i, too, sent an email and i, too, don't feel stupid for doing so (heck, i even used capital letters and everything).
my letter was largely about why hardware manufacturers should go to the rather minimal effort of helping open source developers, and i think it still applies: trident seems to have a problem with at least some aspect of publishing code derived from their documentation, and the letters we sent --i hope-- will help weight their opinion in favor of relaxing that restriction.
because sometimes it's nice to pretend that we're intelligent people, not hysterical zealots. for every "YUO SUCK BEACASUE LUNIX SI GOD!!!!!11" email they get, they'll lose that much more confidence in "us" as a viable market.
while i think one of the earlier posts was right --that trident probably won't listen to a few emails-- it doesn't hurt to try. maybe i won't have a hard time living without trident cards (or at least acceleration on them), but i don't want to stand around while another company helps make closed documentation the norm. i'd rather companies be more friendly to the people who want to do free work for them (open source developers), and sending them email will probably let them know that better than me bitching about it on slashdot.
what i haven't seen in this discussion (maybe an anonymous coward mentioned it, but i don't read 0 score posts) is TIS authentication via cryptocard. it totally defeats this type of sniffing because the string you send is always the same length, and non-repeating (i.e. the authentication string i send this time isn't the same as it was last time, nor will it be the same next time). the down side is you have to carry your stupid cryptocard around, but that's no worse than the "removable-media keys" suggestion someone brought up earlier.
of course, things like sudo and su don't support cryptocard-style authentication yet, but it's possible.
oh, and it's not free, but if security is so big a concern for you that you're afraid of someone sniffing kestroke timing on passwords then you really shouldn't balk at paying for solutions.
the recording artists should probably sue themselves. by allowing their music to be recorded by studios and distributed by record labels, they created a vast library of easily swappable material that can be resold or copied without the original artists' consent and without any royalties going to the artists.
this vast repository of recorded music must come to an end, before people find ways to exploit it!
and don't get me started on radios.
fine, i understand that it was easier to swap mp3.com's songs than some other media, and mp3s have a higher quality than most other media, but even Elastic Man would feel odd trying to stretch this far.
"Even if a priest is bound by his faith not to disclose a confession of an illegal act, I don't think there is any priest out there who would work to try to get his confessee to turn himself in."
on the contrary, reparations are a common part of Catholic pennance, which is a requirement for the forgiveness that comes with confession. i think the priests *i* know would encourage a criminal to "fix" what he'd done (if possible) or turn himself in (for more serious crimes). it's probable he'd even make it part of the pennance requirement.
i don't know how many minds it will change, but it's bringing microsoft's new licensing scheme into a larger forum. someone whining about it in the LA Times reaches a lot more people than someone whining about it on slashdot.
one thing the article didn't address, though (and i know i'm going to get flame for this one) is the benefit of the scheme: code red would have gone away the day microsoft released the patch, while EVEN NOW some people haven't patched their servers. a subscription service would be a boon for the clueless --and they're NEVER going away-- but it should be optional.
oh, and i thought macs were already a religion. i've seen people change religions but i've never seen a mac user switch to unix and say "look at all i've been missing!"
you wouldn't keep employees very long. i don't
have an aeron where i work (and don't especially
want one), but little frills go a long way to
make employees happy.
when my brother found out we have a soda fountain
where we can get free coke at work, he wanted to
come work here.
if you can afford to pamper employees, do it. the
mistake most of the failed dot-coms made was that
they didn't have the money.
Slashdot Mirror
i, too, sent an email and i, too, don't feel stupid for doing so (heck, i even used capital letters and everything).
my letter was largely about why hardware manufacturers should go to the rather minimal effort of helping open source developers, and i think it still applies: trident seems to have a problem with at least some aspect of publishing code derived from their documentation, and the letters we sent --i hope-- will help weight their opinion in favor of relaxing that restriction.
but what if that hosehead blew up the elsinore brewery, eh?
because sometimes it's nice to pretend that we're intelligent people, not hysterical zealots. for every "YUO SUCK BEACASUE LUNIX SI GOD!!!!!11" email they get, they'll lose that much more confidence in "us" as a viable market.
while i think one of the earlier posts was right --that trident probably won't listen to a few emails-- it doesn't hurt to try. maybe i won't have a hard time living without trident cards (or at least acceleration on them), but i don't want to stand around while another company helps make closed documentation the norm. i'd rather companies be more friendly to the people who want to do free work for them (open source developers), and sending them email will probably let them know that better than me bitching about it on slashdot.
what i haven't seen in this discussion (maybe an anonymous coward mentioned it, but i don't read 0 score posts) is TIS authentication via cryptocard. it totally defeats this type of sniffing because the string you send is always the same length, and non-repeating (i.e. the authentication string i send this time isn't the same as it was last time, nor will it be the same next time). the down side is you have to carry your stupid cryptocard around, but that's no worse than the "removable-media keys" suggestion someone brought up earlier.
of course, things like sudo and su don't support cryptocard-style authentication yet, but it's possible.
oh, and it's not free, but if security is so big a concern for you that you're afraid of someone sniffing kestroke timing on passwords then you really shouldn't balk at paying for solutions.
the recording artists should probably sue themselves. by allowing their music to be recorded by studios and distributed by record labels, they created a vast library of easily swappable material that can be resold or copied without the original artists' consent and without any royalties going to the artists.
this vast repository of recorded music must come to an end, before people find ways to exploit it!
and don't get me started on radios.
fine, i understand that it was easier to swap mp3.com's songs than some other media, and mp3s have a higher quality than most other media, but even Elastic Man would feel odd trying to stretch this far.
"Even if a priest is bound by his faith not to disclose a confession of an illegal act, I don't think there is any priest out there who would work to try to get his confessee to turn himself in."
on the contrary, reparations are a common part of Catholic pennance, which is a requirement for the forgiveness that comes with confession. i think the priests *i* know would encourage a criminal to "fix" what he'd done (if possible) or turn himself in (for more serious crimes). it's probable he'd even make it part of the pennance requirement.
i don't know how many minds it will change, but it's bringing microsoft's new licensing scheme into a larger forum. someone whining about it in the LA Times reaches a lot more people than someone whining about it on slashdot.
one thing the article didn't address, though (and i know i'm going to get flame for this one) is the benefit of the scheme: code red would have gone away the day microsoft released the patch, while EVEN NOW some people haven't patched their servers. a subscription service would be a boon for the clueless --and they're NEVER going away-- but it should be optional.
oh, and i thought macs were already a religion. i've seen people change religions but i've never seen a mac user switch to unix and say "look at all i've been missing!"
true. chess just isn't a sport. just because it's competitive doesn't mean it belongs in the olympics.
.) more of a sport than chess, but not so much so i'd expect --or want-- to see it in the olympics.
i consider car racing (drag racing, formula 1, . .
if chess players are athletes, then so are sysadmins. i'm actually in training for the soon-to-be-added olympic sport: reading slashdot!
you wouldn't keep employees very long. i don't have an aeron where i work (and don't especially want one), but little frills go a long way to make employees happy. when my brother found out we have a soda fountain where we can get free coke at work, he wanted to come work here. if you can afford to pamper employees, do it. the mistake most of the failed dot-coms made was that they didn't have the money.