What is something really, really cool that you could tell us that we, as civilians, wouldn't think to ask a question about because we, unknowing as we are, think it would so obviously be a threat to national security, that we wouldn't even begin to consider asking a question about, but really isn't that big of a deal? Maybe something that seems so outrageous that we would think it were far too preposterous to be true?
Is his comment meant to encompass all of the various "forms" of UNIX? Linux, the various BSD's, etc.?
It's been my understanding that Linux is not UNIX, but merely looks like it from a command line standpoint and works like it in certain ways. I thought that was kind of the idea: Linux is a better built UNIX. Of course, I could be wrong. I am wrong from time to time.;-)
I thought it was supposed to be designed just for this kind of stuff. Where are they at currently? I've used it a bit and it truly is fantastic for handling multiple streams of video as well as other kinds of data. Just curious.
Pardon me for being a little crybaby...waahhh-waahhh...but I don't even know why you guys (being the Slashdot story acceptors/decliners) even attach someones name to a story. This is one of many times that I have posted a story (as seen below):
2000-03-18 07:00:17 10 GB of Data Storeage on Clear Adhesive Tape (articles,news) (declined)
Only to have someone else given the credit. Pardon me for saying so, but that sucks. Why give credit at all, if it's not the correct credit. Granted the other person submitted the story as well, but I submitted it much earlier (7 a.m. CST). Oh crap! I'm gonna lose some karma now. Damn, and just when I was about to reach 60 points! Oh well, moderate me down, down, down....
Guess I'll just have to start getting all of my news that really matters from Kuro5hin.org Have you checked it out yet? Very cool site. It's like the Slashdot of old when it was good (meaning now it's not so good).
Who cares? The rules are not adhered to anymore anyway. Though this may seem to be a big deal now, I think it will cease to be in the somewhat near future.
There are already many such sites out there that disregard what these extensions were set up for in the first place. There are also many sites out there that buy a ".com" address (or whatever:.org,.net, etc.) and they merely use these sites to point to another site altogether. I used to think, "what a waste of a name!" BUT, like I said, I think this will cease to be an issue in the future. Why? The net is in it's infancy, pure and simple. These.com companies are so very overvalued right now. Why is this? Well, if you have a.com at the end of your address, that automagically gets you millions more in venture capital. What a bunch of bunk! There are going to be a lot of people and companies surprised in the future when there is a big shakeout and all of this venture funding stops flowing into the valley. These companies are built on stilts (.com stilts, if you like) and when they don't put forth the numbers that is expected of them...whooooops! Those stilts are going to break in half under the shere weight of the companies they support. We all know that content is king in media. When these companies end up without any significant contribution content-wise...watch out! They are going to come tumbling down. How many really BIG pet store companies can there be on the Internet? Auction sites? Search engines? I'm sorry, I don't think that many. I think once they start falling, they are going to get bought out by the "Wal-Mart's", "Amazon's" and "Ebay's". Not that they are even guaranteed to be around.
I know that this does not have much to do with the OpenSSH controversy, I just had to get this off my chest and maybe put some things in perspective.
Damn! I wish I were cool enough to get into the Slashgrits poll like Signal 11. He's even leading the poll and beating Grits guy out with an astounding 25% of the votes. I love the title of the page: "Slashgrits: News for Gritlovers. Steaming bowls that matter." This site made my day.
My question was number 9. I reallly appreciate Mr. Nielsen answering it. What a cool answer too. Excellent ideas. Makes even more excited about the future!
This sums it up. Progress in this whole industry (hardware at least) is so very incremental. There is waaaaaayy too much $$$ to be made by putting out a little at a time. I think it is too funny (almost shamefully so on Intel's part) how just before the beginning of this year (end of 1999) we were hearing it would be third or fourth quarter of 2000 before we would see 1 GHz proc's running around. Funny how a little competition changes things and shifts paradigms. Moore's Law, Schmoores Law! Sometimes, I think that "law" (and I use that term very loosely) was only created for revenue purposes. It just keeps a steady, bankable flow in of cash coming in for Intel. Now, AMD has blown that "law" out of the water by taking the fight directly to Intel, then one little slip up in production schedules an BAMMM!! the carpet gets pulled out from beneath you.
Also, I remember not so long ago when IBM (maybe Motorola too?) comes out and says, "Hey we're going to use Copper interconnects, screw Aluminum." The word from Intel? "We're gonna stick with Aluminum. We still have a ways to go with it before we exhaust it's possibilities." What a load of crap!! They just wanted to hold out on using Copper so they can milk Aluminum (and milk the customer) for all it's worth. Well, that's MHO anyway. Anyone else agree? Disagree?
Official Disclaimer: Mind you, the above statements are not the original statements from the above mentioned companies, merely my recollections (to the best of my meager abilities.) Also, the opinions expressed above are not necessarily those of Slashdot, or me for that matter;-) So don't go gettin' all lawsuit happy on me!
"Then why are you having to beg people to do it? Seriously.
"OK, but will it still be a coup if his begging isn't successful?:)"
From my personal use and what I've heard from others, it is already a very good product and therefor IMVHO it is already a coup. I just want it to be the best product possible and thereby be the biggest coup possible.
Readers of Slashdot are aware of each and every milestone release and it seems as though it is taking a long time for version 1.0 to arrive, but considering the complexity of the product and the fact that it has been re-written with a new engine in place, I think it is an incredible feat and the Mozilla/Netscape guys should be applauded. They probably feel like the "Rodney Dangerfield" of the software world, getting little or no respect.
By the way, I don't remember anyone ever stating that the OSS method of software development was the necessarily the fastest. It takes time to craft a quality product. Besides, we don't want Mozilla to be like the bug-laden products of some companies out there...do we? Of course not.
I'd like to appeal to everyone. If you like Linux and especially Open Source Software, please download this release of Mozilla (and future releases as well) and use it, abuse it, and break it. Then, report those bugs! This is going to be one of the biggest coups for Open Source Software and show a lot of detractors that OSS is a viable method for developing quality software. It will also blow away a lot of FUD concerning security issues, etc. of OSS (because it's open.) Thanks.
Surely "windowing" can't be the end-all-be-all of interfaces. Is there some paradigm shift around the corner which we can't conceive of right now? Perhaps the same "leap" which occurred going from command line/text to windows.
I was just reading this arti cle over at O'Reilly.Linux.com. ESR says that he has "inside information" from MS about a port of MS Office to Linux. Hmmmmm.... the plot thickens. Here's the quote: "Raymond: That is not something I feel like I have a good answer to. I am fairly sure that there is already, however, a Linux-portable Office. I have some intelligence from inside Microsoft that strongly suggests that, and it also makes sense for that to exist already if the people at Microsoft are smart enough to see that there's a wreck coming in their operating systems business -- and I think they are that smart."
Thanks for the link to kuro5hin.org. It looks like a cool site and I've been looking for an alternative to Slashdot, not because I don't like it anymore, but because I WOULD LIKE MORE TO READ and Slashdot does not post enough stories for me. I've posted something similar before, but no one seems to care and/or listen. Oh well, whatever. If not here, I can go other places for additional content. I'll still come to Slashdot, but now I have another cool weblog to visit. Anyone else have any other sites they particularly like for Slashdot-style stories and information? I'm sure I'm not the only person who would be interested. Thanks in advance.
Have you looked at kuro5hin.org yet? Very cool site. Check it out. ----------------
It's at the stage where "the dogfood company is having to test it's own product by eating it themselves." Of course this isn't to be taken literally. It's just that all or most of the employess are now using the product to really hone the debugging to a sharp edge and ferret out every last little bug (theoretically of course.)
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I'm currently looking for a job and I am very interested in the security side of System Administration. My question: Could you give a SysAdmin wanna-be some helpful advice, ideas, suggestions, etc. concerning career path? In my particular case, I don't have a CS or MIS degree (Liberal Arts actually) and about a year and a half of experience as an operator. I'm a Linux user and read O'Reilly books aplenty. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
Didn't you hear. It was caused by a bunch of DOS zealots who refuse to upgrade to Windows. They actually used DOS and just pinged the heck out of Yahoo. They claimed to be using this action as a way to show their disatisfaction with MS because they no longer support DOS. I, for one, say more power to 'em! Down with MS! Long live DOS! The undisputed KING of OS's!
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
My question: What motivates and interests you so much that you have such a great passion to write about geeks, nerds, techies, hackers, etc.?
I actually like Jon Katz' writing's. Am I the only one? Sure he may not be a "techie," but this is not a prerequisite for writing for a site like Slashdot. Jon is a journalist and writer. He's never made any claim to the contrary. As a matter of fact, he espouses the fact that he's not. He gives a certain insight into technical issues that many more techno-savy readers may not consider. Certainly, his writings are provocative and he often plays the "Devil's Advocate." This is what good writers do. The provoke the rest of us to thought. Perhaps in ways we had not previously considered. I think Jon catches an enormous amount of flack for being a good writer. Just because his views differ from yours or he may be taking a different approach toward a subject does not necessarily make them wrong.
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I think the term unsung more appropriately means: not given the recognition deservednot the least known. Does that make sense? Please feel free to correct me.
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I definitely agree with you on the point of Gibson's writing. I've read "Neuromancer" and wasn't all that impressed with his style either. He's certainly a visionary, but I like Stepenson's writing style much better. I'm reading "Snow Crash" right now and it is awesome! It just flows much better. Easier to understand. Gibson's style is choppier, if you will. Of course, I'm a simpleton:-)
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I think that some of what you say has validity. However, considering how popular Linux and Linus are, if you were David Ditzel, wouldn't you use this popularity to your advantage? The odds are stacked pretty heavily against them as they have little OEM support right now. I think they need to use every advantage possible. The secrecy was a tremendous coup for them where advertising was concerned and it cost relatively nothing. They are just pulling out all of the stops and using all of their weapons, so-to-speak.
In closing, I must add I particularly didn't like this part of your comment, "...,just think at how easily you folks are manipulated." Just a bit too much overgeneralization, don't you think? For instance, some of the "people" you are talking about thought enough about the rest of your comment to take an honest look and say "Yeah, you know, he has a point." by moderating you up. I really can't stand such a "high-horse" or "holier-than-thou" attitude. It kind of stinks. I would venture to say that most of the people that read Slashdot have a tremendous amount of respect for Linus. Enough to believe that a product that he has worked on and endorses warrants a little more attention than the average. Just my opinion of course.
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I loved how E-Trade basically mocked the entire commercialization thing by saying "Well, we just wasted $2 million...what are you going to do with your money?" (Paraphrasing)
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
Sounds as though they need an upgrade. This article was linked to at the bottom of the page. It seems they are having the same problems as, I'm sure, many companies are. Too much information. A quote from the story, "The largest U.S. spy agency -- the National Security Agency -- is in crisis, overwhelmed by too many targets, too much information and the challenges created by increasingly sophisticated technologies." Somewhat surprising that they would see something like this coming and not take steps to remedy the problem. Or is it?
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
Slashdot Mirror
What is something really, really cool that you could tell us that we, as civilians, wouldn't think to ask a question about because we, unknowing as we are, think it would so obviously be a threat to national security, that we wouldn't even begin to consider asking a question about, but really isn't that big of a deal? Maybe something that seems so outrageous that we would think it were far too preposterous to be true?
Is his comment meant to encompass all of the various "forms" of UNIX? Linux, the various BSD's, etc.?
;-)
It's been my understanding that Linux is not UNIX, but merely looks like it from a command line standpoint and works like it in certain ways.
I thought that was kind of the idea: Linux is a better built UNIX. Of course, I could be wrong. I am wrong from time to time.
Rigging reviews of FREE software so they can get FREE evaluation copies. Hmmmmm.... does this strike anyone else as a bit odd?
What about the Be OS?
I thought it was supposed to be designed just for this kind of stuff. Where are they at currently? I've used it a bit and it truly is fantastic for handling multiple streams of video as well as other kinds of data. Just curious.
Pardon me for being a little crybaby...waahhh-waahhh...but I don't even know why you guys (being the Slashdot story acceptors/decliners) even attach someones name to a story. This is one of many times that I have posted a story (as seen below):
2000-03-18 07:00:17 10 GB of Data Storeage on Clear Adhesive Tape (articles,news) (declined)
Only to have someone else given the credit. Pardon me for saying so, but that sucks. Why give credit at all, if it's not the correct credit. Granted the other person submitted the story as well, but I submitted it much earlier (7 a.m. CST). Oh crap! I'm gonna lose some karma now. Damn, and just when I was about to reach 60 points! Oh well, moderate me down, down, down....
Guess I'll just have to start getting all of my news that really matters from Kuro5hin.org Have you checked it out yet? Very cool site. It's like the Slashdot of old when it was good (meaning now it's not so good).
Who cares? The rules are not adhered to anymore anyway. Though this may seem to be a big deal now, I think it will cease to be in the somewhat near future.
.org, .net, etc.) and they merely use these sites to point to another site altogether. I used to think, "what a waste of a name!" BUT, like I said, I think this will cease to be an issue in the future. Why? The net is in it's infancy, pure and simple. These .com companies are so very overvalued right now. Why is this? Well, if you have a .com at the end of your address, that automagically gets you millions more in venture capital. What a bunch of bunk! There are going to be a lot of people and companies surprised in the future when there is a big shakeout and all of this venture funding stops flowing into the valley. These companies are built on stilts (.com stilts, if you like) and when they don't put forth the numbers that is expected of them...whooooops! Those stilts are going to break in half under the shere weight of the companies they support. We all know that content is king in media. When these companies end up without any significant contribution content-wise...watch out! They are going to come tumbling down. How many really BIG pet store companies can there be on the Internet? Auction sites? Search engines? I'm sorry, I don't think that many. I think once they start falling, they are going to get bought out by the "Wal-Mart's", "Amazon's" and "Ebay's". Not that they are even guaranteed to be around.
There are already many such sites out there that disregard what these extensions were set up for in the first place. There are also many sites out there that buy a ".com" address (or whatever:
I know that this does not have much to do with the OpenSSH controversy, I just had to get this off my chest and maybe put some things in perspective.
Damn! I wish I were cool enough to get into the Slashgrits poll like Signal 11. He's even leading the poll and beating Grits guy out with an astounding 25% of the votes. I love the title of the page: "Slashgrits: News for Gritlovers. Steaming bowls that matter." This site made my day.
kuro5hin.org
My question was number 9. I reallly appreciate Mr. Nielsen answering it. What a cool answer too. Excellent ideas. Makes even more excited about the future!
kuro5hin.org
True, true.
kuro5hin.org
"It's all about the Bejamins baby!"
This sums it up. Progress in this whole industry (hardware at least) is so very incremental. There is waaaaaayy too much $$$ to be made by putting out a little at a time. I think it is too funny (almost shamefully so on Intel's part) how just before the beginning of this year (end of 1999) we were hearing it would be third or fourth quarter of 2000 before we would see 1 GHz proc's running around. Funny how a little competition changes things and shifts paradigms. Moore's Law, Schmoores Law! Sometimes, I think that "law" (and I use that term very loosely) was only created for revenue purposes. It just keeps a steady, bankable flow in of cash coming in for Intel. Now, AMD has blown that "law" out of the water by taking the fight directly to Intel, then one little slip up in production schedules an BAMMM!! the carpet gets pulled out from beneath you.
Also, I remember not so long ago when IBM (maybe Motorola too?) comes out and says, "Hey we're going to use Copper interconnects, screw Aluminum." The word from Intel? "We're gonna stick with Aluminum. We still have a ways to go with it before we exhaust it's possibilities." What a load of crap!! They just wanted to hold out on using Copper so they can milk Aluminum (and milk the customer) for all it's worth. Well, that's MHO anyway. Anyone else agree? Disagree?
Official Disclaimer: Mind you, the above statements are not the original statements from the above mentioned companies, merely my recollections (to the best of my meager abilities.) Also, the opinions expressed above are not necessarily those of Slashdot, or me for that matter
kuro5hin.org
"Then why are you having to beg people to do it? Seriously.
"OK, but will it still be a coup if his begging isn't successful?
From my personal use and what I've heard from others, it is already a very good product and therefor IMVHO it is already a coup. I just want it to be the best product possible and thereby be the biggest coup possible.
Readers of Slashdot are aware of each and every milestone release and it seems as though it is taking a long time for version 1.0 to arrive, but considering the complexity of the product and the fact that it has been re-written with a new engine in place, I think it is an incredible feat and the Mozilla/Netscape guys should be applauded. They probably feel like the "Rodney Dangerfield" of the software world, getting little or no respect.
By the way, I don't remember anyone ever stating that the OSS method of software development was the necessarily the fastest . It takes time to craft a quality product. Besides, we don't want Mozilla to be like the bug-laden products of some companies out there...do we? Of course not.
kuro5hin.org
I'd like to appeal to everyone. If you like Linux and especially Open Source Software, please download this release of Mozilla (and future releases as well) and use it, abuse it, and break it. Then, report those bugs! This is going to be one of the biggest coups for Open Source Software and show a lot of detractors that OSS is a viable method for developing quality software. It will also blow away a lot of FUD concerning security issues, etc. of OSS (because it's open.) Thanks.
kuro5hin.org
What is the next "big thing" in interfaces?
Surely "windowing" can't be the end-all-be-all of interfaces. Is there some paradigm shift around the corner which we can't conceive of right now? Perhaps the same "leap" which occurred going from command line/text to windows.
kuro5hin.org
I was just reading this arti cle over at O'Reilly.Linux.com.
ESR says that he has "inside information" from MS about a port of MS Office to Linux. Hmmmmm.... the plot thickens.
Here's the quote: "Raymond: That is not something I feel like I have a good answer to. I am fairly sure that there is already, however, a Linux-portable Office. I have some intelligence from inside Microsoft that strongly suggests that, and it also makes sense for that to exist already if the people at Microsoft are smart enough to see that there's a wreck coming in their operating systems business -- and I think they are that smart."
kuro5hin.org
Thanks for the link to kuro5hin.org . It looks like a cool site and I've been looking for an alternative to Slashdot, not because I don't like it anymore, but because I WOULD LIKE MORE TO READ and Slashdot does not post enough stories for me. I've posted something similar before, but no one seems to care and/or listen. Oh well, whatever. If not here, I can go other places for additional content. I'll still come to Slashdot, but now I have another cool weblog to visit. Anyone else have any other sites they particularly like for Slashdot-style stories and information? I'm sure I'm not the only person who would be interested. Thanks in advance.
Have you looked at kuro5hin.org yet? Very cool site. Check it out.
----------------
It's at the stage where "the dogfood company is having to test it's own product by eating it themselves." Of course this isn't to be taken literally. It's just that all or most of the employess are now using the product to really hone the debugging to a sharp edge and ferret out every last little bug (theoretically of course.)
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I'm currently looking for a job and I am very interested in the security side of System Administration. My question: Could you give a SysAdmin wanna-be some helpful advice, ideas, suggestions, etc. concerning career path? In my particular case, I don't have a CS or MIS degree (Liberal Arts actually) and about a year and a half of experience as an operator. I'm a Linux user and read O'Reilly books aplenty. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
No, it was in fact a distributed DOS attack.
Didn't you hear. It was caused by a bunch of DOS zealots who refuse to upgrade to Windows. They actually used DOS and just pinged the heck out of Yahoo. They claimed to be using this action as a way to show their disatisfaction with MS because they no longer support DOS. I, for one, say more power to 'em! Down with MS! Long live DOS! The undisputed KING of OS's!
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
Thanks for the reply. If more people feel the same please post to let your fellow Slashdotters know how you feel. Thanks.
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I think Jon does a great job as a writer.
My question: What motivates and interests you so much that you have such a great passion to write about geeks, nerds, techies, hackers, etc.?
I actually like Jon Katz' writing's. Am I the only one? Sure he may not be a "techie," but this is not a prerequisite for writing for a site like Slashdot. Jon is a journalist and writer. He's never made any claim to the contrary. As a matter of fact, he espouses the fact that he's not. He gives a certain insight into technical issues that many more techno-savy readers may not consider. Certainly, his writings are provocative and he often plays the "Devil's Advocate." This is what good writers do. The provoke the rest of us to thought. Perhaps in ways we had not previously considered. I think Jon catches an enormous amount of flack for being a good writer. Just because his views differ from yours or he may be taking a different approach toward a subject does not necessarily make them wrong.
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I think the term unsung more appropriately means: not given the recognition deserved not the least known. Does that make sense? Please feel free to correct me.
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I definitely agree with you on the point of Gibson's writing. I've read "Neuromancer" and wasn't all that impressed with his style either. He's certainly a visionary, but I like Stepenson's writing style much better. I'm reading "Snow Crash" right now and it is awesome! It just flows much better. Easier to understand. Gibson's style is choppier, if you will. Of course, I'm a simpleton :-)
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I think that some of what you say has validity. However, considering how popular Linux and Linus are, if you were David Ditzel, wouldn't you use this popularity to your advantage? The odds are stacked pretty heavily against them as they have little OEM support right now. I think they need to use every advantage possible. The secrecy was a tremendous coup for them where advertising was concerned and it cost relatively nothing. They are just pulling out all of the stops and using all of their weapons, so-to-speak.
In closing, I must add I particularly didn't like this part of your comment, "...,just think at how easily you folks are manipulated." Just a bit too much overgeneralization, don't you think? For instance, some of the "people" you are talking about thought enough about the rest of your comment to take an honest look and say "Yeah, you know, he has a point." by moderating you up. I really can't stand such a "high-horse" or "holier-than-thou" attitude. It kind of stinks. I would venture to say that most of the people that read Slashdot have a tremendous amount of respect for Linus. Enough to believe that a product that he has worked on and endorses warrants a little more attention than the average. Just my opinion of course.
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I loved how E-Trade basically mocked the entire commercialization thing by saying "Well, we just wasted $2 million...what are you going to do with your money?" (Paraphrasing)
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
Sounds as though they need an upgrade. This article was linked to at the bottom of the page. It seems they are having the same problems as, I'm sure, many companies are. Too much information. A quote from the story, "The largest U.S. spy agency -- the National Security Agency -- is in crisis, overwhelmed by too many targets, too much information and the challenges created by increasingly sophisticated technologies." Somewhat surprising that they would see something like this coming and not take steps to remedy the problem. Or is it?
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein