Thank you Slashdot. You created one of the greatest communities on the internet. Yeah, it is a community, despite the fact that we mostly argue with each other all the time:-) No other site comes close to being as insightful and interesting, and occasionally hilarious.
I'm sure there will be lots of "Slashdot is dying" posts, but I think it is more of an inevitable change. Long gone as the Emacs vs. vi holy wars, to be replaced with the Android vs. iOS wars. How long ago the late 90s seem now.
At least we are still seeing sensible comments here in slashdot
That's a bit of a hassle, isn't it? But Slashdot has all the necessary tools - judicious use of moderation filter and the enemy list takes care of that, and you can finally enjoy your iOS vs Android flamewars in peace, without some smartass trying to break it up!
Why, I remember the olden days before/. user accounts. I consider my UID to be artificially high because I waited days (weeks?) before signing up when they became available.
by Anonymous Coward writes:
on Monday October 01, 2012 @07:46AM (#41511793)
Starting Score: 1 Moderation: +1
Thank you Slashdot. You created one of the greatest communities on the internet. Yeah, it is a community, despite the fact that we mostly argue with each other all the time:-)
+1 Informative
No other site comes close to being as insightful and interesting, and occasionally hilarious.
+1 Funny
I'm sure there will be lots of "Slashdot is dying" posts, but I think it is more of an inevitable change.
-1 Troll
Long gone as the Emacs vs. vi holy wars, to be replaced with the Android vs. iOS wars.
What I find fascinating is that how much the influence of UNIX has become in today's computing landscape since Slashdot started 15 years ago. After all, Apple's MacOS X runs off a UNIX kernel variant named Mach, and both iOS and Android runs off UNIX-like kernels. In short, the dream of running UNIX on consumer devices has become reality, though in a way nobody expected.
Congratulations on 15 years of one of the most influential places on the Internet, and may you be around for its 30th anniversary. We do miss Rob Malda (CmdrTaco) and his stewardship of Slashdot, though.
I do subscribe to GNU's "bullshit", because it's important to distinguish between "GNU/Linux" and "Dalvik/Linux" (or whatever you wish to call it). The latter is lacking many of the abilities of the former so just calling both "Linux" because they share a kernel can cause alot of confusion.
Definitely. Back in the late 90's it didn't really seem odd to hear influential people in IT say things like "UNIX is dead", "In ten years every server will be running Windows NT or Netware" or "Linux is just a toy, Windows is the future".
The only upside to those dark days was that a lot of companies who got suckered into the lovely all-Windows future dumped near-new workstations and servers because they were standardizing on NT on workstations and servers (and surprisingly often win9x on regular desktops,
For me it's bitter-sweet. Both Linux and BSD are open source, and that was always the dream - OS software running on mainstream consumer devices, replacing proprietary and restricted code. Unfortunately it took commercial companies doing their own UIs on top of the OS core to gain popularity, and while iOS is particularly bad both MacOS and Android are still somewhat locked down in practice (bootloaders, DRM etc.)
Even on/. I don't think many people realize just how many embedded devices run Linux or BSD.
"I don't think many people realize just how many embedded devices run Linux or BSD."
True. I've seen a couple airplane entertainment systems booting recently (normal startups, not reboots) and was a little surprised to recognize many of the usual daemons waking up. In contrast, I've seen a number of information screens in lobbies of hotels or office buildings stuck on a crashed Windows error message. Once upon a time, such a contrast would have cheered slashdotters but now it's just the way it is. So long Windows, and thanks for all the BSODs (in keeping with the thread above).
To be fair I think most people recognize now that Windows is pretty stable, but of course is at the mercy of poorly written applications and hardware failures. Displays in particular, where the machine is stuck in some hot cupboard somewhere and neglected for years on end doing 24/7 duty and then not attended to when it fails so the evidence lingers for days, tend to show many such faults.
It is interesting how when MacOS/iOS/Android/TVs/routers/etc crash people don't blame Linux or BSD. It is just assumed t
Too bad that open source has to be associated w/ money-losing propositions, thanks to its unreasonable requirement that vendors can't restrict redistribution by customers. Had they just insisted that source code accompany binaries wherever they go, but where they go is up to their creators, they'd have been just fine.
In short, the dream of running UNIX on consumer devices has become reality, though in a way nobody expected.
Obviously you mentioned OS X. How is that 'in a way nobody expected'? Is it because it's not a Linux variant?
I say this, typing this in a Safari window, with Terminal beside it (running alpine in one window). I constantly switch between doing GUI things and doing things in Terminal.
The way I meant was that it appears a lot of people back in the early days of Slashdot thought a full-blown UNIX OS (or a Linux distribution) would become a replacement for Windows itself.
But what really happened was that MacOS X--which is a very user-friendly user interface sitting on top of the Mach kernel--became the standard for desktop and laptop Macs, and portable devices like cellphones and tablet computers now run operating systems that run on top of a UNIX-like kernal (iOS on top of a highly-modifi
I'm still not trying to nitpick, but why isn't Mac OS "a full-blown UNIX OS"?
Yes, you don't have to (and shouldn't have to, IMHO) ever use Terminal. But you can, and it's shipped there IN THE STANDARD USER OS INSTALLATION, not as an extra 'developer' tool.
No other site comes close to being as insightful and interesting, and occasionally hilarious.
TBH I haven't gone to this link in awhile since I like to read all comments, but it's a roundup of the most popular Slashdot comments (submitted by users): http://seenonslash.com/ [seenonslash.com]
Thanks (Score:5, Insightful)
Thank you Slashdot. You created one of the greatest communities on the internet. Yeah, it is a community, despite the fact that we mostly argue with each other all the time :-) No other site comes close to being as insightful and interesting, and occasionally hilarious.
I'm sure there will be lots of "Slashdot is dying" posts, but I think it is more of an inevitable change. Long gone as the Emacs vs. vi holy wars, to be replaced with the Android vs. iOS wars. How long ago the late 90s seem now.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
At least we are still seeing sensible comments here in slashdot
And without demanding your real name either.
Re: (Score:2)
At least we are still seeing sensible comments here in slashdot
That's a bit of a hassle, isn't it? But Slashdot has all the necessary tools - judicious use of moderation filter and the enemy list takes care of that, and you can finally enjoy your iOS vs Android flamewars in peace, without some smartass trying to break it up!
Re:Thanks (Score:5, Informative)
Long gone as the Emacs vs. vi holy wars, to be replaced with the Android vs. iOS wars. How long ago the late 90s seem now.
I used to like coming here when apple was nearly dead and you could guarantee a good MS bashing. How times have changed indeed
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, those were the days ;). At least we have a choice now. Even in companies you see more and more Linux and Apple.
Re: (Score:3)
MS bashing is still alive and well, but Apple are really pushing hard for that number-one-object-of-hate spot.
Re:Thanks (Score:5, Funny)
3 obvious points about that: /. is dying when Netcraft confirms it.
1. I'll believe
2. Your preferred $EDITOR sucks. Mine rocks.
3. I want Natalie Portman naked and petrified in hot grits.
Re:Thanks (Score:5, Funny)
In Soviet Russian, Natalie Portman pours hot grits on YOU.
Re:Thanks (Score:5, Funny)
I, for one, welcome our hot grit pouring Portmans from Russia Overlords.
Re: (Score:3)
1. Build a beowulf cluster of hot grit pouring Portmans.
2. ??
3. Profit!
Re: (Score:2)
MEEPT!
Yeah, I'm that old...
I miss him.
He was glorious!
Re: (Score:2)
I want to see a site from a former soviet republic post a link to slashdot that overwhelms the servers so that way in Soviet Russia...
Re: (Score:2)
In the /. HQ, CowboyNeil pours hot grits down Natalie Portman's trousers!
Re: (Score:2)
Do you know about Al Green?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Green#Turn_to_Gospel [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
User ID 510? Holy crap! I thought I was one of the oldest people still here.
Re: (Score:2)
We are old, and we should feel old. :-/
Re: (Score:2)
Why, I remember the olden days before /. user accounts. I consider my UID to be artificially high because I waited days (weeks?) before signing up when they became available.
Re: (Score:2)
I did the same thing. Waited for a while before getting a UID content to stay anonymous .
Re: (Score:2)
--Yah; kids these days, can't even get the logo right... :b
Re: (Score:2)
I'm kinky (Score:1)
I'm kinky, I ordered a whole Beowulf cluster of them. Imagine that!
Re:Thanks (Score:4, Funny)
Starting Score: 1
Moderation: +1
Thank you Slashdot. You created one of the greatest communities on the internet. Yeah, it is a community, despite the fact that we mostly argue with each other all the time :-)
+1 Informative
No other site comes close to being as insightful and interesting, and occasionally hilarious.
+1 Funny
I'm sure there will be lots of "Slashdot is dying" posts, but I think it is more of an inevitable change.
-1 Troll
Long gone as the Emacs vs. vi holy wars, to be replaced with the Android vs. iOS wars.
-1 Flamebait
How long ago the late 90s seem now.
+1 Insightful
Total Score: 2
Re: (Score:2)
It could have been digg/reddit long ago though, before those even came about, but the site rested on it's ass.
Not that I mind, given the commentary there is low grade and lots of noise... but still.
Aside a few tweaks, this place kinda the same since 1999. No ambition whatsoever.
Re: (Score:3)
At least they aren't Windows-8-ing the interface like some news sites are...
Re: (Score:3)
Slashdot = stagnated.
Re:Thanks (Score:5, Interesting)
What I find fascinating is that how much the influence of UNIX has become in today's computing landscape since Slashdot started 15 years ago. After all, Apple's MacOS X runs off a UNIX kernel variant named Mach, and both iOS and Android runs off UNIX-like kernels. In short, the dream of running UNIX on consumer devices has become reality, though in a way nobody expected.
Congratulations on 15 years of one of the most influential places on the Internet, and may you be around for its 30th anniversary. We do miss Rob Malda (CmdrTaco) and his stewardship of Slashdot, though.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I do subscribe to GNU's "bullshit", because it's important to distinguish between "GNU/Linux" and "Dalvik/Linux" (or whatever you wish to call it). The latter is lacking many of the abilities of the former so just calling both "Linux" because they share a kernel can cause alot of confusion.
Re: (Score:2)
I still prefer FreeBSD, in spite of the constant death notices.
Re: (Score:3)
Definitely. Back in the late 90's it didn't really seem odd to hear influential people in IT say things like "UNIX is dead", "In ten years every server will be running Windows NT or Netware" or "Linux is just a toy, Windows is the future".
The only upside to those dark days was that a lot of companies who got suckered into the lovely all-Windows future dumped near-new workstations and servers because they were standardizing on NT on workstations and servers (and surprisingly often win9x on regular desktops,
Re: (Score:2)
For me it's bitter-sweet. Both Linux and BSD are open source, and that was always the dream - OS software running on mainstream consumer devices, replacing proprietary and restricted code. Unfortunately it took commercial companies doing their own UIs on top of the OS core to gain popularity, and while iOS is particularly bad both MacOS and Android are still somewhat locked down in practice (bootloaders, DRM etc.)
Even on /. I don't think many people realize just how many embedded devices run Linux or BSD.
Re:Thanks (Score:5, Interesting)
"I don't think many people realize just how many embedded devices run Linux or BSD."
True. I've seen a couple airplane entertainment systems booting recently (normal startups, not reboots) and was a little surprised to recognize many of the usual daemons waking up. In contrast, I've seen a number of information screens in lobbies of hotels or office buildings stuck on a crashed Windows error message. Once upon a time, such a contrast would have cheered slashdotters but now it's just the way it is. So long Windows, and thanks for all the BSODs (in keeping with the thread above).
Re: (Score:3)
To be fair I think most people recognize now that Windows is pretty stable, but of course is at the mercy of poorly written applications and hardware failures. Displays in particular, where the machine is stuck in some hot cupboard somewhere and neglected for years on end doing 24/7 duty and then not attended to when it fails so the evidence lingers for days, tend to show many such faults.
It is interesting how when MacOS/iOS/Android/TVs/routers/etc crash people don't blame Linux or BSD. It is just assumed t
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Obviously you mentioned OS X. How is that 'in a way nobody expected'? Is it because it's not a Linux variant?
I say this, typing this in a Safari window, with Terminal beside it (running alpine in one window). I constantly switch between doing GUI things and doing things in Terminal.
Re: (Score:2)
The way I meant was that it appears a lot of people back in the early days of Slashdot thought a full-blown UNIX OS (or a Linux distribution) would become a replacement for Windows itself.
But what really happened was that MacOS X--which is a very user-friendly user interface sitting on top of the Mach kernel--became the standard for desktop and laptop Macs, and portable devices like cellphones and tablet computers now run operating systems that run on top of a UNIX-like kernal (iOS on top of a highly-modifi
Re: (Score:2)
I'm still not trying to nitpick, but why isn't Mac OS "a full-blown UNIX OS"?
Yes, you don't have to (and shouldn't have to, IMHO) ever use Terminal. But you can, and it's shipped there IN THE STANDARD USER OS INSTALLATION, not as an extra 'developer' tool.
Re:Thanks (Score:4, Informative)
TBH I haven't gone to this link in awhile since I like to read all comments, but it's a roundup of the most popular Slashdot comments (submitted by users): http://seenonslash.com/ [seenonslash.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Happy birthday slashdot. I can't believe it's been 15 years.
Re: (Score:2)
"I'm sure there will be lots of "Slashdot is dying" posts..."
Only if Netcraft confirms it.