He's not an idolized member of the community. In fact, he says that open source was a mistake and refers to the community as "freetards." Impeccable citations, quotes from him, are available on request. I've already posted them in this thread so there's no reason for me to do so again. No, this isn't me making shit up, these are things he, himself, has said - including the verbatim quote of "freetard."
Basically, he used the "freetards" to gain some fame and wealth (moderate and much less than he seems to think) and now wishes to cast aside that group so that he can fit into another group more easily. The word huckster comes to mind but I prefer hypocritical betraying coward as a description.
In short, nothing he says can be trusted. I'd not even trust his software any more. He's quite clearly indicated, on several levels, that freedom is not a concern for him and takes a back seat to his own personal interests. He, by his very quotes, believes himself to be more important than you and more important than your freedom and much more important than your liberties.
I've posted the appropriate links in this thread - each and every thing I've said is repeating his own words. I'd re-link them but I think I've linked them enough. If anyone's unable to find the links then, by all means, I'll be happy to link them again. In short, the FOSS community is a derogatory term to him - it's a pejorative. See my other comments if you want proof. I've cited every single claim made here - and every claim is backed up by not just his own words but by his returning, later, and giving us affirmation that those are, indeed, his words and that they accurately describe his beliefs.
He's hypocritical in that he says one thing and does another. He's a coward in that he believes himself to be more important than your freedoms. He's betrayed the community that enabled him to have what he does have by abandoning them, deriding them, and now claiming to not agree with their viewpoints. He's even gone so far as to say that he's willfully offensive and does so intentionally.
I presume that he's been this way all along and this clearly documents a history of being untrustworthy and harmful. I'd not put any stock in anything he says and he's already demonstrated that he's untrustworthy and willing to betray those who helped him if it means that he gets what he wants - to the detriment or without concern for the community as a whole. This is all there for you to read. It's not going anywhere. The links are in this thread but, screw it, I'll post it again:
---
Something Bruce said that you might find interesting:
I'll tell you another secret then. Open Source was a mistake. I am not a Freetard any longer.
And there's a good chance that some folks will not believe this was a quote from him, it was. Others might suggest that it is taken out of context, it isn't, I will cite it:
Yes, that's verbatim and a direct quote. I've just taken the liberty of quoting my earlier response to save a few minutes. There are some other bits of information and some links in this thread. I am not making this up.
Well, I guess I'll post this yet again. I see you were modded troll. I've got the karma to spare so I'll actually give you some weight behind your statement - I'll even use facts. --- Something Bruce said that you might find interesting:
I'll tell you another secret then. Open Source was a mistake. I am not a Freetard any longer.
And there's a good chance that some folks will not believe this was a quote from him, it was. Others might suggest that it is taken out of context, it isn't, I will cite it:
This is the relevant link. --- That's a partial quote from above - the above link goes into more details, the thread that's linked can be expanded and perused at your leisure. I'm quite certain that this is justification to completely and permanently weight all of their comments accordingly. They used the FOSS community to gain some fame and some wealth and now, having a little of both, they've decided to join the crowd and turn on the very people that enabled him to be where he is today.
If you read more than the comment quoted and actually click the link you can find that he has quite a few other things to add to that. He's not the least bit concerned with freedom and is a coward. I'd hoped it was a bad night but he had the temerity to return, double-down, and was quite clear that it was not a one-off but that he was no longer a fan of open source and that the idea was a pejorative.
Basically, he used the community to get somewhere. When he got some recognition through the community he then threw the community aside and no longer wishes to be associated with them. It's like the junior high boy who finally makes a few friends with the other outcasts, somehow gets a little popularity, and then maintains his popularity by making fun of the very friends who enabled him to get a start at a social life.
In short, you can pretty much discount anything further from him. You were used and now he's going to try to abuse you. It's not me making this stuff up - the quote leads to the applicable thread. You can expand and read it. You can interpret it for yourself. It's not like I've gone ahead and edited it - you can see his exact quotes. And he's proud about having used the group of people who enabled him his moderate success. Ironically, without them - he'd still be poor and collecting welfare.
Perhaps you'll find this link to be more informative (with the extra links providing proof) than you will with anything else in this thread. He, and his opinions, can be safely discarded. Anything other than his technical chops are suspect at this point and even those are in doubt. He's used FOSS as a platform to cover and expand his cowardice. This is nothing more than an attempt to make you act in the proscribed manner.
That said, it's probably a good thing to treat people with respect and dignity. It'd be silly to assume I'm advocating anything other than that. However, it's worth noting that the source of this message is interested in controlling people and has made use of the FOSS community to gain popularity and has no turned on them to the point of being derogatory towards them.
And no, no I did not make this up - the link has the appropriate citations. I kind of doubt that/. would censor itself and delete comments on his behalf so I'm reasonably sure those comments will remain there in perpetuity. I should probably screen shot them, just in case.
Bruce's opinions on both freedom in the physical realm and freedom in the software realm are of no importance. They're unable to give valid opinions on either and anything they say is suspect when it comes to these matters. Allow me, if you will, to quote an earlier post. You'll notice that I am not fabricating anything and that I'm quoting with citations and applicable links:
I'll quote it in its entirety: ----- Something Bruce said that you might find interesting:
I'll tell you another secret then. Open Source was a mistake. I am not a Freetard any longer.
And there's a good chance that some folks will not believe this was a quote from him, it was. Others might suggest that it is taken out of context, it isn't, I will cite it:
Yes, I would take your gun. I hope to do so someday.
And, again, a citation for those who would insist on evidence.
Note: None of that is edited, taken out of context, and is all easily verified by simply clicking the provided links. The conversation can be expanded with ease and there are multiple comments that may be of interest.
Something Bruce said that you might find interesting:
I'll tell you another secret then. Open Source was a mistake. I am not a Freetard any longer.
And there's a good chance that some folks will not believe this was a quote from him, it was. Others might suggest that it is taken out of context, it isn't, I will cite it:
Yes, I would take your gun. I hope to do so someday.
And, again, a citation for those who would insist on evidence.
Note: None of that is edited, taken out of context, and is all easily verified by simply clicking the provided links. The conversation can be expanded with ease and there are multiple comments that may be of interest.
Rum is like force, it fixes everything. If you've tried either and still found that it is not working then you need to apply more of it.
I kind of miss drinking. Oh well... I did have a couple for the Christmas holiday (two and only two but they were mostly rum with a splash of coke) and I'll be responsible for others and making things go as high was ~650 feet and going boom tomorrow night (which is when the NYE fest is) so it wouldn't be a good idea to drink tomorrow.
That's unfortunate because things that go boom and alcohol are two things that go naturally hand-in-hand. They're so belonging together that we have a whole government agency called the BATFE. To paraphrase another's/.er's signature; The BATFE should be the name of a retail outlet. This being America, and my being in Florida, I'll even go so far as to suggest that it shouldn't just be a store but it should be a store with a convenient drive-thru window.
Yes! Art Bell is the guy, indeed. I'm actually not sure if it is he who is loony or if he just lets the loony people participate in his show? I've no idea what politics he holds, what his beliefs are, or if he has some sort of agenda. He's the one (from checking online by searching for his name that you shared with me) that I am thinking of. He's not the only one -- he just seems to be about the most popular.
Depending on where you are in the country (they'll often be localized and not syndicated) you can find a bunch more just like him. Well, that's not entirely accurate. There don't appear to be a "bunch" and they're not "just like him." But, they're different only exactly the same. *nods* I've found a great one in Alabama but, alas, you'll have to wait for me to go to Alabama (right next door to my current stop - almost a certainty that I'll go there) before I can recollect and share the name.
The AM band is kind of awesome like that. I'm told that it's relatively inexpensive to set up a lower-powered AM station. If I recall correctly, you'd know a great deal about that - far more than I ever would. Hmm... Was that you? Yeah - I'm pretty sure. You're into radio and have a ham license, as I recollect? Wife, Mint, no kernel updates, ham radio, PA, not in a major city or outside of it, and whatnot?
So, yeah, you'd almost certainly know more about the AM station thing than I would but I understand that it's neither difficult nor expensive to get an AM station on the air. If you recall a conversation of ours, some months ago, then you might remember that I could probably put an AM station up but have no idea how to do so. (Large antenna, chance to buy a large tower, friends who are hams, and having what they call a "cold backup" site that they plan on putting to use if the zombie apocalypse comes.) I have all the equipment, I bought much of it new but some of it is stuff that they've brought over. I actually know some of how it works and I listen sometimes but I don't use the key or the mic. I'm also way up on the side of a mountain so I'd probably have good propagation to the E, SE, and S.
I've tried the religion thing but I just can't get into listening to it. I'm more a talk-news and not a preach-at kind of guy. This doesn't mean that I don't do it - it just means that I'm usually looking for talk radio that's not religious in nature.
But, there has been talk from some people (I assume that they're young) who want to get rid of the AM bands altogether. It's disheartening that folks would even suggest that. I find the band wonderfully fun at times. As it's so inexpensive and easy to get access, you end up getting things that might not be profitable enough to put onto the FM bands. I haven't found any in years but I used to come across a channel or two that was actually a bit like the public access cable channels. They were every bit as bad (read as good) as one might expect.
Oh, seeing as I have you here... Sometimes I come across an AM channel that claims to be in stereo. I don't think my receiver can handle AM stereo. I'd thought that the bandwidth for stereo was a bit more than AM could handle while still being within their assigned power levels. So, while I've never had/heard/used any AM broadcasts in stereo - why not? Are the occasional ads for stereo AM broadcasts legit? Do I actually need special hardware to properly process stereo in the AM spectrum? I'm pretty sure that the radio's documentation specifically mentions FM, FM Stereo, and AM (but no AM Stereo). I'll also add that I don't think I've used the AM function of the car that I have with me on my wanderlust. I'm pretty sure it has it - but I've never used it. I've only done FM and streamed stuff to it by way of my phone.
If you can shed some light and give an old feeble man some information (or even where I might search for the technical details) that'd be awesome but don't go out of your way to do it on my behalf. It's not really that important. I just seem to recollect that you're a ham and so I can probably rely on you for intelligent (and correct) answers and this subject reminds me to ask you.
Now that might work. Even *I* know that song but I don't recollect all the words. YouTube should start playing it in a moment. I don't think I've heard that in a long time - I think it was pretty new when I heard it the first time. Hell, I can even recall where I was when I heard it first.
I was up visiting a great-aunt, on my father's side, in Nova Scotia. She's actually a bit of a teetotaler and a regular church attendee. She's a rather strict old lady and a bit prim, proper, and judgmental. However, she not only knew this song but shared it with me and sang along - as she knew every single last word in the song.
I never asked where she picked it up, how she'd learned it, or which of my younger relatives had conned her into listening to it for the first time. Apparently she enjoyed it. She was mostly prim, proper, and judgmental when she had company of that type or when she was out in public or at a church function or the likes. She's passed away now. We have no official birth records but it's believed she was 109 when she died but, if you used her math, she was actually 113. Some relatives think it was 104 but her death certificate has her listed at 109.
Longevity and good health run on that side of the family (Micmac). This is the part that most people are unwilling to accept; She died with an old crusty corn-cob pipe on her nightstand (not used so much near the end) and a bottle of dandelion wine, made by her nephew, under the bed. I didn't know her that well, I never met her until I was kind of old myself. I met her in 2008/2009 maybe? I only saw her a few times after that and after the second time she was no longer able to remember my name as well as a bunch of other things.
I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure that she was never diagnosed with Alzheimer's or anything. She just got old and those synapses no longer connected. I'm not too well educated on age-related cognitive health issues but I think someone once mentioned that it was dementia setting in. I've never looked into it but I'd thought that dementia was brought on by either Alzheimer's or something similar. She was in moderate health, all things considered, and I can only speculate that she just got old and the brain no longer wanted to function properly. I'm not sure if it's a disease other than a simple result of aging.
Ah well... I'm a bit bored so I figured I'd share something different today. I've talked about her before, here on Slashdot, but I don't think I'd ever mentioned the rest of the story or at least that much of the story. She was quite a character and the differences between her behavior outside and what she was like in front of the family were really amusing.
She was pretty functional for a long time. She worked until she was in her mid-80s as a seamstress, tailor, knitting and crocheting stuff to sell, and whatnot. She still stayed active for quite some time after that but she no longer took in work or sold a lot of her work. I have a quilt that she made sometime back in the 1950s. My kids, they never met her, both have something from her. My daughter has a couple of two-headed dolls - they have a head at both ends and the dress covers the head not in use at the time. My son has some embroidered (or is it tatted?) throw-pillow covers. They're made of some sort of cloth (probably cotton) and then have a handmade lace finish that decorates the cover, only one side is covered in lace and the back has a split in it with some overlap. They were handed down after she passed away.
Anyhow, there's no real point in this message. I just figured that I'd share why I'd heard of the song and share the amusing (to me) part about it all. It's not like I had more pressing issues at the moment except that I should probably sleep - tomorrow's a big day/night. Oh, and for the record, she not only had a computer at the end but she also had internet access. Her vision wasn't very good but she'd wanted one to write down her memoirs. She never did get around to doing all of it and typing was rather difficult.
Almost nobody will understand that post. +1! Best Pun of 2016, but the year is still early. Absolutely fantastic AC, absolutely fantastic!
I've noticed that, over the years, I've bumped into a lot of people who think that it is Neil Young. I might have even believed it was him but I don't think so - there's a chance, however.
I'll share with you a quick story, or at least as quick as I can make it. The best pun I have ever said/used was one then went entirely unnoticed.
I have a friend who actually competed in Classical Wrestling. I think they even studied it but I'd not swear to that. There are, it turns out, quite a few different variations on the theme. He competed in the Greco-Roman styles, as I recall.
Later, he went to a school in the South East - I'm not able to recollect where. That school was to learn about the wrestling that you normally see on television. He even ended up going to somewhere in Connecticut (again, I'm not positive where) and was able to participate (I'll not call it competing) in a few matches before he blew out his knee and ending his career.
I tell you that so that I can tell you this:
At some point, I believe in the late 1990s, I was at his house and he had that wrestling stuff on. Someone fairly new and gaining in popularity (perhaps by infamy, buggered if I know) and his shtick was to take the microphone and say, "I want you to want me... I need you to need me." And so on. I said to my friend, "Hey, he's quoting song lyrics, pretty much verbatim."
Mike replied, "Yeah, he stole it."
I replied, "Well, that's a cheap trick."
Alas, not only were he and I in the room but a bunch of other people were all there. I seem to recall we were smoking and drinking and someone had been playing video games before turning the television on.
But, I'd made the absolutely best and most beautiful pun - the best one ever made.
And absolutely zero people noticed. Not one person heard it and indicated that they'd understood it. I was greatly disappointed. To this day, I am disappointed.
Oh well... This thread is kind of old now so it's unlikely that many people will read this. I do wonder how many people, if any, will know what I'm talking about? Were the thread a bit more fresh then I'd expect a couple of people to Google it. So, the best pun that I ever came up with - it was perfect timing too - was noticed and groaned about by exactly zero people. Damn it!
I don't even have a 3-D television. I don't even like 'em in the movies, for the most part. I not only don't keep up, I don't really watch much in the way of television.
I also am not sure that my post was clear, in reflection, and should make an attempt remedy that. Also, I could be misinterpreting your reply - that tone thing would come in handy at times. At any rate, this is probably going to end up longer than it should. Obviously, you needn't read or reply but I'll try to make it legible.
That post was not directed towards you but was an attempt to converse with you and to add to your post with citing my observations. It was not, shall we say, an attempt to argue, debate, or even try to demonstrate some superiority. It was mentioned to add to your salient point and to see if you had any feedback or, perhaps, some insight as to the motivations of those who display such behavioral characteristics.
If I meant you, you in particular, demonstrated or exhibited those traits then I'd have mentioned that or, more likely, not have bothered expressing the thought.
Let me be clear here: This is not a failing on your part. This is due to *my* failings. I am not the most articulate (but I'm quite verbose) and sometimes operate under the assumption that you're privy to the many thoughts that are in my head. I'm not sure why I do that - probably because my posts are already novellas and the added information would make them more difficult to digest. So, I apologize for not having been clear enough in my post and for you (from what I see) believing that such was directed at you - it was not. novella warning. I'm pretty sure that this is going to be a fairly long post - bear with me, if you wish, and I think this is an interesting tangent that you may be amused by or interested in. I suspect you can skip the part between the "---" and still get the gist of it. It's mostly going to be just a bit of an experience that gives background into why and how I've decided to believe the things I do. It necessitates some history if it's to be as clear as it could be.
---
That said, there have been lots of fads that have come and gone. Someone replied to my reply to you to point out that we, as a whole, aren't really good at predicting tech trends. I suspect that's because we're at a different level than most, where tech is concerned, so what is valuable to us is not necessarily of value to the majority. We're no longer in a position where we're driving the trends and so we're a bit subjected to the whims of the masses, as unfortunate as that is.
I almost typed this out to another one of your comments in this thread... I'll share it now. I hope you don't mind the digression and, honestly, I value your feedback.
I was driving along the Skyway in Buffalo, New York. I stopped there while I was engaging in my wanderlust. It was in that area that, by happenstance, I bumped into a very young and very beautiful female. In bumping into each other (the velcro that you mentioned in our journal conversation) and her sticking, I ended up with some added complexity which meant that I remained in the area for a while.
So, I was on that Skyway and heading to Niagara Falls and it occurred to me that I could see the city and had a pretty good view of some interesting landmarks, features, and buildings. First, I wanted to know the history of the Skyway. I wanted to know who made it, who designed it, when it was built, it's designed throughput, what the greatest height was, how many exits it had, what the safety record was, what happened during construction, and many other things.
That moment, that moment in time, was an epiphany for me. It's when it finally clicked for me (some things take a while and then something clicks and I "get it") and I looked out on the expanse and was displeased. I was greatly displeased. Even the gods, if not my girlfriend, were aware of my unhappiness and frustration.
See, it would be awesome to have that kind of information available on command. I admit, I s
I take that back. In the effort to be accurate and honest, I made a mistake. I do, in fact, have my iPod with me. I did not recollect bringing it with me and I do not recollect having used it since I went on my wanderlust but She Who Must be Obeyed tells me that I do, in fact, have it with me - in my suitcase. How she knows this is beyond me - as not even I remember putting it there, pulling it out, or mentioning it. She was also not even known to me when I started this journey. She did, however, unpack my stuff as I was putting stuff away. I'm guessing that's how she knows - I'd ask but she's meandered off again.
Which, alas, means I too need to meander off soon. Well, maybe... I'm not yet tired but tomorrow is a big day. Things shall go boom!
But, in an effort to ensure that my statement is accurate - I do, in fact, have an iDevice with me. It's an iPod touch with a bunch of songs loaded onto it and I think it has bluetooth but I've never actually used that functionality. Err... I can hook it to the infotainment system in the car but I have never done so and I'm not exactly sure how I would go about doing so. At any rate, I was mistaken and wish to correct that statement. The rest of the statement is, as far as I know, accurate.
Dude... I love to hate on Apple as much as the next graybeard but, really, having the most patched vulnerabilities is not necessarily a bad thing and, based on what I know and can see, the OS X operating system is, factually, quite secure by default. The greatest vulnerability that any operating system or software has is not actually in the code itself but in the seat of the user, in the minds of the maintainer, and in the implementation on the stack.
Hate on OS X all you want but, really, it's pretty damned secure. Fixing found vulnerabilities, regardless of the number, is a good thing and it is even better when they are doing so proactively without the need for it to have reached the point where they're in-use exploits.
Lest you think I'm a fanboy, I gave up being a participant as a Microsoft MVP award winner and community participant, much of my history is using Solaris and using Sun workstations, this post is being sent to you by means of a convoluted setup (through a connection way up in Maine) that all runs on Linux, and the only Apple device that I own is an iPod which is somewhere in my pile of stuff back in Maine.
Hate all you want but, by default, OS X and iOS are both rather secure by default. To imply or believe otherwise is just silly. I have no desire to use Apple products, I have no financial ties with the company (as far as I know - I may own some shares but I don't know if I do), and I am certainly not a fan of their business practices.
Also, do not tell CanadianMacFan, macs4all, or Noah Haders that I said any of this. I reserve the right to retract the above statement if a desire to go trolling should come along. If they found out that I'd admitted such (though I have before) they might not let me live it down.
Assuming you speak of the (patched) GRUB issue, that just gets 'em past the boot loader. That doesn't actually get them into the OS, don't actually decrypt the/home directory, and doesn't enable them to do anything they probably couldn't already do just by using a Live USB disk.
Yes, it was a silly bug and one that survived for a long time. However, most of us don't even use that and it doesn't actually portend to be much in the way of a security feature. Of the few places where I could see someone making legitimate use of it, say a kiosk, the GRUB menu should have been hidden and not in use in the first place. It's literally like finding a security hole in a butter knife. Yes, it's dumb and it shouldn't have lasted that long but it really didn't mean anything and the likelihood of it leading to any sort of compromise is pretty low.
I can think of absolutely zero computers, or realistic settings, where that would be considered a security feature of any value. Truly, not one situation (that I've come up with) where one would want to use that as even a part of a layered defense comes to mind. Some of the threads here have wracked our brains trying to figure out why this feature even exists. Most of us haven't even used it. It's not much different than a BIOS password protection system except it is slightly less important than that - at least keeping the BIOS protected is a sound choice in a public system.
And no, before you decide I'm a fanboy, I'm actually pretty good (I think) at being objective. Further up the thread, I mentioned that I felt the count for the Linux vulnerabilities was lower than it probably should be based on sheer numbers alone. I'm not some rabid fan who is unwilling to be objective or a zealot that thinks I need to get affirmation by convincing you that my choice in operating system is the right or best choice for you to make with your hardware.
It's just that it's a really, really stupid vulnerability and rather amusing that it was in place for so long. I'm not even sure why one would have that feature enabled. It's truly pointless - or damned close to it. There are so many better ways to layer on security than to rely on something like a boot loader password that I've never even bothered to give it any consideration, look into the mechanism, and still don't see why I would.
But yes, it's damned amusing that it managed to survive as long as it did.
If you've not seen 'em, they're a quasi-frequent troll. I think it's copypasta. I'm going to guesstimate that they've been posting that for the past six months. It's not as frequent as Goatse, Cow, APPS!, or the Republicans hate us and want us to die but it's not actually original content or anything.
Yes, yes I do get bored and visit frequently. I've almost always got a Slashdot tab open so I meander over and read to see if someone's said something interesting. Usually the answer is in the affirmative - which is why I keep doing it. Sometimes, it's the Rust language solves all security issues guy, but that's not that often.
I dunno how accurate that is. See, I work hard to be objective an unbiased. I'll see how well I can articulate this, 'tis not my strong suit.
I use Lubuntu. I also have some Ubuntu installs. I also have some Mint installs and Mint is a derivative of Ubuntu. On top of this, I have all of those (except for server installs) set to update daily. Sometimes, out of boredom, I even will update manually in the middle of the day to see what's going on and if anything new has come down the pipe.
That said, I also read (not always but often enough) the descriptions of those updates. I see security updates all the time. I mean, daily - some times. It has been a little slow since just before Christmas but there were a few that popped up. I see trivial security issues but security issues they are. I see them by the hundreds, throughout the life of a version. I see them impacting multiple versions, some going back to the oldest LTS build. I see them impacting this and that and, really, most of them are really trivial and not even remotely plausible but they're still security fixes as they could lead to exploits.
I am not exaggerating when I say that I am pretty sure there has to have been at least 100 of them (perhaps more - I've not kept count) with just Lubuntu 15.10. 15.10 was released in the end of October 2015. These aren't just for Linux (the kernel) but for the whole OS and the default applications. They're borderline security issues, in my verbiage, where "a local attacker could cause ____ and get ____ and have escalated permissions" and things of that nature. In other words, they're fairly trivial and not all of them have been exploited - only that they *could* be exploited.
I admit, I have not kept count. However, I *do* have all the various emails from the many mailing lists. I do have all the announcements. I could count them - but it's rather irrelevant. I'd not be surprised to find out there were more than 100 updates that resolved security issues. (I'd be surprised to find out that even one of them was exploited in the real world.) I've read a stack of 'em and I see them with great frequency - almost daily and probably more frequently than daily if I averaged them out.
I don't mind seeing them. I'm glad their fixed. I appreciate the notice and I install them all immediately. However, these numbers don't seem to be taken into account and I've no idea why they're excluded. This is not a claim that any one OS is more or less secure. Security is a process, not an application, and the greatest security weakness is the user in the chair - regardless of the operating system.
But, and I hope this has made sense, the numbers are suspect. I see far higher numbers than what other people are claiming. I know, I know I didn't count 'em and I'm not going to. However, spend the next 30 days reading/just/ the "Ubuntu Base" updates or the likes. Read the mailing lists. There's a bunch of exploits that are quietly patched, nobody notices, and they were pretty damned trivial to begin with but to suggest that they don't count is a bit misleading. I'm not kidding about the 100 or so since just October, it was late October at that! It's probably more than 100. I'd be kind of surprised if it wasn't that many but I'm far too lazy to go count 'em all.
Hmm... I could spin up a VM and have a look to see what downloads but that might not be accurate as some will have been depreciated by newer versions and I won't get an accurate count. In short, it's a lot of 'em. I'm glad they're fixed and they're not huge gaping holes - but they're still vulnerabilities and probably not included in these numbers.
An interesting, to me, aside is that we'll count a vulnerability in IE, Outlook, Windows Mail, Windows Media Player, and all that sort of stuff as a "Windows" vulnerability. Yet, if there's an exploit in SSL, GRUB, or MKUSB then we immediately say, "Linux is the kernel!"
To be honest, Windows, the OS itself, hasn't really had a whole lot of exploits in a long time. Microsoft has really stepped up their game and have managed to harden it fairly well. Given the ubiquity, the need for backwards compatibility, and the varied versions on disparate hardware - that's rather impressive.
That said, I still prefer Linux. I much prefer the system as a whole, at least at the moment, and can manage to keep both secure enough to suit my needs. Well, I'd probably be a little rusty at keeping a Windows box secure but it shouldn't be too hard to get back into the swing of things.
I have no idea how well they will work but I followed someone's link up-thread, read a bit, and ordered two for a silly project that I'm going to work on while I waste the winter away in the Floridian warm climes. I'll almost surely leave said project here, where it will irritate and confuse my children when they come here to make use of the property. It will keep itself charged while I am away.
Anyhow, I may well write up my experiences but it looks like others are really quite happy with it and the community looks pretty dedicated. That's why I decided to order 'em. At home, I have some of the first Raspberry Pi things - including cases, and those never actually got used. I've unboxed one and have five more still sitting in the larger box and collecting dust. I'll probably end up sending them off to someone who might make better use of them than I have.
I've a kid who takes care of my lawn and things of that nature and I've kind of turned him into a geek over the years. However, I'm pretty sure that these aren't anything that he'd be interested in playing with. I'd send them to the local elementary school, even if just for the IT guy to play with, but I only have six (maybe 8) and I'm not sure that they'd do them any good.
Ah well... I've got a few people in the AskUbuntu site community who may be interested in taking them off my hands and will be sentient enough to remind me to forward them along when I get back to Maine. They've been sitting idle, complete with SD cards that I bought just for them, for at least two years now. I've concluded that I'll never actually make use of them, their cases, the SD cards, or any of the documentation and software that I collected as I prepared myself for the project. I'm not sure if something else caught my eye or if it just seemed uninteresting after I got the stuff together but I can only conclude that it's not getting done.
That does look sexy. In fact, it looks so sexy that I just ordered two. My son piqued my interest and gave me a reason to consider delving (back) into this subject just yesterday. What is that reason (you neither asked nor care)? Well, err... I might be 58 but I'm not much different than a five year old. I am going to build not just a robot but I'm going to turn it into a media server robot. Yes, yes I am. No, no I have no good reason. No, I do not expect good results. Yes, I expect to enjoy myself.
Oh, it's going to come by name (and navigate it's own path) and deliver a small keyboard or remote. It, in turn, will control a second one that does the actual display - shunted to a TV and not mobile, via HDMI. I may even make it follow us around the living room and get in the way and be otherwise annoying. For I am on a mission.
Oh, yes, it will be entirely pointless but good fun.
Ha! I am not the only one. I'm actually rather fond of talk radio but I usually find myself listening to NPR. I'm not so naive as to say that they are not without bias but, I digress and that's immaterial.
See, I sometimes find myself listening to things like Fox News Radio or whatever they call it. The thing is, I'm pretty sure that they don't actually understand *why* I'm listening. Oh, I'd sure as hell not count on it for being unbiased, accurate, or even news. I listen to it because it's colorful and damned good entertainment. It's funnier than hell to hear some of the opinion shows, listen to the folks call in, and then listen to their talking heads have a discussion on deep subjects such as politics, science, religion, or current events.
It's a great source of entertainment when you're driving, late at night, on a desolate highway with nothing but the mile markers to keep you company. The missus, snuggled up in her seat, and some guy telling me that the Democrats are all lizard people who eat the brains of good Christian children as a delicacy. The best part is that it's free entertainment!
Oh, and don't get me wrong, the Democrats are equally stupid but I hold them to a higher standard because they claim they are more intelligent and they, at least, ought to know better than to do some of what they do. I'm also aware that NPR has its slant and probably has some objective. But they're just not nearly as funny as a late night talk show on Fox New Radio. The next best thing is some crazy guy that I sometimes find on AM radio. I don't know his name but I'm pretty sure he's convinced there are aliens everywhere, people living in the hollow earth, and that we're all just mice in a cage so that the Master Race can study us. Great entertainment!
Reasonable doubt is a defense. "Would a reasonable person believe that the evidence indicates the accused is guilty of the crime as is alleged by the State?"
So, with some thinking... What I'd think would *likely* be the best route (and I am not a lawyer but I am quite interested in matters of law) would be an accusation of a civil offense.
The difference in a civil and criminal trial, where criminal charges include a potential penalty that results in loss of freedom, is the burden of proof. I'm not very articulate but I'll try...
In a criminal trial the State must prove, to a jury or judge, that the defendant committed the offense beyond all reasonable doubt. (Note: Not beyond all doubt.) In a civil trial the plaintiff must prove, to a jury or judge, that the defendant more likely than not committed the offense. (Preponderance of evidence and all that.)
So, a civil trial might be the way to go, to get precedent set, and then maybe work the way up from there. What'd need to happen (I think) is that someone would need some evidence to show that they were recorded, by a smart TV in a situation where they did not consent, and that record was stored. (I'm *guessing* that a temporary, non-transmitted, local storage used for processing would not fall into the category but I have not taken the time to read the law(s) nor read any case histories.)
I'd need to read how they're defining it, how the law is written, (if) any exceptions are granted, if there's a use requirement, if there's a human interaction required, etc... I don't know enough to accurately opine on this specific law so the above is mostly speculation and is based on what I do know about the justice system. Also, many judges have a "straight face" test that they apply before deciding if one has standing. Can you say, with a straight face, that there has been harm? This varies greatly and depends on the judge. I believe most jurisdictions allow for one to appeal a judge concluding that you have no standing. Some judges are more open to interpretations than others.
I am not a lawyer but I've spent many hours in a court room and had the opportunity to work in a mock court to help pay for schooling. It was one of my favorite jobs, actually. I've spent much time in court and have used legal council as actual council and not as representatives in the past. I've worked to defend myself, and a few friends, in both civil and criminal courts and had some success with both. None of what I said should be taken as legal advice, this is not a lawyer/client relationship. I encourage you to seek professional and qualified legal council in your particular jurisdiction.
I wear moderation like that as a Badge of Honor. My favorite is when I reply to someone, they get the OT mod, and I get a +5 informative. I do not understand that - I've seen in multiple times. I'm also a little fond of the 'troll' mod when all I did was point out the facts. It's even funnier if I've included citations. The "flamebait" is kind of silly and, I admit, I might be guilty of that one from time to time. I'm also guilty of troll but I'm usually much more subtle about it. I can be perfectly polite, salient, and on-topic - but still trolling.
That said, I'm kind of partial to the off-topic mod category. I strive to make several off-topic posts per day, sometimes more than that. Someone's gotta do it and, after all, Slashdot is my personal blog.
Mostly, I don't actually worry about it because they'll have to work really hard to actually change my karma level. I peaked out long ago and I'm pretty sure I should have lapped the system several times over by now. I did have a stalker. They said they were going to mod down everything I posted. I found that amusing but it was even better when they actually tried. You could actually see when they did it - they'd be five in a row. Then that meta moderation started kicking in and pretty soon it was five every couple of days, then once a week, and now it's only three at a time and maybe once a week.
They haven't done it for a while so I'm thinking that they no longer get mod points. The most amusing part was that someone was going along behind 'em and fixing their moderation. I might be guilty of egging them on a little.
Ah well... I neither moderate nor meta moderate. Who am I to judge? I read at -1 and consider the topic to be a suggestion, not a rule. On that note, Happy New Year. Tomorrow night, there will be a bunch of people over (including a couple of folks from Slashdot - and maybe a few more but that's still up in the air) and we'll be setting off more things that go boom than I've ever set off, at one time, in my entire life. Booze and food is free. 'Tis too bad you're up there and I'm down here, else you could join us in making things go boom.
The weather indicates it will be clear. The airport says I'll have (they think) at least a 1000' ceiling and I only need ~625' - 650'. Things should be just fine.
You have a *very* valid point. Sometime within the past month, I was following someone's signature link. It took me to an old thread - one from back when I had my first account, I kinda, sorta, even remembered the thread.
It was about this new company called VMware. I'd say that maybe 1:20 comments actually understood the implications and thought it, "might catch on." The vast majority were certain that virtualization wouldn't catch on, that the price was too high, and that it was too complicated so it would never work. Most of the comments seemed to think that rebooting was better. The rest were going to stick with Windows 95 or switch to Linux and couldn't see any use for virtualization at all.
Some groups overlapped. Oh, and there were a few off-topic and plain trolling comments. I was, shall we say, greatly amused and I found it unfortunate that it was before the day of the big database burp so all the comments were unclaimed as "anonymous coward." I'd liked to have been able to read some of those names and see if they're still active today.
I don't think I'd commented in that thread but I seem to recall that, around that time, we were using things like clustered servers and even looking into things like a distributed file system. The idea was compelling to us and we ended up looking at some virtualization tech not long after and were willing to take the plunge. I dare say, it came in handy. This was before containers, docker, a hypervisor, and things of that nature.
So, yes... Slashdot is absolutely horrible at predicting booms and busts. 2016 is going to be the year of Linux on the Desktop - because I use it and that means everyone should! Also, anyone who doesn't is mentally retarded and a poopy head.
I've poked at that distro (assuming it's the one in your signature). Back at the start of last year (2015) I finally decided to switch entirely to Linux. I'd always had Linux installed on a partition. In fact, I used to use Unix (AIX or Solaris, mostly) exclusively. Then, for whatever reason, I started using Windows and I was happy with it.
I noticed that my brain was turning to mush and I wasn't learning anything new. I was just passively consuming and learning little. As I age, I insist on learning new things - it's my way of keeping sharp. So, I tried pretty much every popular Linux distro on bare metal or in a VM.
IIRC, PCLinuxOS was a fairly small project but a fairly consistent one - like someone (or a few someones) kept working at it and just kept it going at a fairly constant rate. I'd read through a bunch of older posts, news articles, and whatnot. I'm pretty sure I'm thinking of the same one. They were fairly regular at keeping things up to date and they had a few dedicated users who were also keen on contributing. I kind of doubt that the project is large enough to where one person, let alone two, are able to make a living maintaining it to the exclusion of all other employment - but, I confess, I did not look into the financial information nor do I know if it is publicly available.
At any rate, I found that the group of users and maintainers seemed to be rather enthusiastic but the ecosystem was fairly small. Nothing seemed to be unfinished but it looked, hmm... Well, it looked unpolished. I'm not sure if there's a better way to express it.
I ended up going with the Ubuntu family or a derivative. I ended up with Mint Cinnamon and Lubuntu for the LXDE. I don't actually mind SystemD. I think I might have even sent the PCLinuxOS folks a small donation, even though I'd no plans on using their distro. Why? Heh... Well, to skip a novella - I enjoy sending something along to help people who are enthusiastic - even if I may never see any direct benefit from their work.
I suppose, I'll have some fresh hardware to be poking at (to keep me busy over the winter) and get to just play with it rather than having to rely on it., I might just have to give it another try. The hardware will be the hardware that was here at this house - I'm replacing it and putting Linux on it all so that it's here when I return. I'll then have that hardware, several years old, to poke and play with. I'll give it another shot and see if there's something I can do to make it work for me. It's always good to have multiple choices.
What you say is spot on and the bit about the changes in attitudes is also astute. I've made it this far down the thread while saying nothing. I probably should continue that trend but, alas, here I go...
Am I a systems administrator? Sure, I guess. Not so much now as I once was and that was quite some time ago but, today, I've got a ton of Linux installs - on desktops and servers alike. I even have remote co-lo hardware that runs Linux. I'd not/really/ call myself a sys admin but, for the sake of this conversation, I guess I might fit - even though absolutely none of what I run is important to anyone but me and a few other people who may do stuff like use my hardware for remote backups or hosting a small site.
I've tried to dislike SystemD. I really have. I mean, yeah, I love me a good hate fest and I love ranting about philosophical things like the Unix Way. Yet, I learned a few new commands (it's kind of neat to be able to check and blame things in the startup to see if you can eek out a few more milliseconds or find out what barfed and where) and I've found a few places where it comes in handy.
In other words, I've not really had any problems. Yes, I had to change a few things but I'm kind of used to that. Yes, I had to learn some new things and that's okay - I actually enjoy that part. I can still use init scripts if I want but I don't actually have any compelling reason to do so. I can even use a GUI and make stuff start on boot if I want - I can even stuff scripts in there.
So, I guess I've already made peace. I'm not saying you have to but I'm saying that my life is easier having done so. I get that the developers didn't listen to everyone but, how many users are not complaining? Keep in mind, it's the people who are unhappy that make the most noise. The people who are content say very little. They can't please everyone and make changes. I suspect that the people who don't like it are a small, but noisy, minority.
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He's not an idolized member of the community. In fact, he says that open source was a mistake and refers to the community as "freetards." Impeccable citations, quotes from him, are available on request. I've already posted them in this thread so there's no reason for me to do so again. No, this isn't me making shit up, these are things he, himself, has said - including the verbatim quote of "freetard."
Basically, he used the "freetards" to gain some fame and wealth (moderate and much less than he seems to think) and now wishes to cast aside that group so that he can fit into another group more easily. The word huckster comes to mind but I prefer hypocritical betraying coward as a description.
In short, nothing he says can be trusted. I'd not even trust his software any more. He's quite clearly indicated, on several levels, that freedom is not a concern for him and takes a back seat to his own personal interests. He, by his very quotes, believes himself to be more important than you and more important than your freedom and much more important than your liberties.
I've posted the appropriate links in this thread - each and every thing I've said is repeating his own words. I'd re-link them but I think I've linked them enough. If anyone's unable to find the links then, by all means, I'll be happy to link them again. In short, the FOSS community is a derogatory term to him - it's a pejorative. See my other comments if you want proof. I've cited every single claim made here - and every claim is backed up by not just his own words but by his returning, later, and giving us affirmation that those are, indeed, his words and that they accurately describe his beliefs.
He's hypocritical in that he says one thing and does another. He's a coward in that he believes himself to be more important than your freedoms. He's betrayed the community that enabled him to have what he does have by abandoning them, deriding them, and now claiming to not agree with their viewpoints. He's even gone so far as to say that he's willfully offensive and does so intentionally.
I presume that he's been this way all along and this clearly documents a history of being untrustworthy and harmful. I'd not put any stock in anything he says and he's already demonstrated that he's untrustworthy and willing to betray those who helped him if it means that he gets what he wants - to the detriment or without concern for the community as a whole. This is all there for you to read. It's not going anywhere. The links are in this thread but, screw it, I'll post it again:
---
Something Bruce said that you might find interesting:
I'll tell you another secret then. Open Source was a mistake. I am not a Freetard any longer.
And there's a good chance that some folks will not believe this was a quote from him, it was. Others might suggest that it is taken out of context, it isn't, I will cite it:
This is the relevant link.
---
Yes, that's verbatim and a direct quote. I've just taken the liberty of quoting my earlier response to save a few minutes. There are some other bits of information and some links in this thread. I am not making this up.
Well, I guess I'll post this yet again. I see you were modded troll. I've got the karma to spare so I'll actually give you some weight behind your statement - I'll even use facts.
---
Something Bruce said that you might find interesting:
I'll tell you another secret then. Open Source was a mistake. I am not a Freetard any longer.
And there's a good chance that some folks will not believe this was a quote from him, it was. Others might suggest that it is taken out of context, it isn't, I will cite it:
This is the relevant link.
---
That's a partial quote from above - the above link goes into more details, the thread that's linked can be expanded and perused at your leisure. I'm quite certain that this is justification to completely and permanently weight all of their comments accordingly. They used the FOSS community to gain some fame and some wealth and now, having a little of both, they've decided to join the crowd and turn on the very people that enabled him to be where he is today.
If you read more than the comment quoted and actually click the link you can find that he has quite a few other things to add to that. He's not the least bit concerned with freedom and is a coward. I'd hoped it was a bad night but he had the temerity to return, double-down, and was quite clear that it was not a one-off but that he was no longer a fan of open source and that the idea was a pejorative.
Basically, he used the community to get somewhere. When he got some recognition through the community he then threw the community aside and no longer wishes to be associated with them. It's like the junior high boy who finally makes a few friends with the other outcasts, somehow gets a little popularity, and then maintains his popularity by making fun of the very friends who enabled him to get a start at a social life.
In short, you can pretty much discount anything further from him. You were used and now he's going to try to abuse you. It's not me making this stuff up - the quote leads to the applicable thread. You can expand and read it. You can interpret it for yourself. It's not like I've gone ahead and edited it - you can see his exact quotes. And he's proud about having used the group of people who enabled him his moderate success. Ironically, without them - he'd still be poor and collecting welfare.
Perhaps you'll find this link to be more informative (with the extra links providing proof) than you will with anything else in this thread. He, and his opinions, can be safely discarded. Anything other than his technical chops are suspect at this point and even those are in doubt. He's used FOSS as a platform to cover and expand his cowardice. This is nothing more than an attempt to make you act in the proscribed manner.
That said, it's probably a good thing to treat people with respect and dignity. It'd be silly to assume I'm advocating anything other than that. However, it's worth noting that the source of this message is interested in controlling people and has made use of the FOSS community to gain popularity and has no turned on them to the point of being derogatory towards them.
And no, no I did not make this up - the link has the appropriate citations. I kind of doubt that /. would censor itself and delete comments on his behalf so I'm reasonably sure those comments will remain there in perpetuity. I should probably screen shot them, just in case.
Bruce's opinions on both freedom in the physical realm and freedom in the software realm are of no importance. They're unable to give valid opinions on either and anything they say is suspect when it comes to these matters. Allow me, if you will, to quote an earlier post. You'll notice that I am not fabricating anything and that I'm quoting with citations and applicable links:
I'll quote it in its entirety:
-----
Something Bruce said that you might find interesting:
I'll tell you another secret then. Open Source was a mistake. I am not a Freetard any longer.
And there's a good chance that some folks will not believe this was a quote from him, it was. Others might suggest that it is taken out of context, it isn't, I will cite it:
This is the relevant link.
To see where this came from:
Yes, I would take your gun. I hope to do so someday.
And, again, a citation for those who would insist on evidence.
Note: None of that is edited, taken out of context, and is all easily verified by simply clicking the provided links. The conversation can be expanded with ease and there are multiple comments that may be of interest.
Something Bruce said that you might find interesting:
I'll tell you another secret then. Open Source was a mistake. I am not a Freetard any longer.
And there's a good chance that some folks will not believe this was a quote from him, it was. Others might suggest that it is taken out of context, it isn't, I will cite it:
This is the relevant link.
To see where this came from:
Yes, I would take your gun. I hope to do so someday.
And, again, a citation for those who would insist on evidence.
Note: None of that is edited, taken out of context, and is all easily verified by simply clicking the provided links. The conversation can be expanded with ease and there are multiple comments that may be of interest.
Rum is like force, it fixes everything. If you've tried either and still found that it is not working then you need to apply more of it.
I kind of miss drinking. Oh well... I did have a couple for the Christmas holiday (two and only two but they were mostly rum with a splash of coke) and I'll be responsible for others and making things go as high was ~650 feet and going boom tomorrow night (which is when the NYE fest is) so it wouldn't be a good idea to drink tomorrow.
That's unfortunate because things that go boom and alcohol are two things that go naturally hand-in-hand. They're so belonging together that we have a whole government agency called the BATFE. To paraphrase another's /.er's signature; The BATFE should be the name of a retail outlet. This being America, and my being in Florida, I'll even go so far as to suggest that it shouldn't just be a store but it should be a store with a convenient drive-thru window.
Yes! Art Bell is the guy, indeed. I'm actually not sure if it is he who is loony or if he just lets the loony people participate in his show? I've no idea what politics he holds, what his beliefs are, or if he has some sort of agenda. He's the one (from checking online by searching for his name that you shared with me) that I am thinking of. He's not the only one -- he just seems to be about the most popular.
Depending on where you are in the country (they'll often be localized and not syndicated) you can find a bunch more just like him. Well, that's not entirely accurate. There don't appear to be a "bunch" and they're not "just like him." But, they're different only exactly the same. *nods* I've found a great one in Alabama but, alas, you'll have to wait for me to go to Alabama (right next door to my current stop - almost a certainty that I'll go there) before I can recollect and share the name.
The AM band is kind of awesome like that. I'm told that it's relatively inexpensive to set up a lower-powered AM station. If I recall correctly, you'd know a great deal about that - far more than I ever would. Hmm... Was that you? Yeah - I'm pretty sure. You're into radio and have a ham license, as I recollect? Wife, Mint, no kernel updates, ham radio, PA, not in a major city or outside of it, and whatnot?
So, yeah, you'd almost certainly know more about the AM station thing than I would but I understand that it's neither difficult nor expensive to get an AM station on the air. If you recall a conversation of ours, some months ago, then you might remember that I could probably put an AM station up but have no idea how to do so. (Large antenna, chance to buy a large tower, friends who are hams, and having what they call a "cold backup" site that they plan on putting to use if the zombie apocalypse comes.) I have all the equipment, I bought much of it new but some of it is stuff that they've brought over. I actually know some of how it works and I listen sometimes but I don't use the key or the mic. I'm also way up on the side of a mountain so I'd probably have good propagation to the E, SE, and S.
I've tried the religion thing but I just can't get into listening to it. I'm more a talk-news and not a preach-at kind of guy. This doesn't mean that I don't do it - it just means that I'm usually looking for talk radio that's not religious in nature.
But, there has been talk from some people (I assume that they're young) who want to get rid of the AM bands altogether. It's disheartening that folks would even suggest that. I find the band wonderfully fun at times. As it's so inexpensive and easy to get access, you end up getting things that might not be profitable enough to put onto the FM bands. I haven't found any in years but I used to come across a channel or two that was actually a bit like the public access cable channels. They were every bit as bad (read as good) as one might expect.
Oh, seeing as I have you here... Sometimes I come across an AM channel that claims to be in stereo. I don't think my receiver can handle AM stereo. I'd thought that the bandwidth for stereo was a bit more than AM could handle while still being within their assigned power levels. So, while I've never had/heard/used any AM broadcasts in stereo - why not? Are the occasional ads for stereo AM broadcasts legit? Do I actually need special hardware to properly process stereo in the AM spectrum? I'm pretty sure that the radio's documentation specifically mentions FM, FM Stereo, and AM (but no AM Stereo). I'll also add that I don't think I've used the AM function of the car that I have with me on my wanderlust. I'm pretty sure it has it - but I've never used it. I've only done FM and streamed stuff to it by way of my phone.
If you can shed some light and give an old feeble man some information (or even where I might search for the technical details) that'd be awesome but don't go out of your way to do it on my behalf. It's not really that important. I just seem to recollect that you're a ham and so I can probably rely on you for intelligent (and correct) answers and this subject reminds me to ask you.
Now that might work. Even *I* know that song but I don't recollect all the words. YouTube should start playing it in a moment. I don't think I've heard that in a long time - I think it was pretty new when I heard it the first time. Hell, I can even recall where I was when I heard it first.
I was up visiting a great-aunt, on my father's side, in Nova Scotia. She's actually a bit of a teetotaler and a regular church attendee. She's a rather strict old lady and a bit prim, proper, and judgmental. However, she not only knew this song but shared it with me and sang along - as she knew every single last word in the song.
I never asked where she picked it up, how she'd learned it, or which of my younger relatives had conned her into listening to it for the first time. Apparently she enjoyed it. She was mostly prim, proper, and judgmental when she had company of that type or when she was out in public or at a church function or the likes. She's passed away now. We have no official birth records but it's believed she was 109 when she died but, if you used her math, she was actually 113. Some relatives think it was 104 but her death certificate has her listed at 109.
Longevity and good health run on that side of the family (Micmac). This is the part that most people are unwilling to accept; She died with an old crusty corn-cob pipe on her nightstand (not used so much near the end) and a bottle of dandelion wine, made by her nephew, under the bed. I didn't know her that well, I never met her until I was kind of old myself. I met her in 2008/2009 maybe? I only saw her a few times after that and after the second time she was no longer able to remember my name as well as a bunch of other things.
I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure that she was never diagnosed with Alzheimer's or anything. She just got old and those synapses no longer connected. I'm not too well educated on age-related cognitive health issues but I think someone once mentioned that it was dementia setting in. I've never looked into it but I'd thought that dementia was brought on by either Alzheimer's or something similar. She was in moderate health, all things considered, and I can only speculate that she just got old and the brain no longer wanted to function properly. I'm not sure if it's a disease other than a simple result of aging.
Ah well... I'm a bit bored so I figured I'd share something different today. I've talked about her before, here on Slashdot, but I don't think I'd ever mentioned the rest of the story or at least that much of the story. She was quite a character and the differences between her behavior outside and what she was like in front of the family were really amusing.
She was pretty functional for a long time. She worked until she was in her mid-80s as a seamstress, tailor, knitting and crocheting stuff to sell, and whatnot. She still stayed active for quite some time after that but she no longer took in work or sold a lot of her work. I have a quilt that she made sometime back in the 1950s. My kids, they never met her, both have something from her. My daughter has a couple of two-headed dolls - they have a head at both ends and the dress covers the head not in use at the time. My son has some embroidered (or is it tatted?) throw-pillow covers. They're made of some sort of cloth (probably cotton) and then have a handmade lace finish that decorates the cover, only one side is covered in lace and the back has a split in it with some overlap. They were handed down after she passed away.
Anyhow, there's no real point in this message. I just figured that I'd share why I'd heard of the song and share the amusing (to me) part about it all. It's not like I had more pressing issues at the moment except that I should probably sleep - tomorrow's a big day/night. Oh, and for the record, she not only had a computer at the end but she also had internet access. Her vision wasn't very good but she'd wanted one to write down her memoirs. She never did get around to doing all of it and typing was rather difficult.
An
Almost nobody will understand that post. +1! Best Pun of 2016, but the year is still early. Absolutely fantastic AC, absolutely fantastic!
I've noticed that, over the years, I've bumped into a lot of people who think that it is Neil Young. I might have even believed it was him but I don't think so - there's a chance, however.
I'll share with you a quick story, or at least as quick as I can make it. The best pun I have ever said/used was one then went entirely unnoticed.
I have a friend who actually competed in Classical Wrestling. I think they even studied it but I'd not swear to that. There are, it turns out, quite a few different variations on the theme. He competed in the Greco-Roman styles, as I recall.
Later, he went to a school in the South East - I'm not able to recollect where. That school was to learn about the wrestling that you normally see on television. He even ended up going to somewhere in Connecticut (again, I'm not positive where) and was able to participate (I'll not call it competing) in a few matches before he blew out his knee and ending his career.
I tell you that so that I can tell you this:
At some point, I believe in the late 1990s, I was at his house and he had that wrestling stuff on. Someone fairly new and gaining in popularity (perhaps by infamy, buggered if I know) and his shtick was to take the microphone and say, "I want you to want me... I need you to need me." And so on. I said to my friend, "Hey, he's quoting song lyrics, pretty much verbatim."
Mike replied, "Yeah, he stole it."
I replied, "Well, that's a cheap trick."
Alas, not only were he and I in the room but a bunch of other people were all there. I seem to recall we were smoking and drinking and someone had been playing video games before turning the television on.
But, I'd made the absolutely best and most beautiful pun - the best one ever made.
And absolutely zero people noticed. Not one person heard it and indicated that they'd understood it. I was greatly disappointed. To this day, I am disappointed.
Oh well... This thread is kind of old now so it's unlikely that many people will read this. I do wonder how many people, if any, will know what I'm talking about? Were the thread a bit more fresh then I'd expect a couple of people to Google it. So, the best pun that I ever came up with - it was perfect timing too - was noticed and groaned about by exactly zero people. Damn it!
I don't even have a 3-D television. I don't even like 'em in the movies, for the most part. I not only don't keep up, I don't really watch much in the way of television.
I also am not sure that my post was clear, in reflection, and should make an attempt remedy that. Also, I could be misinterpreting your reply - that tone thing would come in handy at times. At any rate, this is probably going to end up longer than it should. Obviously, you needn't read or reply but I'll try to make it legible.
That post was not directed towards you but was an attempt to converse with you and to add to your post with citing my observations. It was not, shall we say, an attempt to argue, debate, or even try to demonstrate some superiority. It was mentioned to add to your salient point and to see if you had any feedback or, perhaps, some insight as to the motivations of those who display such behavioral characteristics.
If I meant you, you in particular, demonstrated or exhibited those traits then I'd have mentioned that or, more likely, not have bothered expressing the thought.
Let me be clear here: This is not a failing on your part. This is due to *my* failings. I am not the most articulate (but I'm quite verbose) and sometimes operate under the assumption that you're privy to the many thoughts that are in my head. I'm not sure why I do that - probably because my posts are already novellas and the added information would make them more difficult to digest. So, I apologize for not having been clear enough in my post and for you (from what I see) believing that such was directed at you - it was not. novella warning. I'm pretty sure that this is going to be a fairly long post - bear with me, if you wish, and I think this is an interesting tangent that you may be amused by or interested in. I suspect you can skip the part between the "---" and still get the gist of it. It's mostly going to be just a bit of an experience that gives background into why and how I've decided to believe the things I do. It necessitates some history if it's to be as clear as it could be.
---
That said, there have been lots of fads that have come and gone. Someone replied to my reply to you to point out that we, as a whole, aren't really good at predicting tech trends. I suspect that's because we're at a different level than most, where tech is concerned, so what is valuable to us is not necessarily of value to the majority. We're no longer in a position where we're driving the trends and so we're a bit subjected to the whims of the masses, as unfortunate as that is.
I almost typed this out to another one of your comments in this thread... I'll share it now. I hope you don't mind the digression and, honestly, I value your feedback.
I was driving along the Skyway in Buffalo, New York. I stopped there while I was engaging in my wanderlust. It was in that area that, by happenstance, I bumped into a very young and very beautiful female. In bumping into each other (the velcro that you mentioned in our journal conversation) and her sticking, I ended up with some added complexity which meant that I remained in the area for a while.
So, I was on that Skyway and heading to Niagara Falls and it occurred to me that I could see the city and had a pretty good view of some interesting landmarks, features, and buildings. First, I wanted to know the history of the Skyway. I wanted to know who made it, who designed it, when it was built, it's designed throughput, what the greatest height was, how many exits it had, what the safety record was, what happened during construction, and many other things.
That moment, that moment in time, was an epiphany for me. It's when it finally clicked for me (some things take a while and then something clicks and I "get it") and I looked out on the expanse and was displeased. I was greatly displeased. Even the gods, if not my girlfriend, were aware of my unhappiness and frustration.
See, it would be awesome to have that kind of information available on command. I admit, I s
I take that back. In the effort to be accurate and honest, I made a mistake. I do, in fact, have my iPod with me. I did not recollect bringing it with me and I do not recollect having used it since I went on my wanderlust but She Who Must be Obeyed tells me that I do, in fact, have it with me - in my suitcase. How she knows this is beyond me - as not even I remember putting it there, pulling it out, or mentioning it. She was also not even known to me when I started this journey. She did, however, unpack my stuff as I was putting stuff away. I'm guessing that's how she knows - I'd ask but she's meandered off again.
Which, alas, means I too need to meander off soon. Well, maybe... I'm not yet tired but tomorrow is a big day. Things shall go boom!
But, in an effort to ensure that my statement is accurate - I do, in fact, have an iDevice with me. It's an iPod touch with a bunch of songs loaded onto it and I think it has bluetooth but I've never actually used that functionality. Err... I can hook it to the infotainment system in the car but I have never done so and I'm not exactly sure how I would go about doing so. At any rate, I was mistaken and wish to correct that statement. The rest of the statement is, as far as I know, accurate.
Dude... I love to hate on Apple as much as the next graybeard but, really, having the most patched vulnerabilities is not necessarily a bad thing and, based on what I know and can see, the OS X operating system is, factually, quite secure by default. The greatest vulnerability that any operating system or software has is not actually in the code itself but in the seat of the user, in the minds of the maintainer, and in the implementation on the stack.
Hate on OS X all you want but, really, it's pretty damned secure. Fixing found vulnerabilities, regardless of the number, is a good thing and it is even better when they are doing so proactively without the need for it to have reached the point where they're in-use exploits.
Lest you think I'm a fanboy, I gave up being a participant as a Microsoft MVP award winner and community participant, much of my history is using Solaris and using Sun workstations, this post is being sent to you by means of a convoluted setup (through a connection way up in Maine) that all runs on Linux, and the only Apple device that I own is an iPod which is somewhere in my pile of stuff back in Maine.
Hate all you want but, by default, OS X and iOS are both rather secure by default. To imply or believe otherwise is just silly. I have no desire to use Apple products, I have no financial ties with the company (as far as I know - I may own some shares but I don't know if I do), and I am certainly not a fan of their business practices.
Also, do not tell CanadianMacFan, macs4all, or Noah Haders that I said any of this. I reserve the right to retract the above statement if a desire to go trolling should come along. If they found out that I'd admitted such (though I have before) they might not let me live it down.
Assuming you speak of the (patched) GRUB issue, that just gets 'em past the boot loader. That doesn't actually get them into the OS, don't actually decrypt the /home directory, and doesn't enable them to do anything they probably couldn't already do just by using a Live USB disk.
Yes, it was a silly bug and one that survived for a long time. However, most of us don't even use that and it doesn't actually portend to be much in the way of a security feature. Of the few places where I could see someone making legitimate use of it, say a kiosk, the GRUB menu should have been hidden and not in use in the first place. It's literally like finding a security hole in a butter knife. Yes, it's dumb and it shouldn't have lasted that long but it really didn't mean anything and the likelihood of it leading to any sort of compromise is pretty low.
I can think of absolutely zero computers, or realistic settings, where that would be considered a security feature of any value. Truly, not one situation (that I've come up with) where one would want to use that as even a part of a layered defense comes to mind. Some of the threads here have wracked our brains trying to figure out why this feature even exists. Most of us haven't even used it. It's not much different than a BIOS password protection system except it is slightly less important than that - at least keeping the BIOS protected is a sound choice in a public system.
And no, before you decide I'm a fanboy, I'm actually pretty good (I think) at being objective. Further up the thread, I mentioned that I felt the count for the Linux vulnerabilities was lower than it probably should be based on sheer numbers alone. I'm not some rabid fan who is unwilling to be objective or a zealot that thinks I need to get affirmation by convincing you that my choice in operating system is the right or best choice for you to make with your hardware.
It's just that it's a really, really stupid vulnerability and rather amusing that it was in place for so long. I'm not even sure why one would have that feature enabled. It's truly pointless - or damned close to it. There are so many better ways to layer on security than to rely on something like a boot loader password that I've never even bothered to give it any consideration, look into the mechanism, and still don't see why I would.
But yes, it's damned amusing that it managed to survive as long as it did.
If you've not seen 'em, they're a quasi-frequent troll. I think it's copypasta. I'm going to guesstimate that they've been posting that for the past six months. It's not as frequent as Goatse, Cow, APPS!, or the Republicans hate us and want us to die but it's not actually original content or anything.
Yes, yes I do get bored and visit frequently. I've almost always got a Slashdot tab open so I meander over and read to see if someone's said something interesting. Usually the answer is in the affirmative - which is why I keep doing it. Sometimes, it's the Rust language solves all security issues guy, but that's not that often.
I dunno how accurate that is. See, I work hard to be objective an unbiased. I'll see how well I can articulate this, 'tis not my strong suit.
I use Lubuntu. I also have some Ubuntu installs. I also have some Mint installs and Mint is a derivative of Ubuntu. On top of this, I have all of those (except for server installs) set to update daily. Sometimes, out of boredom, I even will update manually in the middle of the day to see what's going on and if anything new has come down the pipe.
That said, I also read (not always but often enough) the descriptions of those updates. I see security updates all the time. I mean, daily - some times. It has been a little slow since just before Christmas but there were a few that popped up. I see trivial security issues but security issues they are. I see them by the hundreds, throughout the life of a version. I see them impacting multiple versions, some going back to the oldest LTS build. I see them impacting this and that and, really, most of them are really trivial and not even remotely plausible but they're still security fixes as they could lead to exploits.
I am not exaggerating when I say that I am pretty sure there has to have been at least 100 of them (perhaps more - I've not kept count) with just Lubuntu 15.10. 15.10 was released in the end of October 2015. These aren't just for Linux (the kernel) but for the whole OS and the default applications. They're borderline security issues, in my verbiage, where "a local attacker could cause ____ and get ____ and have escalated permissions" and things of that nature. In other words, they're fairly trivial and not all of them have been exploited - only that they *could* be exploited.
I admit, I have not kept count. However, I *do* have all the various emails from the many mailing lists. I do have all the announcements. I could count them - but it's rather irrelevant. I'd not be surprised to find out there were more than 100 updates that resolved security issues. (I'd be surprised to find out that even one of them was exploited in the real world.) I've read a stack of 'em and I see them with great frequency - almost daily and probably more frequently than daily if I averaged them out.
I don't mind seeing them. I'm glad their fixed. I appreciate the notice and I install them all immediately. However, these numbers don't seem to be taken into account and I've no idea why they're excluded. This is not a claim that any one OS is more or less secure. Security is a process, not an application, and the greatest security weakness is the user in the chair - regardless of the operating system.
But, and I hope this has made sense, the numbers are suspect. I see far higher numbers than what other people are claiming. I know, I know I didn't count 'em and I'm not going to. However, spend the next 30 days reading /just/ the "Ubuntu Base" updates or the likes. Read the mailing lists. There's a bunch of exploits that are quietly patched, nobody notices, and they were pretty damned trivial to begin with but to suggest that they don't count is a bit misleading. I'm not kidding about the 100 or so since just October, it was late October at that! It's probably more than 100. I'd be kind of surprised if it wasn't that many but I'm far too lazy to go count 'em all.
Hmm... I could spin up a VM and have a look to see what downloads but that might not be accurate as some will have been depreciated by newer versions and I won't get an accurate count. In short, it's a lot of 'em. I'm glad they're fixed and they're not huge gaping holes - but they're still vulnerabilities and probably not included in these numbers.
An interesting, to me, aside is that we'll count a vulnerability in IE, Outlook, Windows Mail, Windows Media Player, and all that sort of stuff as a "Windows" vulnerability. Yet, if there's an exploit in SSL, GRUB, or MKUSB then we immediately say, "Linux is the kernel!"
To be honest, Windows, the OS itself, hasn't really had a whole lot of exploits in a long time. Microsoft has really stepped up their game and have managed to harden it fairly well. Given the ubiquity, the need for backwards compatibility, and the varied versions on disparate hardware - that's rather impressive.
That said, I still prefer Linux. I much prefer the system as a whole, at least at the moment, and can manage to keep both secure enough to suit my needs. Well, I'd probably be a little rusty at keeping a Windows box secure but it shouldn't be too hard to get back into the swing of things.
Dumb question time...
With these things drawing so little power, can they be powered over USB yet?
I just ordered two of these about five minutes ago:
http://up-shop.org/up-boards/1...
I have no idea how well they will work but I followed someone's link up-thread, read a bit, and ordered two for a silly project that I'm going to work on while I waste the winter away in the Floridian warm climes. I'll almost surely leave said project here, where it will irritate and confuse my children when they come here to make use of the property. It will keep itself charged while I am away.
Anyhow, I may well write up my experiences but it looks like others are really quite happy with it and the community looks pretty dedicated. That's why I decided to order 'em. At home, I have some of the first Raspberry Pi things - including cases, and those never actually got used. I've unboxed one and have five more still sitting in the larger box and collecting dust. I'll probably end up sending them off to someone who might make better use of them than I have.
I've a kid who takes care of my lawn and things of that nature and I've kind of turned him into a geek over the years. However, I'm pretty sure that these aren't anything that he'd be interested in playing with. I'd send them to the local elementary school, even if just for the IT guy to play with, but I only have six (maybe 8) and I'm not sure that they'd do them any good.
Ah well... I've got a few people in the AskUbuntu site community who may be interested in taking them off my hands and will be sentient enough to remind me to forward them along when I get back to Maine. They've been sitting idle, complete with SD cards that I bought just for them, for at least two years now. I've concluded that I'll never actually make use of them, their cases, the SD cards, or any of the documentation and software that I collected as I prepared myself for the project. I'm not sure if something else caught my eye or if it just seemed uninteresting after I got the stuff together but I can only conclude that it's not getting done.
That does look sexy. In fact, it looks so sexy that I just ordered two. My son piqued my interest and gave me a reason to consider delving (back) into this subject just yesterday. What is that reason (you neither asked nor care)? Well, err... I might be 58 but I'm not much different than a five year old. I am going to build not just a robot but I'm going to turn it into a media server robot. Yes, yes I am. No, no I have no good reason. No, I do not expect good results. Yes, I expect to enjoy myself.
Oh, it's going to come by name (and navigate it's own path) and deliver a small keyboard or remote. It, in turn, will control a second one that does the actual display - shunted to a TV and not mobile, via HDMI. I may even make it follow us around the living room and get in the way and be otherwise annoying. For I am on a mission.
Oh, yes, it will be entirely pointless but good fun.
Ha! I am not the only one. I'm actually rather fond of talk radio but I usually find myself listening to NPR. I'm not so naive as to say that they are not without bias but, I digress and that's immaterial.
See, I sometimes find myself listening to things like Fox News Radio or whatever they call it. The thing is, I'm pretty sure that they don't actually understand *why* I'm listening. Oh, I'd sure as hell not count on it for being unbiased, accurate, or even news. I listen to it because it's colorful and damned good entertainment. It's funnier than hell to hear some of the opinion shows, listen to the folks call in, and then listen to their talking heads have a discussion on deep subjects such as politics, science, religion, or current events.
It's a great source of entertainment when you're driving, late at night, on a desolate highway with nothing but the mile markers to keep you company. The missus, snuggled up in her seat, and some guy telling me that the Democrats are all lizard people who eat the brains of good Christian children as a delicacy. The best part is that it's free entertainment!
Oh, and don't get me wrong, the Democrats are equally stupid but I hold them to a higher standard because they claim they are more intelligent and they, at least, ought to know better than to do some of what they do. I'm also aware that NPR has its slant and probably has some objective. But they're just not nearly as funny as a late night talk show on Fox New Radio. The next best thing is some crazy guy that I sometimes find on AM radio. I don't know his name but I'm pretty sure he's convinced there are aliens everywhere, people living in the hollow earth, and that we're all just mice in a cage so that the Master Race can study us. Great entertainment!
Reasonable doubt is a defense. "Would a reasonable person believe that the evidence indicates the accused is guilty of the crime as is alleged by the State?"
So, with some thinking... What I'd think would *likely* be the best route (and I am not a lawyer but I am quite interested in matters of law) would be an accusation of a civil offense.
The difference in a civil and criminal trial, where criminal charges include a potential penalty that results in loss of freedom, is the burden of proof. I'm not very articulate but I'll try...
In a criminal trial the State must prove, to a jury or judge, that the defendant committed the offense beyond all reasonable doubt. (Note: Not beyond all doubt.)
In a civil trial the plaintiff must prove, to a jury or judge, that the defendant more likely than not committed the offense. (Preponderance of evidence and all that.)
So, a civil trial might be the way to go, to get precedent set, and then maybe work the way up from there. What'd need to happen (I think) is that someone would need some evidence to show that they were recorded, by a smart TV in a situation where they did not consent, and that record was stored. (I'm *guessing* that a temporary, non-transmitted, local storage used for processing would not fall into the category but I have not taken the time to read the law(s) nor read any case histories.)
I'd need to read how they're defining it, how the law is written, (if) any exceptions are granted, if there's a use requirement, if there's a human interaction required, etc... I don't know enough to accurately opine on this specific law so the above is mostly speculation and is based on what I do know about the justice system. Also, many judges have a "straight face" test that they apply before deciding if one has standing. Can you say, with a straight face, that there has been harm? This varies greatly and depends on the judge. I believe most jurisdictions allow for one to appeal a judge concluding that you have no standing. Some judges are more open to interpretations than others.
I am not a lawyer but I've spent many hours in a court room and had the opportunity to work in a mock court to help pay for schooling. It was one of my favorite jobs, actually. I've spent much time in court and have used legal council as actual council and not as representatives in the past. I've worked to defend myself, and a few friends, in both civil and criminal courts and had some success with both. None of what I said should be taken as legal advice, this is not a lawyer/client relationship. I encourage you to seek professional and qualified legal council in your particular jurisdiction.
I wear moderation like that as a Badge of Honor. My favorite is when I reply to someone, they get the OT mod, and I get a +5 informative. I do not understand that - I've seen in multiple times. I'm also a little fond of the 'troll' mod when all I did was point out the facts. It's even funnier if I've included citations. The "flamebait" is kind of silly and, I admit, I might be guilty of that one from time to time. I'm also guilty of troll but I'm usually much more subtle about it. I can be perfectly polite, salient, and on-topic - but still trolling.
That said, I'm kind of partial to the off-topic mod category. I strive to make several off-topic posts per day, sometimes more than that. Someone's gotta do it and, after all, Slashdot is my personal blog.
Mostly, I don't actually worry about it because they'll have to work really hard to actually change my karma level. I peaked out long ago and I'm pretty sure I should have lapped the system several times over by now. I did have a stalker. They said they were going to mod down everything I posted. I found that amusing but it was even better when they actually tried. You could actually see when they did it - they'd be five in a row. Then that meta moderation started kicking in and pretty soon it was five every couple of days, then once a week, and now it's only three at a time and maybe once a week.
They haven't done it for a while so I'm thinking that they no longer get mod points. The most amusing part was that someone was going along behind 'em and fixing their moderation. I might be guilty of egging them on a little.
Ah well... I neither moderate nor meta moderate. Who am I to judge? I read at -1 and consider the topic to be a suggestion, not a rule. On that note, Happy New Year. Tomorrow night, there will be a bunch of people over (including a couple of folks from Slashdot - and maybe a few more but that's still up in the air) and we'll be setting off more things that go boom than I've ever set off, at one time, in my entire life. Booze and food is free. 'Tis too bad you're up there and I'm down here, else you could join us in making things go boom.
The weather indicates it will be clear. The airport says I'll have (they think) at least a 1000' ceiling and I only need ~625' - 650'. Things should be just fine.
You have a *very* valid point. Sometime within the past month, I was following someone's signature link. It took me to an old thread - one from back when I had my first account, I kinda, sorta, even remembered the thread.
It was about this new company called VMware. I'd say that maybe 1:20 comments actually understood the implications and thought it, "might catch on." The vast majority were certain that virtualization wouldn't catch on, that the price was too high, and that it was too complicated so it would never work. Most of the comments seemed to think that rebooting was better. The rest were going to stick with Windows 95 or switch to Linux and couldn't see any use for virtualization at all.
Some groups overlapped. Oh, and there were a few off-topic and plain trolling comments. I was, shall we say, greatly amused and I found it unfortunate that it was before the day of the big database burp so all the comments were unclaimed as "anonymous coward." I'd liked to have been able to read some of those names and see if they're still active today.
I don't think I'd commented in that thread but I seem to recall that, around that time, we were using things like clustered servers and even looking into things like a distributed file system. The idea was compelling to us and we ended up looking at some virtualization tech not long after and were willing to take the plunge. I dare say, it came in handy. This was before containers, docker, a hypervisor, and things of that nature.
So, yes... Slashdot is absolutely horrible at predicting booms and busts. 2016 is going to be the year of Linux on the Desktop - because I use it and that means everyone should! Also, anyone who doesn't is mentally retarded and a poopy head.
I've poked at that distro (assuming it's the one in your signature). Back at the start of last year (2015) I finally decided to switch entirely to Linux. I'd always had Linux installed on a partition. In fact, I used to use Unix (AIX or Solaris, mostly) exclusively. Then, for whatever reason, I started using Windows and I was happy with it.
I noticed that my brain was turning to mush and I wasn't learning anything new. I was just passively consuming and learning little. As I age, I insist on learning new things - it's my way of keeping sharp. So, I tried pretty much every popular Linux distro on bare metal or in a VM.
IIRC, PCLinuxOS was a fairly small project but a fairly consistent one - like someone (or a few someones) kept working at it and just kept it going at a fairly constant rate. I'd read through a bunch of older posts, news articles, and whatnot. I'm pretty sure I'm thinking of the same one. They were fairly regular at keeping things up to date and they had a few dedicated users who were also keen on contributing. I kind of doubt that the project is large enough to where one person, let alone two, are able to make a living maintaining it to the exclusion of all other employment - but, I confess, I did not look into the financial information nor do I know if it is publicly available.
At any rate, I found that the group of users and maintainers seemed to be rather enthusiastic but the ecosystem was fairly small. Nothing seemed to be unfinished but it looked, hmm... Well, it looked unpolished. I'm not sure if there's a better way to express it.
I ended up going with the Ubuntu family or a derivative. I ended up with Mint Cinnamon and Lubuntu for the LXDE. I don't actually mind SystemD. I think I might have even sent the PCLinuxOS folks a small donation, even though I'd no plans on using their distro. Why? Heh... Well, to skip a novella - I enjoy sending something along to help people who are enthusiastic - even if I may never see any direct benefit from their work.
I suppose, I'll have some fresh hardware to be poking at (to keep me busy over the winter) and get to just play with it rather than having to rely on it., I might just have to give it another try. The hardware will be the hardware that was here at this house - I'm replacing it and putting Linux on it all so that it's here when I return. I'll then have that hardware, several years old, to poke and play with. I'll give it another shot and see if there's something I can do to make it work for me. It's always good to have multiple choices.
What you say is spot on and the bit about the changes in attitudes is also astute. I've made it this far down the thread while saying nothing. I probably should continue that trend but, alas, here I go...
Am I a systems administrator? Sure, I guess. Not so much now as I once was and that was quite some time ago but, today, I've got a ton of Linux installs - on desktops and servers alike. I even have remote co-lo hardware that runs Linux. I'd not /really/ call myself a sys admin but, for the sake of this conversation, I guess I might fit - even though absolutely none of what I run is important to anyone but me and a few other people who may do stuff like use my hardware for remote backups or hosting a small site.
I've tried to dislike SystemD. I really have. I mean, yeah, I love me a good hate fest and I love ranting about philosophical things like the Unix Way. Yet, I learned a few new commands (it's kind of neat to be able to check and blame things in the startup to see if you can eek out a few more milliseconds or find out what barfed and where) and I've found a few places where it comes in handy.
In other words, I've not really had any problems. Yes, I had to change a few things but I'm kind of used to that. Yes, I had to learn some new things and that's okay - I actually enjoy that part. I can still use init scripts if I want but I don't actually have any compelling reason to do so. I can even use a GUI and make stuff start on boot if I want - I can even stuff scripts in there.
So, I guess I've already made peace. I'm not saying you have to but I'm saying that my life is easier having done so. I get that the developers didn't listen to everyone but, how many users are not complaining? Keep in mind, it's the people who are unhappy that make the most noise. The people who are content say very little. They can't please everyone and make changes. I suspect that the people who don't like it are a small, but noisy, minority.