Re-education + buying new hardware (because there's no driver support for that, RTFM) + administrators to run your new servers + well... you get the picture.
You can buy PC's pre-installed with *nix. There's not much reeducation for the general workers, since most of the qhat they use is available with almost identical functionality: Internet Explorer = Galeon/Mozilla/Konqueror Office = StarOffice/OpenOffice/KOffice Outlook = Evolution/KMail/others need to connect to an Exchange server? => Ximian Echange Connector Winamp/Media Player = FreeAmp/XMMS
There's not too much more that the worker bees need or use, of course they'll have their own tools, but if you keep *one* linux expert (ie: the admin) to help them out, you'll be alright.
You need new administrators, of course, but also, of course, you never make a transition overnight. You span it out over a couple weeks, moving the more computer-adept people over, to make the transition as smooth as possible.
Plus what state manager in their right mind is going to take an arable system and scrap it? Not generally, but when you've got to be update a site license, it makes sense. Plan ahead, and save your self a lot of money in the long run.
This is why mainframes live on even though there's "better" technology out there: they may not be pretty, but they just work. Mainframes are a completely different story; They're not meant to be worked on; they're not toyed with; generally speaking they don't run untested and arbitrary code. They're made to run a few things for a long time, and that's what they do. Workstations run random things; they need to be safe from users who don't know what they're doing; they need to not compromise they sytem and the network when the user screws up; they should be cheap and expendable.
they may not be pretty, but they just work. By the way, Windows doesn't just work, and it's not efficient for the cost. The reason people put up with it is because they've never tried anything else, and they're too lazy to learn something new.
Not that I'm crying about the loss of VHS tapes, that's for sure. As soon as PVRs have built-in DVD writers, clunky tapes that operate by scraping against a metal disk will be a distant memory.
Exactly, tapes died down when CDRs become in general use; as soon as DVDRs become another general consumer product, with taping and transfers available from different media, VHS will die down; until then VHS (converted from 8mm, digital, etc) will still be used for home movies, and things like that.
> Obviously you haven't heard of a site lisence... Okay, so it's down to $100 per employee
> Redhat is so free and they never come out with new versions Which are free; and there's also Debian, Mandrake, Suse, Slackware, or a host of others
> You act like there has never been a unix virus. Yeah, there has been, but how often and how much damage do they cause compared to Win virii. MS has released over 30 new security patches, many of them serious exploits (as in able to run arbitrary code from a browser). How often does that come up on *nix based systems. How often does Apache release a new patch for a hole that would compromise the entire system. How often are root exploits released when compared to the quivalent Windows exploits? And how long do you have to wait for a fix for a *nix based system than a windows-based system?
> That linux admins work for free. I was being a smart-ass on that note...but besides, *nix admins generally are a lot mor eproficent than the equivalant MCSE certified admins.
> If you train personel to use linux suddenly they will have skills that will land them in jobs that pay a little better then the goverment jobs they had. Not if they can only -use- it. I know people who can use *nix systems fine, but when it comes to doing any adminning (ie: isntalling rpms, running./config/make/make install, editing conf files, etc) they wouldn't have a clue. Secretaries only need a word processor and email program; they won't get paid more because they use Evolution instead of Outlook, StarOffice instead of MSOffice, etc.
Besides, when -everybody- can use a *nix system, there will be an abundance of knowledge, and the average pay will -drop-.
> Make a good point about where linux is going to be cheaper to run then an NT network. I've made more than enough.
Yeah, instead of making a one-time payment to train your employees, you pay $150 a year per employee for the latest and greatest version of Windows. But wait, you still need Office, tack on another few hundred.
Virus scanner : $50/person. Administrator to reinstall after a new virus: $40k/year and it keeps going, and going, and going....
If the government can't spend any more money with criminals, the DEA would have to stop having undercover drug agents giving money to coke dealers, and hence would stop funding terrorism, and hence result in heightened national security.
A) select what you want Uhh...that's the whole basis behind rpms.
download only what you want see above.
it is very easy and consistent No, each installshield is different. Installshield is a *programming language* but as you're not a coder, you don't know that. Also, not all applications use installshield, because it is pricy as fuck. Some create their own installers; some use Wise, some use nullsoft's installation system, etc, etc. Also, you have to download a seperate binary for each program. An installshield executable add about a meg to the setup file. Not very efficient when the program is about 500k.
Everything you want, rpmdrake does: 1) You select a cooker/contrib/other http package repository. Update the file list, then select what you want to install/update. rpmdrake then automatically downloads all needed packages and installs them.
2) You talk about how programs are different and need to do certain things differently. Yes, and thats why RPM supports running scripts during installation. Of course, being that it's powerful, you're allowed to disable running scripts for security purposes. You can also use cpio to extract all the files without installing them, so you can look at them yourself, before you go installing things while in root.
Regarding, installers always working, if I remember correctly, things in Windows don't always work correctly. If I remember correctly, I got a BSOD while installing Win98. How convenient.
You obviously don't use Linux, or if you do, don't know jack about. You've also stated that you're not a programmer, so you don't know how things happen behind the scene.
That said, since you don't know what you're talking about, STFU.
of forcing the public to become customers by new legislation
No No No No No
on
Is RPM Doomed?
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Packages are way better than Windows setup.exe.
1> Consistency, everything is installed the same way, select what you want, and hit install. (I use Mandrake, and rpmdrake makes it extremely easy to install packages...
2) Non-bloatedness. I'd much rather have 20+ packages for KDE than 1 package. Yes, it'll take me a long time to go through them, but I select what I want, not what the developer thinks I want.
One really cool part about Linux is that I can change --anything--. I don't have to have a graphical interface if I don't want, in which case I don't need to install it. If I plan on using Gnome as my window manager, but want to run koffice, I only need to install the kde-libs package, and don't need all of the kde binaries..
When a small part of a large project changes, I only need to update that small part, instead of redownloading the whole package. Imagine having to download all of KDE to update a tiny KDE app.
Uninstallation is also simple, select the box, hit remove, and there's -no other prompts-.
BTW, There is an installshield for linux, it's any kind of RPM/DEB installer (RPMDrake, apt-get, alien, etc) and it's of a hell of a lot nicer and more consistent than any simlar idea on Windows
If you have -any- way access an outside machine that is relatively in your control (ie: shell access, which can be bought for a few dollars a month) then you can get by any protection.
Here's an article I wrote not too long ago about how to do it: - - - - Breaking Through Any Firewall or Proxy
There's different reasons for breaking through firewalls/proxies. 1) Get completely unfiltered access to the internet. 2) Get unmonitored, or secure, access to the internet. 3) Access services normally disallowed by the firewall.
The article will demonstrate various ways to get by most implementations of firewalls/proxies. In absolutely no way am I responsible if you do anything you're not supposed to, or even supposed to, be doing. If you get caught and fired, tough shit. If you access illegal information, tough shit. If you open up a hole and somebody breaks into your computer, tough shit. I'm not responsible. (This is for the lawsuit-happy bastards out there.)
Anyways, lets begin:
For all methods, it is expected that you have access to a machine on the other side of the firewall, and that it has access to whatever you need. Your machine will be the CLIENT, and the machine on the other side of the firewall will be the TUNNEL. The accessed machine will be the SERVER.
Furthermore, this article also assumes you a basic knowledge of your browser's configuration, installing software on your CLIENT and TUNNEL machines, and logging in via SSH.
A Linux/Unix box is preferable for the TUNNEL, but not required by any means. The software is freely available for any system.
1) HTTP Tunneling Through SSH Often, only some ports will be firewalled (80, 21, etc) for caching, filtering, and monitoring purposes. However, they leave direct access available for other ports (25, 23, etc).
If your browser must use a proxy to access the web, but you don't require a proxy to get mail, this is probably the implementation.
If you have direct access to non-popular ports, you can access almost any service as long as you change the port. Generaly, the main purpose of bypassing this firewall is to have unfiltered and/or unmonitored web access. The method can of course be modified to meet your needs.
Install a proxy server (ie: tinyproxy) on the TUNNEL machine. For security purposes, set the listening port to an odd port (ie: 8999, REMOTE_PROXY_PORT) or set access rights to only localhost. Install an SSH (ie: sshd) server on the TUNNEL. For security purposes, set the listening port to an odd port. Do NOT set access rights to only localhost because you'll access the proxy through ssh.
Install an SSH client on the CLIENT machine. Select a random port (LOCAL_PORT) and then set the browser's proxy to localhost:LOCAL_PORT.
Run SSH with LOCAL_PORT forwarded to REMOTE_HOST:REMOTE_PROXY_PORT. (CLI ssh: ssh -L LOCAL_PORT:REMOTE_HOST:REMOTE_PROXY_HOST -l USERNAME REMOTE_HOST)
Once connected and logged in, if the proxy and the tunnel are working correctly, you've got completely unfiltered web access.
(NB: Using a SOCKS5-compliant proxy would offer an almost completely unfiltered and unmonitored connection, as long as the application supported SOCKS proxies.)
2) SSH Tunneling Through HTTP Some implementations allow only HTTP access, while blocking all other ports. Check out Corkscrew at http://www.agroman.net/corkscrew/
Corkscrew is a tool to allow full SSH access through a strict HTTPS session. Then through the SSH access, you can create another tunnel to allow access to all other programs.
Conclusion) Hopefully this allows some of the people out there to worry a little less about getting caught doing things they're not supposed to. The reason for using SSH in both cases is because it's encrypted. In the event you are caught, at least you're only caught for breaking teh rules, there's nothing additionally criminalizing.
SSH can also be used for a lot more interesting things. Using Windows, you can instal Cygwin, ssh into a *Nix box and tunnel over X connections, and end up working as if you were actually at the machine.
Has anyone considered filing a suit due to being "hacked" ( know it's not the correct term, but it gets the message across) due to a hole in MS software.
Sure, the license makes all warranty void, but what about when they knowingly distributed insecure software.
I work for a fairly large company. (Aren't going to specify because I'd like to not get fired.)
Anyways, the've got a proxy where they supposedly monitor and also prevent certain sites.
However, the proxy only works on port 21, 80, and the standard proxy port (8080?), but you get unfiltered access to all other ports (No inbound connections however, so only passive-mode ftp)
Anyways, so what I ended up doing was: telnetted into my box at home, installed a proxy, set it up to use an odd port, and wa-la. Along with I installed Cygwin, ssh into my machine, and use my machine as if I was there;)
You don't just pick up a car and walk with it. A car requires a key, so having to hotwire it would be equivalent to breaking and entering. Furthermore, a car has a title which states the owner, whereas a watch doesn't.
Simply finding something is one thing. Doing work to take something else is completely different.
Since this site will probably die, and I wouldn't min seeing my site get more than two hits one day, I mirrored it here: http://stonedcow.com/unixad.jpg
Start messing with 'e,. You've got their name and address. (Generally speaking, most of them give you a valid address, just never send)... so start ordering magazines to their address, and select "Bill Me Later."
Of course, it's a large amount of money you'll probably want to take legal recourse.
Now, on the other hand, I knew a guy who's business was not sending this that he sold on ebay.
Let me explain: First he'd steal high-tech componenets from the school, put them on ebay, sell them for a couple bucks, and then never send or answer his emails or whatever. He'd wait about a month, if they continues bitching, he'd go ahead and send the item, and claim it was originally sent to the wrong address, or whatever. If they simply stopped complaining, thwen he'd relist the item, and start the process over again....
In A Shocking Move, Slashdot Concedes
on
CPAN Shifts Focus
·
· Score: 2
In a shocking move, the Slashdot network has finally conceded and have given in to complaints about the lack of quality programming.
In the words of the leader Commander Taco, "I apologize for the brutality we have caused our fellow users to suffer. However, in all honesty, contrary to popular opinion it was CowboyNeal's fault. Let me explain. Initially our advertisers' wanted us to run advertisements as stories.
However, we felt that doing so would greatly reduce what little credibility we had as a tech rumor site. Additionally, due to CowboyNeal spending the entire OSDN budget on crack, we had to quickly raise money somehow someway. We decided to hook up with DoubleClick and let them monitor our traffic and generate random logs for their own use. However, we knew that if we let it happen for too long, people would find out, and we would lose what little respectability we had left. So we needed to get many hits quick.
I, Commander Taco, the great Commander of Burritos and Such, decided to take it upon myself, to create mind-numbing, electrifying stories which would result in an amazing number of page hits. Unfortunately, a few users have caught on. Since I did not preplan enough to put the ROT-13 my ideas and DMCA-it, I have no recourse but to let them notify all of our users, and hence be forced to concede. The other members of Slashdot are too coked out right now (hence our budget), so I'm alone here. However, I plan on leaving very soon, and disappearing into the depths of Amazon, because from what I have heard in unexplained rumors, is that Bubba is after me for rootkitting his Debian box. Regardless, I am on my out.
Slashdot Mirror
Re-education + buying new hardware (because there's no driver support for that, RTFM) + administrators to run your new servers + well... you get the picture.
You can buy PC's pre-installed with *nix. There's not much reeducation for the general workers, since most of the qhat they use is available with almost identical functionality:
Internet Explorer = Galeon/Mozilla/Konqueror
Office = StarOffice/OpenOffice/KOffice
Outlook = Evolution/KMail/others
need to connect to an Exchange server? =>
Ximian Echange Connector
Winamp/Media Player = FreeAmp/XMMS
There's not too much more that the worker bees need or use, of course they'll have their own tools, but if you keep *one* linux expert (ie: the admin) to help them out, you'll be alright.
You need new administrators, of course, but also, of course, you never make a transition overnight. You span it out over a couple weeks, moving the more computer-adept people over, to make the transition as smooth as possible.
Plus what state manager in their right mind is going to take an arable system and scrap it?
Not generally, but when you've got to be update a site license, it makes sense. Plan ahead, and save your self a lot of money in the long run.
This is why mainframes live on even though there's "better" technology out there: they may not be pretty, but they just work.
Mainframes are a completely different story; They're not meant to be worked on; they're not toyed with; generally speaking they don't run untested and arbitrary code. They're made to run a few things for a long time, and that's what they do. Workstations run random things; they need to be safe from users who don't know what they're doing; they need to not compromise they sytem and the network when the user screws up; they should be cheap and expendable.
they may not be pretty, but they just work.
By the way, Windows doesn't just work, and it's not efficient for the cost. The reason people put up with it is because they've never tried anything else, and they're too lazy to learn something new.
Not that I'm crying about the loss of VHS tapes, that's for sure. As soon as PVRs have built-in DVD writers, clunky tapes that operate by scraping against a metal disk will be a distant memory.
Exactly, tapes died down when CDRs become in general use; as soon as DVDRs become another general consumer product, with taping and transfers available from different media, VHS will die down; until then VHS (converted from 8mm, digital, etc) will still be used for home movies, and things like that.
> Obviously you haven't heard of a site lisence...
./config/make/make install, editing conf files, etc) they wouldn't have a clue. Secretaries only need a word processor and email program; they won't get paid more because they use Evolution instead of Outlook, StarOffice instead of MSOffice, etc.
Okay, so it's down to $100 per employee
> Redhat is so free and they never come out with new versions
Which are free; and there's also Debian, Mandrake, Suse, Slackware, or a host of others
> You act like there has never been a unix virus.
Yeah, there has been, but how often and how much damage do they cause compared to Win virii. MS has released over 30 new security patches, many of them serious exploits (as in able to run arbitrary code from a browser). How often does that come up on *nix based systems. How often does Apache release a new patch for a hole that would compromise the entire system. How often are root exploits released when compared to the quivalent Windows exploits? And how long do you have to wait for a fix for a *nix based system than a windows-based system?
> That linux admins work for free.
I was being a smart-ass on that note...but besides, *nix admins generally are a lot mor eproficent than the equivalant MCSE certified admins.
> If you train personel to use linux suddenly they will have skills that will land them in jobs that pay a little better then the goverment jobs they had.
Not if they can only -use- it. I know people who can use *nix systems fine, but when it comes to doing any adminning (ie: isntalling rpms, running
Besides, when -everybody- can use a *nix system, there will be an abundance of knowledge, and the average pay will -drop-.
> Make a good point about where linux is going to be cheaper to run then an NT network.
I've made more than enough.
Yeah, instead of making a one-time payment to train your employees, you pay $150 a year per employee for the latest and greatest version of Windows. But wait, you still need Office, tack on another few hundred.
Virus scanner : $50/person.
Administrator to reinstall after a new virus:
$40k/year
and it keeps going, and going, and going....
If the government can't spend any more money with criminals, the DEA would have to stop having undercover drug agents giving money to coke dealers, and hence would stop funding terrorism, and hence result in heightened national security.
Woohoo!
They do. Don't select "Expert" install, or "Individually select packages" in Mandrake's initial install.
A) select what you want
Uhh...that's the whole basis behind rpms.
download only what you want
see above.
it is very easy and consistent
No, each installshield is different. Installshield is a *programming language* but as you're not a coder, you don't know that. Also, not all applications use installshield, because it is pricy as fuck. Some create their own installers; some use Wise, some use nullsoft's installation system, etc, etc. Also, you have to download a seperate binary for each program. An installshield executable add about a meg to the setup file. Not very efficient when the program is about 500k.
Everything you want, rpmdrake does:
1) You select a cooker/contrib/other http package repository. Update the file list, then select what you want to install/update. rpmdrake then automatically downloads all needed packages and installs them.
2) You talk about how programs are different and need to do certain things differently. Yes, and thats why RPM supports running scripts during installation. Of course, being that it's powerful, you're allowed to disable running scripts for security purposes. You can also use cpio to extract all the files without installing them, so you can look at them yourself, before you go installing things while in root.
Regarding, installers always working, if I remember correctly, things in Windows don't always work correctly. If I remember correctly, I got a BSOD while installing Win98. How convenient.
You obviously don't use Linux, or if you do, don't know jack about. You've also stated that you're not a programmer, so you don't know how things happen behind the scene.
That said, since you don't know what you're talking about, STFU.
of forcing the public to become customers by new legislation
Packages are way better than Windows setup.exe.
1> Consistency, everything is installed the same way, select what you want, and hit install. (I use Mandrake, and rpmdrake makes it extremely easy to install packages...
2) Non-bloatedness. I'd much rather have 20+ packages for KDE than 1 package. Yes, it'll take me a long time to go through them, but I select what I want, not what the developer thinks I want.
One really cool part about Linux is that I can change --anything--. I don't have to have a graphical interface if I don't want, in which case I don't need to install it. If I plan on using Gnome as my window manager, but want to run koffice, I only need to install the kde-libs package, and don't need all of the kde binaries..
When a small part of a large project changes, I only need to update that small part, instead of redownloading the whole package. Imagine having to download all of KDE to update a tiny KDE app.
Uninstallation is also simple, select the box, hit remove, and there's -no other prompts-.
BTW, There is an installshield for linux, it's any kind of RPM/DEB installer (RPMDrake, apt-get, alien, etc) and it's of a hell of a lot nicer and more consistent than any simlar idea on Windows
Problem.....that statement assumes there was initially a surgence of sales, which if I remember correctly....
EMACS
cost: $0
flexibility: priceless
If you have -any- way access an outside machine that is relatively in your control (ie: shell access, which can be bought for a few dollars a month) then you can get by any protection.
Here's an article I wrote not too long ago about how to do it:
- - - -
Breaking Through Any Firewall or Proxy
There's different reasons for breaking through firewalls/proxies.
1) Get completely unfiltered access to the internet.
2) Get unmonitored, or secure, access to the internet.
3) Access services normally disallowed by the firewall.
The article will demonstrate various ways to get by most implementations of firewalls/proxies. In absolutely no way am I responsible if you do anything you're not supposed to, or even supposed to, be doing. If you get caught and fired, tough shit. If you access illegal information, tough shit. If you open up a hole and somebody breaks into your computer, tough shit. I'm not responsible. (This is for the lawsuit-happy bastards out there.)
Anyways, lets begin:
For all methods, it is expected that you have access to a machine on the other side of the firewall, and that it has access to whatever you need.
Your machine will be the CLIENT, and the machine on the other side of the firewall will be the TUNNEL. The accessed machine will be the SERVER.
Furthermore, this article also assumes you a basic knowledge of your browser's configuration, installing software on your CLIENT and TUNNEL machines, and logging in via SSH.
A Linux/Unix box is preferable for the TUNNEL, but not required by any means. The software is freely available for any system.
1) HTTP Tunneling Through SSH
Often, only some ports will be firewalled (80, 21, etc) for caching, filtering, and monitoring purposes. However, they leave direct access available for other ports (25, 23, etc).
If your browser must use a proxy to access the web, but you don't require a proxy to get mail, this is probably the implementation.
If you have direct access to non-popular ports, you can access almost any service as long as you change the port. Generaly, the main purpose of bypassing this firewall is to have unfiltered and/or unmonitored web access. The method can of course be modified to meet your needs.
Install a proxy server (ie: tinyproxy) on the TUNNEL machine. For security purposes, set the listening port to an odd port (ie: 8999, REMOTE_PROXY_PORT) or set access rights to only localhost. Install an SSH (ie: sshd) server on the TUNNEL. For security purposes, set the listening port to an odd port. Do NOT set access rights to only localhost because you'll access the proxy through ssh.
Install an SSH client on the CLIENT machine. Select a random port (LOCAL_PORT) and then set the browser's proxy to localhost:LOCAL_PORT.
Run SSH with LOCAL_PORT forwarded to REMOTE_HOST:REMOTE_PROXY_PORT.
(CLI ssh: ssh -L LOCAL_PORT:REMOTE_HOST:REMOTE_PROXY_HOST -l USERNAME REMOTE_HOST)
Once connected and logged in, if the proxy and the tunnel are working correctly, you've got completely unfiltered web access.
(NB: Using a SOCKS5-compliant proxy would offer an almost completely unfiltered and unmonitored connection, as long as the application supported SOCKS proxies.)
2) SSH Tunneling Through HTTP
Some implementations allow only HTTP access, while blocking all other ports.
Check out Corkscrew at http://www.agroman.net/corkscrew/
Corkscrew is a tool to allow full SSH access through a strict HTTPS session. Then through the SSH access, you can create another tunnel to allow access to all other programs.
Conclusion)
Hopefully this allows some of the people out there to worry a little less about getting caught doing things they're not supposed to. The reason for using SSH in both cases is because it's encrypted. In the event you are caught, at least you're only caught for breaking teh rules, there's nothing additionally criminalizing.
SSH can also be used for a lot more interesting things. Using Windows, you can instal Cygwin, ssh into a *Nix box and tunnel over X connections, and end up working as if you were actually at the machine.
Anyways, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
--unformed
That is one of the best news I've heard from Corporate America in a while.
Feel free to rip off businesses; they've got the money anyway.
But the schools should get free software, or at least heavily discounted, software.
After all, Let's think about the children!.
We used felt tip markers to get high. Damn these kids with their fancy gadgets and such.
Has anyone considered filing a suit due to being "hacked" ( know it's not the correct term, but it gets the message across) due to a hole in MS software.
Sure, the license makes all warranty void, but what about when they knowingly distributed insecure software.
This offers a perfect fact for your case.
I work for a fairly large company. (Aren't going to specify because I'd like to not get fired.)
;)
Anyways, the've got a proxy where they supposedly monitor and also prevent certain sites.
However, the proxy only works on port 21, 80, and the standard proxy port (8080?), but you get unfiltered access to all other ports (No inbound connections however, so only passive-mode ftp)
Anyways, so what I ended up doing was:
telnetted into my box at home, installed a proxy, set it up to use an odd port, and wa-la. Along with I installed Cygwin, ssh into my machine, and use my machine as if I was there
You don't just pick up a car and walk with it. A car requires a key, so having to hotwire it would be equivalent to breaking and entering. Furthermore, a car has a title which states the owner, whereas a watch doesn't.
Simply finding something is one thing. Doing work to take something else is completely different.
Since this site will probably die, and I wouldn't min seeing my site get more than two hits one day, I mirrored it here: http://stonedcow.com/unixad.jpg
No what will happen if you'll turn your computer off but when you turn it, it'll still be crashing.
Oh you said recover.
Well, the one and only true solution: reformat.
Escrow
Start messing with 'e,. You've got their name and address. (Generally speaking, most of them give you a valid address, just never send) ... so start ordering magazines to their address, and select "Bill Me Later."
Of course, it's a large amount of money you'll probably want to take legal recourse.
Now, on the other hand, I knew a guy who's business was not sending this that he sold on ebay.
Let me explain: First he'd steal high-tech componenets from the school, put them on ebay, sell them for a couple bucks, and then never send or answer his emails or whatever. He'd wait about a month, if they continues bitching, he'd go ahead and send the item, and claim it was originally sent to the wrong address, or whatever. If they simply stopped complaining, thwen he'd relist the item, and start the process over again....
but then they'll do like they did during the court case in 1999 and make a version of Windows which simply doesn't work.
As opposed to all the other times when it did work.
This belonged in the nwesitems two days ago.
In a shocking move, the Slashdot network has finally conceded and have given in to com pla ints about the lack of quality programming.
In the words of the leader Commander Taco, "I apologize for the brutality we have caused our fellow users to suffer. However, in all honesty, contrary to popular opinion it was CowboyNeal's fault. Let me explain. Initially our advertisers' wanted us to run advertisements as stories.
However, we felt that doing so would greatly reduce what little credibility we had as a tech rumor site. Additionally, due to CowboyNeal spending the entire OSDN budget on crack, we had to quickly raise money somehow someway. We decided to hook up with DoubleClick and let them monitor our traffic and generate random logs for their own use. However, we knew that if we let it happen for too long, people would find out, and we would lose what little respectability we had left. So we needed to get many hits quick.
I, Commander Taco, the great Commander of Burritos and Such, decided to take it upon myself, to create mind-numbing, electrifying stories which would result in an amazing number of page hits. Unfortunately, a few users have caught on. Since I did not preplan enough to put the ROT-13 my ideas and DMCA-it, I have no recourse but to let them notify all of our users, and hence be forced to concede. The other members of Slashdot are too coked out right now (hence our budget), so I'm alone here. However, I plan on leaving very soon, and disappearing into the depths of Amazon, because from what I have heard in unexplained rumors, is that Bubba is after me for rootkitting his Debian box. Regardless, I am on my out.
Good day, folks, and god speed.
Today is April First.
So mod me up please.
For this comment I would like a +5 Underrated.
Oh, and hint to Taco: If you'd stop eating burritos, you would stop releasing shit, and we could all get along fine.