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Ask Rob Malda
Posted by
Roblimo
on Fri Oct 05, 2007 11:00 AM
from the once-every-seven-years-is-enough dept.
from the once-every-seven-years-is-enough dept.
We last interviewed CmdrTaco, along with Hemos, in January 2000. Slashdot's 10th anniversary seems like a good time to put Rob back on the hot seat. He's older now and married, his former hobby site now has well over one million registered user IDs, and Linux has gone from "upstart" operating system to a normal part of the IT landscape. So ask away, one question per post. Expect to see answers to at least 10 of the highest-moderated questions next week. And if you miss your chance to participate in this interview, don't worry. We'll probably do another one with CmdrTaco sometime between 2014 and 2017.
CT: Also the clock is ticking if you want to sign up for a Slashdot 10-Year Anniversary party if you want a T-Shirt or a shot at the $1k ThinkGeek gift certificate.
Related Stories
[+]
Interview: CmdrTaco and Hemos Tell All 463 comments
You asked the questions Tuesday. Today, in response, Hemos and CmdrTaco spill their guts. Click below to learn what's going on at the world-famous Geek Compound in scenic Holland, Michigan.
[+]
A Brief History of Slashdot Part 1, Chips & Dips 503 comments
As part of our 10 year anniversary celebration, I've decided to post a
story here
telling the tale of the transition from Chips & Dips to Slashdot back in
1997. For those
of you who are new here (cough), CnD was the precursor to Slashdot,
hosted on
my personal homepage on the CompSci cluster of Hope College. Along with
a number of random Linux related webpages, themes for window
managers, random bits of code I wrote, this page was read by
a great number of folks, mostly from the IRC scene.
Hit the link below
to read
the tale of its transformation into an Internet superstar (and maybe
later I'll write the
the sequel where I talk of the transformation into sellout mega
corporate evil
and eventually irrelevant blemish on the history of the net ;) And
don't forget
to check for a Slashdot 10 year anniversary
party in your area.
[+]
Slashdot Turns 10 But You Get The Presents 636 comments
October marks 10 friggin years of Slashdot, and nobody is more surprised
about any of this than me. Throughout the month we'll be running a series
of navel gazing meta news articles about our history, infrastructure and plans for the future. We're also
going to give away 500 t-shirts and ThinkGeek gift certificates to people willing to organize and attend their own local Slashdot parties. One lucky winner will get a cool grand to blow at ThinkGeek! I'm going to attend "official" gatherings in Ann Arbor, MI on Oct 20 and in Palo Alto, CA on Oct 25. But you can read on for details about party organization and how you can win the grand prize.
[+]
Rob Malda Answers Your Questions 221 comments
Last week hundreds of you posted questions for Slashdot's CmdrTaco, AKA Rob Malda. Today we present his answers to 10 of the highest-moderated questions. CT: You can continue to sign up for 10 year anniversary parties but we're already working on shipping shirts so you won't be able to get a care package... but you can still try to run for the big grand prize by just taking videos of pictures or just doing something cool at your parties to prove that we should have been there.
[+]
Slashdot's Setup, Part 1- Hardware 273 comments
As part of our 10-Year anniversary coverage, we intend to update our insanely
dated FAQ entry that describes our system setup. Today is Part 1 where we
talk mostly about the hardware that powers Slashdot. Next week we'll run Part
2 where we'll talk mostly about Software. Read on to learn about our routers,
our databases, our webservers and more. And as a reminder, don't forget to bid on
our charity auction
for the EFF and if you are in Ann Arbor, our anniversary
party is tomorrow night.
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Silly Question (Score:5, Interesting)
My Question for Rob Malda (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously, Rob looks like he escaped from the nearest infirmary.
Time for a better hair cut, Rob.
(posted anonymously for obvious reasons)
Sincerely,
Kevin Rose
Active users? (Score:5, Interesting)
Q: How many of those one million registered user IDs are active?
Explanation: I have seen a fair number of folks that have defected to other platforms/communities to find resources or tools that Slashdot does not provide. I've continued to hang around as I appreciate what Slashdot has to offer, but are there any plans to change anything?
Oh, and congratulations on 10 years.
Re:Active users? (Score:5, Interesting)
Do it again (Score:5, Interesting)
Why has /. turned into Digg? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why has /. turned into Digg? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why has /. turned into Digg? (Score:5, Insightful)
Any mutual "I can't belive it's ...!" moments? (Score:5, Interesting)
Wil Wheaton has written about meeting a famous author, I think it was Larry Niven, and being completely blown away that Niven was at least as jazzed about meeting Wil as vice versa.
I'm sure you've met lots of folks that us normal mortals only see on TV. Anyone in particular that you were really excited to meet who hyperventilated when they realized who you were?
Yeah, mutual geeking out is awesome (Score:5, Interesting)
I wrote about it in my blog [typepad.com], thusly:
Around 1987 or 1988, I saw Larry Niven at a convention. I was officially there to be the Star Trek guy, but I didn't have to go on stage for a few hours, and rather than sit in some suite with the rest of the Star Trek people who didn't want to get too close to the masses, I grabbed my backpack and wandered around the convention as nerdy fanboy number 42.
I bought a ton of crap in the dealer's room (mostly FASA sourcebooks, and some bootleg anime videos IIRC) and on my way down a hallway toward the gaming room, I saw this guy who was dressed in a Space Shuttle flight suit (blue) sitting behind a table that had some books on it.
Holy shit, it was Larry Niven.
I walked up to him and the conversation went something like this:
Me: OMG YOU'RE LARRY NIVEN!
Him: OMG YOU'RE WESLEY ON STAR TREK!
Both: CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH!
Both: YOU WANT MY AUTOGRAPH?!
Both: YES!
Me: I don't have a pen.
Him: It's okay, I have several.
He pulled a pen out of the shoulder pen-holding pocket thing on his blue Space Shuttle flight suit. I was so out-nerded, it wasn't even funny. I tried to counter-attack by producing my own copy of Ringworld that I had in my backpack, because I carried it with me everywhere in those days, just in case, you know, I felt like reading it. (I am not exaggerating at all. I loved -- and continue to love -- that book that much. For reals.)
Re:Yeah, mutual geeking out is awesome (Score:5, Funny)
My story isn't as cool, because A: I'm not famous and B: I was a dork, of sorts. But hey, it's my story.
I was at a sci-fi con, had some art in the art show. Since I grew up without a TV I really didn't know much about what was going on, but my friend was helping organize the con and talked me into going and watching the art auction. We were wandering around, talking about this and that, and walked into a room. There was a strikingly pretty woman sitting in a chair, looking *very* bored, and on the other side of the room, a strikingly handsome man, surrounded by people, talking.
I've never suffered from either shyness or lack of confidence. So I went over, introduced myself to the pretty blonde lady, and we started talking about art, as it happens. I noticed a couple people look my way, frown, but I didn't think anything of it, until my friend sidled up and said, sotto voice, "dude, you're hitting on Starbuck's girlfriend."
I said, "who?"
Some may argue that not knowing who Starbuck was makes me not a dork. But in the land of dorks, well, the clueless man is even more dorky.
Slashdot v. Digg (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't subscribe to the notion that we should only have one account in one place, and participate in one community. That attitude is one of the myriad reasons I don't waste my time on Digg any more. In addition to that annoyance, the comments and interaction at Digg is worse than useless, and even as an aggregator it's become inferior to Reddit and Propeller (where I'm a scout - full disclosure.) Digg could have been really cool, if it had the kind of leadership that Slashdot has via editors. Instead, those who would lead Digg seem more content to cash the checks and let the Digg Mob run out of control down every tube on the Internets.
For truly useful and worthwhile discussion and insight, nothing comes close to Slashdot. In fact, if I were to ask Rob a question, it would be about the commenting and moderation system: does he agree that Slashdot has the best moderation online, and why doesn't every community use the same model?
What is this crazy tags thing? (Score:5, Interesting)
Considering the FAQ hasn't been updated in almost a year, could you explain exactly what tags do these days? At one time, it seemed to be a vote-based system, now I have no idea how tags show up on articles. Frankly, since I didn't understand it and my tags didn't seem to affect anything, I gave up on using the feature.
Could we get a definitive answer to how tags work?
Re:What is this crazy tags thing? (Score:5, Interesting)
By 'failure', I mean that the tags we see are generally ridiculously useless (like a "science" tag on a story in the Science section) or otherwise simply degenerate ("haha" seems to be the most common tag). It's hard to imagine what purpose the system would serve even if people were honest with it. Further, the idea of tagging comments as a future moderation system now seems completely horrible.
Re:What is this crazy tags thing? (Score:5, Interesting)
I actually kind of like them. When I see an article slathered with "flamebait", "badsummary", "inaccurate", etc. then I have a pretty good idea that it's not worth getting worked up about and that I'll probably read its debunking a few comments down. I think that's a fairly nice service.
Okay, I'll bite (Score:5, Interesting)
Can you talk a little about how you experienced some of the dotcom insanity, specifically as it unfolded here at Slashdot? For a while, it seemed like Slashdot was about to become wunderkind central -- the sale to VA, the infamous ESR post about uber-wealth, etc. I'd be interested to hear about how that experience translated from your side of the ball.
Thanks. And nice site you got here.
any annoyed or happy /. effect stories? (Score:5, Interesting)
Do you have any stores of annoyed sysadmins writing/phoning you and complaining that a link on Slashdot crushed their machines?
Alternatively, anyone whose exposure on slashdot boosted their popularity/traffic enough that they could retire/change jobs/make a major job change?
Re:any annoyed or happy /. effect stories? (Score:5, Interesting)
What sites are you most proud of slashdotting?
Most-visited sites.. (Score:5, Interesting)
What the hell do you do all day? (Score:5, Interesting)
Just what the hell do you do all day now, anyway?
What is your actual job? (Score:5, Interesting)
Show Me the Money! (Score:5, Interesting)
what was the "oh my god" moment? (Score:5, Interesting)
poll answer (Score:5, Interesting)
I bet it's Soviet Russia. (In Soviet Russia, CmdrTaco bets on you!)
Thoughts of giving up? (Score:5, Interesting)
When were you most tempted to give up?
Dealing with a bunch of creative, resourceful, tenacious, stubborn, and sometimes outright hostile nerds, I'm sure there were MANY times when you were tempted to just give up on the whole thing. e.g. page-widening trolls; Church of Scientology; Microsoft source code, or even the release of slash code to the community and the barrage of insults.
I'm really glad you held on and persevered, but I'd like to know when you were most tempted to throw in the towel, and even more importantly, I'd like to hear the story around how you held on and kept things going.
Infrastructure (Score:5, Interesting)
I know this is more than one question, but my MAIN question is just: "What does it take to run slashdot, hardware/software/bandwidth wise?"
In and out of Slashdot. (Score:5, Interesting)
What is a normal day at slashdot like? How much time do you spend improving slashcode vs picking stories vs the normal computer admin tasks vs other stuff. How are the workload/responsibilities split up among the different staff members? How has this changes over the years?
I also remember back in the old days, the work you did with Enlightenment, as well as the animated short you made (Duckpins?). I was wondering if you get the chance to do much programing outside of slashcode, or what other hobbies you spend your free time doing now (besides being married).
Oh, so much karma to burn.. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oh, so much karma to burn.. (Score:5, Informative)
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
For the newbies among us, allow me to explain all the parts. This post is the culmination of 11 Slashdot memes which are, in order:
1. Russian reversal - in Soviet Russa joke - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_reversal#Russian_reversal [wikipedia.org]
2. Beowulf cluster Slashdot meme - "Imagine a Beowulf cluster of..." self referential joke - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture [wikipedia.org]
3. Natalie Portman obsession Slashdot meme - originally arose due to widespread attraction of Slashdot posters to Natalie Portman - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture [wikipedia.org]
4. Insensitive clod Slashdot meme - joke originating from a Calvin and Hobbes strip dated February 14, 1986 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture [wikipedia.org]
5. 1337 = LEET = elite internet meme - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet [wikipedia.org]
6. Goatse internet meme - a widespread shock image - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatse [wikipedia.org]
7. "I, for one, welcome our new (insert descriptive here) overlords" internet meme - originally arose due to the widespread popularity of the Simpsons episode "Deep Space Homer" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturally_significant_phrases_from_The_Simpsons#Influences_on_language [wikipedia.org]
8. "Netcraft confirms, (insert target of joke here; was originally BSD) is dying" Slashdot meme - one of the original Slashdot troll posts - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture [wikipedia.org]
9. Naked / petrified / hot grits poured down the pants Slashdot meme - a reference to an unusual true story about the cruel and unusual punishment of a southern U.S. woman to her unfaithful significant other - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture [wikipedia.org]
10. Cowboy Neal Slashdot meme - a reference to Jonathan Pater's nickname which is featured prominently, especially on Slashdot polls - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Culture [wikipedia.org]
11. ??? Profit!!! internet meme - a reference to a joke in a South Park episode - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underpants_Gnomes#The_Gnomes [wikipedia.org]
What was the turning point? (Score:5, Interesting)
Have you any regrets? (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyway, been here a guest since 1999, and a member for the last seven. Enjoyed being part of this community, every single day (or when its non-xenophobic).
What's your wife like in bed? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What's your wife like in bed? (Score:5, Funny)
Where's Junis? (Score:5, Funny)
I found Jon Katz's Message from Kabul [slashdot.org] truly mesmerizing.
Junis surely must have some interesting thoughts on the state of Afghanistan and his feelings towards the USA today. I'm also interested to know if he ever upgraded from that Commodore he was using to download movies - the one he hid from the Taliban in his chicken coop.
-Isaac
Simple Question (Score:5, Interesting)
If Google comes to you with a huge pile of cash and says "we want to add Slashdot to out stable of products," perhaps as some kind of competitor to Digg, would you a) be tempted but decline because this is, after all, your baby, b) talk to them a while, negotiate, but ultimately call it off, or c) buy that island you've always wanted and start your own country?
What are the biggest threats to /. success? (Score:5, Interesting)
Two/three part question: (Score:5, Interesting)
If so, what are your favorite and least favorite things about the community?
How much... (Score:5, Funny)
Perl, any regrets? (Score:5, Interesting)
Do you like Slashdot discussions? (Score:5, Interesting)
My question originates from the fact that, apparently [slashdot.org], you've only commented 368 times. Considering that you've been here "since the beginning," that's not a lot of comments. Avid Slashdotters make about that many comments per year.
So why don't you participate more in the discussions? Do you not like Slashdot discussions? Or is it just because you prefer reading? Is it because you're too busy? (Aren't we all?) Is it because you worry that any comment you make will be unduly scrutinized, because of your peculiar status within this community? (Do you sometimes post under a different name?)
Do you run a Linux desktop? (Score:5, Interesting)
If so, which distro? If not, what do you run?
Question: Trends (Score:5, Interesting)
Based on that, what are your predictions for the next 10 years?
Some technology is obviously going to die a quick and painful death. Some of that technology will be good and some deservedly bad. What's going to catch on? What has staying power? Google has been a golden child the last few years, will that continue? Are there any big turnarounds coming? Who's got good stuff in the pipeline? Don't you dare tell me 2008 is the year of Linux (and I know you won't) - we've both been hearing that marketing crap for the past 10 years.
Re:The question everyone wants to ask (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ask Rob (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Over/under (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Over/under (Score:5, Interesting)
I get them every two weeks or so now. I didn't get them at all, even though I had excellent karma, until I metamoderated a few times.
Re:Why haven't you fired Kdawson yet? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why haven't you fired Kdawson yet? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:OMG! (Score:5, Funny)
...only if you say ..."PONIES!" afterward...
Re:Roland Piquepaille (Score:5, Interesting)
Nah, I bet most posters couldn't care less. Don't mistake a noisy 5% for the whole. I wonder if that's a seed for a question?
Mr. Taco: You have access to stats, such as number of pageviews, active posters, and so forth. This lets you objectively measure a lot of things that we can't see. What do you think are some misconceptions that we have about slashdot? Maybe we're really still mostly IE users? Is 'videogames' the most read section? Perhaps the tech and science articles that everybody seems to clamor for are really the least read?