Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:11:43 -0500
From:      Robert C Wittig <wittig.robert@sbcglobal.net>
To:        freebsd-chat@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Party
Message-ID:  <451A5C6F.5040001@sbcglobal.net>
In-Reply-To: <a1b66dc9d3511d964c5c9c9da24c1312@FreeBSD.org>
References:  <20060920104047.GA49442@splork.wirewater.yow>	<20060920185542.GE1075@zaphod.nitro.dk>	<bd939a03a40fa16be6750cf5089bf5b0@FreeBSD.org>	<45125885.2060209@401.cx> <a1b66dc9d3511d964c5c9c9da24c1312@FreeBSD.org>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Adam Martin wrote:

>     I think it's just that I pine for better days.  Just 5 years ago, 
> this behaviour was restricted mostly to Windoze systems.  5 years before 
> that, the notion of net-wide "evil traffic" as a constant background 
> noise was far fetched.  And just 5 years before that, 15 years ago, the 
> notion of loads of background evil traffic was, as far as I recall, 
> appalling.
> 
>     After the whole of that spam episode, combined with several spikes 
> in local ssh-bruteforce attempts... I just felt despondent.  I still 
> do.  It seems like the whole 'net has gone to hell in a handbasket.  So 
> as I said, I pine for better days.  But I think I am a curmudgeon these 
> days :-)

Cheer up... you,  being an OpenBSD user, are at the top of  the food 
chain, and much less likely to become food for a bigger fish, than most 
other computer users.<g>

The legislators and the people that legislators love are in all 
likelihood *not* running BSD, or even Linux, and will therefore probably 
become victims of phishing, identity theft, having their computers hijacked.

This will bring the reality of the 'State if the Internet' home to those 
legislators in a very personal way, inciting them to take legislative 
action in their various countries (except for Nigeria, where the 
legislators are involved in running the scams).

When the automobile was first invented, there were no 'Rules of the 
Road'. This was Ok for a while, because cars required a techie, just to 
operate them. But as cars became simpler to operate, and more popular, 
and the roads became clogged with maniacs, killing people with their 
autos, rules had to be set down, to regulate the New Technology.

I suspect that something similar is happening with the Internet.

Ten years from now, we might be complaining about over-regulation.<g>


-- 
-wittig http://www.robertwittig.com/
.       http://robertwittig.net/




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?451A5C6F.5040001>