Rather than think of your neighbors as the enemy who will "steal" your cable line after you pay for it yourself, why not solicit their help and put a pool of money together to get access for everyone who's interested???
That way, you show the cable company that there's plenty of interest to have the access in your area and maybe they'll end up installing it themselves, or at least come down on the price. That way, everyone wins!
----
Lyell E. Haynes
Yeah, I know how to keep them from blaming each other. Make sure you know what you're talking about before you call them to complain!
All you need to do is thoroughly narrow down the problem until you find it's source, and DOCUMENT what you did so you can explain to their tech people what steps you took. That way, they can either tell you to test a couple other things to make sure, or they will go, "Oh, you did that? and it did what? Hmmm... Okay, let me get back to you."
Ah, progress! You now have gotten them to realize that it may just be their problem and they can't push it off that easily...
It's all very simple, really. ---- Lyell E. Haynes
Unfortunately, Andover.net and Slashdot ARE in the wrong here. Microsoft is NOT limiting people's free speech, because there are no individual opinions being expressed. There is only copyrighted material being posted for the public to read and study. How would you like if someone took everything from your home and spread them all over the lawn, or perhaps your grades or other personal information and sent them out over the net for everyone to see? Just as there are protections for the individual, so are there protections for the corporation. You all are logical, reasonable people. Your nerds for God's sake! Have some sense! ---- Lyell E. Haynes
Why not have the acronym be "UFOS" (Unmantained Free Open-source Software). That's much more grammatically pleasing and easier on the tongue. Plus, the "S" makes "UFO" plural, and since there won't be just one project listed... ---- Lyell E. Haynes
Interesting to see that Ben completely changes his style of answering questions from full paragraphs to the "line-by-line" mode of picking at specific statements in the question.
Just another example of how people can't take criticism at all!
Come on Ben! Those were some hard hitting questions, and you went and took the childish approach at answering them. I would expect more from the webmaster of the Gore Presidential Campaign website! When told that your site contains mainly fluff and doesn't contain any stances of real value, you go and defend it as "not for geeks." Come on! Those questions weren't technical in nature! They were about issues that affect all Americans!
I personally would also like to see more than the normal candidate rhetoric on that site. Can't Al Gore take any REAL stands? I guess not. He's been in Washington for too long and takes the normal approach - Say you support something that every American thinks is good, but never act on it or make a plan for achieving it. And of course the webmaster will defend it, because he's getting paid to. Have some integrity and give us what we ask for!
Another election I WON'T vote in - Does it really matter who's in charge?
There is no better educational institution than the University of Michigan! Believe that brothers and sisters!
BTW, CAEN already runs Solaris and HP-UX in its huge computer labs in addition to Windows, so the only reason their providing Linux is as an educational tool, most likely. They probably don't care to use or need to use it as the core unix system on their network. They already have something better.
...is that these web sites are breaking the law, and even though some people may think it's a noble cause, there are better ways to make a point and create change in a system than by creating enemies and causing a ruckus.
I find it quite ironic that this website, which seems to be so intent on opening people's minds to alternate ways of doing things (operating systems being one of them), could be so closed minded about so many of the issues it brings to it's readers, this latest one being an example.
I'm sorry, but I've read Slashdot avidly for many months now and I continue to become more and more frustrated with the childish comments and irrational behavior of the readers and moderators of this site, who take up causes of which they have no understanding.
When I first came to this site, I thought I'd finally found the center of common sense on the internet, but now I know that all I've discovered is a bunch of spoiled kids who continue to think that the world revolves around them and that noone can have intelligent thoughts but themselves.
Okay, enough of my ranting. About this issue...
In 1998, Congress passed and the president signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which expressly made it illegal to traffic in "any technology, product, service, device, component or part thereof that is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner."
Are you people telling me that what these websites are doing is not breaking the law? Right.
...break encryption and copy a DVD onto your hard drive. Decrypt movies and let them be played off your hard drive or off DVD-R [recordable] if you have a burner.
They're doing this so they can have DVD on their Linux machines? Right.
Okay, granted, I think the MPAA is overreacting a bit and it's okay to bash them for that, but give them a break. They're about to see their entire system destroyed in the next 10 years and they're trying to hold on to what they've got left.
Now, most definitely, they'll get a better encryption next time around, but was it right for the hacker community to run around and flaunt the fact that the encryption scheme was inferior? Was it really responsible of these websites to act like clowns throwing candy into the streets? Wouldn't it have been better to act professionally, go to the MPAA, show the crack to them, show the ability for people to get through their defenses, show the desires of people who want to watch DVDs on their Linux machines and work together to find a way for everyone to be happy - to find a win-win scenario?
But then again, who will be our spokesperson? Who will meet with the MPAA to discuss this issue? Problem here... And this is one of the reasons why the Open Source movement will eventually fail in the end(bigger picture here, obviously). It doesn't have a central body; it doesn't have a controlling force.
All it comes down to in the end is a bunch of kids, trying to make a change in this world, but failing miserably because they have no concept of reality, except for what their own fragile little minds tell them.
You all know what became of the sixties generation? I think you do, and that's all you'll ever get yourselves.
Today's PCs have enormous power already for most everything a person would need to do, individually. These affordable supercomputers are not meant for that customer base.
The real benefits are going to be for small businesses, small universities, high schools and other organizations such as these that will begin to see the need more more processing power that an individual PC will not be able to handle. Supporting a large user base, applications run over a network (the trend back towards consoles hooked to a mainframe), and such. These are where this type of machine will really be useful.
The organizations that purchase these cheap supercomputers will be looking especially at the tradeoffs of getting one supercomputer with 50 console stations vs. 50 high-end PCs.
It's a fantastic leap in providing computing power to everyone, in my honest opinion.
Come On! Don't you understand that by doing this, you're only putting the ball further in Microsoft's court by giving them power over you? You're letting them force you to whine to the public about how "Linux is soooo much better" and "Microsoft is the Devil Incarnate" and all that crap.
People, especially consumers, don't like cry-babies.
Make every day a Linux day. Don't wait until Microsoft makes a move to make your own! ---- Lyell E. Haynes
Yes they are centrally controlled, especially Linux. Nothing gets incorporated within the Linux kernal without Linus' approval.
And anyway, there's nothing that says Communism is bad if it's done correctly, like it is in the open source community. The only reason we have a negative outlook on Communism is because of the individuals in power who have been corrupted.
There are a couple of points that need to be stressed in this article.
CT is easy to do
The hurdles faced by a cyberterrorist are much, much lower than those faced by a CBRN terrorist, from financial needs to technical know-how. Because of this, the possibility that cyberterrorism can be a threat is much greater than that of CBRN terrorism, and there is a definite need for strong anti-terrorist programs.
CT will become a more significant threat in the future
Although most of the CT attacks that we see today are merely
fluff attacks on websites and involve purely propaganda-related intentions, the threat of these attacks will become more dangerous and will hit many more critical systems as we move into a future. As our infrastructures rely more and more heavily upon networks and communication to stay alive, they will become more susceptible to attack and will suffer heavier damages if that attack occurs.
CT is both an internal as well as external threat.
Although we may currently be more worried about external attacks upon our systems, the future will bring a greater possibility of attacks from the inside as a result of members of our own community becoming frustrated and disillusioned with the government and other power figures. Anarchy is the ethical norm in the Cracker
and Hacker communities and the possibility that lone rogues may take matters into their own hands is quite strong.
CT in addition to CBRN attacks will become the norm.
As terrorists add CT to their list of tools for destruction, we will see more and more cases where CT becomes an
essential step in their attack plans. Defeating a security system through CT, then attacking with conventional life-threatening weapons will likely become the most common means by which an attacker operates.
In essence, CyberTerrorism should be taken as a serious threat and should be treated as such, now and in the future. We should instill in our children a sense of technical know-how and understanding of how to combat these threats as well as a moral obligation to fight the elements of our society who threaten to destroy us.
What good did the Don't Do Drugs! campaign accomplish? Not much.
Don't they have any parenting skills at all? Telling kids to not do something only makes them want to do it more... But I guess if they are brought up with good values and moral obligations, this could be a good thing, as the NSA applauding of good hackers shows.
Open Source in the true sense of the word means that all development, even current, is open to the software community.
I don't need to write my own 3d engine, because there are open source engines already in development that I can use, such as the Genesis 3D engine.
The benefit that id receives from putting their current projects under the GPL is that they get more programmers that can help in the development. The programmers can contribute to the code, find bugs, suggest additions and changes, etc. Carmack and his in-house team still have control as to what goes into their version of the game, but they get a free team of developers to help them.
They can then make money off the game by two ways: First of all, they can sell it to the general public, who just wants a game to play and doesn't care about the code, and secondly, they can license the code to other developers for a fee that includes support and development tools that id uses in-house for their own production.
Exactly! So id software is not really in support of open source development. They are in support of the normal commercial model that everyone else outside the linux community uses.
Therefore, we shouldn't praise them for their GPL move! It's just a marketing stunt.
Come on! Doom is years behind the current software technology. What good does it do to put it under the GPL? Or even distribute the source? It's only a marketing ploy by id software to increase the worship of Carmack!
Here's your REAL open source movement:
Software houses develop fantastic new technology, and charges licensing fees so that they can stay in business.
They distribute their out of date, low tech software solutions to the programming community, who have now been duped into thinking that these software houses are in support of open source development, so that all the comp sci majors at the universities can hack on software they thought was cool 10 years ago.
Software houses then recruit these people who worship them to develop more new technology.
This article is a double-edged sword. If Microsoft ends up being split up into smaller parts as a result of the anti-trust lawsuit, that same competitive spirit that is so vital to the growth of Linux will once again be a part of the Microsoft community. Rather than being a big bloated machine that we can all laugh at in our ignorance, it will become revitalized and a better player in the computer market. Something to think about. Comment?
Slashdot Mirror
That way, you show the cable company that there's plenty of interest to have the access in your area and maybe they'll end up installing it themselves, or at least come down on the price. That way, everyone wins!
----
Lyell E. Haynes
All you need to do is thoroughly narrow down the problem until you find it's source, and DOCUMENT what you did so you can explain to their tech people what steps you took. That way, they can either tell you to test a couple other things to make sure, or they will go, "Oh, you did that? and it did what? Hmmm... Okay, let me get back to you."
Ah, progress! You now have gotten them to realize that it may just be their problem and they can't push it off that easily...
It's all very simple, really.
----
Lyell E. Haynes
Unfortunately, Andover.net and Slashdot ARE in the wrong here. Microsoft is NOT limiting people's free speech, because there are no individual opinions being expressed. There is only copyrighted material being posted for the public to read and study. How would you like if someone took everything from your home and spread them all over the lawn, or perhaps your grades or other personal information and sent them out over the net for everyone to see? Just as there are protections for the individual, so are there protections for the corporation. You all are logical, reasonable people. Your nerds for God's sake! Have some sense!
----
Lyell E. Haynes
Why not have the acronym be "UFOS" (Unmantained Free Open-source Software). That's much more grammatically pleasing and easier on the tongue. Plus, the "S" makes "UFO" plural, and since there won't be just one project listed...
----
Lyell E. Haynes
Hardly worth of anything more than a glance. Why the hell is this on Slashdot? Let's get a bit more statistical data before we make it news, guys...
"Woo Hoo! We got another one, Bob! The percentage of gender-crossing male video-game players just jumped 50 points!"
Jeez!
----
Lyell E. Haynes
Just another example of how people can't take criticism at all!
Come on Ben! Those were some hard hitting questions, and you went and took the childish approach at answering them. I would expect more from the webmaster of the Gore Presidential Campaign website! When told that your site contains mainly fluff and doesn't contain any stances of real value, you go and defend it as "not for geeks." Come on! Those questions weren't technical in nature! They were about issues that affect all Americans!
I personally would also like to see more than the normal candidate rhetoric on that site. Can't Al Gore take any REAL stands? I guess not. He's been in Washington for too long and takes the normal approach - Say you support something that every American thinks is good, but never act on it or make a plan for achieving it. And of course the webmaster will defend it, because he's getting paid to. Have some integrity and give us what we ask for!
Another election I WON'T vote in - Does it really matter who's in charge?
----
Lyell E. Haynes
BTW, CAEN already runs Solaris and HP-UX in its huge computer labs in addition to Windows, so the only reason their providing Linux is as an educational tool, most likely. They probably don't care to use or need to use it as the core unix system on their network. They already have something better.
----
Lyell E. Haynes
I find it quite ironic that this website, which seems to be so intent on opening people's minds to alternate ways of doing things (operating systems being one of them), could be so closed minded about so many of the issues it brings to it's readers, this latest one being an example.
I'm sorry, but I've read Slashdot avidly for many months now and I continue to become more and more frustrated with the childish comments and irrational behavior of the readers and moderators of this site, who take up causes of which they have no understanding.
When I first came to this site, I thought I'd finally found the center of common sense on the internet, but now I know that all I've discovered is a bunch of spoiled kids who continue to think that the world revolves around them and that noone can have intelligent thoughts but themselves.
Okay, enough of my ranting. About this issue...
In 1998, Congress passed and the president signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which expressly made it illegal to traffic in "any technology, product, service, device, component or part thereof that is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner."
Are you people telling me that what these websites are doing is not breaking the law? Right.
They're doing this so they can have DVD on their Linux machines? Right.
Okay, granted, I think the MPAA is overreacting a bit and it's okay to bash them for that, but give them a break. They're about to see their entire system destroyed in the next 10 years and they're trying to hold on to what they've got left.
Now, most definitely, they'll get a better encryption next time around, but was it right for the hacker community to run around and flaunt the fact that the encryption scheme was inferior? Was it really responsible of these websites to act like clowns throwing candy into the streets? Wouldn't it have been better to act professionally, go to the MPAA, show the crack to them, show the ability for people to get through their defenses, show the desires of people who want to watch DVDs on their Linux machines and work together to find a way for everyone to be happy - to find a win-win scenario?
But then again, who will be our spokesperson? Who will meet with the MPAA to discuss this issue? Problem here... And this is one of the reasons why the Open Source movement will eventually fail in the end(bigger picture here, obviously). It doesn't have a central body; it doesn't have a controlling force.
All it comes down to in the end is a bunch of kids, trying to make a change in this world, but failing miserably because they have no concept of reality, except for what their own fragile little minds tell them.
You all know what became of the sixties generation? I think you do, and that's all you'll ever get yourselves.
----
Lyell E. Haynes
The real benefits are going to be for small businesses, small universities, high schools and other organizations such as these that will begin to see the need more more processing power that an individual PC will not be able to handle. Supporting a large user base, applications run over a network (the trend back towards consoles hooked to a mainframe), and such. These are where this type of machine will really be useful.
The organizations that purchase these cheap supercomputers will be looking especially at the tradeoffs of getting one supercomputer with 50 console stations vs. 50 high-end PCs.
It's a fantastic leap in providing computing power to everyone, in my honest opinion.
----
Lyell E. Haynes
----
Lyell E. Haynes
You're creating a "Linux Advocacy Day" ?????
Come On! Don't you understand that by doing this, you're only putting the ball further in Microsoft's court by giving them power over you? You're letting them force you to whine to the public about how "Linux is soooo much better" and "Microsoft is the Devil Incarnate" and all that crap.
People, especially consumers, don't like cry-babies.
Make every day a Linux day. Don't wait until Microsoft makes a move to make your own!
----
Lyell E. Haynes
Katz just described the true essence of Slashdot, especially himself!
--
And anyway, there's nothing that says Communism is bad if it's done correctly, like it is in the open source community. The only reason we have a negative outlook on Communism is because of the individuals in power who have been corrupted.
----
Lyell E. Haynes
----
Lyell E. Haynes
There are a couple of points that need to be stressed in this article.
In essence, CyberTerrorism should be taken as a serious threat and should be treated as such, now and in the future. We should instill in our children a sense of technical know-how and understanding of how to combat these threats as well as a moral obligation to fight the elements of our society who threaten to destroy us.
----
Lyell E. Haynes
What kind of ship do you guys run here? huh?
----
Lyell E. Haynes
What good did the Don't Do Drugs! campaign accomplish? Not much.
Don't they have any parenting skills at all? Telling kids to not do something only makes them want to do it more... But I guess if they are brought up with good values and moral obligations, this could be a good thing, as the NSA applauding of good hackers shows.
----
Lyell E. Haynes
Open Source in the true sense of the word means that all development, even current, is open to the software community.
I don't need to write my own 3d engine, because there are open source engines already in development that I can use, such as the Genesis 3D engine.
The benefit that id receives from putting their current projects under the GPL is that they get more programmers that can help in the development. The programmers can contribute to the code, find bugs, suggest additions and changes, etc. Carmack and his in-house team still have control as to what goes into their version of the game, but they get a free team of developers to help them.
They can then make money off the game by two ways: First of all, they can sell it to the general public, who just wants a game to play and doesn't care about the code, and secondly, they can license the code to other developers for a fee that includes support and development tools that id uses in-house for their own production.
There's your Win-Win scenario!
----
Lyell E. Haynes
Exactly! So id software is not really in support of open source development. They are in support of the normal commercial model that everyone else outside the linux community uses.
Therefore, we shouldn't praise them for their GPL move! It's just a marketing stunt.
----
Lyell E. Haynes
Come on! Doom is years behind the current software technology. What good does it do to put it under the GPL? Or even distribute the source? It's only a marketing ploy by id software to increase the worship of Carmack!
Here's your REAL open source movement:
I don't fall for it one bit!
Release the code to Quake III
----
Lyell E. Haynes
Like the NSA actually needs a backdoor key to get into a user's computer system! What a joke.
This article is a double-edged sword. If Microsoft ends up being split up into smaller parts as a result of the anti-trust lawsuit, that same competitive spirit that is so vital to the growth of Linux will once again be a part of the Microsoft community. Rather than being a big bloated machine that we can all laugh at in our ignorance, it will become revitalized and a better player in the computer market. Something to think about. Comment?