This is a sign of the time - increasingly the US and other countries are seeing the threat of terrorism as a clarion call to crack down on the genral community and most members of that community can see nothing wrong with that - they are scared.
The actions of the terrorists in the US have led to a world paranoid about threats - the media hype the anthrax scare to the point where everyone is scared of their own shadow, security is tightened everywhere and now they are talking about deportation and imprisonment without trial indefinetly - thus the planks of the constitution and the democtratic legal system are being slowly pulled away in what may very well be the best of intentions.
Your employer, government or not, can argue they have the right to search you and in the current climate they can do so as not many people will object - im not against searches in some ways but if someone has the proper access and id then why search them ? the fact is that locking down buildings and demanding searches wont stop terrorist attacks, they dond even need to be in a building for gods sake !
The general population of the US and Australia (where i live) are the same - the man in the street (sheep) does not question the government and will follow whatever actions the government can make justifiable - the US president didn't even get 50% of the primary vote ?
We need to make sure that the actions of our elected representatives are tempered with common sense and that they are held to account for ALL of them - the US constitution is a powerfull document - i have a copy on the wall of my office because even though im not an american i love the words and think that all countries should have such a document BUT if the government does not have checks and balances applied by the general populace they can ignore it with all too much ease by using the calls of public safety and national security - and brand anyone who does not agree a traitor = dont believe me - what about the McCarthy era ? the first, fifth and fourth amendments (and others) were trampled into the dust by the government and the people stood by and cheered.
Always be aware that freedom is impossible to regain after it has been lost
i should have clarified the dates on that as youre right about the timings but the basic point was that apples was not very farsighted in many ways - they talked to many companies before Intel true - they also talked merger with man including Apollo, Sun and even Compaq before pulling out at the last minute every time.
I agree that apple should have open sourced the platform but the biggger success for them would have come if they had licensed (open source wasnt much of a movement in the mid 80's) the OS and ported it to the iBM - Apple even did this as a project (called Star Trek in fact) with IBM long before the disaster known as Taligent-Pink. Bill Gates himself begged the Apple Board to license the OS and open it up (yeah its hard to believe but true) and they ignored him and everyone else, and the final nail in the open source of mac hardware was made by none other than Jean Louis Gasse (he of Be fame).
this is all information in the many apple histories, the fact is that by the time apple could have grown by licensing the company had become a madhouse.
I have loved macs for years and wouold love a powerbook - i fondly remember my black monster ihad for work some 2 years ago - they have always made great gear.
Oh and the bit about MS and QDos is wrong - its an innacurate and aprocyphal bit of information that has made its way around the web for years - MS bought out a company called Seattle Computer Products (it was really a one man band) when IBM contracted them to provide a DOS - they paid $50,000 for it and employed the guy as well - they didn't buy exclusive rights - they bought the company thus they had all rights as anyone who buys a company does-MS has done enought factual things wong without making stuff up.
If you really want to find out the truth about this and much of the other incorrect crap on the web read a book or 2 - i may suggest Fire in the Valley as a start www.fireinthevalley.com - considered the best history of Silicon Valley
I think half the poeople posting as anonymous cowards are members who have karma they have earned thru posting hard and long and simply want to make a valid comment which they fear might get them moderated down - like not 100% supporting Linux or open source or not 100% condemming Microsoft/Intel etc.
If you look at the number of posts below 0 you will find as i have that its about 20-25% of total posts and not all of those are anonymous - we have people who openly post racist and abusive material under user names (Ralph Jew Hater Nader springs to mind - he seems to be around a bit)
The system works only becuase it has too - whilst people are afraid to post any dissenting comment for fear of being attacked for it they will post as anonymous cowards - thats all there is too it.
I think (my opinion only) that we should get rid of AC and allow people to read anonymously but NOT post that wauy and we actually ban and close user accounts of people who are abusive and racist and intolerant etc - that way we would get rid of 90% of the crap right away
but as i said its only my opinion
Re:Paying for _community_ content?
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Slashdot Updates
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· Score: 2
Sure no problems
Get rid of anonyous coward and everyone has to post as a member - and this would also require policing to knock off the troll posters, the racists, the homophobes etc etc.
But that misses the point - Karma is earned by contributing to the community with meaningful comments - the system has its flaws (ive commented on them before) and is dependent on peoples opinions but it sort of works ok at this point in time - the problem is that what you are proposing is that the karma earned is what helps you avoid seeing the ads - but you lose karma when you post and when you look at the site OK
What happens in the following circumstances under this system.
-You post a reply which is well thought out but critical in any way of Open Source ?
- You post a comment about something good in MS (it does happen)
- you post a comment criticising someone else for justified reasons
These are just a few
You likely would be marked either troll or flamebait on each of these examples based in many cases on the bias of the moderator, its a fact of the system and one i dont like but ive learned to live with as i have the trolls (still hate racists tho) - the moderators are unpaid and volunteers.
I would pay for slashdot - a small amount anyway (im not in the US so for me $10US is a large amount) and i would also put up with the ads.
The fact is no matter which way we cut it and no matter how much we proclaim open source and free information it still costs money to deliver the information to people - whether its a printed pamphleyt or a web page.
Slashdot has grown in the past 4 years since i started visiting here - some of the changes are not for the better but overall its a great site - and i dont mind paying if the option is no/.
But i wouldnt use it under a system such as this - the moderators would need to be trained and have a standard code of conduct - i dont want people deciding if my comment is postive of not (and some of the best posts i have ever seen would NOT be considered positive)
A minidisc can now store 4 albums on one 74 min MD (My own Sony MD700 does this) and has near CD quality (you need to get MP'3 encoded at 192 and above to do as good - ive expermiented) I have an MP3 player (Rio) and they are shit - the level of storage is a joke and flash memory is expensive - this coouple with the ability to record from ANY source that has a line out and the size and ease of use of MD, battery power etc makes it a winner over CD or MP3 and i can carry 8 albums and a player in my jacket pocket.
As for lossy compression - hmmm well i dont know about this - i think its not but i cannot prove it - but CD is no better.
And as for the wornt work in your computer - well you can buy and MD digital player but why would you, im not too poor or geeky to have a seperate device for playting music and as i work my pc's pretty hard i dont play music in them anyway - you ever tried working in a couple of real apps whilst playing music - i have a P41.2 with 512mb of ram and i can make my music playback shuuder whilst working in Autocad or a large photoshop image.
Horses for course - thats the problem with multimedia, now everyone expects that their PC will be video player, steroe, TV and workstation in one box.
Cringely is a media whore who has a very limited realistic grip on technology issues. (check out some of his other writings on the web to see what i mean - he would like to be the new esther dyson but is more like esther ransom !)
To proclaim a technology dead you need to point out the alternative tech and the real reasons why its is dead, mismanagement and financial collapse of vendors due to over spending and under capatalisation is NOT sounding the death knell of the tech only the death knell of the companies who cannot survive in the current market due to teir own over burdened financial state.
Corporate collapses in Aust have taught me a few things to look for in the new media collapses -
1. How many of their staff had 17" TFT flat screens instead of standard monitors ($3500 VS $350) (hint - ALL staff at One Tel in Au DID !)
2. How many Vice Presidents did the company have ?
3. What was their travel budget ?
4. Was renumeration linked to performance
5. How many companies did the buy instead of consolodating the market they had ?
These are just a few points
I suspect all of the above apply to these companies and more - many of them went mad and bought out competitors - in the process paying multiple thousands of dollars per user (money they could never get back ) some to these companies had 80-100% debt to equity ratios (some even more)
Dont lose sight of the fact there is a differnce between bad management and bad tech.
I understand and you are right - but i did read it and missed the GCC disable - i will go and check that.
Still this is missing the point - its not as easy as it is on windows and thus its not something the average desktop user will adopt - thats what i was saying - i read docs - users dont. I want to see linux everywhere - but its not ready yet
You have never worked in corporate have you ?
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GOVNET In the Works
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· Score: 3, Interesting
I read your post and think it offers some interesteing points but its clear that you havent worked in corporate IS which might change a few perceptions.
1. The second some low-level government flunkie at the Bureau of Railroad Employee Retirement signed onto AOL to check his e-mail, boom, there's a gateway. - Nope - i can lock it down so he cannot even get to the site and without local admin cannot install anything - we already do this with hotmail and yahoo etc due to people getting round our virus scanning and mail attachment restrictions by using hotmail - thus infecting us in this way - its simple proxy control and group policy application
2. VPN and PPTP are great concepts but shitty in practical terms - we use it here for remote clients and it is the bane of my existence with failed clients and forgotten passwords - its find with a limited number of remote sites but is cannot be used to replace infrastructure in larger (5+ people sites ) the only solution there is Frame/ATM
3. EOL sucked as it ws simply AOL attempting to give corporates a cheaper intranet option back before internet access was a standard thing
Drawing the TIN can analogy is a joke - the guy who wrote the article is an idiot in many ways but dont oversimplify the argument like that. The fact is with IDSL and Frame and ISDN running a routed network for communication and a good firewall and admin policy (and staff) you can have a secure environment (even on MS products) and totally private - the environment this guy is describing covers this and i suspect in most cases is already in place, as for offsite i think stronger mail encryption for them and PPTP would be sufficient for limited exchange.
This is one guy trying to make a name for himself and hes doing it by stating the obvious.
The suspension of civil rights during war is ok ? what is happening here for christs sake.
Suspension of civil rights is NEVER acceptable. Full stop. What happened a month ago can happen again today or next week or next year, all the talk of rhetoric and sabre rattling and bombing will never ever change the simple fact that one or 2 determined people who believe in their actions can get around almost any security.
After vietnam one would think that the US would have learned this fact of life.
Terrible things happen in this world and innocent people die - horrific acts of pain and suffering, murder, torture, rape etc.
Allowing the government to take away ANY of your rights because in the heat of anger you think it its a goos idea is not only insane its EXACTLY how Hitler gained power in Germany with minimal real support, how Lenin took Russia etc.
We need to be vigilant today and toomorrow and forever to ensure that the democratic process is never circumvented for any reason - we choose the government and the government should always be answerable to the public - NO EXCEPTIONS
What do we do in years to come if we give up civil rights now and the government decides that in a state of emergency to suspend elections and habeas corpus, to declare martial law or other actions ?
All the planes in the sky and the troops on the ground cannot prevent this sort of action happening again and throwing away civil liberties and democratic processes show those in the world who claim the US is a bully that they have a point.
We should always ensure that the power this nation and its allies wield is applied fairly and honestly with restraint and compassion - there is no need for innocent people of ANY race to suffer in the pursuit of any group of people - and this includes the millions of innocent Afghanis who have suffered through nothing but war for almost 30 years.
Lets not give away our freedoms, not now not ever.
You know i have read the article and many of the comments here and it brings to my mind a valid point i think is worth sharing. I use linux at home and work, the machine beside me here is Slackware 8.0 Running apache and my notebook at home is Redhat 7.1, i love linux for many reasons, the power it has, the sheer amount of software available, the open and intelligent way so many developers act.
But yet is still use MS for my main system at home (At work i have to and i dont have a problem with that). Why ? I will tell you.
I for one am sick and tired of attempting to install applications etc and finding out that this version of XXX is wrong and you need XXX (GCC 2.69 is a good example) you download a package and try to install it only to find out that you dont have this library etc etc, so its download, configure, make in an endless circle.
Last night i wanted to simply install a Div-x Player for Redhat so i can take my home notebook away on holidays, so i downloaded Mplayer and XMPS, whoops dont have this library, go get it, then install, ok, no didnt find the codec, reintsall, nope still an error and i dont have the patience to find it right now, so i try Mplayer - only it wont work with GCC 2,96 which it says is redhats version so go off and get 2.95, copnfigure, make, nope wont work, so i need to read the documentation - only its no help (not im not an amateur here - i have worked with Unix, Macs, Novell and MS products for almost 10 years)
So i thought damn it i dont have time for this, thus i pulled out my Linux HDD and bunged in my Win2k one, installed the codec and im off an running. Easy - took 3 minutes
Why is it so hard to get this level of funcionality in Linux ? The OS has been around for longer and with open source it should be easier ? The thing is Redhat and Mandrake with Gnome and KDE are getting closer and closer to the point where they can be a desktop replcament - Koffice is very good - but as long as installing ANY software requires arcane knowledge of terminal windows and make files and lib dependencies it will never get there - the average home user (ie 90% of them) wont do this.
The problem is this whole MS V Linux crap detracts from the real issue, making linux the best OS for all users and that means functional and simple - this is what is missing here and it breaks my heart.
To Quote: Linus Torvalds: I'm a big non-believer in manual driver and kernel configuration, be it visual or not. Most of the stuff happens automatically, and we're going to make that more and more common. Things like hot-plugging a device and the driver automatically getting loaded is how things are supposed to work, none of this "device manager" stuff
This is what we need - not another (im gonna get flamed for this but - MS Sucks Linux Rules argument)
A few things i think might be self evident now but i will say them anyway (im asking for it here i think but prove me wrong instead of flaming me)
1. There will always be an MS or MS like desktop- in a world without MS then how do we introduce new people to systems (give me a break i could not give my mother linux - i dont have unlimited support time) THERE IS A THING CALLED CHOICE
2. linux will never destroy MS - this is as stupid as the 'war on terrorism' setting out to destroy puts an enemy on the defensive AND people will continue to use MS products
3. The only way to Win market share is to produce a friendly and superior product - i think i have already commented on this.
I Love Linux - i think its an incredible OS and is getting better - but that does not mean i have to hate MS (its an operating system - get over it)
But seriously arent we (and NASA) losing sight of the fact that they have long been known as a beaurecracy out of control ? the level of spending inside NASA and the way in which projects bog down i red tape is the reason why JPL and similar organisations/Companies come up with innovations and cheaper proucts.
Would anyone invest in a company that spends more than it can ever hope to make and is so used to the government purse ? Would NASA management make the Hard cuts in management and staff to make it a viable operation ? I suspect not, but then again they can always list on the stock marketm, i mean if a company with a sock puppet as their major drawcard can make a killing then why not NASA !
(PS to the troll posters i am aware pets.com are broke but trust me their management arent !)
business goodwill is a valuable thing - this guy is a competitor who went after the company to damage their business.
Dont get childish and compare copying my text to what this genius did - he did not copy anything he stole and modified it, gave passwords away to friends and boasted about it - hell hes the sort of person who probably posts troll posts on slashdot - he committed a crime - he confessed and pled guilty.
You can reference a document but you cannot copy it verbatim - and i used to be IT for a law firm - the way a lawyer does it is to refernce the pleading or case in his statement - thus he is quoting and it is legal.
He didnt 'adapt' anything - he was trying to make money by doing this - thats a for gain action and there goes the white hat argument out the door.
I love how every time this sort of story is posted here they fall back on copyright - yeah sure no jury will do it - thats why companies never ever sue anyone for copyright violation and patent violation.
Did you read this story or only the slashdot stuff ? look at the facts - this guy copied nothing for just copying - he worked for weeks to break into the system and then stole information with the intention of profiting off it.
Whilst i agree with the real programmers analogy (i can read source) the whole point of linux is an alternative to windows for all users i thought, if that is to be said then dont we need a little bit more documentation and testing than reading the source code ?
Arent we supposed to be making this stuff easier for the average user ?
With respect (an IMHO) i thought this sort of attitude and comment was a thing of the past and died with the maturation of Unix ?
Actually the exact shade of red that ferrari paint their cars is copyrighted and trademarked and they are the only company to use that exact shade - you cannot buy it unless you are an authorised ferrari repairer (and there arent many of those) - thus your argument is invalidated.
So let me see - having worked for 10 years and done everything from help desk to field support to sys admin to gain my position i am a stooge ?
And the analogy between a house is obe that is CONSTANTLY used on this site to defend this sort of person - it might be wrong but thats life and it it after all my opinion.
My arguments are not froma corporate viwepoint - my arguments are from years of maintaining secure systems, patching, updating, rebuilding, years of stoneds, melissa's, prelissas, markers, code reds, nimdas and such like, years of repairing damage done when some uber 14 year old manages to find a hole in a web page on a system you didnt set up but has become your responsibiltiy and you have to clean the mess up, years of port scans and DOS attacks on servers and one case of a super cool dood who hacked into a system at a previos employer and then proceeded to destroy it (a company that made glass windows and doors no less - what sort of reason was behind that)
Now i have an instruction for you. i looked back at your past posts and you have posted some very anti corporate diatribes and at least one bad experience - thus YOUR opinions are colored as well.
I have 25 staff under me and they are all great guys, i try and pay them well and look after them and i have turnover of less that 1 person in 2 years - in return i defend them and expect loyalty and hard work thats all - i dont spout corporate ethics - i support systems and see the damage.
Your point may be a little vallid and was fairly well put BUT i have one question for you - What is your proffesion - i suspect programmer rather than admin support - that alone would color opipnions.
Please note im not flaming you here - i respect your opinion and can see how you came to it - im only pointing out why its not the case
At the risk of taking another point hit i want to know why this was moderated down - it was done between last night 27th sept and this morning 28th september - a full 5 days after it was posted.
What is so offensive or over rated about this - could it be too close to the truth. I moderate too and i make damn sure that i dont moderate based on personal feelings but on the vailidty of the article - this is clearly not the case.
I found the arrogance of a person who claims that slasdot readers to be in the top 1% astounding and i tried to say so - this site is a place which is supposed to have intelligent and thoughtful comment - instead we have goatsex links, racist diatribes and rabid defence of anything open source or hacker related.
The only reasons i can see for this being modded down are as follows
1. You are one of those people who thinks they are in top 1%
2. You cant stand people with more karma than you ?
Which is it - i post at 2 because i have karma earned from comments which have been thought or as worthy and or intelligent - i wold never claim to be in the top 1% of anything - maybe im not that arrogant.
We use netchek and it works like a charm - the problem we had with Nimda was that the SAP servers connected to our network but maintained by the providor (we are in month 3 or an Enterprise Rollout) were unsecured and not running any virus protection, we got slammed by nimda - it did not hit any of our servers in the front door thru IIS but spread to boxes not running IIS but connected to the SAP system and to dekstops from there.
Thats then thing that really pisses me off, we spend the time to lock down and secure our netowkrs, hours patching systems and making usre virus scanners are up to date and then we get slammed by servers we have no access to or control over - yet we are the IT dept.
If we cant maintain it and gurantee it safe then it should not be on my network dammnit !
Many people have pointed out that it is my personal opinion that these gentlemen are ultra conservative right wing christians is incorrect so i have decided i will post a small correction.
The opinion expressed above is mine alone and thus it may be incorrect.
There.
Having said that i think that my point is a valid one - this country can easily slip away from the free one it is if we dont watch out - there are forces out there (yes even democratic party ones) who would take away our most basic rights if they think it is the right thing or politcally correct thing to do.
Pay attention today otherwise you may lose more than you will ever know.
Re:It all seemed so clear the first time through..
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Brian West Update
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· Score: 2
Whether you believe the law to be flawed is irrelevant - you break it you will be charged - thats the problem with the law - you cant say you dont recognise it and therefore get away with it.
I think possessing the passwords is itself proof of intent to use them in most cases - otherwise why have you got them ?
I can understand your point but why would they if people didnt think hacking into them was their right ? if no one went out to hack their systems why would they need to be secure ?
If you extended this argument to homes we would all live in a house surrounded by barbed wire, rottweilers and floodlights with machine guns for point defence.
BTW from the information provided he didnt make a new account he stole exisiting ones.
I still think all hacking is wrong as the white hat argument is trotted out only when they get caught doing something they should not be.
Now if you will excuse me one of the rottwielers is barking and i think another on of those avon ladies is caught up in the barbed wire.
I think the thing to take away from any of this stuff is that technology no matter what it is and why it exists can be misused and that in itself is no reason to stop it.
The fact that some of the terrorists might have used PGP is not in itself surprising - they were planning an operation where secrecy is vital and thus they used a secure system - they could have as easily created some code known only to them so the method they used is somewhat irelevant.
The same goes for the planes, they were designed to transport people but they have lots of fuel and become a flying bomb in the wrong hands.
So do we ban planes and crypto software ?
Lets all take a step back from this and look at it in the cold light of day for a minute. Over reaction now will result in long term effects - the US govt has been against strong crypto for many many years - the block on exporting 129k encryption are a case in point - claiming that it might help people commit crimes and hide information, but these are ideas and codes and someone will get them.
So do we ban it ? Why ? isnt it simply arrogance for the US to think that no one else in the world can develop this stuff ? and theres always the secret code devised only for you.
The argument that they might have been able to find out about it is also bullshit, you could disguise this stuff in language so effecitevly you would never get close, so that invalidates that argument.
The fact is the government in the US and in other countries wants to control free access to information and prevent people from hiding it away - the attempts to stop crypto are aimed at their populations - to prevent people from hiding money and assetts, from opposing the government etc
The sacry thing is that as i see the patrotism grow in the US i see a government cracking down on elemental freedoms and toughening laws - computer crime, crypto, etc Whats next freedom of assembly, freedom of speech.
We all need to keep an eye and a ear on the world otherwise what we miss may cost is more than we can ever guess.
Nope
the statement on a web page about authorised access only means we can suee your ass and charge you with a crime - why do you think its there.
This is the sort of rubbish i keep seeing here - simply put there are some answers for you
1. he did not just find the passwords - he spent weeks looking for a way in however he could and this is the one he got.
2. The names and passwords were not on the home page - they were inside the system and he got them after he got in
3.Where did they post login information ? he didnt hack into the webiste he hacked into the server
4. they were his competiton thus he can be deemed as commiting industrial espionage
5. he copied the passwords and logins and the files and gave them away thus he is guilty of dealing in stolen goods
6. It wasnt a public page
7. He didnt get in thru a bad password
8. Posting login is not an invitation as it says on most (and i am sure this web page ) AUTHORISED USERS ONLY - thus if you dont have the right to be there dont login
9. having got in he told the newpspaper editor he had and boasted about it and about hacking a bank (he lied but thats not the point)
in short hes stupid
This is the sort of weak crap that all the script kiddies use - it was there so i had the right - they all use it right up until the minute the FBI arrests then then they claim the freedom of the EFF and open source etc - trust me these people dont give a fuck about any of this - they are out (as this guy was) for personal gain
HE LOOKED FOR THE HOLE
All of this information is in the various newspaper stories and affadavits and court documents - READ it before you post this lame attempts at justification
ALL HACKING AND CRACKING INTO SYSTEMS IS WRONG - IT COSTS COMPANIES MONEY AND ULITMATELY IT WILL COST YOU FREEDOMS - DONT DEFEND THESE GUYS
He would openly describe himself as a christian democrat and his views in the pst and this one concerned would leave him firmly in the christian right grouo, and i dont need to make comments about Orrin Hatch.
As for the ted kennedy comment despite his penchant for adultery and drinking he still describes himself as a proud christian and catholic.
You dont have to be a republican to be conservative and this sort of bill is the shit you should be fighting against not semantic statemements about ideology - keep picking at nits and you will turn around and find that you no longer have any of the freedoms you have today in 5 years
Slashdot Mirror
This is a sign of the time - increasingly the US and other countries are seeing the threat of terrorism as a clarion call to crack down on the genral community and most members of that community can see nothing wrong with that - they are scared.
The actions of the terrorists in the US have led to a world paranoid about threats - the media hype the anthrax scare to the point where everyone is scared of their own shadow, security is tightened everywhere and now they are talking about deportation and imprisonment without trial indefinetly - thus the planks of the constitution and the democtratic legal system are being slowly pulled away in what may very well be the best of intentions.
Your employer, government or not, can argue they have the right to search you and in the current climate they can do so as not many people will object - im not against searches in some ways but if someone has the proper access and id then why search them ? the fact is that locking down buildings and demanding searches wont stop terrorist attacks, they dond even need to be in a building for gods sake !
The general population of the US and Australia (where i live) are the same - the man in the street (sheep) does not question the government and will follow whatever actions the government can make justifiable - the US president didn't even get 50% of the primary vote ?
We need to make sure that the actions of our elected representatives are tempered with common sense and that they are held to account for ALL of them - the US constitution is a powerfull document - i have a copy on the wall of my office because even though im not an american i love the words and think that all countries should have such a document BUT if the government does not have checks and balances applied by the general populace they can ignore it with all too much ease by using the calls of public safety and national security - and brand anyone who does not agree a traitor = dont believe me - what about the McCarthy era ? the first, fifth and fourth amendments (and others) were trampled into the dust by the government and the people stood by and cheered.
Always be aware that freedom is impossible to regain after it has been lost
i should have clarified the dates on that as youre right about the timings but the basic point was that apples was not very farsighted in many ways - they talked to many companies before Intel true - they also talked merger with man including Apollo, Sun and even Compaq before pulling out at the last minute every time.
I agree that apple should have open sourced the platform but the biggger success for them would have come if they had licensed (open source wasnt much of a movement in the mid 80's) the OS and ported it to the iBM - Apple even did this as a project (called Star Trek in fact) with IBM long before the disaster known as Taligent-Pink. Bill Gates himself begged the Apple Board to license the OS and open it up (yeah its hard to believe but true) and they ignored him and everyone else, and the final nail in the open source of mac hardware was made by none other than Jean Louis Gasse (he of Be fame).
this is all information in the many apple histories, the fact is that by the time apple could have grown by licensing the company had become a madhouse.
I have loved macs for years and wouold love a powerbook - i fondly remember my black monster ihad for work some 2 years ago - they have always made great gear.
Oh and the bit about MS and QDos is wrong - its an innacurate and aprocyphal bit of information that has made its way around the web for years - MS bought out a company called Seattle Computer Products (it was really a one man band) when IBM contracted them to provide a DOS - they paid $50,000 for it and employed the guy as well - they didn't buy exclusive rights - they bought the company thus they had all rights as anyone who buys a company does-MS has done enought factual things wong without making stuff up.
If you really want to find out the truth about this and much of the other incorrect crap on the web read a book or 2 - i may suggest Fire in the Valley as a start www.fireinthevalley.com - considered the best history of Silicon Valley
Umm no
I think half the poeople posting as anonymous cowards are members who have karma they have earned thru posting hard and long and simply want to make a valid comment which they fear might get them moderated down - like not 100% supporting Linux or open source or not 100% condemming Microsoft/Intel etc.
If you look at the number of posts below 0 you will find as i have that its about 20-25% of total posts and not all of those are anonymous - we have people who openly post racist and abusive material under user names (Ralph Jew Hater Nader springs to mind - he seems to be around a bit)
The system works only becuase it has too - whilst people are afraid to post any dissenting comment for fear of being attacked for it they will post as anonymous cowards - thats all there is too it.
I think (my opinion only) that we should get rid of AC and allow people to read anonymously but NOT post that wauy and we actually ban and close user accounts of people who are abusive and racist and intolerant etc - that way we would get rid of 90% of the crap right away
but as i said its only my opinion
Sure no problems
/.
Get rid of anonyous coward and everyone has to post as a member - and this would also require policing to knock off the troll posters, the racists, the homophobes etc etc.
But that misses the point - Karma is earned by contributing to the community with meaningful comments - the system has its flaws (ive commented on them before) and is dependent on peoples opinions but it sort of works ok at this point in time - the problem is that what you are proposing is that the karma earned is what helps you avoid seeing the ads - but you lose karma when you post and when you look at the site OK
What happens in the following circumstances under this system.
-You post a reply which is well thought out but critical in any way of Open Source ?
- You post a comment about something good in MS (it does happen)
- you post a comment criticising someone else for justified reasons
These are just a few
You likely would be marked either troll or flamebait on each of these examples based in many cases on the bias of the moderator, its a fact of the system and one i dont like but ive learned to live with as i have the trolls (still hate racists tho) - the moderators are unpaid and volunteers.
I would pay for slashdot - a small amount anyway (im not in the US so for me $10US is a large amount) and i would also put up with the ads.
The fact is no matter which way we cut it and no matter how much we proclaim open source and free information it still costs money to deliver the information to people - whether its a printed pamphleyt or a web page.
Slashdot has grown in the past 4 years since i started visiting here - some of the changes are not for the better but overall its a great site - and i dont mind paying if the option is no
But i wouldnt use it under a system such as this - the moderators would need to be trained and have a standard code of conduct - i dont want people deciding if my comment is postive of not (and some of the best posts i have ever seen would NOT be considered positive)
A minidisc can now store 4 albums on one 74 min MD (My own Sony MD700 does this) and has near CD quality (you need to get MP'3 encoded at 192 and above to do as good - ive expermiented) I have an MP3 player (Rio) and they are shit - the level of storage is a joke and flash memory is expensive - this coouple with the ability to record from ANY source that has a line out and the size and ease of use of MD, battery power etc makes it a winner over CD or MP3 and i can carry 8 albums and a player in my jacket pocket.
As for lossy compression - hmmm well i dont know about this - i think its not but i cannot prove it - but CD is no better.
And as for the wornt work in your computer - well you can buy and MD digital player but why would you, im not too poor or geeky to have a seperate device for playting music and as i work my pc's pretty hard i dont play music in them anyway - you ever tried working in a couple of real apps whilst playing music - i have a P41.2 with 512mb of ram and i can make my music playback shuuder whilst working in Autocad or a large photoshop image.
Horses for course - thats the problem with multimedia, now everyone expects that their PC will be video player, steroe, TV and workstation in one box.
Cringely is a media whore who has a very limited realistic grip on technology issues. (check out some of his other writings on the web to see what i mean - he would like to be the new esther dyson but is more like esther ransom !)
To proclaim a technology dead you need to point out the alternative tech and the real reasons why its is dead, mismanagement and financial collapse of vendors due to over spending and under capatalisation is NOT sounding the death knell of the tech only the death knell of the companies who cannot survive in the current market due to teir own over burdened financial state.
Corporate collapses in Aust have taught me a few things to look for in the new media collapses -
1. How many of their staff had 17" TFT flat screens instead of standard monitors ($3500 VS $350) (hint - ALL staff at One Tel in Au DID !)
2. How many Vice Presidents did the company have ?
3. What was their travel budget ?
4. Was renumeration linked to performance
5. How many companies did the buy instead of consolodating the market they had ?
These are just a few points
I suspect all of the above apply to these companies and more - many of them went mad and bought out competitors - in the process paying multiple thousands of dollars per user (money they could never get back ) some to these companies had 80-100% debt to equity ratios (some even more)
Dont lose sight of the fact there is a differnce between bad management and bad tech.
I understand and you are right - but i did read it and missed the GCC disable - i will go and check that.
Still this is missing the point - its not as easy as it is on windows and thus its not something the average desktop user will adopt - thats what i was saying - i read docs - users dont. I want to see linux everywhere - but its not ready yet
I read your post and think it offers some interesteing points but its clear that you havent worked in corporate IS which might change a few perceptions.
1. The second some low-level government flunkie at the Bureau of Railroad Employee Retirement signed onto AOL to check his e-mail, boom, there's a gateway. - Nope - i can lock it down so he cannot even get to the site and without local admin cannot install anything - we already do this with hotmail and yahoo etc due to people getting round our virus scanning and mail attachment restrictions by using hotmail - thus infecting us in this way - its simple proxy control and group policy application
2. VPN and PPTP are great concepts but shitty in practical terms - we use it here for remote clients and it is the bane of my existence with failed clients and forgotten passwords - its find with a limited number of remote sites but is cannot be used to replace infrastructure in larger (5+ people sites ) the only solution there is Frame/ATM
3. EOL sucked as it ws simply AOL attempting to give corporates a cheaper intranet option back before internet access was a standard thing
Drawing the TIN can analogy is a joke - the guy who wrote the article is an idiot in many ways but dont oversimplify the argument like that. The fact is with IDSL and Frame and ISDN running a routed network for communication and a good firewall and admin policy (and staff) you can have a secure environment (even on MS products) and totally private - the environment this guy is describing covers this and i suspect in most cases is already in place, as for offsite i think stronger mail encryption for them and PPTP would be sufficient for limited exchange.
This is one guy trying to make a name for himself and hes doing it by stating the obvious.
God help us
The suspension of civil rights during war is ok ? what is happening here for christs sake.
Suspension of civil rights is NEVER acceptable. Full stop. What happened a month ago can happen again today or next week or next year, all the talk of rhetoric and sabre rattling and bombing will never ever change the simple fact that one or 2 determined people who believe in their actions can get around almost any security.
After vietnam one would think that the US would have learned this fact of life.
Terrible things happen in this world and innocent people die - horrific acts of pain and suffering, murder, torture, rape etc.
Allowing the government to take away ANY of your rights because in the heat of anger you think it its a goos idea is not only insane its EXACTLY how Hitler gained power in Germany with minimal real support, how Lenin took Russia etc.
We need to be vigilant today and toomorrow and forever to ensure that the democratic process is never circumvented for any reason - we choose the government and the government should always be answerable to the public - NO EXCEPTIONS
What do we do in years to come if we give up civil rights now and the government decides that in a state of emergency to suspend elections and habeas corpus, to declare martial law or other actions ?
All the planes in the sky and the troops on the ground cannot prevent this sort of action happening again and throwing away civil liberties and democratic processes show those in the world who claim the US is a bully that they have a point.
We should always ensure that the power this nation and its allies wield is applied fairly and honestly with restraint and compassion - there is no need for innocent people of ANY race to suffer in the pursuit of any group of people - and this includes the millions of innocent Afghanis who have suffered through nothing but war for almost 30 years.
Lets not give away our freedoms, not now not ever.
You know i have read the article and many of the comments here and it brings to my mind a valid point i think is worth sharing. I use linux at home and work, the machine beside me here is Slackware 8.0 Running apache and my notebook at home is Redhat 7.1, i love linux for many reasons, the power it has, the sheer amount of software available, the open and intelligent way so many developers act.
But yet is still use MS for my main system at home (At work i have to and i dont have a problem with that). Why ? I will tell you.
I for one am sick and tired of attempting to install applications etc and finding out that this version of XXX is wrong and you need XXX (GCC 2.69 is a good example) you download a package and try to install it only to find out that you dont have this library etc etc, so its download, configure, make in an endless circle.
Last night i wanted to simply install a Div-x Player for Redhat so i can take my home notebook away on holidays, so i downloaded Mplayer and XMPS, whoops dont have this library, go get it, then install, ok, no didnt find the codec, reintsall, nope still an error and i dont have the patience to find it right now, so i try Mplayer - only it wont work with GCC 2,96 which it says is redhats version so go off and get 2.95, copnfigure, make, nope wont work, so i need to read the documentation - only its no help (not im not an amateur here - i have worked with Unix, Macs, Novell and MS products for almost 10 years)
So i thought damn it i dont have time for this, thus i pulled out my Linux HDD and bunged in my Win2k one, installed the codec and im off an running. Easy - took 3 minutes
Why is it so hard to get this level of funcionality in Linux ? The OS has been around for longer and with open source it should be easier ? The thing is Redhat and Mandrake with Gnome and KDE are getting closer and closer to the point where they can be a desktop replcament - Koffice is very good - but as long as installing ANY software requires arcane knowledge of terminal windows and make files and lib dependencies it will never get there - the average home user (ie 90% of them) wont do this.
The problem is this whole MS V Linux crap detracts from the real issue, making linux the best OS for all users and that means functional and simple - this is what is missing here and it breaks my heart.
To Quote: Linus Torvalds: I'm a big non-believer in manual driver and kernel configuration, be it visual or not. Most of the stuff happens automatically, and we're going to make that more and more common. Things like hot-plugging a device and the driver automatically getting loaded is how things are supposed to work, none of this "device manager" stuff
This is what we need - not another (im gonna get flamed for this but - MS Sucks Linux Rules argument)
A few things i think might be self evident now but i will say them anyway (im asking for it here i think but prove me wrong instead of flaming me)
1. There will always be an MS or MS like desktop- in a world without MS then how do we introduce new people to systems (give me a break i could not give my mother linux - i dont have unlimited support time) THERE IS A THING CALLED CHOICE
2. linux will never destroy MS - this is as stupid as the 'war on terrorism' setting out to destroy puts an enemy on the defensive AND people will continue to use MS products
3. The only way to Win market share is to produce a friendly and superior product - i think i have already commented on this.
I Love Linux - i think its an incredible OS and is getting better - but that does not mean i have to hate MS (its an operating system - get over it)
But seriously arent we (and NASA) losing sight of the fact that they have long been known as a beaurecracy out of control ? the level of spending inside NASA and the way in which projects bog down i red tape is the reason why JPL and similar organisations/Companies come up with innovations and cheaper proucts.
Would anyone invest in a company that spends more than it can ever hope to make and is so used to the government purse ? Would NASA management make the Hard cuts in management and staff to make it a viable operation ? I suspect not, but then again they can always list on the stock marketm, i mean if a company with a sock puppet as their major drawcard can make a killing then why not NASA !
(PS to the troll posters i am aware pets.com are broke but trust me their management arent !)
business goodwill is a valuable thing - this guy is a competitor who went after the company to damage their business.
Dont get childish and compare copying my text to what this genius did - he did not copy anything he stole and modified it, gave passwords away to friends and boasted about it - hell hes the sort of person who probably posts troll posts on slashdot - he committed a crime - he confessed and pled guilty.
You can reference a document but you cannot copy it verbatim - and i used to be IT for a law firm - the way a lawyer does it is to refernce the pleading or case in his statement - thus he is quoting and it is legal.
He didnt 'adapt' anything - he was trying to make money by doing this - thats a for gain action and there goes the white hat argument out the door.
I love how every time this sort of story is posted here they fall back on copyright - yeah sure no jury will do it - thats why companies never ever sue anyone for copyright violation and patent violation.
Did you read this story or only the slashdot stuff ? look at the facts - this guy copied nothing for just copying - he worked for weeks to break into the system and then stole information with the intention of profiting off it.
Whilst i agree with the real programmers analogy (i can read source) the whole point of linux is an alternative to windows for all users i thought, if that is to be said then dont we need a little bit more documentation and testing than reading the source code ?
Arent we supposed to be making this stuff easier for the average user ?
With respect (an IMHO) i thought this sort of attitude and comment was a thing of the past and died with the maturation of Unix ?
Actually the exact shade of red that ferrari paint their cars is copyrighted and trademarked and they are the only company to use that exact shade - you cannot buy it unless you are an authorised ferrari repairer (and there arent many of those) - thus your argument is invalidated.
Hmmm
So let me see - having worked for 10 years and done everything from help desk to field support to sys admin to gain my position i am a stooge ?
And the analogy between a house is obe that is CONSTANTLY used on this site to defend this sort of person - it might be wrong but thats life and it it after all my opinion.
My arguments are not froma corporate viwepoint - my arguments are from years of maintaining secure systems, patching, updating, rebuilding, years of stoneds, melissa's, prelissas, markers, code reds, nimdas and such like, years of repairing damage done when some uber 14 year old manages to find a hole in a web page on a system you didnt set up but has become your responsibiltiy and you have to clean the mess up, years of port scans and DOS attacks on servers and one case of a super cool dood who hacked into a system at a previos employer and then proceeded to destroy it (a company that made glass windows and doors no less - what sort of reason was behind that)
Now i have an instruction for you. i looked back at your past posts and you have posted some very anti corporate diatribes and at least one bad experience - thus YOUR opinions are colored as well.
I have 25 staff under me and they are all great guys, i try and pay them well and look after them and i have turnover of less that 1 person in 2 years - in return i defend them and expect loyalty and hard work thats all - i dont spout corporate ethics - i support systems and see the damage.
Your point may be a little vallid and was fairly well put BUT i have one question for you - What is your proffesion - i suspect programmer rather than admin support - that alone would color opipnions.
Please note im not flaming you here - i respect your opinion and can see how you came to it - im only pointing out why its not the case
At the risk of taking another point hit i want to know why this was moderated down - it was done between last night 27th sept and this morning 28th september - a full 5 days after it was posted.
What is so offensive or over rated about this - could it be too close to the truth. I moderate too and i make damn sure that i dont moderate based on personal feelings but on the vailidty of the article - this is clearly not the case.
I found the arrogance of a person who claims that slasdot readers to be in the top 1% astounding and i tried to say so - this site is a place which is supposed to have intelligent and thoughtful comment - instead we have goatsex links, racist diatribes and rabid defence of anything open source or hacker related.
The only reasons i can see for this being modded down are as follows
1. You are one of those people who thinks they are in top 1%
2. You cant stand people with more karma than you ?
Which is it - i post at 2 because i have karma earned from comments which have been thought or as worthy and or intelligent - i wold never claim to be in the top 1% of anything - maybe im not that arrogant.
We use netchek and it works like a charm - the problem we had with Nimda was that the SAP servers connected to our network but maintained by the providor (we are in month 3 or an Enterprise Rollout) were unsecured and not running any virus protection, we got slammed by nimda - it did not hit any of our servers in the front door thru IIS but spread to boxes not running IIS but connected to the SAP system and to dekstops from there.
Thats then thing that really pisses me off, we spend the time to lock down and secure our netowkrs, hours patching systems and making usre virus scanners are up to date and then we get slammed by servers we have no access to or control over - yet we are the IT dept.
If we cant maintain it and gurantee it safe then it should not be on my network dammnit !
Many people have pointed out that it is my personal opinion that these gentlemen are ultra conservative right wing christians is incorrect so i have decided i will post a small correction.
The opinion expressed above is mine alone and thus it may be incorrect.
There.
Having said that i think that my point is a valid one - this country can easily slip away from the free one it is if we dont watch out - there are forces out there (yes even democratic party ones) who would take away our most basic rights if they think it is the right thing or politcally correct thing to do.
Pay attention today otherwise you may lose more than you will ever know.
Whether you believe the law to be flawed is irrelevant - you break it you will be charged - thats the problem with the law - you cant say you dont recognise it and therefore get away with it.
I think possessing the passwords is itself proof of intent to use them in most cases - otherwise why have you got them ?
I can understand your point but why would they if people didnt think hacking into them was their right ? if no one went out to hack their systems why would they need to be secure ?
If you extended this argument to homes we would all live in a house surrounded by barbed wire, rottweilers and floodlights with machine guns for point defence.
BTW from the information provided he didnt make a new account he stole exisiting ones.
I still think all hacking is wrong as the white hat argument is trotted out only when they get caught doing something they should not be.
Now if you will excuse me one of the rottwielers is barking and i think another on of those avon ladies is caught up in the barbed wire.
I think the thing to take away from any of this stuff is that technology no matter what it is and why it exists can be misused and that in itself is no reason to stop it.
The fact that some of the terrorists might have used PGP is not in itself surprising - they were planning an operation where secrecy is vital and thus they used a secure system - they could have as easily created some code known only to them so the method they used is somewhat irelevant.
The same goes for the planes, they were designed to transport people but they have lots of fuel and become a flying bomb in the wrong hands.
So do we ban planes and crypto software ?
Lets all take a step back from this and look at it in the cold light of day for a minute. Over reaction now will result in long term effects - the US govt has been against strong crypto for many many years - the block on exporting 129k encryption are a case in point - claiming that it might help people commit crimes and hide information, but these are ideas and codes and someone will get them.
So do we ban it ? Why ? isnt it simply arrogance for the US to think that no one else in the world can develop this stuff ? and theres always the secret code devised only for you.
The argument that they might have been able to find out about it is also bullshit, you could disguise this stuff in language so effecitevly you would never get close, so that invalidates that argument.
The fact is the government in the US and in other countries wants to control free access to information and prevent people from hiding it away - the attempts to stop crypto are aimed at their populations - to prevent people from hiding money and assetts, from opposing the government etc
The sacry thing is that as i see the patrotism grow in the US i see a government cracking down on elemental freedoms and toughening laws - computer crime, crypto, etc Whats next freedom of assembly, freedom of speech.
We all need to keep an eye and a ear on the world otherwise what we miss may cost is more than we can ever guess.
Umm im a member of the democratic party and im a christian - thanks for playing
Nope
the statement on a web page about authorised access only means we can suee your ass and charge you with a crime - why do you think its there.
This is the sort of rubbish i keep seeing here - simply put there are some answers for you
1. he did not just find the passwords - he spent weeks looking for a way in however he could and this is the one he got.
2. The names and passwords were not on the home page - they were inside the system and he got them after he got in
3.Where did they post login information ? he didnt hack into the webiste he hacked into the server
4. they were his competiton thus he can be deemed as commiting industrial espionage
5. he copied the passwords and logins and the files and gave them away thus he is guilty of dealing in stolen goods
6. It wasnt a public page
7. He didnt get in thru a bad password
8. Posting login is not an invitation as it says on most (and i am sure this web page ) AUTHORISED USERS ONLY - thus if you dont have the right to be there dont login
9. having got in he told the newpspaper editor he had and boasted about it and about hacking a bank (he lied but thats not the point)
in short hes stupid
This is the sort of weak crap that all the script kiddies use - it was there so i had the right - they all use it right up until the minute the FBI arrests then then they claim the freedom of the EFF and open source etc - trust me these people dont give a fuck about any of this - they are out (as this guy was) for personal gain
HE LOOKED FOR THE HOLE
All of this information is in the various newspaper stories and affadavits and court documents - READ it before you post this lame attempts at justification
ALL HACKING AND CRACKING INTO SYSTEMS IS WRONG - IT COSTS COMPANIES MONEY AND ULITMATELY IT WILL COST YOU FREEDOMS - DONT DEFEND THESE GUYS
He would openly describe himself as a christian democrat and his views in the pst and this one concerned would leave him firmly in the christian right grouo, and i dont need to make comments about Orrin Hatch.
As for the ted kennedy comment despite his penchant for adultery and drinking he still describes himself as a proud christian and catholic.
You dont have to be a republican to be conservative and this sort of bill is the shit you should be fighting against not semantic statemements about ideology - keep picking at nits and you will turn around and find that you no longer have any of the freedoms you have today in 5 years