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User: s.petry

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  1. Re:And who were the attackers? on DHS Asked Gas Pipeline Firms To Let Attackers Lurk Inside Networks · · Score: 1

    CISPA and other poor policies won't protect the infrastructure any better than what we have now. I worked at a DOD site for 8 years. We had weekly security bulletins, and very informed users. We had several well crafted spear phishing attacks every month, and 1 account was compromised out of 8,000 in roughly 4 years. That one breach was caught within a couple minutes, because the person and their coworkers communicated.

    Is the infrastructure an absolute mess and disaster waiting to happen? Sure it is, nobody is fool enough to think it's not (unless they are getting paid to keep a blanket over their head).

    How did it get so bad? Money, that's the reason. People that hold the purse strings said "cheap, not secure. I don't care what you say, I won't pay!"

    Oppressive laws won't fix that, sorry. The infrastructure needs a lot of money to make it secure, and that takes money out of share holder's, executive's, and politician's pockets. Won't happen.

  2. Re:AppleScript on Ask Slashdot: What's a Good Tool To Detect Corrupted Files? · · Score: 1

    This is what the mythic WinFS is supposed to catch, and why it performs so horribl. Relies on external libraries that understand file formats just to write a file and check integrity.

  3. Re:Your eyes on Ask Slashdot: What's a Good Tool To Detect Corrupted Files? · · Score: 1

    Maybe you didn't mean it this way, but dang if I did not see all the PHBs come out from work with your comment. "I can get 1TB Drives from Fryes for $80.00, why do you say it costs several hundred?".

    Oh, you wanted redundant drives to be covered in the event of a failure? You wanted a drive that has some performance so it does not take 32 minutes to open your word file? So much for that 1TB for 80 bucks thing...

    The new one is "SSDs are only $150.00, and they are the same as what you get for SSDs without all the writes.

  4. Re:Python on Ask Slashdot: What Language Should a Former Coder Dig Into? · · Score: 1

    Microsoft is generally pay-for, even in College. Reduced functionality at a reduce cost, but still a cost. Also have to worry about the costs just to run Windows that the Shills never mention. Unless of course you are never going to connect to anything, use external media, pay for the license to use Windows, etc..

    Oracle Java - Well, we'll see how free it is soon enough. JDK with IDE are fine for the most part. If Oracle gets their way.. well, you will be paying them forever to do anything on a computer.

    I myself prefer KDE and KDevelop. Does everything Eclipse does without all the "plug-ins".

  5. Re:Sounds Interesting ... on Microsoft Creates Kinect-Like System Using Laptop Speaker & Microphone · · Score: 2

    Just wait till the reports regarding how prolonged exposure to this frequency causes earlobe cancer.

  6. Old News on Mars Rover Turns Up Evidence Of Water · · Score: 1

    Not to be a bummer, but there have been other similar stories regarding evidence of water on the surface of mars. Nothing new here, we still can not prove it and there is no water there now.

    Don't take my word for it. Water on Mars Wiki

  7. Re:Advertising and Marketing on Why Desktop Linux Hasn't Taken Off · · Score: 1

    I think you missed 2 of the obvious points I was making. First, is that you are not limited to a desktop which has problems and does not do what you want. I quoted the original article, but you mentioned it. I hate Gnome, and dislike Unity. Neither do what I need in a business, so I don't use either. KDE does do what I want, and has for at least 10 years. It's also easier to train Novices when they have a Desktop that Feels like Microsoft.

    The other point is that there are Enterprise and Consumer grade versions of Linux. While not "FREE" they give businesses and home users support. They are both much cheaper than Microsoft's equivalent. In my educated opinion, since I use RedHat support at work and have purchased RedHat for home in the past, their support is better and cheaper.

    People act like there are no options for support, and there are plenty. Many people also act like the "FREE" versions should give you support in some grand fashion just like when you pay for support.

    To your last point about trying to debug the Kernel trace.. you don't have to. The option for a novice home user is to flip back the Kernel. In fact, Linux would prefer you only patch when you have bugs and/or exploitable services running. This is a different mind set than Windows, and something that people should be educated about.

    Claiming that people need education is not nearly as offensive as you take it. Most experts will help get you on the track to learning, but it's all about how you ask for help. Generally this is the difference between saying "Help, I booted a kernel and now my system panics. What do I do?" and "WTF is this shit? I upgraded my OS and your piece of shit software does not work."

    This is of course overly emphasized and not "you" saying such things. The point still works even at lessening degrees though.

  8. Re:Works as intended! on Congress Wants To Resurrect Laser-Wielding 747 · · Score: 2

    We have similar problems with the giant money sink the EU has been pumping in to the European Missile Defense Shield. Honestly, I was being sarcastic. Theory is nice, but we long ago lost the point of common sense in spending.

  9. Works as intended! on Congress Wants To Resurrect Laser-Wielding 747 · · Score: 0

    Now the House Armed Services Committee's Strategic Forces wants the Airborne Laser to be used to defend us against the threat of North Korea's failed missiles."

    N. Korea fired a missile, it fell apart. Pretty much just like the program. As long as N. Korea has failing missiles, why not keep a failing program? Seems logical to a politician!

  10. Re:Sounds like... on How Online Black Markets Work · · Score: 1

    Glad it was not just me. Can someone break the link to this article? It's not an article worth reading!

    Best I can figure is they are trying to get reader counts somehow and sent the link to /.

  11. Re:Way too confusing on Why Desktop Linux Hasn't Taken Off · · Score: 1

    No, he's correct. In the early 1990s PC-based UNIXes (SCO, Sun) ran about $1500. Torvolds even said if he could have afforded SCO, he would have never written Linux in the first place :)

    Also, those risc workstations had considerable annual maintenance fees. Even "free Solaris" (reaction to Linux) wasn't for production use.

    Solaris/SunOS only ran on Sparc chips until you got to Solaris X86 in Solaris 2.5, which was free. I think SCO is the one you are talking about then maybe.. I worked on a SCO print server and was unimpressed, and never again touched it. It was not mine, so never had to deal with them.

    The annual fees you are talking about were for Hardware, not software. There was no "SunOS" support or "AIX" support, there was server and/or workstation support. This same model is in use today with X86 based servers, but they don't include the OS in the support model by default. Lets not lump compilers in to that fee either, since PC compilers were just as expensive.

    Lastly "Considerable costs"? Really? Look at it in % of hardware value (which is how it works) and it was better then compared to now. HP DL 380G7 with RedHat or Windows, costs about 10K for a box worth a crap. Annual costs, about 1.5K for support (including OS). In the early 90's, we'd pay 55,000 for a Sun Sparc Station 5 and maybe 3K a year maintenance.

    Maintenance has been a percentage of the purchase price for as long as I can remember, which goes back a long long time. Now days the percentage is higher, because the vendors make squat profits up front. Back in the day, they made profits from hardware.

    SGI was always an exception to any of those rules. IBM, HP, DEC, Sun have always been consistent and fair when it comes to support. SCO, I never did business with.

  12. Re:Advertising and Marketing on Why Desktop Linux Hasn't Taken Off · · Score: 2

    Investigate the cause? Really dude? I suddenly realize why you post as AC. Linux, Windows and MAC are all the same. Patch system, reboot.. OMG system does not work. Patches were the problem, investigation solved! The difference is really that I have about 2 seconds work to do when Linux kernels are the problem, compared to 2-4 hours on Windows or MAC (Honestly MACs rarely change kernels, so failure rates are very low).

    Like so many others, you are also bitching about FREE software. You do realize that the business model for SUSE and RedHat is that you can pay them for a stable Linux that is not in perpetual beta like Ubuntu or Pick-a-flavor Linux?

  13. Re:Way too confusing on Why Desktop Linux Hasn't Taken Off · · Score: 1

    Maybe this is beating a dead horse and useless, but..

    You want detail, I'll give you detail. OpenSuse 12.1 was a stinking pile of crap that failed both the in-place upgrade and the install from scratch - in both cases, refusing to migrate emails properly

    Migrating emails? This is not a OS issue, this is an application issue. Is this mail server data (I.E. Sendmail) or Client (IE Thunderbird). I'm sure if you asked for help in the right place, you would find better results. Asking the Kernel guys what's wrong with your email probably should have gotten a "Sorry, go ask them guys" message if you asked the right way. From your tone, it's hard to say, but I can see someone sending a STFU email - Remember you are using "Free" stuff, and these people work for free when they help you. Courtesy goes a long way.

    - a problem that they did not even acknowledge existed, because they had an automatic migration tool - that didn't work! Multiple attemts at manually migrating failed, including after multiple fresh re-installs. Overall much more sluggish. Additionally, trying to load the debug version of KDE killed the machine - so another reinstall from scratch, another failed mail migration, more bugs ... so that was it.

    Again, it's not the OS issue when your mail box has problems. It sounds like you are not even using local mail files and blaming the OS guys.

    Figured I'd downgrade to 11.0 - oops - no update repos available - discontinued, silly me! Sorry, OpenSuse, time to move on.

    blah blah blah blah

    Let me shorten up everything else you just said. "You want free stuff and you want it to be supported when you break it". Sorry, that won't happen. Want Linux support to cover you? Want support for upgrades and Stable versions? Spend the couple bucks and purchase RedHat or SUSE. It's much cheaper than Microsoft Windows and you will get professional support.

    Now, before you get cranky.. All of the "Free" distro's are pretty much in perpetual Beta. Read what Redhat says about the difference between Fedora and Redhat. OpenSUSE and Suse are the same way. If you want extra stable and "Free", you get CentOS. You won't have all of the bleeding edge drivers, but you will be stable. Support is not professional, but hell you are not paying.

  14. Re:Way too confusing on Why Desktop Linux Hasn't Taken Off · · Score: 1

    What are you talking about exactly?

    The only "Unix Desktop" that ever had cost associated with it was SCO, and even that was not "Desktop". Purchasing a HP PA-RISC Workstation got you HP-UX, purchasing a Sun workstation got you Solaris, purchasing a PowerPC workstation got you AIX, and purchasing a SGI got you Irix. Oh, and Solaris X86 has been free for developers since Solaris 2.5. All you have to do is register, though they may charge for shipping. $5.00 was not even close to what you mention.

    Have any literature to show what you are talking about with having to buy Unix desktop OSes? Never saw one...

  15. Re:Why Desktop Linux Hasn't Taken off... on Why Desktop Linux Hasn't Taken Off · · Score: 1

    This is the number 1 issue for home use. I told my kid about Steam working on a Linux version and he is honestly extremely excited. He sees me work in Linux and the problems he has in Windows. He has already said that he wants the Linux version as soon as it's out.

    The number 1 business reason is the Monopoly application stack that Microsoft will never port to Linux. Outlook and Office. Port those 2, and there is no reason for a Windows Desktop any more at work. Lotus Notes has a very stable and functional Linux version. Marketing has people convinced that Exchange is cheaper than Notes sadly, and if a VP reads it in a Microsoft sponsored article in their VP magazine, it must be true.

    And before you say "Libre Office", it's not a valid answer. Way to much manual work involved. Simple things translate well but more complex things, even things like merged fields in Excel, are very problematic.

  16. Re:Advertising and Marketing on Why Desktop Linux Hasn't Taken Off · · Score: 1

    From the Article: "It's such a flexible environment that there's a lot of freedom to do things, even things you shouldn't do," he says. "A typical thing in a Windows setting is to establish some usage policies, and set up some limitations on the systems to keep them stable. Linux doesn't have those types of standards out of the box."

    This is a training and knowledge issue, not a limitation in Linux. KDE has had Kiosk capability for a long time, we used this at the DOD to do things like limit applications users could access, create a unified look and feel, enforce screen savers and screen locking rules. It was easier to set up and maintain than Windows Group Policies to do the same tasks.

    Look, I'm sorry you feel like you have to run Unity or Gnome. Just like Businesses enforce using Outlook or Windows, we enforce a KDE Desktop.

    Drivers are an issue? Well I guess with some new devices they are. But just like we see now, as adoption increases Vendors release drivers for all operating systems. Want Apple to certify your printer for a MAC? Then you best get them a working driver. As adoption increased and we saw more MACs in the workplace, the drivers magically became available.

    And look, with over what is it.. 600 printers natively supported in Linux I have no idea what this person was claiming. CUPS makes network management simple and even "hackable" for those of us that want to tweak things. Compared to the magical Windows print server and messy registries that constantly corrupt themselves. Windows print services are so bad I can't tell you the last place I heard of that had a Windows print server.

    Had ubuntu push a kernel about month ago that decided it'd like to panic every few hours on an old...

    And you find it impossible to edit grub and change the kernel back? Wholly crap man, Let me google that for you!

    People that constantly change systems in any OS have problems. Why are MACs better? Generally they are not patched that often and you can't toy with them. Linux is meant to run the same way. "If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it!". Microsoft has everyone convinced that you have to constantly patch and fuddle with systems to make them work. Really, that's now how Unix and Linux were designed. (MAC is based on *NIX).

  17. Re:HomeOS on Microsoft Forges Ahead With New Home-Automation OS · · Score: 1

    Download Flavor, if it works don't patch. That is pretty much the Unix philosophy. Protect yourself of course, but don't break something working. Microsoft on the other hand, stays working by constant bug fixes and patches.

    Yeah, takes some getting used to. Most people that use Linux also dabble a hell of a lot with things that are dangerous. Linux lets you, while Windows tries to control you.

    In short, your statement is not valid without a hell of a lot more data. I doubt that I would validate your statement knowing all of the circumstances as to why you claim Linux breaks. I have a Redhat 7.0 server still running as a backup server from over 10 years ago. I have Redhat 3 servers still running HPC services after 8 years. The last time those broke was when I compiled a new optimized kernel for them and left the SCSI drivers. Hrm, sounds more like "I broke Linux" than "Linux just broke."

  18. Re:Wanted: a problem on Microsoft Forges Ahead With New Home-Automation OS · · Score: 1

    This is great. Just think of the possibilities!? Fridge monitors. You eat to much fat and sugar, not enough fresh produce. Fridge notifies the authorities and your health insurance. SmartToilet sees THC in your urine. Looks medical data and finds you are not enrolled in a Medical Marijuana program, calls the authorities and your boss.

    Or, visit a friends house for a party. Visit their SmartToilet before heading home. SmartToilet sees your blood alcohol level is .656, best not risk letting you drive. Sends message to your car that will not allow the vehicle to be started without manual bypass. Press manual bypass, car calls the police and starts broadcasting your location. Police pull you over for "suspicion of Driving while Intoxicated" because your friends Toilet had no idea when you stopped drinking.

    The things people tend not to think about when coming up with these great inventions.

    Oh, and before you think it will be regulated.. just remember that one of the first arguments will be "This person is a parent, think of the children."

  19. Re:Thought this stuff died on Microsoft Forges Ahead With New Home-Automation OS · · Score: 1

    One thing you left out of a decent post is how much bandwidth it would take to accomplish things like porting displays (especially gaming) from one room to another. This is an incredibly expensive thing to do, but can be done now. What has to be done is to convert the video to fiber, and reconvert at the other end.

    So yes, lots of things are possible. Possible does not equate to practical though, at least until enough money is pumped in to the systems to bring the consumer costs down.

  20. Re:You're joking, right? on Microsoft Forges Ahead With New Home-Automation OS · · Score: 2

    By most accounts, Gates never wrote any code for DOS. He simply stole CP/M, and used a binary editor to rename some things. They way he has gained market share, created an illegal monopoly, bought out politicians to keep his monopoly, I'm pretty sure his character fits the type to start out illegally.

    What people tend to forget (especially the shills) is that Windows did not have TCP/IP drivers included until Windows 95B which came out in 98 since Windows 98 was late. Microsoft stated very publicly that the Internet was just a fad and that no business would ever adopt an open technology. Win 95, 98, and even the NT series NT 3.x and 4.x were developed to run with primarily NetBUI which was a proprietary non-routable protocol by Microsoft.

  21. Re:Thought this stuff died on Microsoft Forges Ahead With New Home-Automation OS · · Score: 1

    My mom would shoot that robot for folding the towels wrong. And don't try and tell me your mom did not have her oddities with how laundry gets folded!

  22. Re:That on WW2 Vet Sent 300,000 Pirated DVDs To Troops In Iraq, Afghanistan · · Score: 1

    Pretty much, but people still have loyalty. The automotive companies are proof positive for that. The problem is that the consumer is rarely given any opportunity for loyalty any more. When they are given the opportunity though, we have success.

    Oh, another example off the top of my head is Apple.. but after the Foxconn stuff.. they lost a lot of loyalty.

  23. Re:So... on Gaming Clichés That Need To Die · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The problem is not just with the games being release, but what people buy and what advertizing sells.

    This is a tough problem to solve. Think about it. Long ago, you sat at your first FPS. Your heart raced as you blew things up and spent many sleepless nights beating a game.

    Well, someone today will turn 13 and get a Gaming system, and for the first time ever will get that same feeling.

    To you, it's an old feeling. To someone else, it's brand new. I think the popular mind set is that old gamers should go away and sit in a bar instead. To many of us, it's our hobby, we don't like to sit in bars. There needs to be a market for people that game as a hobby, something better than Warcraft at least.

  24. Re:That on WW2 Vet Sent 300,000 Pirated DVDs To Troops In Iraq, Afghanistan · · Score: 1

    To late to say "NO OFFENSE HERE", and thanks for being a douche. Ever think that poverty and other factors weigh heavily on someone being a troop? My dad died when I was very young, mom had no money for me to go to college. Grades were A/B, but not enough to get a full scholarship. The US Army was how I paid for college, as well as other things. I'd be willing to bet that my IQ is higher than yours. On top of that, I can immediately prove that I have more common sense than you. Just read your own post!.

  25. Re:That on WW2 Vet Sent 300,000 Pirated DVDs To Troops In Iraq, Afghanistan · · Score: 2

    I get your point, but don't also. If the MPAA wanted to do this, they could have made it a charity where people donated equipment, time, money etc.. and it would never cost them a dime. Shoot, look what Big Hy did out of pocket because the MPAA did nothing for an example. They could have even paid a fat lazy executive to collect a check to oversee the operation.

    This in turn would help business down the road. Doing things like this gains loyalty and sells your products for years. Those guys come back, get nicer and nicer jobs and remember the industry that helped them. They buy movies, and visit theaters, and defend their honor when people talk bad about the MPAA on /.

    Instead, we have a bunch of people that like some guy named Big Hy, and remember how this guy broke the law to help them get through some very tough times. They will also remember if Big Hy gets sued or prosecuted, and would never be advocates or good customers to the MPAA.