Actually, I have been "living under a rock." More accurately, piles of 
them, mostly all alone. So how would I know Linux has become 
"mainstream??" How many Linux programmers would you guess there are in 
Mora, MN?? After I bust a gut using winter firewood, I bust a gut 
building concrete/rock/and steel summer foundations.

Recently, I started learning pthreads, and I blame that all on you, 
smarty pants. Until my gut heals and I can work outside and bust it again.

Iznogoud wrote:
>> I ran across the Wikileaks link describing modern "wiretapping" methods.
>>
>> https://wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/cms/index.html
>>
>> Maybe I read it all wrong, and I only read this page, but it looks like
>> Linux is the tool used to hack into our digital communications grid.
>>
> Seen this. It is no surprise, as there is much more documentation (but also
> versatility) that comes with Linux. I'd the same if I were them. And with
> Wine they can probably mix-and-match for getting to penetrate other OSs.
>
> One comment on your title. I think the government is doing less "abuse" in the
> sense that you put it compared to what Wall Street does with Linux.
>
>   
>> All it seems to imply to dumb old me is this once obscure geek toy OS
>> has come a long way to respectable status.
>>
> I should say something that starts with "unless you've been living under a rock
> you'd want know that" and ends with Linux has been mainstream for years. It
> runs our global infrastructure, and there was a youtube video of a TEDx talk
> on that (given by Linus' boss in Portland some years ago).
>
>   
>> Given the accuse first ask questions later nature of our modern
>> political system, we Linux fans and the TCLUG list might already be
>> under suspicion. Franz Kafka and James Bond couldn't match the current
>> craziness.
>>
> Two things:
>
> (a) The "accuse first" is mostly a self-serving _economic_model_ in my humble
> opinion, far from an efficient way of doing things (in a sense that an
> economist would put it). It creates jobs to have a mess of things, and if
> Y2K was not a prime example of this, the book "Perpetual War for Perpetual
> Peace" puts it well for a different aspect of our world. The point is made
> here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_war
>
> (b) Wasn't it said that NSA has a 3-day live buffer of the internet traffic?
> Storing text, like emails, is really cheap in comparison. This crap we talk
> about here will live forevah!
>
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