kadie@eff.org (Carl M. Kadie) (06/08/91)
[Reposted with permission of the author - Carl] From: sbrack Just another expatriate MAGNUS user... 8) Message-ID: <us7132w164w@bluemoon.uucp> References: <u1VZ31w164w@bluemoon.uucp> Date: Tue, 04 Jun 91 15:03:41 EDT csmith writes: > sbrack writes: > > > Seriously, if you want to know interesting facts about magnus & > > Ohio State, e-mail me. > > We're listening ... <grin> Well, I had an account on HPUXA, OSU's predecessor to MAGNUS. I had news & mail access, along with a UNIX command shell. It was much like having my own UNIX box. I could write & run programs on it, I could up- & down-load files from all over the world (through the InterNet), & I could gain experience in how large machine operating systems work. I made two mistakes. First, I ran a command called "fixman," which I, by default, had permission to run. This command reformatted the manual pages (like help files) on HPUXA. I thought it only worked on my manual pages, but the command instead reformatted the manual pages for the entire system. OSU was not pleased 8). I had a meeting wherein I basically agreed not to do it again, & to only run a small selection of commands. I did that. But, I got into trouble on news. HPUXA recieves about the same news groups that bluemoon does. They cut out some groups, like alt.sex.pictures, but the pretty much allow a large number of news groups. Well, I was having an argument with a man in alt.flame. He posted an article to a group called control (which is where cancel messages & other news "control" messages are supposed to go.) I posted a followup to that article. What I did not notice until too late was that the author of the original article had set followups to go to 3 or 4 completely inappropriate newsgroups. My followup contained some "not so polite" language, & OSU's systems people received e-mail about my crossposted article. When I finally heard whwt had happened, my account had been suspended, so I couldn't even cancel my original article. I had another meeting. This time I was told I would not be getting my account back. Period. No dicussion at all. So, I was just a little bit upset that I had lost my account over a prank pulled by someone half-a-continent away. I posted an article in news.admin, from another InterNet account I had at Ohio State, detailing what had happened, & asking their opinions. I thanked those that agreed with me (my e-mail ran about 10 to 1 in my favor), & attempted to persuade those that didn't to my point of view. Owing to several less-than-scrupulous people, the discussion degenerated into a flame war. I was called "an ME freshman who thinks he has the world by the sensitive appendages" by Karl Klienpaste, OSU's resident net.god. That was not exactly the epitome of proper conduct, but because of his reputation, he was allowed to get away with it. Shortly thereafter, I realized it was a losing battle, packed it in, & left the debate in news.admin. At about the same time, I was denied access to my engineering workstation account, which I had been using for news & mail, as well as classwork. Not having access to that account would have made it impossible to pass my engineering course. I got that account back, after calling everyone from my prof to the Dean of the college of Engineering. We finally agreed that I could have my account back, provided I did not access news or mail, or any other "non-class-related" fuctions, from that account. I didn't, & instead started using bluemoon for mail & news. (No FTP or telnet, though 8() OSU's people have harrassed my friends who were using (with my permission) my account at Denver University. These people jumped to the conclusion that I was using these accounts, rather than simply letting others do so. OSU suspended three of my friends acounts, & sent a letter "warning" about me to another. If you wish to get Ohio State's perspective on this matter, you may write to the parties involved on the OSU side: Bob Dixon rdixon@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Bill Miller bmiller@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Clifford Collins ccollins@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Bob DeBula bobd@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Karl Kleinpaste karl.kleinpaste@osc.edu I guarantee that they won't have anything good to say about me, but their responding to what I say about the situation is the only way those of you who are interested can gain an unbiased view of the situation. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Steven S. Brack The Ohio State University | | | |"I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for | | your right to say it." | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ -- Carl Kadie -- kadie@eff.org or kadie@cs.uiuc.edu -- But I speak for myself.
alden@shape.mps.ohio-state.edu (Dave Alden) (06/09/91)
In article <1991Jun8.164215.10572@eff.org> kadie@eff.org (Carl M. Kadie) writes: >[Reposted with permission of the author - Carl] > >From: sbrack >Just another expatriate MAGNUS user... 8) >Message-ID: <us7132w164w@bluemoon.uucp> >References: <u1VZ31w164w@bluemoon.uucp> >Date: Tue, 04 Jun 91 15:03:41 EDT > > I made two mistakes. First, I ran a command called "fixman," > which I, by default, had permission to run. This command > reformatted the manual pages (like help files) on HPUXA. I > thought it only worked on my manual pages, but the command > instead reformatted the manual pages for the entire system. > OSU was not pleased 8). I had a meeting wherein I basically > agreed not to do it again, & to only run a small selection > of commands. Interesting how you make yourself look like such an angel in this posting. I've been told that your attitude towards ACS on both of these issues was along the line of "the system let me do it, so I must be allowed to do it and I shouldn't get in trouble for it", only you weren't so polite in your dealings with them. > Owing to several less-than-scrupulous people, the discussion ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I hope you include yourself in this statement - because many others do. > degenerated into a flame war. I was called > "an ME freshman who thinks he has the world by the sensitive > appendages" by Karl Klienpaste, OSU's resident net.god. Hmm - you made several WRONG statements about Karl, you were asked (by several people) to prove these statements and you never came up with proof - instead you "...packed it in and left the debate in news.admin." Funny - I'd call it "put my tail between my legs and ran". > At about the same time, I was > denied access to my engineering workstation account, which I had > been using for news & mail, as well as classwork. Not having > access to that account would have made it impossible to pass > my engineering course. Going on what you've said so far I would agree with you that this was unfair. I'm happy to hear that you were able to get your account back. BTW, what was their excuse for pulling your account in the first place? ...dave