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Submission + - New Slashdot Beta Sucks 3

Submitted by tekpagan
tekpagan writes: New design Beta sucks.
Boycott the site Feb 10-17th
If the beat is still here on 18th Feb do not return.
Do not fix that which is not broken.

Submission + - New slashdot beta setting records for suckage 1

Submitted by Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA FUCK BETA

Oh, BTW, FUCK BETA

Submission + - Slashdot Beta Woes 16

Submitted by s.petry
s.petry writes: What is a Slashdot and why the Beta might destroy it?

Slashdot has been around, well, a very long time. Longer than any of it's competators, but not as long as IIRC. Slashdot was a very much one of the first true social media web sites.

On Slashdot, you could create a handle or ID. Something personal, but not too personal, unless you wanted it to be. But it was not required either. We know each other by our handles, we have watched each other grow as people. We may have even taken pot shots at each other in threads. Unless of course you are anonymous, but often we can guess who that really is.

One of Slashdot's first motto's was "News for Nerds" that Matters. I have no idea when that was removed. I have not always scoured the boards here daily, life can get too busy for that. That excuses my ignorance in a way. I guess someone thought it politically incorrect, but most of us "Nerds" enjoyed it. We are proud of who we are, and what we know. Often we use that pride and knowledge to make someone else look bad. That is how we get our digs in, and we enjoy that part of us too. We don't punch people, we belittle them. It's who we are!

What made Slashdot unique were a few things. What you will note here is "who" has been responsible for the success of Slashdot. Hint, it has never been a just the company taking care of the servers and software.

— First, the user base submitted stories that "they" thought mattered. It was not a corporate feed. Sure, stories were submitted about companies. The latest break through from AMD and Intel, various stories regarding the graphic card wars, my compiler is better than your compiler, and yes your scripting language stinks! Microsoft IIS has brought us all a few laughs and lots of flame wars to boot. Still, we not only read about the products but get to my second point.

— User comments. This is the primary why we have been coming here for as long as we have, many of us for decades. We provide alternative opinions or back what was given in the article. This aspect not only makes the "News" interesting, but often leads to other news and information sharing. It's not always positive, but this is the nature of allowing commentary. It also brings out the third point.

— Moderation. Moderation has been done by the community for a very long time. It took lots of trial and error to get a working system. As with any public system it's imperfect, but it's been successful. People can choose to view poorly modded comments, but don't have to. As with posting anonymous versus with our own handle it's an option that allows us to personalize the way we see and read what's on the site. And as a reward for submitting something worth reading, you might get a mod point of your own to use as a reward for someone else.

Why we dislike Beta and what is being pushed, and why this will result in the end of an era if it becomes forced on the community.

1. Bulky graphics. We get that Dice and Slashdot need revenue. I have Karma good enough to disable advertisements, but have never kept this setting on. I realize that Slashdot/Dice make money with this. That said, the ads sit away from my news and out of the way. I can get there if I want it (but nobody has ever gotten a penny from me clicking an ad... nobody!), but it's not forced into my face or news feed.

2. Low text area. I like having enough on my screen to keep me busy without constant scrolling. Slashdot currently has the correct ratio of text to screen. This ratio has never been complained about, yet Beta reduces the usable text area by at least 1/2 and no option for changing the behavior. I hate reading Slashdot on mobile devices because I can't stand scrolling constantly.

3. JavaScript. We all know the risks of JS, and many of us disable it. We also have an option of reading in Lync or non-standard browsers that many of us toy with for both personal and professional reasons. This flexibility is gone in Beta, and we are forced to allow JS to run. If you don't know the risks of allowing JS to run, you probably don't read much on Slashdot. Those that allow JS do so accepting the risk (which is admittedly low on a well known site).

4. Ordering/Sorting/Referencing. Each entry currently gets tagged with a unique thread ID. This allows linking to the exact post in a thread, not just the top of the thread. In Beta this is gone. It could be that the site decided to simply hide the post ID or it was removed. Either way, going to specific posts is something that is used very commonly by the community.

5. Eye candy. Most of us are not here for "eye candy" and many have allergic reactions to eye candy. Slashdot has a good mix currently. It's not as simple as the site starting with a r-e-d-i-t, which is good. That site has a reputation that keeps many of us away, and their format matches my attitude of them (s-i-m-p-l-e-t-o-n). At the same time, it's not like watching some other "news" sites with so much scrolling crap I can't read an article without getting a headache. The wasted space in beta for big bulky borders, sure smells like eye candy. Nothing buzzes or scrolls yet, but we can sense what's coming in a patch later.

The thing is, the community cares about Slashdot. We come here because we care. We submit stories because of that, we vote because of that, we moderate because of that, and we comment because of that. At the same time we realize that without the community Slashdot loses most of its value. We respect that we don't host the servers, backup the databases, or patch the servers. Slashdot/Dice provide the services needed for Slashdot.

It's a give give relationship, and we each get something in return. Slashdot gets tons of Search hits and lots of web traffic. We get a place to learn, teach, and occasionally vent.

Look, if you want to change default color scheme or make pre-made palettes for us to choose from, we would probably be okay with that. If you want to take away our ability to block ads by Karma, or move the ads to the left side of my browser window, I would be okay with those things too.

If you want to make drastic changes to how the site works, this is a different story all together. The reason so many are against Beta is that it breaks some of the fundamental parts of what makes Slashdot work.

User input until recently has not been acknowledged. The acknowledgment we have received is not from the people that are making the decision to push Beta live. We told people Beta was broken, what it lacked, and we were rather surprised to get a warning that Beta would be live despite what we told people. People are already making plans to leave, which means that Slashdot could fade away very soon.

Whether this was the goal for Dice or not remains to be seen. If it is, it's been nice knowing you but I won't be back. A partnership only works when there is mutual respect between the parties. A word of caution, us Nerds have good memories and lots of knowledge. The loss of Slashdot impacts all of Dice holdings, not just Slashdot. I boycott everything a company holds, not just the product group that did me wrong.

If that was not the goal of Dice, you should quickly begin communicating with the user base. What are the plans are to fix what Beta has broken? Why is Beta being pushed live with things broken? A "Sorry we have not been communicating!", and perhaps even a "Thank you" to the user base for helping make Slashdot a success for so many years.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: What's there to like about the BETA? (slashdot.org) 7

Submitted by Narnie
Narnie writes: I come to /. not for the nearly interesting pseudo-tech articles, but for the lively, self-moderated discussion. Today I'm bit surprised to see every discussion summarized to fuckbeta. Popping up all over the place there's discussions about beta and even alternatives being revived and created. As I tend not to RTFA, I haven't sampled the beta myself. So, I ask you guys, what's there to like about the BETA and what's there to loath?

Submission + - How to fix Slashdot Beta? 17

Submitted by Forbo
Forbo writes: Since the migration to Slashdot Beta was announced, it seems all meaningful discussion has been completely disrupted with calls to boycott and protest. Rather than pull an Occupy, what can be done to focus and organize the action? What is the end goal: To revert entirely to the previous site, or to address the problems with the new site?

Submission + - AltSlashdot is coming (altslashdot.org) 3

Submitted by Okian Warrior
Okian Warrior writes: I've registered "AltSlashdot.org". I intend to run a site much like Slashdot used to be — better articles, less decoration and less "in your face" functionality. I'm reviewing and getting comfortable with slashcode right now. I'm looking for volunteers to help with setup and running the site. If the site becomes profitable, I intend to hire from the pool of volunteers. If you've ever wanted to participate in a site like Slashdot, here's your chance! I'm particularly in need of people who can:
  • Set up and manage a high-traffic site (servers, load-balancers, data sites, &c)
  • Edit story submissions
  • HTML, CSS, and script creation/bugfix/repair

Contact me if interested John (at) AltSlashdot (dot) org

Submission + - Why is Slashdot ignoring the advice of so many developer articles. 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Over the years, Slashdot has recycled plenty of articles about lousy UX, lousy design, lousy graceful degradation, lousy development practices, lousy community management, even lousy JavaScript implementations creating security problems. Did Slashdot read any of those articles?

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Why Can't Slashdot Classic and Slashdot Beta Continue to Co-Exist? 9

Submitted by Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Slashdot has been a big part of my life since I had my my first stories accepted over ten years ago. Some people my age do crossword puzzles to keep their mental agility, some do sudoko, or play bridge. I enjoy searching for and putting together a story a day for slashdot because it helps keep me on my toes to have readers find errors and logical fallacies in my submissions and I enjoy learning from the different points of view expressed on a story I have submitted. That's why I have been so discouraged in the past several years to see readership in slashdot drop off. As a close observer of this web site, I know that ten years ago it was unheard of for any accepted story to get less than 100 comments and there was at least a story a day that got over 1,000 comments. Those days are long gone. Not it's not uncommon to see some stories garner only a few dozen comments. That's how web sites die. If you slip below a critical level of readership, readers will abandon the site completely. I know from my own experience running a web site devoted to the Peace Corps that I used to have hundreds of comments to some of my stories but once comments slipped below a certain threshold, then they disappeared altogether. I think that slashdot is nearing that threshold and I fear that imposing Slashdot Beta on the site's readership will push it over the edge and I don't want to see that happen. I'd like to propose that slashdot continue running slashdot classic and slashdot beta in parallel. I'll stick with classic most of the time. One of the best features of slashdot classic is that comments can be displayed in four formats (threaded, nested, no comment, and flat) and in two directions (oldest first and newest first) providing a lot of flexibility in watching conversations develop. I switch between the formats several times a day depending on what I want to see. But slashdot beta also has its advantages in certain situations. Slashdot needs a blockbuster story or two every day where people can pile on and slashdot beta facilitates this by putting the most commented story at the top of the page and I think that is a good thing. Still I'll use slashdot beta occasionally when I'm on a mobile device but slashdot classic will be the format I use on my desktop. So don't deprecate slashdot classic. That would be like Microsoft disabling Windows 7 and forcing everyone to use Windows 8. And not even Microsoft is that stupid.

Submission + - Restoring HP and other Firmware access through legislation (digitalrighttorepair.org) 3

Submitted by DRTRLady
DRTRLady writes: The Digital Right to Repair Coalition (DRTR) www.digitalrighttorepair.org has been pushing legislation to prevent vendors, such as HP and others, from selling equipment without a clear right to keep using it without paying additional fees. This always includes firmware but also service documentation, schematics, diagnostics, error codes, passwords, and so forth. One way we have approached legislation is for everyone to be able to know what they purchased, and know ahead of time what they must license. See SD SB136 http://legiscan.com/SD/bill/SB... for this approach. We are also working on a more forceful bill modeled after the Automotive Right To Repair Law passed in Massachusetts which deals with the identical problems of repair including firmware. See https://malegislature.gov/Bill... . Which is better? What else can we do?

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Can some of us get together and rebuild this community? 21

Submitted by wbr1
wbr1 writes: It seems abundantly clear now that Dice and the SlashBeta designers do not care one whit about the community here. They do not care about rolling in crapware into sourceforge installers. In short, the only thing that talks to them is money and stupid ideas.

Granted, it takes cash to run sites like these, but they were fine before. The question is, do some of you here want to band together, get whatever is available of slashcode and rebuild this community somewhere else? We can try to make it as it once was, a haven of geeky knowledge and frosty piss, delivered free of charge in a clean community moderated format.

Submission + - Alternatives to Slashdot post beta? 8

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Like many Slashdotters, I intend to stop visiting Slashdot after the beta changeover. After years of steady decline in the quality of discussions here, the beta will be the last straw. What sites alternative to Slashdot have others found? The best I have found has been arstechnica.com, but it has been a while since I've looked for tech discussion sites.

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