SEMiSLUG Notes
8 January 1998
Question & Answer Sessions
- What happens when you send a ping packet to a host and force a return address
of 127.0.0.1?
- It dies at the firewall? Not always. It's undefined. Results may
vary.
- Troy is trying to write a program that su's to another user; why is it
still asking for passwords, if it's setuid?
- Use sudo. (Can't if it's via ssh.) Make sure one of the first things
the program does is to set real-id first. Look at the source code
for opt for example.
- What did the ADSL people say on the phone?
- See ad hoc presentation below.
- What does young talent have to do in this town to get a job?
- Just talk to people at the post-meeting meeting.
- Netscape mail conduit for Palm Pilot? (Not the Palmeto one.)
- Write one.
- Does anyone know how to enlarge a spliced (striped) file system under
BSDI?
- You probably can't. It might be possible to play games with the
union file system, but no one advises trying.
- Has anyone been following any of the gigabit router and what's the scoop
on them?
- Doesn't sound like it.
- Has anyone played with gratuitous ARP?
- Results are implementation dependent. If you do too many of these,
all at once, it can trash ARP caches.
- How can I get a newsfeed from through a shell account?
- Don't. Just don't.
- Who is looking for job? Who has them?
- "What if we have a career and we just want a job?" -- Steve Simmons
Talk to Steve (sjc@iti.org) or John Dreystadt (johnd@ic.net).
-
Presentation
"One Planet, One Net: The CPSR Campaign on Internet Governance"
Nathaniel Borenstein (nsb@fv.com), Special Director,
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
A good place to start, if you're looking for background info, is
http://www.cpsr.org/program/nii/onenet.html.
Why focus on Internet Governance?
The Net was built by a technical meritacracy.
The old system has broken down.
Example: The DNS wars
Example: "Protecting" children
Example: The Browser wars
Example: The W3C vs. IETF war
CPSR's mission: guard the public interest in information
technologies.
This is the most pressing set of issues we know of.
Declaration of Principles
The principles and Their Implication
The Net links us all together.
People want to link their systems together.
Utility rises with community.
The greatest community is the human community.
Ultimately, there's only one Net.
Exclusion of a subgroup diminishes us all.
The Net must be open and available to all.
Rational government control
Due process before denying access to the net
People have the right to communicate.
Net access is freedom of speech - a universal human right.
Explicitly includes the right to interact, organize, petition,
mobilize, coolaborate, buy & sell, publish ...
Implies restriction on censorship, open models of commerce.
People have the right to privacy.
Individuals should control the collections, use, and disemenation
of their personal information.
Technical measures such as encryption should be available to all.
Individuals should control who they communicate ...
People are the Net's stewards, not it's owners.
The internet is a fragile resource, shared by all, like the ecosystem.
The free and open net is a legacy we should seek to pass on to
future generations.
Economic rights and interests must be respected, but do not take
precedente over everything else.
Administration of the Net should be open and inclusive.
Business interests should not dictate outcomes.
Governments should not dictate outcomes.
...
The Net should reflect human diversity, not homogenize it.
The net has the potential to be as varied and multicultural as
life itself.
It could also become a homogenizing force on behalf of bland
globalization.
Linguisting and cultural diversity should be preserved.
...
Next Steps -- How you can help
[The discussion that followed was thought provoking and engrossing to the
extent that I didn't take any notes. -- Gabe]
As a quickie, ad hoc presentation, Paul Haas called Ameritech to ask about
ADSL.
What is their connectivity like?
- That information is confidential.
Can you get a static IP address?
Was the person we talked to clueful?
- Semi-clueless, but seemed to have references to refer to.
Rumor & Inuendo