Re: [gentoo-desktop] Vulnerabilities on an RFC-1918 masqueraded Linux box.

[Roman Zilka]

> > I suggest quitting this discussion. It's getting way
> > off-topic, too general and unfit for this mailinglist, as all these
> > questions can be answered by checking sources someone else has
> > previously spent their time on writing.
>
> Roman, are you a moderator on this list?  The Gentoo website describes
> it as a "Mailing list devoted to Gentoo on the desktop" so I assumed
> that Gentoo desktop security was an appropriate topic.
>
> That having been said, perhaps you might recommend a few of the best
> "sources someone else has previously spent their time on writing" since
> you seem to have knowledge of these, and I'll be happy to let the thread
> drop.

This is exactly what this mailinglist primarily isn't for: re-relling
stories Google can tell better, answering questions Google can answer. I
say "primarily" - an off-topic off-shot here and there can't harm
anyone, but we've had some already. If the list didn't have this policy
and if it didn't more or less stick to it, it would have become a chat
room for anyone who just doesn't want to take the time to search for
themselves and instead opts for the lazier choice: just ask others,
it's easier. I know it because I've been monitoring this list for years
(read-only, for the most part). As you say: the list is for Gentoo on
desktops. Not for general Linux security discussion. True, Gentoo is
Linux, but we're here for Gentoo specifically. Otherwise we could just
call the list "the list on everything" because, for example, Gentoo
runs on CPUs and CPUs are in desktops, so random chat about CPU-related
stuff is related to Gentoo on desktops. The same for any piece of
hardware, and more than that. You get the idea.

You boldly state that you'll be happy to drop this thread if certain
conditions of yours are met. It sounds like you believe only you decide
whether the thread is dropped or not and when. Well, it's not true. To
my eyes this thread has become teaching certain basics in electronic
communication and using the Internet. Everyone has the right to not
know them, but I just don't feel like this is the right place to
explain them. So I'm ending my participation in this particular thread
and if everyone else does the same, the thread ends here, whether you
decide so or not. Unless you'd go on talking to yourself, in which case
it would probably end a bit later by the power of a moderator.

-rz