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Suicide Linux (2009)

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Re: Suicide Linux (2009)

#91
post #45
post #13

This is like that time, last week, when I was having issues with do-release-upgrade and someone helpfully suggested to run sudo apt-get purge python* && sudo apt-get autoclean && sudo apt-get install python* Which I did without paying attention to what I was doing and it turns out that this is one of the worst things you could do ever on a Debian-based distro. Damn you, abu-ahmed al-khatiri.

I can one up you: Coworker was trying to remove node so we could install a new version, so he ran: rm -rf /usr/bin node -rf was due to muscle memory, and unfortunately he forgot the space. That was a fun one to clean up. We were able to use nc because that was in /bin and not /usr/bin, so we used that to pipe curl over through a socket and then used curl to install dpkg + apt, then ran apt update to fix everything an…

Sounds like the ultimate Snowflake Server: https://martinfowler.com/bliki/SnowflakeServer.html

Re: Suicide Linux (2009)

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the operating system does its best to pretend that nothing is wrong, so it takes you as long as possible to realize that you've made a mistake. You're describing my (modest) experience with Javascript: it fails silently. I was describing it this way to a colleague: Javascript is a Japanese girlfriend, too polite to show you your mistakes so you have a hard time to know what you did wrong. I want a rigorous German g…

I am from the left-liberal side of things, including my choice of employers, and I am always flummoxed when I come into HN and see developers a) make comments that are flagrantly bigoted and misogynistic b) indicate that they make comments like these to their colleagues Do devs really say horrible things like this at the workplace? If anyone on my team made jokes about Japanese vs. Italian girlfriends, either they wo…

I came here to say I agree. To me this sort of language is unacceptable because it sorts humanity into convenient little boxes with supposedly predictable input/output behavior. In the workplace or in social settings, it can have the effect of completely alienating people.

Unfortunately, at least in American culture, many of these stereotypes about what it "means" to be Japanese / German / Italian or what it means to have the role of "girlfriend" or "wife" or "husband" are reinforced in us from an early age. Wives are supposed to be controlling and manipulative. Men are expected to be stoic breadwinners and utterly incompetent when it comes to household duties like cooking or child-rearing.

For example, look at any show produced by Disney Channel in the 2000s -- it's all about petty relationship drama and manufactured conflict where characters overreact rather than having tough conversations. Technically the shows are trying to give examples of bad behavior, as there is usually a lesson learned in the last ~30s of the episode, but the characters seem to reset to their usual, horrible selves by the next week's episode.

Re: Suicide Linux (2009)

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am from the left-liberal side of things, including my choice of employers, and I am always flummoxed when I come into HN and see developers a) make comments that are flagrantly bigoted and misogynistic b) indicate that they make comments like these to their colleagues Do devs really say horrible things like this at the workplace? If anyone on my team made jokes about Japanese vs. Italian girlfriends, either they wo…

Lighten up. A friend of mine has an Italian partner and she is constantly joking that Italian women are mad and that she'll kill him if he does something wrong.

Let it not go unobserved that "lighten up" is the traditional rejoinder of those engaging in inappropriate behavior.

This formulation means: those in a position of relative social power, expect those in subordinate positions to accept stereotyping etc. at the expense of their own and other subordinate classes.

The humor, and this rejection of censure, is done to ritually encode and underscoring of the received power hierarchy.

In a world in which such rituals are being openly named, and confronted, it is very common for those called out to feel defensive, and act out of that defensiveness.

Re: Suicide Linux (2009)

#94
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I read it, the comment sounded like the emphasis was on stereotypes of the culture, not the gender. Maybe you're reading too much into it.

To be clear: comments about "polite" Japanese versus "strict" Germans and "angry" Italians are also bigoted and will make many immigrant coworkers deeply uncomfortable (especially if they are women). Everything about his comment is gross and 100% inappropriate for the workplace, and civilized society in general.

"obstinately or unreasonably attached to a belief, opinion, or faction, and intolerant towards other people's beliefs and practices."

(Definition of bigoted from Wikipedia)

Stereotypes can be harmful, but they oftentimes are based in reality. Yes, the formalities of an average Japanese are almost incomprehensible to an average Italian. What's the problem with that? The world is fortunately colorful, and making jokes about its colorfulness is not necessarily evil.

Re: Suicide Linux (2009)

#95
post #45
post #13

This is like that time, last week, when I was having issues with do-release-upgrade and someone helpfully suggested to run sudo apt-get purge python* && sudo apt-get autoclean && sudo apt-get install python* Which I did without paying attention to what I was doing and it turns out that this is one of the worst things you could do ever on a Debian-based distro. Damn you, abu-ahmed al-khatiri.

I can one up you: Coworker was trying to remove node so we could install a new version, so he ran: rm -rf /usr/bin node -rf was due to muscle memory, and unfortunately he forgot the space. That was a fun one to clean up. We were able to use nc because that was in /bin and not /usr/bin, so we used that to pipe curl over through a socket and then used curl to install dpkg + apt, then ran apt update to fix everything an…

So many questions about this one.

Why would something by in /usr/bin that would be manual deletion? Wouldn't it be in /usr/local/bin? Were they manually deleting a package managed binary?

For that matter, if you're manually installing a component like node with a large set of dirs and you might want a different version at some point (you're more likely to update to a newer major version of node than you are some base library for the system) why wouldn't you put it into /opt/node-X.Y.Z (if not an actual package for the distro)?

We could assume the people weren't as much admins as devs with some minimal admin experience so weren't familiar with some of these common admin practices that have been developed over the years to manage stuff easier and safer, but then why are they root with the ability to blow out /usr/bin and not a user account installing node locally?

It feels like there's some larger problems that even allowed something like this to happen. It's like hearing someone say "my simple webapp connected to the wrong DB server and completely deleted out all the databases there, including the billing one." The first response I have to something like that is "what were you guys doing that something like that was even possible?"

Re: Suicide Linux (2009)

#96
post #55

A problem with most commands is that they usually don't need extremely-unfortunate typos or russian-roulette-enabled shells to turn into something wrong: they are usually wrong in passing , while you're typing them. I always wondered if something could be done against the effects of an accidental premature return. Some of us have cats... `sudo rm -rf /tmp/workdir` starts with `sudo rm -rf /` `git reset libs` starts w…

My favorite is: rm -rf ${DIR_NAME}/* Then you remember that DIR_NAME is undefined...

I typically put "set -o nounset" at the top of my Bash scripts.

Re: Suicide Linux (2009)

#97
post #27

> Perhaps rm -rf / should be replaced with something with more verbose flags set. That way, when you run a bad command, you are told immediately that things are being deleted This gives me an idea: Hell Linux. In Hell Linux, the operating system does its best to pretend that nothing is wrong, so it takes you as long as possible to realize that you've made a mistake. Commands ignore all unrecognized flags. In shell sc…

That's a bit extreme. You should at least allow some error messages. Though those ones should just say "Oops, something went wrong :)"

Seriously speaking, it took me many years to realize that nearly all Windows BSoD messages are non-specific and useless - looking them up is a total waste of time. The only correct way to identify the actual error is analyzing the crashdump in WinDbg.

I recently fixed a family computer that crashes randomly after a RAM upgrade. Removing the RAM didn't help, and it was totally a wild goose chase. The BSoD stop codes indicate some types of crucial system errors or memory corruption, sometimes in drivers, sometimes in kernel, but nonspecific. Finally I installed WinDbg and opened the crash dumps, and all dumps have the same error, and it became obvious immediately,

    KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR - This bug check indicates that the requested page of kernel data from the paging file could not be read into memory.
RAM was fine, the kernel simply cannot swap from the bad hard drive, no wonder it crashes. But the SSD was known-good, so I checked voltages, and saw the +5 V had a huge voltage drop. Upon closer look, found a loose wire at the power supply.

Re: Suicide Linux (2009)

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the operating system does its best to pretend that nothing is wrong, so it takes you as long as possible to realize that you've made a mistake. You're describing my (modest) experience with Javascript: it fails silently. I was describing it this way to a colleague: Javascript is a Japanese girlfriend, too polite to show you your mistakes so you have a hard time to know what you did wrong. I want a rigorous German g…

I am from the left-liberal side of things, including my choice of employers, and I am always flummoxed when I come into HN and see developers a) make comments that are flagrantly bigoted and misogynistic b) indicate that they make comments like these to their colleagues Do devs really say horrible things like this at the workplace? If anyone on my team made jokes about Japanese vs. Italian girlfriends, either they wo…

Dear Americans, please stop imposing your anti-joke culture into us. Neither the Japanese nor the German nor the Italians need you to save them. Thanks.

Re: Suicide Linux (2009)

#99
Should be called Landmine Linux as most times, suicide is not accidental whereas stepping on a Landmine usually is. Entertaining project none-the-less. Thanks.

Re: Suicide Linux (2009)

#100
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I read it, the comment sounded like the emphasis was on stereotypes of the culture, not the gender. Maybe you're reading too much into it.

To be clear: comments about "polite" Japanese versus "strict" Germans and "angry" Italians are also bigoted and will make many immigrant coworkers deeply uncomfortable (especially if they are women). Everything about his comment is gross and 100% inappropriate for the workplace, and civilized society in general.

Have you actually met a person from Europe? They play on stereotypes constantly.
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