1) That's Microsoft's MO. First they ignored Linux (Linux isn't a threat). Then they fought it (The GPL will ruin Western Civilization). Next, they will support it. They did the same thing to Netscape.
2) The US government has completely failed to curtail any of Microsoft's illegal practices. If you ask me, the original ruling (that M$ be split into two companies) would have been a fantastic outcome for everyone. Now, Linux (and OSX) will effectively split Microsoft in two by forcing the M$ applications developers to support other operating systems. It's sad that it took the (volunteer) effort of thousands of people to come to the correct outcome, though.
This is the most democratic thing I have seen (in the US) in a long time... truly historic.
There should also be some sort of massive Linux bugzilla, with maybe an automated reporting agent like Windows and Netscape have. Applications can be written to call that program when an error occurs, or whenever the user wants to file a report. The data wouldn't even have to be looked at by humans, just be collected to tell what the most common problems are or maybe for a developer to search through later. I suppose the massive bandwidth costs would prohibit a project of this sort, but I still think it would be useful.
I would just point out that it does, in fact, seem possible to run ssh chroot as this document indicates. The user passwords and home directories would, of course, have to be included in the jail as well. It's not something that can be used for system administration, obviously.
You can do all sorts of things with vbscript and windows scripting host. Although, on Win98, WSH is a bug-ridden-security-exploit-waiting-to-happen. I looked into using it on a small network of Win98 computers, but ended up applying patches by hand because of all the possibilities for security problems. For "automatic" anything, Windows NT/2000 is a requirement from a security standpoint.
You should have read one of the other ten posts that explain this question. The XBox knows the Public Key, which can only be used to verify that a piece of data was in fact signed by the Private Key, which is locked in a vault in Redmond. In order to sign (and run) code, we need the Private Key. The Private Key can be deduced from the Public Key, but it takes a massive effort such as the one described.
Everyone who is interested in this should read the excellent book "The Code Book" by Simon Singh. It explains the complete history of cryptography in terms that anyone with a basic understanding of algebra can understand.
I'm sure it's more like they mail MS a copy on CD and get it back the same way. B-Ga isn't dumb enough to put the private key on one of his servers directly connected to the 'net.
Re:Ok, how about "zillions of Linux users."
on
Linux Is Cheaper
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· Score: 2
I apologize. I should not have directed my insults at you.
I can only listen to people ask "How do I use Linux exactly like Windows?" so many times. The answer is "You can't".
I assume that if you, and all of the Windows administrators who are informed enough to frequent Slashdot, are intelligent enough to configure and support the crap that Redmond produces, then you are just a step away from utilizing the benefits of Linux. It frustrates me to hear people ask about Linux on Slashdot like they have never heard of it before.
In my case, talking the client into Mosix was not possible, because they were unwilling to dedicate a server to each of their small remote offices. The "slow WAN links" that someone else mentioned were good enough for their Windows option, and are damn well good enough for transferring word processing files in Linux also.
When I said: "Linux- No licenses, runs from read-only filesystem on old hardware (that they were going to throw away)", they said "Great". Granted, some of them say things like "We want Windows", until I pop in a Knoppix CD and show them that Linux has "windows" too.
As for network appliances, I am too young to actually remember anyone using them. I presume it was because they cost as much as PC's and also required M$ (and Citrix?) licenses to run. Linux blows that paradigm out of the water. They have just enough programs to do their jobs and not the ability to fuck things up. Everything runs from the CD, not over a "slow WAN link". I send them updates in the mail and administer their user accounts from one server in one location.
I assume it just means that sshd now drops root priviledges after it binds to it's network port. This enables it to run securely under a chroot jail, since running programs as root in a jail enables a hacker to be able to "break out" if he/she can exploit a security hole in the program, and defeats the purpose of using chroot.
I meant to say that guns were composed of very commonly available materials; and trying to "outlaw" them is akin to trying to outlaw something like food. Maybe you should try having a little faith in other people instead of wanting to "regulate" everyone else.
My knowledge of colleges in my area has convinced me of the benefits of attending a private institution. From what I know, the A&M public school here has been churning out nothing but half-educated MSCE's for the last three years (at the behest of a local company that is currently in bankruptcy), while the local private college has had an intensive CS regiment that has very little to do with pointing-and-clicking. I'm convinced that public schooling benefits no one but large, short-sighted corporations, while a private education actually benefits the *students*.
Re: "poorly written applications"
on
Linux Is Cheaper
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· Score: 2
If, by "poorly written applications", you mean Explorer, then your explanation is accepted. "Configuring (my) systems correctly" means disabling all forms of Windows "scripting". The benefits are null if the security risks are above a certain level.
I'm sorry, but I have to. Why the "used to work"? I just ask because I know a (former) NT admin whose job was out-sourced to a firm that promptly installed Linux and probably took advantage of it's lower TCO by doing the same to a few other companies as well.
This is what really pisses me off about stubborn NT admins who won't consider Linux or upgrade their skills and knowledge. They have the attitude that "I've got this cushy job pointing-and-clicking in Windows and I'll never be replaced so screw Linux", while they should be performing trials of Linux and teaching themselves the ways in which it is better than Windows and KEEPING THEIR JOBS.
I don't want to have to work in a cubicle, remotely-configuring hundreds of Linux servers that used to run Windows, but I'll probably have to because of attitudes like that. That really pisses me off.
Re: "zillions of Linux desktops."
on
Linux Is Cheaper
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· Score: 5, Interesting
This post, and many, many others in this discussion, clearly indicates the absolute lack of imagination of many Windows administrators. There is absolutely no such thing as a company with "zillions of Linux desktops". If you are sticking to the "one computer, one hard drive, one OS" paradigm that Microsoft has created, you have clearly missed the entire point of Linux.
I have just finished deploying twenty old (P133-300) computers in five locations for my current client. They all run Linux off of cds, with no hard drives. To upgrade, I send them a new cd. They never shut them off and haven't had a (software related) problem yet.
Someone else mentioned LTSP+Mosix. All of you Windows noobs should take a serious look at this project, and re-evaluate some of your prejudices about how to configure and administer a network of "desktops". The absurd amount of computing resources that an all-M$ setup requires (1ghz desktops, servers in every physical location, etc..) can be put to much better use just by expanding your OS horizons a little and giving Linux a chance.
I don't have any freaky memories from being in a crib, or in the womb, or whatever, but most of my earliest memories are from the two years of preschool I attended. It was a Montessori school, so it was very hands-on and stimulating. I remember eating food from foreign cultures and learning greetings in other languages.
I've always believed that having such diverse experiences early in life has helped my education and intellectual development. This view is espoused by programs such as the Head First initiative and others that help to educate children from an early age. I firmly believe that this is the major downfall of the US educational system. Kindergartens are nothing more than daycare centers, while they should be taking advantage of the learning abilities of young children by teaching them math and science instead of how to play and fight.
The view that young children are too stupid to learn is a very damaging one. Children absorb everything they are shown; and the more things they are exposed to at this age, the better they will be able to view problems or situations from all angles later in life.
Have you ever considered that perhaps asinine Nazi gun-laws (among others) have forestalled any attempt by the American people to, as you say, "revolt against the insanity" you mention?
Also, you should educate yourself on the composition of assault rifles before you arrogantly judge who is and is not capable of being trusted with them. Most of the "fringe lunatics" you speak of could quite literally build assault rifles in their basements if they wanted (or had) to.
Didn't you hear? We're all a part of the government now. If Uncie Sam decides that your widget factory is part of the "national infrastructure", they get to come in and bully you around in the name of "securing" it. Everything from shit-burning plant down the street to the twinkie factory in Spokane is vital to the survival of our bloated government and must be Federalized.
assault weapons and handguns far beyond the defense of a nation I don't know what rock you crawled out from under, but if you plan to defend your nation with anything *but* assault weapons and handguns, then you can move to another nation and try to defend it with whatever rocks and sticks whiny liberal jackasses like you think constitute "arms".
It's obvious to anyone in the US that globalization has only made the extremely-rich extremely-richer and the rest of us into WalMart checkout clerks. I don't intend to get a new job in the global economy wiping the ass of the bastards who sold us out.
Actually, the ABA forbids lawyers from distributing legal advice without a power-of-attorney type agreement. They say it's to protect their members, but I suspect it's more about protecting their bottom lines. I actually know a couple of lawyers who read slashdot. This is the one instance in which advice from an AC is probably better than from someone who's logged in.
Not everyone is as independently wealthy as you are. No one has enough time to watch 130 channels of cable tv, either. If you have as much income and free time as you indicate, you can afford a-la-carte. If you're too stupid to "pick and choose between channels", then you can't have that much income and free time after all. I'm calling bullshit on this post.
We should outlaw shredder "mods". These are obviously an attempt to rob shredder manufacturers of the profits from their "razor-and-blade" business model of selling third-rate plastic products and expecting customers to buy a new one every year. Shredder hackers must be stopped.
Slashdot Mirror
Two points:
1) That's Microsoft's MO. First they ignored Linux (Linux isn't a threat). Then they fought it (The GPL will ruin Western Civilization). Next, they will support it. They did the same thing to Netscape.
2) The US government has completely failed to curtail any of Microsoft's illegal practices. If you ask me, the original ruling (that M$ be split into two companies) would have been a fantastic outcome for everyone. Now, Linux (and OSX) will effectively split Microsoft in two by forcing the M$ applications developers to support other operating systems. It's sad that it took the (volunteer) effort of thousands of people to come to the correct outcome, though.
This is the most democratic thing I have seen (in the US) in a long time... truly historic.
There should also be some sort of massive Linux bugzilla, with maybe an automated reporting agent like Windows and Netscape have. Applications can be written to call that program when an error occurs, or whenever the user wants to file a report. The data wouldn't even have to be looked at by humans, just be collected to tell what the most common problems are or maybe for a developer to search through later. I suppose the massive bandwidth costs would prohibit a project of this sort, but I still think it would be useful.
I would just point out that it does, in fact, seem possible to run ssh chroot as this document indicates. The user passwords and home directories would, of course, have to be included in the jail as well. It's not something that can be used for system administration, obviously.
You can do all sorts of things with vbscript and windows scripting host. Although, on Win98, WSH is a bug-ridden-security-exploit-waiting-to-happen. I looked into using it on a small network of Win98 computers, but ended up applying patches by hand because of all the possibilities for security problems. For "automatic" anything, Windows NT/2000 is a requirement from a security standpoint.
Everyone who is interested in this should read the excellent book "The Code Book" by Simon Singh. It explains the complete history of cryptography in terms that anyone with a basic understanding of algebra can understand.
I'm sure it's more like they mail MS a copy on CD and get it back the same way. B-Ga isn't dumb enough to put the private key on one of his servers directly connected to the 'net.
I can only listen to people ask "How do I use Linux exactly like Windows?" so many times. The answer is "You can't".
I assume that if you, and all of the Windows administrators who are informed enough to frequent Slashdot, are intelligent enough to configure and support the crap that Redmond produces, then you are just a step away from utilizing the benefits of Linux. It frustrates me to hear people ask about Linux on Slashdot like they have never heard of it before.
In my case, talking the client into Mosix was not possible, because they were unwilling to dedicate a server to each of their small remote offices. The "slow WAN links" that someone else mentioned were good enough for their Windows option, and are damn well good enough for transferring word processing files in Linux also.
When I said: "Linux- No licenses, runs from read-only filesystem on old hardware (that they were going to throw away)", they said "Great". Granted, some of them say things like "We want Windows", until I pop in a Knoppix CD and show them that Linux has "windows" too.
As for network appliances, I am too young to actually remember anyone using them. I presume it was because they cost as much as PC's and also required M$ (and Citrix?) licenses to run. Linux blows that paradigm out of the water. They have just enough programs to do their jobs and not the ability to fuck things up. Everything runs from the CD, not over a "slow WAN link". I send them updates in the mail and administer their user accounts from one server in one location.
I assume it just means that sshd now drops root priviledges after it binds to it's network port. This enables it to run securely under a chroot jail, since running programs as root in a jail enables a hacker to be able to "break out" if he/she can exploit a security hole in the program, and defeats the purpose of using chroot.
I meant to say that guns were composed of very commonly available materials; and trying to "outlaw" them is akin to trying to outlaw something like food. Maybe you should try having a little faith in other people instead of wanting to "regulate" everyone else.
My knowledge of colleges in my area has convinced me of the benefits of attending a private institution. From what I know, the A&M public school here has been churning out nothing but half-educated MSCE's for the last three years (at the behest of a local company that is currently in bankruptcy), while the local private college has had an intensive CS regiment that has very little to do with pointing-and-clicking. I'm convinced that public schooling benefits no one but large, short-sighted corporations, while a private education actually benefits the *students*.
If, by "poorly written applications", you mean Explorer, then your explanation is accepted. "Configuring (my) systems correctly" means disabling all forms of Windows "scripting". The benefits are null if the security risks are above a certain level.
This is what really pisses me off about stubborn NT admins who won't consider Linux or upgrade their skills and knowledge. They have the attitude that "I've got this cushy job pointing-and-clicking in Windows and I'll never be replaced so screw Linux", while they should be performing trials of Linux and teaching themselves the ways in which it is better than Windows and KEEPING THEIR JOBS.
I don't want to have to work in a cubicle, remotely-configuring hundreds of Linux servers that used to run Windows, but I'll probably have to because of attitudes like that. That really pisses me off.
I have just finished deploying twenty old (P133-300) computers in five locations for my current client. They all run Linux off of cds, with no hard drives. To upgrade, I send them a new cd. They never shut them off and haven't had a (software related) problem yet.
Someone else mentioned LTSP+Mosix. All of you Windows noobs should take a serious look at this project, and re-evaluate some of your prejudices about how to configure and administer a network of "desktops". The absurd amount of computing resources that an all-M$ setup requires (1ghz desktops, servers in every physical location, etc..) can be put to much better use just by expanding your OS horizons a little and giving Linux a chance.
I've always believed that having such diverse experiences early in life has helped my education and intellectual development. This view is espoused by programs such as the Head First initiative and others that help to educate children from an early age. I firmly believe that this is the major downfall of the US educational system. Kindergartens are nothing more than daycare centers, while they should be taking advantage of the learning abilities of young children by teaching them math and science instead of how to play and fight.
The view that young children are too stupid to learn is a very damaging one. Children absorb everything they are shown; and the more things they are exposed to at this age, the better they will be able to view problems or situations from all angles later in life.
Oh, God... Please don't tell me it was a Canadian.
But there aren't. There are, however, lots of opportunities for little sell-outs who would help the govt. spy on it's own citizens.
Also, you should educate yourself on the composition of assault rifles before you arrogantly judge who is and is not capable of being trusted with them. Most of the "fringe lunatics" you speak of could quite literally build assault rifles in their basements if they wanted (or had) to.
Dear God... sarcasm is dead.
Didn't you hear? We're all a part of the government now. If Uncie Sam decides that your widget factory is part of the "national infrastructure", they get to come in and bully you around in the name of "securing" it. Everything from shit-burning plant down the street to the twinkie factory in Spokane is vital to the survival of our bloated government and must be Federalized.
assault weapons and handguns far beyond the defense of a nation
I don't know what rock you crawled out from under, but if you plan to defend your nation with anything *but* assault weapons and handguns, then you can move to another nation and try to defend it with whatever rocks and sticks whiny liberal jackasses like you think constitute "arms".
It's obvious to anyone in the US that globalization has only made the extremely-rich extremely-richer and the rest of us into WalMart checkout clerks. I don't intend to get a new job in the global economy wiping the ass of the bastards who sold us out.
Actually, the ABA forbids lawyers from distributing legal advice without a power-of-attorney type agreement. They say it's to protect their members, but I suspect it's more about protecting their bottom lines. I actually know a couple of lawyers who read slashdot. This is the one instance in which advice from an AC is probably better than from someone who's logged in.
And whom, pray tell, do you you plan to manage? Programmers in India or food service workers?
Not everyone is as independently wealthy as you are. No one has enough time to watch 130 channels of cable tv, either. If you have as much income and free time as you indicate, you can afford a-la-carte. If you're too stupid to "pick and choose between channels", then you can't have that much income and free time after all. I'm calling bullshit on this post.
We should outlaw shredder "mods". These are obviously an attempt to rob shredder manufacturers of the profits from their "razor-and-blade" business model of selling third-rate plastic products and expecting customers to buy a new one every year. Shredder hackers must be stopped.