong with being a facephobe. i have a facebook account, but its pretty much so my wife can tag me in her photos. i hate social networking, but i also hate socialising. slashdot is about as social as i prefer
personal information isn't just what you personally divulge. if someone mentions your name in a facebook/twitter/slashdot post (even if someone else sharing the same name), you may be automatically associated with that person (and you may have no idea you were even mentioned anywhere), so even the facephobes may be profiled without their knowing. you don't even need a facebook account. web crawling is all just associative data. though i bet google has bigger treasure troves of this data than facebook.
"writing a device driver in PHP would be impossible"
currently yes, but more due to the lack of a compiler to handle the job rather than a limitation of the language itself.
i'm not an expert with drivers so this may not be worth a pinch of salt, but i would think it possible to write a compiler that could interpret current syntax in the way you describe.
i was under the impression that user mode drivers still addressed memory in protected mode anyway, in which case it could be addressed as a single array. otherwise, maybe something like $memory[address][segment] or whatever the real mode addressing is (long time since i read up on it)
yeah i agree they're both as bad as each other. i wouldn't go so far as to say that php rules c++ (as satan rules hell), but i guess hell must come first before satan can rule it. as far as langauges go, object pascal is a nice langauge (more natural) and just as powerful as c++. pity its owned by borland, i mean imprise, i mean embarcadero. i reckon it could've really taken off otherwise. c++ is ok though, and its devil spawn is sufficient.
Slashdot Mirror
if my country was invaded by americans, i wouldn't hesitate to consider the use of biochemical weapons (they might not be good for the americans, but they would be good for me)
everything must be put in perspective
even torture tools can be used for the greater good. turture a villain's assistant to give up the location of a villain for example. even nuclear weapons are good for protecting the world (ok more due to fear of self-annihalation).
technology is a double-edged sword. whatever can be used for good can also be used for evil, and vice versa. its only limitation is creativity and immagination, and the combined immagination of all of humanity is pretty vast, so if you think you've developed something that could only be used for good, it is a certainty that someone in the world could use it for evil (and vice versa)
the first thing any malware would target is the program that keeps track of the hashes (first offense is self-defense)
same as why disabling of common antivirus software is usually the prime target of the more sophisticated viruses
no matter how many layers of protection you add, the malware would always be designed to disable the top level
infection also doesn't need to be file-based. in this day and age many computers are left running for days or weeks at a time, so malware can do a hell of a lot of damage from residence in memory only
also, how trustworthy can any anti-virus company be given that they make money from the infection of computers rather than prevention of that infection (if computers were never infected nobody would bother paying for anti-virus). i would bet that many viruses are developed (though not necessarily released) from within anti-virus companies in the same way as biological viruses are developed by biotech companies. its like trusting a company that makes guns to protect you from being shot (pretty dumb right?).
yes it can... permissions-based filesystem, locked-down iptables, and some plain old common sense (the software in your head). yes linux machines can be hacked, but its rarely the fault of the software, with most hacks being due to poor configuration. otherwise linux wouldn't be the trusted name in server operating systems that it is.
windows' biggest downfall... lack of a permissions-based filesystem. as soon as this changes, windows will be much more securable (still subject to admin/user sense and competence as always)
what does "marketshare" mean for a free OS such as GNU/Linux?
even with Microshaft's coercive sales tactics, usage of Linux shits all over windoze... datacenters, set-top boxes, android phones, routers, nas drives, etc.
most homes would have one or maybe two windows machines, but would also have at a minimum two linux devices (tv/set-top box and modem-router), and that's not including all the corporate stuff that linux has infiltrated
it will never be "year of the linux desktop", but it is "year of the linux device" every year. Linux doesn't need marketshare to put windoze to shame - Microshaft/Windoze brings shame to itself better than anything else could ever hope for. so what if microsoft makes a shitload of money; so do mafias, nazis and drug cartels.
oh, and you do care or you wouldn't be so obviously offended
windick
Re: "6 and a half BILLION"
sorry, make that "1.3 BILLION"
ie: china's population is 4 TIMES that of america
i misread the world population off the wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population)
comparison still stands to reason though
cheers
all governments lie when it is in their interest, and the US government is by no means a beacon of honesty.
... i would look at this as being a good thing, as if china had the same foreign policy as the US we would have another world war due to "incompatibility" of US and Chinese policies
the chinese government is also keeping the US from going bankrupt, so maybe they should be a little more appreciative.
Re: "they make threats they will never live up to"
if america loves freedom so much, perhaps they should honour the freedom of other nations to govern themselves however they see fit. if chinese people don't like the way they're governed, they will revolt. just because americans don't understand chinese culture doesn't give them the right to change it.
politicians aren't that good at using a word processor - they'll probably outsource any redacting to a contractor
reminds me of ice age 3... i say use the force, you say grrr, i say let go of your anger, your say grrr
in australia we have "non-trading cooperatives", which is what i was referring to (no shareholders at all, not even employees; hence "non-profit").
:)
if there were no profit in the world, more people would have to earn their keep. these companies might be capitalised by vc (short-term), business loans, grants, etc. this model is much better for the company as it can put what would otherwise be wasted dividends to shareholders back into the company as new capital, which can be used for r&d, wage increases, community projects, or just driving their shareheld competitors out of business
the nazis made piles and piles of cash. you gunna envy them too?
i'm not a "year of the linux desktop" moron, just so you know
i do hate capitalism though. the idea of rich, lazy investors getting richer just irks me. i like the idea of non-profit companies (basically the same as corporations except there is no ownership), which is sort of like a cooperative where the purpose of the company is make & sell its wares and support its workers and community.
i may not live in your world, but i don't envy anything about the business practices of microsoft - any company that relies on coercion to make money (no matter how much) isn't really selling a viable product. microsoft's business practices are along the lines of me pissing in a glass, forcing you to drink it, taking your money and then proclaiming to the world that you liked the taste of my piss.
i take windows machines that microsoft chooses to no longer support and put current versions of linux on them with very few problems. these machines still run their older version of windows fine, but would struggle to run Vista or Win7 (if you could even get them to install)
:)
its fine to get on your soapbox and rant, but what is your ranting worth to someone with experience to the contrary? answer: they just think you're a ranting dickhead.
people who try to keep their microsoft software up-to-date keep having to buy new hardware with each new version with windows
because of this, i get free computers that still work just fine for Linux
even works for laptops. if people have trouble with windows, i get them for free and have little/no trouble putting new linux on. i have an old (8 years) laptop that had a dvd drive fuck up so i couldn't use the recovery disc any more. i could fork out money to buy a new dvd drive (or a new laptop) but i can boot it off my linux boot server and install linux using a sd card and a netinstall.
moral of story: linux vendors not required
br btw, you don't have to feel threatened by linux. i'm sure its quite happy coming last (whatever that means). its not engaged in any sort of race in which it could come first. it just exists. there are of course people who don't understand this, but i'm sure you agree they are just fucktards who compare linux with windows. in reality the two are not comaprable. they perform a similar function, but for entirely different reasons.
information is your best weapon. be informed yourself and allow your users to also be informed. in my experience users don't mind listening to security concerns and are content to adhere to security protocols if they know their importance. your example about flipping keyboards is fine for showing off, but in reality what is the risk imposed by it? physical security is more easily achieved than electronic security (such as video surveillance, patrols, locked doors, etc). you can't simply "hack" the lock of a real door, and there aren't that many with james bond's subtle lockpicking skills in the world (most just use crowbars which leave rather obvious signs of forced entry).
the biggest problem with IT security is the attitude of IT security admins, who think they are superior beings and the users that operate the accounts administered by them are all subhuman retards.
hackers can take advantage of that because they know users will do the opposite of what the admin tells them to do (not because its more secure, but because the admin is a jerk)... that's social engineering for you
you missed the point of his point.
the point of scouts and merit badges is getting involved in something with others, not going out on your own
anyway, why not ask him. we're the retards remember. he probably already knows the right answer
even from a layman's perspective, this bickering about a prodigy's future seems pretty dumb
i agree. people are cunts. why the hell would a prodigy want to mingle with moronic maggots? just because there are people who think there's nothing better than going out on a Friday/Saturday night, pissing away a weeks salary while getting blind drunk and making a fool of themselves, that's not necessarily fun for all. i hate socializing, but that doesn't make me socially unacceptable.
answer to OP's question: why not ask him. seems like he's smarter than all of us anyway. the answer he gives might surprise
"apt-get install gdm"
only a "developer" could turn that into an all-day event
debian users see a $ sign at the cli. by default there is no "sudo" option for my username (i have to add myself to the sudoers group) i have to "su" to login as root first (which doesn't bother me) kde is bloated. xfce seems just a smidgin too simple. gnome2 is sufficient
debian squeeze installs gnome3 by default, but its as easy as "sudo apt-get install gdm" to remove it (gdm3) and install gdm.
it will be interesting for all the "year of the linux desktop" morons as they would consider it a salvo into the hull of the rusty old microsoft juggernaut.
by default in a debian installation i don't even have access to sudo. i can use "su" and type the root password. there used to be an option during the installation to select either use of sudo or su, but the squeeze installer doesn't include the option and automatically sets the use of su. then after i install i configure the wheel group [http://www.linuxsecurity.com/resource_files/host_security/securing-debian-howto/ap-checklist.en.html] so that only my own local login can access su.
i use win7 at work and we've had three office-wide viruses this year alone. there is no security by default.
nothing wrong with being a facephobe. i have a facebook account, but its pretty much so my wife can tag me in her photos. i hate social networking, but i also hate socialising. slashdot is about as social as i prefer
can you imagine trying to train a t-rex to use a lightsaber?
personal information isn't just what you personally divulge. if someone mentions your name in a facebook/twitter/slashdot post (even if someone else sharing the same name), you may be automatically associated with that person (and you may have no idea you were even mentioned anywhere), so even the facephobes may be profiled without their knowing. you don't even need a facebook account. web crawling is all just associative data. though i bet google has bigger treasure troves of this data than facebook.
"writing a device driver in PHP would be impossible"
currently yes, but more due to the lack of a compiler to handle the job rather than a limitation of the language itself.
i'm not an expert with drivers so this may not be worth a pinch of salt, but i would think it possible to write a compiler that could interpret current syntax in the way you describe.
i was under the impression that user mode drivers still addressed memory in protected mode anyway, in which case it could be addressed as a single array. otherwise, maybe something like $memory[address][segment] or whatever the real mode addressing is (long time since i read up on it)
yeah i agree they're both as bad as each other. i wouldn't go so far as to say that php rules c++ (as satan rules hell), but i guess hell must come first before satan can rule it. as far as langauges go, object pascal is a nice langauge (more natural) and just as powerful as c++. pity its owned by borland, i mean imprise, i mean embarcadero. i reckon it could've really taken off otherwise. c++ is ok though, and its devil spawn is sufficient.