Great news for those who want to follow:
We run such a service for our customers.
Using Askemos for tamper proofed process replication we run a network
of nodes owned by several companies.
We have a peering agreement, no matter what dies, be it a host or even a hosting company,
our customers websites continue to run - undisturbed.
Well, we
leave the data where it belongs: in the proxy network where the processes live too.
Still a bit incomplete, but maturing
WebDAV and mountable slices forthcoming...
I spent the better part of three year implementing
a fault tollerant programming environment
and released it under GPL.
Please visit Askemos to find it.
There is no chance that this patent can stand.
I make my tax euros exactly that way.
I published first implementations of that mechanism
around '93
(using SGML of course, there was no XML;
LaTeX, Lout, roff and other scripts where mixed).
I'm even doing this to implement distributed
operating system. I'm using that to proof
intrusion resistance, incorruptibility and non-deniability.
In other words:
moderation on slashdot seems to work like a brake.
We can see the parent poster at "3, interesting" while (ok my) comment (which points to the solution)
is, uhm, ignored?
Actually,
I feel this is just another instance of slashdot
(once my prefered IT news channel) relegating.
Where are those smart commentors,
who where here 4 yrs ago?
Did I miss the switch? Who is the successor?
if someone created a Knoppix-like bootable "secure" distro
That's exactly what we are doing here!
Askemos
is a (gpl'ed) P2P layer,
distributed on Knoppix-booted CD.
It has a permission system as widely applicable
as set theory can get you. And set theory is the
means we use to proof that you can't abuse
the administrative account.
Operating systems should not have any super user (root) account at all.
Why? Those super priviledges are an anachronism which doesn't fit the world. Most of us live in a democratic society. Democracy has historical won over the hierarchical societies - for a reason. Now if we want to model the real world, we are orced to map it to a kingdom like world. If there was no super user to hack a lot of vulnerabilities where gone.
But we need administration! Yes, we need even more fine grained access control, but no entral authority. We need to grant and revoke rights and subrights among each other.
How? The Paper Askemos - a virtual settlement describes (among other aspects of Askemos) a set theory based priviledge system which handles that. (You might also look at the slides from the most recent talk at the netobjectdays.org conference here (there only temporary).
Then make your mind up.
documentation tends to live long,
really (I worked for a three letter company,
who had to port their BTX documentation
from the old host system).
Once you know that you don't want to recode
after 15 years, than choose you favorite encoding.
Next ask youself how many people gonna
work at the docs and whether you can afford
that one private macro might turn things
bad after those 15 years
and how you're going to teach them
what to use and what to skip
(and who maintains these rules).
If your project is very small
and needs usually 3-30 pages, stick with word.
If only a few people will contribute text
and the document will be frozen after
a few month, go with LaTeX.
Also LaTeX if there's a lot of math.
Otherwise take the XML route. Not because
it's fashion or because I'm in the SGML
business since 10 years, but because it's
future proofed.
Select a DTD according to your needs.
If it's technical documentation written by
technically skilled, definately docbook.
Now it's time to ask for tools,
because tools are always
the least important thing.
Acrobat is a good source if you can shall out
money.
Abiword helps you somehwhat with badly written
docbook. A few more are out there.
I'd like to know which are really good.
Personally I still stick to emacs
and have gotting into the habbit that
I don't really feel that sorry kind of
<-typeing any more.
When I wrote the Askemos system,
which works from exactly the same assumption
(namely an information space being independant of the physical space
as already lined out by ESR over the past year
in Homesteading the Noosphere) I had to model a democratic rights system.
Suddenly I found myself coding a virtual jail!
The realy interesting consequence is something else: you can't copy information is such a space.
Maybe there are some people who don't like that judge anymore, but don't know that yet;-)
Slashdot Mirror
Have you read about http://www.askemos.org/ ? It seems to do what you are looking for.
Great news for those who want to follow: We run such a service for our customers. Using Askemos for tamper proofed process replication we run a network of nodes owned by several companies.
We have a peering agreement, no matter what dies, be it a host or even a hosting company, our customers websites continue to run - undisturbed.
Well, we leave the data where it belongs: in the proxy network where the processes live too. Still a bit incomplete, but maturing WebDAV and mountable slices forthcoming...
I spent the better part of three year implementing a fault tollerant programming environment and released it under GPL. Please visit Askemos to find it.
There is no chance that this patent can stand. I make my tax euros exactly that way. I published first implementations of that mechanism around '93 (using SGML of course, there was no XML; LaTeX, Lout, roff and other scripts where mixed). I'm even doing this to implement distributed operating system. I'm using that to proof intrusion resistance, incorruptibility and non-deniability.
Some looser has wasted some $ for patent fees.
Wake up kids! Slashdot is chewing itself!
In other words: moderation on slashdot seems to work like a brake. We can see the parent poster at "3, interesting" while (ok my) comment (which points to the solution) is, uhm, ignored?
Actually, I feel this is just another instance of slashdot (once my prefered IT news channel) relegating. Where are those smart commentors, who where here 4 yrs ago? Did I miss the switch? Who is the successor?
That's yet another case, where I feel compelled to leave a shameless plug: We develop the solution over there!
It works, it's fun to work with and it's free. Come and find out!
if someone created a Knoppix-like bootable "secure" distro
That's exactly what we are doing here! Askemos is a (gpl'ed) P2P layer, distributed on Knoppix-booted CD. It has a permission system as widely applicable as set theory can get you. And set theory is the means we use to proof that you can't abuse the administrative account.
Shameless plug: Askemos is a GPL'ed incorruptible and intrustion resistant operating system (or application server for that matter).
Operating systems should not have any super user (root) account at all.
Why?
Those super priviledges are an anachronism which doesn't fit the world. Most of us live in a democratic society. Democracy has historical won over the hierarchical societies - for a reason. Now if we want to model the real world, we are orced to map it to a kingdom like world. If there was no super user to hack a lot of vulnerabilities where gone.
But we need administration! Yes, we need even more fine grained access control, but no entral authority. We need to grant and revoke rights and subrights among each other.
How? The Paper Askemos - a virtual settlement describes (among other aspects of Askemos) a set theory based priviledge system which handles that. (You might also look at the slides from the most recent talk at the netobjectdays.org conference here
(there only temporary).
Once you know that you don't want to recode after 15 years, than choose you favorite encoding.
Next ask youself how many people gonna work at the docs and whether you can afford that one private macro might turn things bad after those 15 years and how you're going to teach them what to use and what to skip (and who maintains these rules).
If your project is very small and needs usually 3-30 pages, stick with word. If only a few people will contribute text and the document will be frozen after a few month, go with LaTeX. Also LaTeX if there's a lot of math. Otherwise take the XML route. Not because it's fashion or because I'm in the SGML business since 10 years, but because it's future proofed. Select a DTD according to your needs. If it's technical documentation written by technically skilled, definately docbook.
Now it's time to ask for tools, because tools are always the least important thing. Acrobat is a good source if you can shall out money. Abiword helps you somehwhat with badly written docbook. A few more are out there. I'd like to know which are really good.
Personally I still stick to emacs and have gotting into the habbit that I don't really feel that sorry kind of <-typeing any more.
233 MHz Pentium II + XSLT + mandatory access control == apache performance
You see, some things work
It's a pity that there's no email address...
Poor man's free alternative to Tamino (Askemos) could have been mentioned.
This ruling does make a difference! You know why: for copyright law.
If this holds up, than ESR was right in Homesteading the Noosphere, where he describes our world as an virtual information space independant of the physical space.
Following that idea consequently, I coded the Askemos system and had to conclude that it is impossible to copy information in that space.
Could someone find out the reference please!
The funny thing is: jails already exists somehow:
When I wrote the Askemos system, which works from exactly the same assumption (namely an information space being independant of the physical space as already lined out by ESR over the past year in Homesteading the Noosphere) I had to model a democratic rights system. Suddenly I found myself coding a virtual jail!
The realy interesting consequence is something else: you can't copy information is such a space.
Maybe there are some people who don't like that judge anymore, but don't know that yet;-)
Why not build a trusted network on a free platform (Askemos). There should always be a choice.