[PLUG] Book: "At Large" by Freedman and Mann, 1997
Keith Lofstrom
keithl at gate.kl-ic.com
Thu Apr 2 19:47:59 UTC 2015
A book about about Unix, computer penetrations, and Portland
State University system administrators in the mid 1990s.
PSU's Janaka Jayawardene is the hero, the setting is (mostly)
the basement of PCAT, the (now replaced) blue tile building at
6th and Harrison that used to house the EE and CS departments.
Richard Stallman appears - same impractical idealism.
Lots of inaccuracies, but if you can fill in the gaps caused
by journalistic ignorance, the hidden story is interesting.
I imagine Janaka was rankled by his portrayal in the book.
Two decades later, it might be interesting to have him present
to PLUG about those times, how things have changed, and his
predictions of future changes.
The authors castigate Unix for being insecure. In fact,
in the mid 90s we were transitioning from an age of innocence
and trust. We did not lock down our machines like we did
not lock down libraries. Now both have guards.
So, if you want to read a not-authoritative glimpse into
1990s system administration, and the transition from sharing
to paranoia, "At Large" is interesting light reading.
Keith
--
Keith Lofstrom keithl at keithl.com
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