Most here are missing the point. What this does is make life difficult for anyone that wants to do a story on Lamo. Lamo hasn't a chance as long as people don't rally behind his cause. He needs to get his story out. But now anyone that does an in depth story on Lamo will be strip searched and probed. On top of that anything interesting that might help Lamo will be dug up and handed to the FBI. Now, who wants to do a big story on Lamo?
You're saying it's not surprising I got modded down for that? If so, it's reflective of one of the major flaws of the Linux community attitude. How dare I suggest something better than what we have.
Be constructive. Don't just whine.
If a distro ships holes, that distro has holes. It's called a distribution because it ships all that stuff under its name.
Do you install everything that ships with a distribution? How many different editors do you regularly use? How many different calculators do you regularly use? How many browsers? Office suites? Desktops? What services to you activate? Linux distros include lots of software simply because it's free. Assuming that users use or activate everything let alone install everything in a distro is simply retarded.
People do it with IIS, Office, etc. all the time.
As they should but comparing IIS to every web server shipped with every distribution or comparing Office to every office suite shipped with every distribution is misleading. Plus your list includes games, utilities, tools, languages, environments, etc. Nobody even publishes stats on the bugs found in those Windows apps simply because the sources are closed and there is way too much to uncover in IIS and Office alone.
It sounds to me like you want as OS project that is open and free, that doesn't suck, that has all the resources and talent that MS has, that's not like Windows, that's secure, that's full of cool new technology and fits your particular way of doing things. Did I forget anything?
Hmmm. People really mod you down?
Also almost all bugs referenced in your sig are for user applications and would not be considered part of the OS except in the Linux world. Try comparing your list to all the security related bugs associated with all the popular Windows apps, utilities and games. Nobody even attempts to do that.
I would consider the Win4Lin Terminal Server. You get Linux on the clients without any retraining. Boot your client PCs from a floppy, network drive, or CD and then start a Win4Lin session. Your users won't know or care how it works. You can run 25 sessions on a dual PIII server. You eliminate most of your client headaches and save money. Plus you have the opportunity to sneak an occasional Linux app into the mix using just X or VNC.
Here's a quick note on the VNC under Windows concept.
Controling Windows via VNC works but is slow. The VNC team acknowledges this and blames it on the fact that Windows isn't open. Anyway, going the other way, controling a Linux box from Windows (or Linux for that matter), is quite snappy. But since this guy is after Windows apps I don't see how a VNC solution could really help.
First I like the outsourcing option that was mentioned.
Aside from that I am using Cyrus IMAP + Postfix on 2 servers running Gentoo Linux. The minimal install is pretty easy aside from the SASL stuff. Nicholas Petrele has a nice series on setting up CYRUS IMAP starting here. He also mentions Communigate Pro which isn't free but the trade for a no brainer install and maintenance might be worth the purchase price.
CYRUS is nice since you don't have to create system accounts, just IMAP accounts. It's also very fast and can handle a huge mail store without bogging down. The biggest problem is administration. The command line tools are rather simple and the web based systems are a cumbersome to configure. Many assume you're using MySQL instead of SASL for authentication.
I do suggest using SSL with IMAP and SMTP. It makes it nice for people out on the road without opening your server up as an open relay. This takes a bit of tweaking but it's worth it.
Finally, don't even think of doing "emerge -u world" on this box without allowing yourself plenty of down time. Updates should be planned and methodical - usually one ebuild at a time. I got into trouble once when some conf files changed for Cyrus IMAPd and Postfix. This was a while ago and I have not had problems since but I'm very careful with my upgrades now.
Oh yea. Check out Squirellmail. There's an ebuild for it. It takes very little to set it up and it's quite nice for people on the road. People will think you're a real stud.
All of you saying this is a pile of shit are mostly wrong. Think of a computer virus as something like a cold virus. It's a royal pain in the ass but it's not going to kill you. Look at how many systems have become more secure as a result of the viruses/worms that have spread over the past few years. Consider how pathetic security was before all this. Now think of a malicious cracker or a terrorist network hacking into any and every computer on the net. That scenario becomes much less likely if people are forced to secure their systems first. I only hope that enough of these mostly benign worms go around before someone releases something really nasty.
OK what does that look like? Is everyone suing in federal court or state court? This matters because SCO is likely to fight over venue and might just win because these things often follow money and how much money have these copyright owners collected? How many are going to have the money to fight over venue let alone spend months in Utah if they lose?
All I'm saying is that this should not be a mindless barrage of independent actions but a choreographed effort. The strongest cases should be filed first to establish precedence. Once SCO has its lawyers tied up with that then let the barrage begin.
Is this the best way to legally test the GPL - a flury of suits by small groups with little or no funding? Don't let SCO draw out the weakest (financially) to test the GPL. Either make them fight IBM over this or at least file a class action or pool funds or something. This is not something that is worth challenging unless victory is near certain.
Looking at when SCO was "born" is irrelavent. They claim that they purchased their IP from Novell. If it happens to predate SCO then that's fine. SCO is very wrong about their claims but not bacause SCO didn't exist before this code was written.
At first I thought this whole SCO thing was a joke. Then I thought that SCO really thought it could extort money from IBM and Linux users. That didn't last long since their claims were so outrageous. So I started to look elsewhere for answers. Then I wondered about a SCO/Microsoft conspiracy to bury Linux/Open Source. I held that view for a bit but now this whole thing is so out of control that I'm falling back the other way. I can't help but think that SCO is going to lose so big and that the whole issue will finally make mainstream news and that the GPL will finally receive some legal scrutiny. I can't help but think that this _is_ a conspiracy - that all the GPL/Linux friendly companies got together to defend against Microsoft's forthcoming attack on open source. SCO drew the short straw so SCO had to feign this attack on Linux and the GPL. Of course they will lose. IBM will then buy SCO with an unusually SCO favorable stock swap. IBM will then buy Novell/Ximian and everyone's stock will rise. There will be much rejoicing - at least for a while... OK go back to what you were doing. Nothing to see here.
I like this idea but it should be a distributed program that anyone can run. It should be designed to attract only the brain dead bots that result in this kind of unwarrented threat Companies that become notorious for sending brain dead threats can be identified and the software can focus file names more specifically on these violators.
to a hypertext markup language (HTML) format for presentation through the Internet
I'm not familiar enough with patent law. Does this mean that a different form of translation would not violate the patent? Flash? XML? Javascript? Java?
I agree completely. I've said this before. SCO's behavior is irrational from all other perspectives. You want to know what this is about? Take a step back and ask yourself who benefits from all this crap. That's who is behind this.
You may not think that you are good at selling your ideas but you will fail over and over if you don't learn to be more persuasive. Learn to simplify your presentation (dumb your ideas down if you have to). Learn what concepts and terms your audience does and does not understand and adapt. You may decide that the effort isn't worth it. Just understand that your best ideas will always fail if you can't convey them effectively.
At first this seemed like a match made by a Sid. Then I remembered why I still like Novell - NDS. NDS is by far the most robust, scalable, and secure directory in the world. Why doesn't everyone know this? Because Microsoft doesn't own it and Novell is marketing inept. Novell does files and directories very well. Novell has tried to round out its offerings to include application servers but has failed every time. Linux might be a perfect match for Novell since it sort of sells itself and allows the support arm of Novell to cozy up to the CIOs looking for support contracts (someone to blame). Oh yea, they are already cozy with the CIOs since many Fortune 500 companies are still paying on support contracts with Novell because they just can't seem to (nor really want to) get rid of NDS. I've been telling my friend over at Novell for years that pushing (not just making available) NDS for Linux would make Novell viable again. It's by far the best for managing Netware, Linux, Windows, etc. They should give away limited licenses and charge for the rest. Right now people don't even know it's an option. Maybe things will change. Then again Novell has killed every company it's acquired since Norda left.
I don't like running a network that can be breached by a high school kid.
I think this statement underestimates the experience, intelect and time that some high school kids have. I have seen countless posts to Slashdot either by people in high school or by people who were doing great things by the time they were in high school. This statement means nothing and somewhat indicates the lack of understanding that the general public has about hackers and crackers.
Think about the things you can do that require hard physical effort. Forget the machines. They mostly make you feel good when you buy them but most people don't use them when they realize they require effort. Push-ups, sit-ups and such will tone but won't shed much weight. They're good but not everything. Stairs are great but you have to do it for more than a few minutes to to burn enough calories. I would do what you're doing and add some running and/or walking. I bike to work too which does wonders. I would spend 20 minutes driving each way. I spend 35 minutes biking so I essentially get over half of my workout for free (in terms of time). I have a couple small dumbells in my cube and a pullup bar (cool. even my boss and the owner come by and hang out;-) The mini workouts that I do in my cube don't add up to much but I feel better and I get enough distraction to not graze as much as I might.
I'm sure there is a need for a mature, full featured, easy to use, cross platform installer that's open source. Unfortunately I don't know of one nor am I capable of creating one right now - although it's a good idea. Most of what you found in your search are installers for MySQL, Apache, PHP, etc. What I do know is that InstallAnywhere installers always seem to work on whatever platform I'm using (Win, Lin, Mac). They have an unlimited evaluation period and I'm sure you could get some nice extras by paying some money. I also suggest looking at AutoIt which is free (soon to be open source). It can be real nice when working around quirks in Windows.
This is just more evidence that SCO has no intent other than to harm Linux. There seems to be nothing to gain, for SCO anyway, from this escapade in Japan.
If this were an attempted murder, the victim would be Linux. The weapon would be SCO and the detective would now be visiting everyone with a motive. Hmmm who could that be?
I am the tech guy for a small manufacturing/distribution company. For a couple years I made sure that I told the owners about every major Outlok exploit and worm. I also made a point to explain how hard it is to comply with MS licensing (upgrading OEM versions on Beige boxes etc.). One day one of the owners received a strange, personal, confidential Word document from a close friend's mail worm. I immediately received the OK to convert the company to Mozilla. I then expanded that to include IMAP as the standard delivery protocol. For IMAP support I would heve preferred Mulberry but users seemed to adapt quicker to Mozilla (simpler interface and better inline image support). Now after a few months people have adapted and everyone seems quite happy with the switch. Backups are easier. Remote access is possible. I still think some miss Outlook because it's prettier to them and because the calendar in Outlook is so much better but I think the rest either don't care or prefer Mozilla. I do get strange looks when I tell new hires that we use Mozilla for mail though.
We have, for some time, been thinking of changing the licensing regarding Government run websites and applications that use our software. The reason for this is due to the administrative overhead we have for issuing free licenses, we can no longer afford to offer free licenses to Government organizations.
TRANSLATION In light of recent circumstances the price for government organizations will be one mmmmmilion dolars.
Suddenly, the company realizes its in deep financial shit? Sometimes asking for more is like trying to extract back taxes from the homeless. If someone is living fat at your expense then do something about it. If everyone is in the same boat then what will this prove? Whining while others are in the same pain will get you no sympathy and may cause people to seriously dislike you. When Indian programmers are loosing work to Russians I think your decision is much harder than you think.
Slashdot Mirror
Most here are missing the point. What this does is make life difficult for anyone that wants to do a story on Lamo. Lamo hasn't a chance as long as people don't rally behind his cause. He needs to get his story out. But now anyone that does an in depth story on Lamo will be strip searched and probed. On top of that anything interesting that might help Lamo will be dug up and handed to the FBI. Now, who wants to do a big story on Lamo?
You're saying it's not surprising I got modded down for that? If so, it's reflective of one of the major flaws of the Linux community attitude. How dare I suggest something better than what we have.
Be constructive. Don't just whine.
If a distro ships holes, that distro has holes. It's called a distribution because it ships all that stuff under its name.
Do you install everything that ships with a distribution? How many different editors do you regularly use? How many different calculators do you regularly use? How many browsers? Office suites? Desktops? What services to you activate? Linux distros include lots of software simply because it's free. Assuming that users use or activate everything let alone install everything in a distro is simply retarded.
People do it with IIS, Office, etc. all the time.
As they should but comparing IIS to every web server shipped with every distribution or comparing Office to every office suite shipped with every distribution is misleading. Plus your list includes games, utilities, tools, languages, environments, etc. Nobody even publishes stats on the bugs found in those Windows apps simply because the sources are closed and there is way too much to uncover in IIS and Office alone.
It sounds to me like you want as OS project that is open and free, that doesn't suck, that has all the resources and talent that MS has, that's not like Windows, that's secure, that's full of cool new technology and fits your particular way of doing things. Did I forget anything?
Hmmm. People really mod you down?
Also almost all bugs referenced in your sig are for user applications and would not be considered part of the OS except in the Linux world. Try comparing your list to all the security related bugs associated with all the popular Windows apps, utilities and games. Nobody even attempts to do that.
I would consider the Win4Lin Terminal Server. You get Linux on the clients without any retraining. Boot your client PCs from a floppy, network drive, or CD and then start a Win4Lin session. Your users won't know or care how it works. You can run 25 sessions on a dual PIII server. You eliminate most of your client headaches and save money. Plus you have the opportunity to sneak an occasional Linux app into the mix using just X or VNC.
Here's a quick note on the VNC under Windows concept.
Controling Windows via VNC works but is slow. The VNC team acknowledges this and blames it on the fact that Windows isn't open. Anyway, going the other way, controling a Linux box from Windows (or Linux for that matter), is quite snappy. But since this guy is after Windows apps I don't see how a VNC solution could really help.
Aside from that I am using Cyrus IMAP + Postfix on 2 servers running Gentoo Linux. The minimal install is pretty easy aside from the SASL stuff. Nicholas Petrele has a nice series on setting up CYRUS IMAP starting here. He also mentions Communigate Pro which isn't free but the trade for a no brainer install and maintenance might be worth the purchase price.
CYRUS is nice since you don't have to create system accounts, just IMAP accounts. It's also very fast and can handle a huge mail store without bogging down. The biggest problem is administration. The command line tools are rather simple and the web based systems are a cumbersome to configure. Many assume you're using MySQL instead of SASL for authentication.
I do suggest using SSL with IMAP and SMTP. It makes it nice for people out on the road without opening your server up as an open relay. This takes a bit of tweaking but it's worth it.
Finally, don't even think of doing "emerge -u world" on this box without allowing yourself plenty of down time. Updates should be planned and methodical - usually one ebuild at a time. I got into trouble once when some conf files changed for Cyrus IMAPd and Postfix. This was a while ago and I have not had problems since but I'm very careful with my upgrades now.
Oh yea. Check out Squirellmail. There's an ebuild for it. It takes very little to set it up and it's quite nice for people on the road. People will think you're a real stud.
All of you saying this is a pile of shit are mostly wrong. Think of a computer virus as something like a cold virus. It's a royal pain in the ass but it's not going to kill you. Look at how many systems have become more secure as a result of the viruses/worms that have spread over the past few years. Consider how pathetic security was before all this. Now think of a malicious cracker or a terrorist network hacking into any and every computer on the net. That scenario becomes much less likely if people are forced to secure their systems first. I only hope that enough of these mostly benign worms go around before someone releases something really nasty.
OK what does that look like? Is everyone suing in federal court or state court? This matters because SCO is likely to fight over venue and might just win because these things often follow money and how much money have these copyright owners collected? How many are going to have the money to fight over venue let alone spend months in Utah if they lose?
All I'm saying is that this should not be a mindless barrage of independent actions but a choreographed effort. The strongest cases should be filed first to establish precedence. Once SCO has its lawyers tied up with that then let the barrage begin.
Is this the best way to legally test the GPL - a flury of suits by small groups with little or no funding? Don't let SCO draw out the weakest (financially) to test the GPL. Either make them fight IBM over this or at least file a class action or pool funds or something. This is not something that is worth challenging unless victory is near certain.
(before SCO was "born")
Looking at when SCO was "born" is irrelavent. They claim that they purchased their IP from Novell. If it happens to predate SCO then that's fine. SCO is very wrong about their claims but not bacause SCO didn't exist before this code was written.
Except that white blood cells don't usually cause lots of damage themselves.
Except in an autoimmune disorder.
At first I thought this whole SCO thing was a joke. Then I thought that SCO really thought it could extort money from IBM and Linux users. That didn't last long since their claims were so outrageous. So I started to look elsewhere for answers. Then I wondered about a SCO/Microsoft conspiracy to bury Linux/Open Source. I held that view for a bit but now this whole thing is so out of control that I'm falling back the other way. I can't help but think that SCO is going to lose so big and that the whole issue will finally make mainstream news and that the GPL will finally receive some legal scrutiny. I can't help but think that this _is_ a conspiracy - that all the GPL/Linux friendly companies got together to defend against Microsoft's forthcoming attack on open source. SCO drew the short straw so SCO had to feign this attack on Linux and the GPL. Of course they will lose. IBM will then buy SCO with an unusually SCO favorable stock swap. IBM will then buy Novell/Ximian and everyone's stock will rise. There will be much rejoicing - at least for a while... OK go back to what you were doing. Nothing to see here.
I like this idea but it should be a distributed program that anyone can run. It should be designed to attract only the brain dead bots that result in this kind of unwarrented threat Companies that become notorious for sending brain dead threats can be identified and the software can focus file names more specifically on these violators.
to a hypertext markup language (HTML) format for presentation through the Internet
I'm not familiar enough with patent law. Does this mean that a different form of translation would not violate the patent? Flash? XML? Javascript? Java?
I agree completely. I've said this before. SCO's behavior is irrational from all other perspectives. You want to know what this is about? Take a step back and ask yourself who benefits from all this crap. That's who is behind this.
You may not think that you are good at selling your ideas but you will fail over and over if you don't learn to be more persuasive. Learn to simplify your presentation (dumb your ideas down if you have to). Learn what concepts and terms your audience does and does not understand and adapt. You may decide that the effort isn't worth it. Just understand that your best ideas will always fail if you can't convey them effectively.
At first this seemed like a match made by a Sid. Then I remembered why I still like Novell - NDS. NDS is by far the most robust, scalable, and secure directory in the world. Why doesn't everyone know this? Because Microsoft doesn't own it and Novell is marketing inept. Novell does files and directories very well. Novell has tried to round out its offerings to include application servers but has failed every time. Linux might be a perfect match for Novell since it sort of sells itself and allows the support arm of Novell to cozy up to the CIOs looking for support contracts (someone to blame). Oh yea, they are already cozy with the CIOs since many Fortune 500 companies are still paying on support contracts with Novell because they just can't seem to (nor really want to) get rid of NDS. I've been telling my friend over at Novell for years that pushing (not just making available) NDS for Linux would make Novell viable again. It's by far the best for managing Netware, Linux, Windows, etc. They should give away limited licenses and charge for the rest. Right now people don't even know it's an option. Maybe things will change. Then again Novell has killed every company it's acquired since Norda left.
I don't like running a network that can be breached by a high school kid.
I think this statement underestimates the experience, intelect and time that some high school kids have. I have seen countless posts to Slashdot either by people in high school or by people who were doing great things by the time they were in high school. This statement means nothing and somewhat indicates the lack of understanding that the general public has about hackers and crackers.
Think about the things you can do that require hard physical effort. Forget the machines. They mostly make you feel good when you buy them but most people don't use them when they realize they require effort. Push-ups, sit-ups and such will tone but won't shed much weight. They're good but not everything. Stairs are great but you have to do it for more than a few minutes to to burn enough calories. I would do what you're doing and add some running and/or walking. I bike to work too which does wonders. I would spend 20 minutes driving each way. I spend 35 minutes biking so I essentially get over half of my workout for free (in terms of time). I have a couple small dumbells in my cube and a pullup bar (cool. even my boss and the owner come by and hang out ;-) The mini workouts that I do in my cube don't add up to much but I feel better and I get enough distraction to not graze as much as I might.
I'm sure there is a need for a mature, full featured, easy to use, cross platform installer that's open source. Unfortunately I don't know of one nor am I capable of creating one right now - although it's a good idea. Most of what you found in your search are installers for MySQL, Apache, PHP, etc. What I do know is that InstallAnywhere installers always seem to work on whatever platform I'm using (Win, Lin, Mac). They have an unlimited evaluation period and I'm sure you could get some nice extras by paying some money. I also suggest looking at AutoIt which is free (soon to be open source). It can be real nice when working around quirks in Windows.
This is just more evidence that SCO has no intent other than to harm Linux. There seems to be nothing to gain, for SCO anyway, from this escapade in Japan.
If this were an attempted murder, the victim would be Linux. The weapon would be SCO and the detective would now be visiting everyone with a motive. Hmmm who could that be?
That would be great except I know _nothing_ about maximizing synergies or optomizing effeciencies.
I am the tech guy for a small manufacturing/distribution company. For a couple years I made sure that I told the owners about every major Outlok exploit and worm. I also made a point to explain how hard it is to comply with MS licensing (upgrading OEM versions on Beige boxes etc.). One day one of the owners received a strange, personal, confidential Word document from a close friend's mail worm. I immediately received the OK to convert the company to Mozilla. I then expanded that to include IMAP as the standard delivery protocol. For IMAP support I would heve preferred Mulberry but users seemed to adapt quicker to Mozilla (simpler interface and better inline image support). Now after a few months people have adapted and everyone seems quite happy with the switch. Backups are easier. Remote access is possible. I still think some miss Outlook because it's prettier to them and because the calendar in Outlook is so much better but I think the rest either don't care or prefer Mozilla. I do get strange looks when I tell new hires that we use Mozilla for mail though.
From the Milonic website:
We have, for some time, been thinking of changing the licensing regarding Government run websites and applications that use our software. The reason for this is due to the administrative overhead we have for issuing free licenses, we can no longer afford to offer free licenses to Government organizations.
TRANSLATION
In light of recent circumstances the price for government organizations will be one mmmmmilion dolars.
Suddenly, the company realizes its in deep financial shit? Sometimes asking for more is like trying to extract back taxes from the homeless. If someone is living fat at your expense then do something about it. If everyone is in the same boat then what will this prove? Whining while others are in the same pain will get you no sympathy and may cause people to seriously dislike you. When Indian programmers are loosing work to Russians I think your decision is much harder than you think.