GnarlyDoug, I can't find your email address anywhere... I completely agree with what you wrote. I don't suppose you'd like to write a short article about this?
"Unisys Corporation holds and has patents pending on a number of improvements on the inventions claimed in the above-expired patents. Information on these improvement patents and terms under which they may be licensed can be obtained by contacting the following:"
I can see two problems with the way people are interpreting what happened.
The first one is that a lot of people are implying "One developer has left. Big deal. Somebody will step in". FALSE. A single, skilled developer can make the difference between a successful project and an unsuccessful one. As many good manages know, replacing a good worker is _very_ hard - sometimes impossible.
The second problem, is that a lot of people here have written comments without reading the mailing lists. Somebody implied "oh, it's the developer's fault, he shouldn't have been bothered in the first place". FALSE. Garrett really cares about the debian project; I generally agreed with what he said; lately, I was thinking "Geee, if I were him, I would quit". He found some of the tones grating as you guys would have if you cared about the project - and, above anything else, if you had read some of the messages in the mailing list. Accusatory. Unnecessary. Excruciating. Always coming from the "usual suspects" - who nobody seems to be able to shut up.
More and more people will leave, unless things change - rapidly.
------ See my post above for reasons why I'm judging it on presentation. I'm sure that both have good information in them, I just don't have time to sift through the cruft to find it. ------
OK, point taken.
------ Someone has obviously put a lot of effort into FSM, and good on them for doing it, but people get a bit pissy when a random person starts undermining their good efforts. Also, what's in it for me if I do try to improve it? -------
Well, I happen to be FSM's editor in chief. I guess I am "them"! What's in it for me...?
* Improving a site that works towards the creation of free (as in FREEDOM) contents * Getting to give something back to the community
Why do people send patches to GNU/Linux? Why do people help free software projects? Why have we worked on FSM for _free_ for more than one year? (I guess the answer shouldn't be "to be told that it takes too many clicks to get to the contents")
---------- "Right then, ditch the website ad revenue because it's cluttering the content. If you must use AdWords, put them at the bottom - not right where people look for the content. ----------
No worries. I am assuming you are willing to send us a monthly cheque - that's great! We will use that money for hosting.
------ Make a bullet list with the issue's contents on the main page ------
Which issue exactly? The latest? Where do you suggest we should put annuncements and latest articles?
--------
and under each issue heading in the archives. ----------
Do you know how big this page woud become in let's say 3 months?
Doing things is actually much harder than talking about them, you see. If you set up a mock site with FSM the way you think it should look, I will me more than happy to apply the changes. (A word or warning: we've tried already)
----- And don't use that lime green text, it's hard to read - use black or white text for each article heading, and a lime green background box for each heading if you want to keep those colours. And blank space isn't necessarily advertising space ------
This magazine is far more usable than the FSM one - I didn't have to click past the blog front page, ignore the bazillion ads flashing at me, pick an issue, then scroll down 6 screens to see if I want to read anything. ---------
I like O3, so I am not going to comment on the contents. It does surprise me, however, that:
* You based your judgement solely on the *presentation* (a lot of people wouldn't agree woth you anyway) * You didn't make any effort to actually improve Free Software Magazine
Sorry, I've gotta go. I must run to the news stand and look for the most "usable" magazine. Sigh.
I am in touch with John Buswell: he is really dedicated, and I am sure the magazine will go far. What I don't understand, though, is why O3 made it on Slashdot the minute it came out, while Free Software Magazine didn't - never.
No wonder Digg is going strong the way it is. Moody moderator to pick stories make moody decisions.
I don't suppose you could contact me? I love your comments on Slashdot, and I would love you to write for our magazine. Please send me an email: "merc" followed by "at" and then "mobily.com".
Hello,
This is my response to Maureen. I also published it here.
I am upset. If you write quite a bit, you learn a rule: you must never, ever write when you are upset. In such a state, clarity simply goes and what you thought was a masterpiece in truth was in fact... a pile of incomprehensible, misspelled crap.
I am going to do it anyway. I shall add a disclaimer: I am going to publish this article "as is" - no spell check, no Dave guard which turns my atrocious English into... well, English.
I am deeply upset and saddened by O'Gara's article on Pamela Jones at GrokLaw. To the point that I am absolutely speechless. I mean it. I don't know what to say.
I don't share O'Gara's ways nor approach. She seem to hate Groklaw, and the secrecy around this web site. Hatred is not a nice nor constructive feeling; it doesn't help anybody, and in fact it often goes against you (as it's going against Maureen right now); unfortunately, we all experience it and we all act out our anger sometimes.
This "pill" is here for two reason. The first one, is to ask you to... to forgive Maureen O'Gara. What she did was vile; but it was out of frustration and anger. She is a human being; she has made a great mistake; and she will pay for it. I ask you to forgive her because she is unforgivable, and it is right now that we all have to take out the best of ourselves and feel that even the unforgivable is... well, forgivable.
The second, more important reason why I am writing this (dangerously) unedited "pill", is to ask the question: why is Maureen's article unforgivable? I asked this to myself. In a way, you can even see where she is coming from: there is this wonderful site which is helping the demolition of SCO's absurd case, and it seems unlikely that a single individual could possibly run it all on her own. It is also true that if Groklaw were run by a bunch of IBM's lawyers, well, it would loose at least some of its credibility. I think I have reasons to believe that this is exactly what Maureen wanted to find out. Again, then: why is Maureen's article unforgivable?
Because there is a chance (and for a lot of us that's a fat chance) that Groklaw is run by a wonderful 40 or 60 year old woman or man who is a Christian or a Jehovah's Witness or a Buddhist, who believes in what she does to the point that she is willing to put herself in a dangerous position by doing so. Yes, I said dangerous, and I mean dangerous. There is a (big) chance that Pamela is in fact a woman who lives her everyday life, has a job, does what she has to do, and runs Groklaw thanks to the support of the whole Free Software and Open Source Community.
This paragraph is for you, Maureen: if that were the case, Maureen, you hurt somebody beyond belief. You hurt somebody so much, that I can only hope you will never, ever find out quite how mad the damage was. Because if you did find out, you would never be able to forgive yourself.
Well, that's a big weight out of my chest. But I am not quite finished yet. I want to talk about myself for a minute.
I am an ex-cracker born in Italy and living in Australia. When I was 18 and 19, I cracked quite a few computers and nearly went to jail for it. My phones were tapped, and only an amazing series of coincidences saved me. I didn't go through a trial, but a lot of people around me did. I never destroyed a system, but I did read files I should have read. If one day I made somebody very powerful really angry, I can see how they would be able to dig in my past and find all sorts of things that I would find "embarrassing" at least, compromising at worst. They could pick on my past as a cracker, on my religion (I am a Buddhist), on the way I live my life (I don't shop and yet I am not stingy), or on another million things.
Maureen, this is another paragraph for you. I am sure you haven't been a cracker, but if I were to look very, very thoroughly into your l
I wrote the book, so my input is biased... I think the book would be great for you. If you do buy it, let me know what you think of it!
Merc. (The book's author)
Re:One of the unfortunate things about Apache...
on
Hardening Apache
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
I coulnd't agree more with you.
The point is that if you write your config file by hand, then you HAVE TO know each directive (well, sort of). That's part of the reason why I wrote the first chapter that way...
>How about simply stripping apache down; i.e. just >run those two or three modules you really need.
Sometimes you just can't do that. Your customers or your boss will ask you to have fancy options, and without some kind of knowledge on Apache Security, you will be more likely to make mistakes...
[I wrote the book, so my comments might be a little biased:p) ]
>There's never gonna be a single source for all >things security--even for a single item such as >Apache. Those looking for a good start can go >with this book, or google for how-to's, but >another place is www.securityspace.com >[securityspace.com].
I coulnd't agree more. For this reason, tis book is *full* of references to web sites, CERT pages, RFCs, etc. As I wrote in the introduction, this book is a start, a way of finding your way through the great deal of documentation available for Apache (and concerning security).
[I wrote the book, so my comments might be a little biased:p) ]
I totally understand what you mean.
I must say that the point of the book is to give solid knowledge in order to understand *why* such exploits exist, and how to prevent them. A raw list will help you for the current version of Apache, where a deeper understanding will help you prevent and help you prevent any kind of vulnerability...
Slashdot Mirror
Hi,
GnarlyDoug, I can't find your email address anywhere...
I completely agree with what you wrote. I don't suppose you'd like to write a short article about this?
Please contact me - merc AT mobily1 (DOT) com
Merc.
> What's so hilarious about it?
:-)
This bit:
"Unisys Corporation holds and has patents pending on a number of improvements on the inventions claimed in the above-expired patents. Information on these improvement patents and terms under which they may be licensed can be obtained by contacting the following:"
Maybe I have a weird sense humour?
Hello,
I can see two problems with the way people are interpreting what happened.
The first one is that a lot of people are implying "One developer has left. Big deal. Somebody will step in". FALSE. A single, skilled developer can make the difference between a successful project and an unsuccessful one. As many good manages know, replacing a good worker is _very_ hard - sometimes impossible.
The second problem, is that a lot of people here have written comments without reading the mailing lists. Somebody implied "oh, it's the developer's fault, he shouldn't have been bothered in the first place". FALSE. Garrett really cares about the debian project; I generally agreed with what he said; lately, I was thinking "Geee, if I were him, I would quit". He found some of the tones grating as you guys would have if you cared about the project - and, above anything else, if you had read some of the messages in the mailing list. Accusatory. Unnecessary. Excruciating. Always coming from the "usual suspects" - who nobody seems to be able to shut up.
More and more people will leave, unless things change - rapidly.
Merc.
Editor In Chief
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/
Hello, Testing, just because it looks like I can never post. Merc.
------
See my post above for reasons why I'm judging it on presentation. I'm sure that both have good information in them, I just don't have time to sift through the cruft to find it.
------
OK, point taken.
------
Someone has obviously put a lot of effort into FSM, and good on them for doing it, but people get a bit pissy when a random person starts undermining their good efforts. Also, what's in it for me if I do try to improve it?
-------
Well, I happen to be FSM's editor in chief. I guess I am "them"!
What's in it for me...?
* Improving a site that works towards the creation of free (as in FREEDOM) contents
* Getting to give something back to the community
Why do people send patches to GNU/Linux? Why do people help free software projects?
Why have we worked on FSM for _free_ for more than one year?
(I guess the answer shouldn't be "to be told that it takes too many clicks to get to the contents")
----------
"Right then, ditch the website ad revenue because it's cluttering the content. If you must use AdWords, put them at the bottom - not right where people look for the content.
----------
No worries. I am assuming you are willing to send us a monthly cheque - that's great! We will use that money for hosting.
------
Make a bullet list with the issue's contents on the main page
------
Which issue exactly? The latest?
Where do you suggest we should put annuncements and latest articles?
--------
and under each issue heading in the archives.
----------
Do you know how big this page woud become in let's say 3 months?
Doing things is actually much harder than talking about them, you see. If you set up a mock site with FSM the way you think it should look, I will me more than happy to apply the changes.
(A word or warning: we've tried already)
-----
And don't use that lime green text, it's hard to read - use black or white text for each article heading, and a lime green background box for each heading if you want to keep those colours. And blank space isn't necessarily advertising space
------
See above. A mock site would be most welcome.
Bye,
Merc.
---------
Somebody call the Whaaambulance!
This magazine is far more usable than the FSM one - I didn't have to click past the blog front page, ignore the bazillion ads flashing at me, pick an issue, then scroll down 6 screens to see if I want to read anything.
---------
I like O3, so I am not going to comment on the contents.
It does surprise me, however, that:
* You based your judgement solely on the *presentation* (a lot of people wouldn't agree woth you anyway)
* You didn't make any effort to actually improve Free Software Magazine
Sorry, I've gotta go. I must run to the news stand and look for the most "usable" magazine.
Sigh.
Merc.
Hello,
I am in touch with John Buswell: he is really dedicated, and I am sure the magazine will go far.
What I don't understand, though, is why O3 made it on Slashdot the minute it came out, while Free Software Magazine didn't - never.
No wonder Digg is going strong the way it is. Moody moderator to pick stories make moody decisions.
Merc.
Hi MrNonchalant,
I don't suppose you could contact me? I love your comments on Slashdot, and I would love you to write for our magazine.
Please send me an email: "merc" followed by "at" and then "mobily.com".
Thanks a lot!
Merc,
Hi,
True. However, by "running" I meant "coordinating everything".
I run Free Software Magazine, but I am by no means alone. However, I still "run it" in a way...
(or maybe not, and you are completely right!)
Merc.
I am upset. If you write quite a bit, you learn a rule: you must never, ever write when you are upset. In such a state, clarity simply goes and what you thought was a masterpiece in truth was in fact... a pile of incomprehensible, misspelled crap.
I am going to do it anyway. I shall add a disclaimer: I am going to publish this article "as is" - no spell check, no Dave guard which turns my atrocious English into... well, English.
I am deeply upset and saddened by O'Gara's article on Pamela Jones at GrokLaw. To the point that I am absolutely speechless. I mean it. I don't know what to say.
I don't share O'Gara's ways nor approach. She seem to hate Groklaw, and the secrecy around this web site. Hatred is not a nice nor constructive feeling; it doesn't help anybody, and in fact it often goes against you (as it's going against Maureen right now); unfortunately, we all experience it and we all act out our anger sometimes.
This "pill" is here for two reason. The first one, is to ask you to... to forgive Maureen O'Gara. What she did was vile; but it was out of frustration and anger. She is a human being; she has made a great mistake; and she will pay for it. I ask you to forgive her because she is unforgivable, and it is right now that we all have to take out the best of ourselves and feel that even the unforgivable is... well, forgivable.
The second, more important reason why I am writing this (dangerously) unedited "pill", is to ask the question: why is Maureen's article unforgivable? I asked this to myself. In a way, you can even see where she is coming from: there is this wonderful site which is helping the demolition of SCO's absurd case, and it seems unlikely that a single individual could possibly run it all on her own. It is also true that if Groklaw were run by a bunch of IBM's lawyers, well, it would loose at least some of its credibility. I think I have reasons to believe that this is exactly what Maureen wanted to find out. Again, then: why is Maureen's article unforgivable?
Because there is a chance (and for a lot of us that's a fat chance) that Groklaw is run by a wonderful 40 or 60 year old woman or man who is a Christian or a Jehovah's Witness or a Buddhist, who believes in what she does to the point that she is willing to put herself in a dangerous position by doing so. Yes, I said dangerous, and I mean dangerous. There is a (big) chance that Pamela is in fact a woman who lives her everyday life, has a job, does what she has to do, and runs Groklaw thanks to the support of the whole Free Software and Open Source Community.
This paragraph is for you, Maureen: if that were the case, Maureen, you hurt somebody beyond belief. You hurt somebody so much, that I can only hope you will never, ever find out quite how mad the damage was. Because if you did find out, you would never be able to forgive yourself.
Well, that's a big weight out of my chest. But I am not quite finished yet. I want to talk about myself for a minute.
I am an ex-cracker born in Italy and living in Australia. When I was 18 and 19, I cracked quite a few computers and nearly went to jail for it. My phones were tapped, and only an amazing series of coincidences saved me. I didn't go through a trial, but a lot of people around me did. I never destroyed a system, but I did read files I should have read. If one day I made somebody very powerful really angry, I can see how they would be able to dig in my past and find all sorts of things that I would find "embarrassing" at least, compromising at worst. They could pick on my past as a cracker, on my religion (I am a Buddhist), on the way I live my life (I don't shop and yet I am not stingy), or on another million things.
Maureen, this is another paragraph for you. I am sure you haven't been a cracker, but if I were to look very, very thoroughly into your l
I wrote the book, so my input is biased...
I think the book would be great for you. If you do buy it, let me know what you think of it!
Merc.
(The book's author)
I coulnd't agree more with you.
The point is that if you write your config file by hand, then you HAVE TO know each directive (well, sort of).
That's part of the reason why I wrote the first chapter that way...
Merc.
(The book's author)
>How about simply stripping apache down; i.e. just
>run those two or three modules you really need.
Sometimes you just can't do that. Your customers or your boss will ask you to have fancy options, and without some kind of knowledge on Apache Security, you will be more likely to make mistakes...
[I wrote the book, so my comments might be a little biased :p) ]
>There's never gonna be a single source for all
>things security--even for a single item such as
>Apache. Those looking for a good start can go
>with this book, or google for how-to's, but
>another place is www.securityspace.com
>[securityspace.com].
I coulnd't agree more. For this reason, tis book is *full* of references to web sites, CERT pages, RFCs, etc.
As I wrote in the introduction, this book is a start, a way of finding your way through the great deal of documentation available for Apache (and concerning security).
Merc.
[I wrote the book, so my comments might be a little biased :p) ]
I totally understand what you mean.
I must say that the point of the book is to give solid knowledge in order to understand *why* such exploits exist, and how to prevent them. A raw list will help you for the current version of Apache, where a deeper understanding will help you prevent and help you prevent any kind of vulnerability...