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Comment Re: Only the beginning (Score 1) 236

by peppepz (#48000837) Attached to: First Shellshock Botnet Attacking Akamai, US DoD Networks

Please tell us all how many Linux-based systems you operate that run only a bare kernel.

In the meantime I've told you how many Linux-based systems don't use bash as their default shell. The reality being opposite to your arbitrary statement that "the vast majority" of them do.

and the Karma Bonus

Who cares about that?

You should. Its purpose is to override other people's posts when you have something important to say.

Wrong. It's not personal, really.

[...]

You can always phone RMS up if want to have a nice "omg yes Linux is not GNU and GNU is not Linux" conversation.

Plonk.

That particular point has no value in this context, as the discussion here is on complete operating systems, not bare kernels.

Did he laugh about Debian/kFreeBSD? Did he laugh about OSX? Did he laugh about Cygwin or SUA? No, but he laughed about a minority subset of Linux distributions, and called them "Linux", having an uninformed reader believe that the bug is in Linux (it isn't) or that all Linux distributions are affected (many aren't). He was so aware of this fact, that he posted anonymously.

Which is not to say that this bug isn't serious, because it's huge. It's to say that this is not a "Linux bug", in any possible meaning of the phrase, strict or lax.

Comment Re: Only the beginning (Score -1, Flamebait) 236

by peppepz (#48000551) Attached to: First Shellshock Botnet Attacking Akamai, US DoD Networks
You fail to appreciate the difference between Linux and Bash (there's Linux with no Bash, there's Bash with no Linux). You fail to appreciate the fact that no, the most popular Linux distributions don't ship with Bash as the default shell. And yet you invest almost two thousand letters, and the Karma Bonus, doing the condescendent and attacking me personally. If you were trying to appear funny, in my opinion, you aren't. If you were trying to appear smart, then you had better get your facts right before attempting to.

Comment Re: Only the beginning (Score 3, Interesting) 236

by peppepz (#48000483) Attached to: First Shellshock Botnet Attacking Akamai, US DoD Networks
Debian doesn't. Ubuntu doesn't. Anything embedded doesn't. OSX does. There's nothing to "laugh at Linux" for, because even leaving aside the fact, as huge as a house, that this is not a bug of Linux, we must take into account that Bash isn't used on all Linux distributions, is used on many non-Linux unices, and can be installed on non-Unix systems where it'll see environment variables too. I also register with amusement the fact that OSX gets pulled by the coat into the BSD family when it's time to calculate market share, but is carefully set aside now that the distinction is convenient.
Science

Study: Chimpanzees Have Evolved To Kill Each Other 224

Posted by samzenpus from the battle-of-the-apes dept.
sciencehabit writes A major new study of warfare in chimpanzees finds that lethal aggression can be evolutionarily beneficial in that species, rewarding the winners with food, mates, and the opportunity to pass along their genes. The findings run contrary to recent claims that chimps fight only if they are stressed by the impact of nearby human activity—and could help explain the origins of human conflict as well.
Privacy

Apple's "Warrant Canary" Has Died 236

Posted by samzenpus from the get-out-of-the-mine dept.
HughPickens.com writes When Apple published its first Transparency Report on government activity in late 2013, the document contained an important footnote that stated: "Apple has never received an order under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. We would expect to challenge such an order if served on us." Now Jeff John Roberts writes at Gigaom that Apple's warrant canary has disappeared. A review of the company's last two Transparency Reports, covering the second half of 2013 and the first six months of 2014, shows that the "canary" language is no longer there suggesting that Apple is now part of FISA or PRISM proceedings.

Warrant canaries are a tool used by companies and publishers to signify to their users that, so far, they have not been subject to a given type of law enforcement request such as a secret subpoena. If the canary disappears, then it is likely the situation has changed — and the company has been subject to such request. This may also give some insight into Apple's recent decision to rework its latest encryption in a way that makes it almost impossible for the company to turn over data from most iPhones or iPads to police.
Cloud

Once Vehicles Are Connected To the Internet of Things, Who Guards Your Privacy? 130

Posted by timothy from the I-hope-it's-rob-ford dept.
Lucas123 (935744) writes Carmakers already remotely collect data from their vehicles, unbeknownst to most drivers, but once connected via in-car routers or mobile devices to the Internet, and to roadway infrastructure and other vehicles around them, that information would be accessible by the government or other undesired entities. Location data, which is routinely collected by GPS providers and makers of telematics systems, is among the most sensitive pieces of information that can be collected, according to Nate Cardozo, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Not having knowledge that a third party is collecting that data on us and with whom they are sharing that data with is extremely troubling," Cardozo said. in-vehicle diagnostics data could also be used by government agencies to track driver behavior. Nightmare scenarios could include traffic violations being issued without law enforcement officers on the scene or federal agencies having the ability to track your every move in a car. That there could be useful data in all that personally identifiable bits made me think of Peter Wayner's "Translucent Databases."
Windows

What To Expect With Windows 9 545

Posted by Soulskill from the solid-color-rectangles dept.
snydeq writes: Two weeks before the its official unveiling, this article provides a roundup of what to expect and the open questions around Windows 9, given Build 9834 leaks and confirmations springing up all over the Web. The desktop's Start Menu, Metro apps running in resizable windows on the desktop, virtual desktops, Notification Center, and Storage Sense, are among the presumed features in store for Windows 9. Chief among the open questions are the fates of Internet Explorer, Cortana, and the Metro Start Screen. Changes to Windows 9 will provide an inkling of where Nadella will lead Microsoft in the years ahead. What's your litmus test on Windows 9?
Cellphones

Apple Edits iPhone 6's Protruding Camera Out of Official Photos 425

Posted by Soulskill from the truthiness-in-advertising dept.
Sockatume writes: If you've been browsing Apple's site leading up to the iPhone 6 launch, you might've noticed something a little odd. Apple has edited the handset's protruding camera out of every single side-on view of the phone. (The camera is, necessarily, retained for images showing the back of the device.) The absence is particularly conspicuous given the number of side views Apple uses to emphasize the device's thinness.

Comment Self-healing drivers (Score 2) 93

by peppepz (#47917329) Attached to: New Release of MINIX 3 For x86 and ARM Is NetBSD Compatible
Don't present userspace drivers as a panacea for all kinds of driver troubles: when a driver fails, it can make the hardware it drives hang your machine solid from the hardware's side, or make said hardware DMA all over your RAM with complete disregard any CPU-imposed protection; there's no safe recovery from such a situation, and in this case applications had better be stopped even if they appear to be still running.
Music

Apple Outrages Users By Automatically Installing U2's Album On Their Devices 610

Posted by samzenpus from the do-not-want dept.
Zanadou writes "Apple may have succeeded at breaking two records at once with the free release of U2's latest album, titled Songs of Innocence, via iTunes. But now, it looks like it's also on track to become one of the worst music publicity stunts of all time. Users who have opted to download new purchases to their iPhones automatically have found the new U2 album sitting on their phones. But even if iTunes users hadn't chosen automatic downloads, Songs of Innocence will still be displayed as an "iTunes in the Cloud" purchase. That means it will still be shown as part of your music library, even if you delete all the tracks. The only way to make the U2 album go away is to go to your Mac or PC and hide all of your "iTunes in the Cloud" purchases, or to use iTunes to manually hide each track from your purchased items list. Other reactions include rapper Tyler, The Creator saying that having the new U2 album automatically downloaded on his iPhone was like waking up with an STD. Update: 09/16 15:06 GMT by T : Note: Apple has released a fix.

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