As you have noted, such technology is very problematic to use when it is to replace tried and trusted systems, such as that of the Vatican. No, a PGP key does not and cannot replace a Holy Seal.
What exactly is your point, my good man? Are you suggesting that it would be impossible to convert the entire United States to wireless communication within a day? Of course it would be! That goes without saying.
But by starting small, at the township and county level, then progress could have been made. But such progress was inhibited by the government, due to lobbying from the large telecoms.
Have you ever been to Prague? It is an extremely developed city. A small GDP relative to a GDP bohemoth such as the UK or the United States does not mean that such cities are underdeveloped or third-world cities. Indeed, many such in Africa are very comparible to most mid-sized American cities like St. Louis or Tampa Bay.
Of course not all of Africa is developed, much like not all of China is developed. But if you go to large cities you will find developed communities. Cities like Cairo, Nairobi, Tangiers, Tunis, Algiers, Johannesburg, etc., are all very developed.
Remember, the Vatican is a very historic place. There is monumentery there that cannot be disturbed by the placing of wireless transponders.
Besides, such systems would have very little use in the Vatican. Canon law states that all documentation from the Vatican must be in written form, on paper, and stamped with the holy seal of whichever bishop, priest, archbishop, cardinal, Pope, etc., is responsible for the document. You can't apply a holy seal to an electronic document.
Most of the larger towns and cities in Africa are quite developed. They're very similar to towns in places like Arizona and Texas. They have running water, they have power, they have sewage systems, they have phones. While they don't have the latest in fiber optic technology, they do have decent Internet subsystems. Wireless technology will allow them to forego the expenses of laying cable, thankfully. One you adapt to the local customs, many of the cities there are very nice places to live.
This is the free market at work. This is what happens when companies are forced to compete, and to innovate. This would have happened years ago in America had the government not passed legislation limiting the creation of local wireless networks by townships and counties, all due to lobbying from the large telecom corporations.
Most likely. After all, all sorts of glass runs Linux. NO, YOU COCKBAITING FUCKING IDIOT, IT DOES NOT RUN LINUX! Jesus Murphy Jones!
More geeks should learn about glass blowery.
on
Glass In Spaaaaace
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Glass blowery is an art form that all true geeks should appreciate. It combines the best of chemistry with the best of blowery and some of the most complex mathematics. Indeed, using fairly advanced physics, calculus and fluid dynamics it is possible to blow shapes such as the Archimedes spiral and the Lagrange multiloop. While most traditional glass blowers do not have the mathematics or physics background necessary to calculate the algorithm to blow awe inspiring shapes, most geeks do. It's too bad that more geeks aren't into the art form. Their talents could lead to fantastic, abstract creations!
We've done several studies on this. And like I've said repeatedly now, no, using COBOL on VMS has proven to be the best solution.
Attempts to move to more modern platforms have failed miserably. And like I said, we require clustering capabilities. Sun and IBM do not offer systems that are sufficient for our needs. Believe me, we have investigated it already.
We have some reservations about the security of Linux systems. They are becoming more prevalent, and they do not offer us the additional security by obscurity barrier that VMS offers us.
What sort of things are you discussing with your friends and associates? Are you talking about penises, scrotums and vaginas? Well, are you?
Seriously, you need to protect yourself. Don't depend on others to protect you while you're on the Internet. That's why you do certain things like not running Windows, run a solid, well-tested Linux or *BSD firewall, and practice encryption of all of your communication. The power of the Internet includes many responsibilities: one of those responsibilities is to ensure your own safety by taking the appropriate measures.
On the contrary. Our systems have had years to stabilize and mature. Like I said, attempts to migrate to more recent systems have met with dismal failure, mostly because the proposed PC-based Windows 2003 solutions fall flat on their face security wise. More secure solutions, like OpenBSD, just can't handle the workload. They don't offer the clustering support we need, let alone the infrastructure necessary for an operation the size of ours.
A switch to a non-VMS, non-COBOL solution would markedly decrease our productivity. We need systems that are up 24/7/365/forever. We can't afford to lose time rebooting our system because we had to apply the latest service pack to keep little kiddie hackers from breaking into our network.
Have you actually looked at OpenCOBOL? It's a good effort, I'll give them that. But it is nowhere near capable of handling enterprise-level workloads and plain just must work.
It'd be like using DOS in place of OpenBSD for a secure web server. Sure, it's an PC operating system and can potentially perform the task at hand. But it's just not good enough for the "Big Leagues".
We're running a BIG website. OpenBSD just doesn't scale to the magnitude we're running at. It doesn't offer the clustering capabilities of VMS. While it's better than Windows 2003 Server security-wise, it still doesn't offer the security of VMS. Switching to OpenBSD would most likely lower our productivity, assuming it were possible. Maybe of our web apps were built up around our legacy COBOL applications. While writing CGIs in COBOL is not very fun, at least VMS can handle that. OpenBSD lacks basic COBOL support.
They make their money from dumbasses and unknowledgable consumers who have been told by some dumbfuck Circuit City employee that "McAfee is secure" or "Norton is secure". Hell, such people may even be managers at large Fortune 500 corporations. Caveat emptor, my friend.
It's painfully obvious that for any applications requiring real security, you just plain shouldn't use a PC. I got ragged on a lot by my coworkers, but I always recommended an OpenVMS (on Alpha or real VAX) solution. Funnily enough, that stopped after their PC based solutions running Windows 2003 Server were cracked on a weekly basis. And that was on one of our smaller, less known websites. Our major web sites, which we run off of our OpenVMS cluster, remain completely secure.
Indeed, VMS offers the best combination of security through security and security through obscurity. The system itself is inherently rock-solid, stable and secure. Combined with the fact that most script kiddie crackers, and even some of the more seasoned pros, lack basic VMS knowledge, you're looking at very reliable systems from a security standpoint. The chance of becoming the victim of crackery is very minor.
Yes, you will be exposed to Xboxes and penises in a land of true freedom. That's just one of the results of freedom: ideas that you won't like or won't be able to mentally handle. That is the true American way, as defined by the Founding Fathers. Like I said, if you don't like freedom, then perhaps you should consider moving to Saudia Arabia, China or North Korea. You'll find their censorship far more to your liking.
Companies like McAfee and Symantec are out there to make money. Their first and foremost goal is financial profit. Only then do they concern themselves with providing secure security software. It's plainly obvious that profit comes before quality when dealing with PC security software companies.
Are you prepared and willing to finance this legal battle you propose? Remember, lawyers are not cheap. And many open source developers are students who can barely afford to eat Kraft Dinner, let alone afford a lawyer to defend the copyright on a piece of software they're not making any direct financial gains from. If you want this courtroom battle, then you'll have to finance it yourself.
I'd recommend Kubuntu (http://kubuntu.org/). It offers you the very user friendly power of KDE, combined with the awe inspiring packaging of Debian and the quick release cycles of Ubuntu. The system will be very usable right away, but not as restrictive and Mandrive and Lycoris releases. You'll be able to hit the shell if you choose to do so, but you're not forced into using it by any means.
No, you fool. Did you read the parent post? It suggested that the best way to learn Linux was to drop down to the shell. I was stating the fact that many people don't want to use a command line. That's why GUI-based systems are so popular.
You're right, it wouldn't be too appealing to be eating breakfast, and then a gaping anus shows up on the cereal box. Or even worse, a penis infected with STDs and corn flakes stuck to the wounds.
Re:They are worldwide political issues, my friend.
on
Dr Who Rolls On
·
· Score: 1
I'm glad we agree these are world issues, and must be dealt with on a global scale.
That's a very shallowminded view. They're more that just "message boards". They are social indicators, and in this case they're indicating that many Americans running public forums fail to grasp that freedom of expression is what makes America a great nation.
See, America is the sort of nation where people can post pictures of goatse. It's call freedom. I know, sometimes somebody may say something that you just don't like. It'll tickle your fancy in the wrong way. But that's the true price of freedom: complete openmindedness. You can't hide from the ideas that scare you or disgust your puny mind. Yes, that's freedom.
See, your views of intentionally limiting free speech are more appropriate in places like Commmunist China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Have you considered relocating to one of those nations recently? They could most likely employ you to stifle the freedom of their citizenry, since that sounds like a passion of yours.
Slashdot Mirror
As you have noted, such technology is very problematic to use when it is to replace tried and trusted systems, such as that of the Vatican. No, a PGP key does not and cannot replace a Holy Seal.
What exactly is your point, my good man? Are you suggesting that it would be impossible to convert the entire United States to wireless communication within a day? Of course it would be! That goes without saying.
But by starting small, at the township and county level, then progress could have been made. But such progress was inhibited by the government, due to lobbying from the large telecoms.
Have you ever been to Prague? It is an extremely developed city. A small GDP relative to a GDP bohemoth such as the UK or the United States does not mean that such cities are underdeveloped or third-world cities. Indeed, many such in Africa are very comparible to most mid-sized American cities like St. Louis or Tampa Bay.
Of course not all of Africa is developed, much like not all of China is developed. But if you go to large cities you will find developed communities. Cities like Cairo, Nairobi, Tangiers, Tunis, Algiers, Johannesburg, etc., are all very developed.
Remember, the Vatican is a very historic place. There is monumentery there that cannot be disturbed by the placing of wireless transponders.
Besides, such systems would have very little use in the Vatican. Canon law states that all documentation from the Vatican must be in written form, on paper, and stamped with the holy seal of whichever bishop, priest, archbishop, cardinal, Pope, etc., is responsible for the document. You can't apply a holy seal to an electronic document.
Most of the larger towns and cities in Africa are quite developed. They're very similar to towns in places like Arizona and Texas. They have running water, they have power, they have sewage systems, they have phones. While they don't have the latest in fiber optic technology, they do have decent Internet subsystems. Wireless technology will allow them to forego the expenses of laying cable, thankfully. One you adapt to the local customs, many of the cities there are very nice places to live.
This is the free market at work. This is what happens when companies are forced to compete, and to innovate. This would have happened years ago in America had the government not passed legislation limiting the creation of local wireless networks by townships and counties, all due to lobbying from the large telecom corporations.
Most likely. After all, all sorts of glass runs Linux. NO, YOU COCKBAITING FUCKING IDIOT, IT DOES NOT RUN LINUX! Jesus Murphy Jones!
Glass blowery is an art form that all true geeks should appreciate. It combines the best of chemistry with the best of blowery and some of the most complex mathematics. Indeed, using fairly advanced physics, calculus and fluid dynamics it is possible to blow shapes such as the Archimedes spiral and the Lagrange multiloop. While most traditional glass blowers do not have the mathematics or physics background necessary to calculate the algorithm to blow awe inspiring shapes, most geeks do. It's too bad that more geeks aren't into the art form. Their talents could lead to fantastic, abstract creations!
We've done several studies on this. And like I've said repeatedly now, no, using COBOL on VMS has proven to be the best solution.
Attempts to move to more modern platforms have failed miserably. And like I said, we require clustering capabilities. Sun and IBM do not offer systems that are sufficient for our needs. Believe me, we have investigated it already.
We have some reservations about the security of Linux systems. They are becoming more prevalent, and they do not offer us the additional security by obscurity barrier that VMS offers us.
What sort of things are you discussing with your friends and associates? Are you talking about penises, scrotums and vaginas? Well, are you?
Seriously, you need to protect yourself. Don't depend on others to protect you while you're on the Internet. That's why you do certain things like not running Windows, run a solid, well-tested Linux or *BSD firewall, and practice encryption of all of your communication. The power of the Internet includes many responsibilities: one of those responsibilities is to ensure your own safety by taking the appropriate measures.
... and we're about as "Big League" as you get.
On the contrary. Our systems have had years to stabilize and mature. Like I said, attempts to migrate to more recent systems have met with dismal failure, mostly because the proposed PC-based Windows 2003 solutions fall flat on their face security wise. More secure solutions, like OpenBSD, just can't handle the workload. They don't offer the clustering support we need, let alone the infrastructure necessary for an operation the size of ours.
A switch to a non-VMS, non-COBOL solution would markedly decrease our productivity. We need systems that are up 24/7/365/forever. We can't afford to lose time rebooting our system because we had to apply the latest service pack to keep little kiddie hackers from breaking into our network.
Have you actually looked at OpenCOBOL? It's a good effort, I'll give them that. But it is nowhere near capable of handling enterprise-level workloads and plain just must work.
It'd be like using DOS in place of OpenBSD for a secure web server. Sure, it's an PC operating system and can potentially perform the task at hand. But it's just not good enough for the "Big Leagues".
We're running a BIG website. OpenBSD just doesn't scale to the magnitude we're running at. It doesn't offer the clustering capabilities of VMS. While it's better than Windows 2003 Server security-wise, it still doesn't offer the security of VMS. Switching to OpenBSD would most likely lower our productivity, assuming it were possible. Maybe of our web apps were built up around our legacy COBOL applications. While writing CGIs in COBOL is not very fun, at least VMS can handle that. OpenBSD lacks basic COBOL support.
They make their money from dumbasses and unknowledgable consumers who have been told by some dumbfuck Circuit City employee that "McAfee is secure" or "Norton is secure". Hell, such people may even be managers at large Fortune 500 corporations. Caveat emptor, my friend.
It's painfully obvious that for any applications requiring real security, you just plain shouldn't use a PC. I got ragged on a lot by my coworkers, but I always recommended an OpenVMS (on Alpha or real VAX) solution. Funnily enough, that stopped after their PC based solutions running Windows 2003 Server were cracked on a weekly basis. And that was on one of our smaller, less known websites. Our major web sites, which we run off of our OpenVMS cluster, remain completely secure.
Indeed, VMS offers the best combination of security through security and security through obscurity. The system itself is inherently rock-solid, stable and secure. Combined with the fact that most script kiddie crackers, and even some of the more seasoned pros, lack basic VMS knowledge, you're looking at very reliable systems from a security standpoint. The chance of becoming the victim of crackery is very minor.
Yes, you will be exposed to Xboxes and penises in a land of true freedom. That's just one of the results of freedom: ideas that you won't like or won't be able to mentally handle. That is the true American way, as defined by the Founding Fathers. Like I said, if you don't like freedom, then perhaps you should consider moving to Saudia Arabia, China or North Korea. You'll find their censorship far more to your liking.
Companies like McAfee and Symantec are out there to make money. Their first and foremost goal is financial profit. Only then do they concern themselves with providing secure security software. It's plainly obvious that profit comes before quality when dealing with PC security software companies.
Are you prepared and willing to finance this legal battle you propose? Remember, lawyers are not cheap. And many open source developers are students who can barely afford to eat Kraft Dinner, let alone afford a lawyer to defend the copyright on a piece of software they're not making any direct financial gains from. If you want this courtroom battle, then you'll have to finance it yourself.
I'd recommend Kubuntu (http://kubuntu.org/). It offers you the very user friendly power of KDE, combined with the awe inspiring packaging of Debian and the quick release cycles of Ubuntu. The system will be very usable right away, but not as restrictive and Mandrive and Lycoris releases. You'll be able to hit the shell if you choose to do so, but you're not forced into using it by any means.
No, you fool. Did you read the parent post? It suggested that the best way to learn Linux was to drop down to the shell. I was stating the fact that many people don't want to use a command line. That's why GUI-based systems are so popular.
You're right, it wouldn't be too appealing to be eating breakfast, and then a gaping anus shows up on the cereal box. Or even worse, a penis infected with STDs and corn flakes stuck to the wounds.
I'm glad we agree these are world issues, and must be dealt with on a global scale.
That's a very shallowminded view. They're more that just "message boards". They are social indicators, and in this case they're indicating that many Americans running public forums fail to grasp that freedom of expression is what makes America a great nation.
See, America is the sort of nation where people can post pictures of goatse. It's call freedom. I know, sometimes somebody may say something that you just don't like. It'll tickle your fancy in the wrong way. But that's the true price of freedom: complete openmindedness. You can't hide from the ideas that scare you or disgust your puny mind. Yes, that's freedom.
See, your views of intentionally limiting free speech are more appropriate in places like Commmunist China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Have you considered relocating to one of those nations recently? They could most likely employ you to stifle the freedom of their citizenry, since that sounds like a passion of yours.