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'Official' Followup to the "Gifting Ubuntu" story from 2-27-06

blog.thetechgurus.net — After finding out he got Dugg, the author of the McDonald's story admits it was a fake. What's even more interesting is what happened after the Digg community shined a light on this guy. Since I broke the story, I thought it only fair to be the one to followup on it.

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  • bluehouse, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0sounds like htis guy is just pissed cuz his BS story was found out
  • cogent_bob, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I missed the story yesterday, but it looks like the followup is better anyway.

    ++digg
  • JudgeDredd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1What a cry baby. He gets caught in a lie and decides it is everyone else's fault. And it wasn't even a good lie. Suck it up, laugh it off.
  • geuis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I hope no one thinks I was out of line for writing the followup. I'll rely on the good judgement of the Digg crowd to let me know.
  • BwanaDik, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Why are people digging this self-congratulating *****?
  • EPeters, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7It's not self-congratulating, or self-serving. It was an interesting story about a great distro of linux becoming accepted in the mainstream community. However, that aspect of the story should have immediately given it away as a lie. Since this is, in fact, what the story turned out to be, it became just that much more interesting.
  • misterpony, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think the most interesting thing is the investigative work by diggers which turned this story upside down and allowed the truth to come out. I think it's great that people called the McDonald's to see what the real poop was, but I feel sorry for this smuck for getting lambasted, even though what he did was stupid, we all make mistakes and it's not like he was doing it out of greed or maliciousness.
  • umrgregg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1So, is Ubuntu still cool?
  • o0joshua0o, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8To paraphrase Mark Twain: unless you're an exceptionally talented liar, it's better to tell the truth.
  • Anth, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Is this guy (the one who supposedly handed out CDs) old enough to have a job? He sounds like he is 12, making up elaborate lies and then stomping out of work in a hissy fit. ***** grow up...
  • tacom8, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1OH baby more fuel for the anti linux fires... gentlemen start your flames!

    but since when was a random post on some random web site's forum the Gospel?? i guess its more the sensationalization of blog posts today more then anything... who cares if the guy lied.. its just sad that people got so involved with unraveling the story. just the fact that blog bring out the most devoted of fans or enmies is the reson why this crap gets outta hand so quickly.
  • Bluezdood, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Ohhhoho this is good, this is very very good. :-)
  • history1me, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Yeah, I thought it was interesting. Good going.
  • Visceral, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Haha, wait, he posts a fake story and gets pissed that people view it? Did someone leave the gate to the retard farm open?
  • Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Best. Digg. Ever.
  • Dradis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1In your blog entry you quoted someone who specifically asked you NOT to post what he said on digg, then you go and do just that. While I was interested to find out more about the story, you didn't respect someone's polite request not to get him involved via digg, and to me that's just inconsiderate; particularly considering you could have just paraphrased what he had said and left him anonymous (if you absolutely felt compelled to divulge what he said.)

    No digg.
  • Hitchhiker90, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Did anyone actually believe the original story? First the kid says he used light scribing cd's which are pretty expensive, then he says the manager was running firefox and open office the next day. Those two alone should have told you the story was BS.
  • HomelessBrian, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0HAHA awesome!!! digg + 50000
  • osirisx01, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Very interesting story, that kid must still be in middle school judging from the copyright challenge.

    Foxlogic Foxlogic Foxlogic Foxlogic Foxlogic Foxlogic Foxlogic Foxlogic Foxlogic :-)
  • kenplaysviola, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Thanks for the follow-up. I had a hunch this was fake. And thanks to the Digg community for veryfing if his story was real or not.
  • dahul, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Entertaining read. Thanks.
  • JudgeDredd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"I’m going to change my contacts, web site and forum names. Trilexnet.com has always wanted to buy my web site in total instead of just sharing it. I still have another site I can fall back to, a username nobody knows about. I’ll move to another country and change my actuall name. I’ve always hated my name. I do know poeple in Brazil that would enjoy me around them.
    Who am I kidding? They are never going to leave me alone now. I must make some changes."

    That is the best part. What the *****? Overreacting a tad?

    That and: "Do not post this one on “Digg” please" Uh, don't post stuff on the internet if you don't want people to read it.

    And this, kiddies, is a good use of a blog link on digg.
  • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I feel bad for the guy.. he's obviously got deeper problems here.
  • Sirocco, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Was lame, is lame. Nothing changes.
  • jimmyM, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0why anyone gives a damn either way is the real mystery here.
  • Chaos12, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Haha, I hope this guy gets ***** with a long broom head (The brush side) for being such an immature douche. I don't care that he lied at all, but acting like a kid and freaking out is over-excessive, as if anyone cares about him anyways.
  • jjanousek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1how old is that guy... i agree, from what he is quoted as saying, he sounds like he is 15...
  • sygyzy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Link dead?
  • GuineaPig, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15Here's the pattern:

    1.) Linux zealot makes baseless outrageous claim about (pick one):

    [A] customers clamoring for copies of Linux at McDonald's
    [B] their 120-year-old grandmother compiling Gentoo
    [C] RMS using his magical flute to lead all of the rats out of NYC

    2.) Someone calls BS on this person
    3.) Infighting among Linux users ensues
    4.) Several new Linux distributions are developed in retaliation
    5.) Gates laughs his ass off

    There's no news here.
  • gluon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Digg Users: Let's be careful about giving ourselves the reputation of being a flash lynch mob. Every time I read a story here about someone who "might" have done something wrong, I see the Digg vigilantiasm engine fire up.
  • djpolstee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Nice follow up and very well written. I think that it's pretty funny to see how this kid got mad and flew off the handle at "work" or where ever and as such has "terminated development." ah, nicely done.
  • dirtyword, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2youre an ***** for posting his personal information. he didnt do anything *that* wrong. youre a dick and youre throwing him to the wolves of the digg community for no reason. ***** you
  • JQP123, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Like I said yesterday, kids nowadays are soooo F'ed up. But this exceeds my wildest imagination.
  • drdcuddy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0wow, i dont even understand, what an *****/ that douche bag got dug for a good idea, and now hes pissed, he should be the one who's beaten by an angry mob of lesbians, not you.
  • ArchAngel21x, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"youre an ***** for posting his personal information"

    Hey dumbass, that information was not personal. Domain registration information is public.
  • equusdc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3If a site looks rinky-dink, post it as a coral cache. It's just polite. This guy isn't pissed off because you "exposed" him, he's pissed off because you flamed out his servers, aggravated his boss/coworkers who had to jump through all sorts of hoops--and spend money--just to keep the business running and from the sounds of it, they're just scraping by to begin with.

    Jerks or not, I definitely do not dig that.
  • aztekm30, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0This guy really has no idea what he has gotten himself into. This is what happens when Digg is in full effect. DIGG is the Shizzy!!
  • Visceral, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0"I admit, I lied about half the story. My intentions were taken the wrong way and people asked unneeded questions and wouldn't settle for me ignoring them.

    Also, there was the kid who bitched about screwing up his computer, that was also true.

    So yes, I did something wrong for the right reason."

    Which makes it wrong. WTF is wrong with people, you lie about ***** like this these days, for whatever reason, you're going to get your ass fact checked. Welcome to the 21st centruy media.
  • chamblah, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2reminds me of a story:

    A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost.

    She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

    The sailor consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

    She rolled her eyes and yelled down, "You must be a Republican."

    "I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"

    "Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've been no help to me at all."

    The man smiled and responded, "Then you must be a Democrat."

    "I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

    "Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but, somehow, now it's my fault."
  • sardonic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Why all the trashing lately? So he over exaggerated his story, who gives a damn. Maybe the spirit of the story was better then the truth. To trash someone so personally just for a stupid "story" sucks, shows a lack of integrity and pretty much a lack of respect for others.
  • FunkyWitDaSysTm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5i agree that this guy should have been exposed for his false claims, but if they hadn't been posted to digg in the first place, then this wouldn't have happened.

    that aside, this guy's a douche for lying. but did he really deserve all this in retaliation? i mean, sure it was crappy that he lied, but REALLY. a slap on the proverbial wrist would have been embarrassing enough without (presumably) having this profound effect.

    sure he lied and is a total sh*t for it, but isn't enough enough?
  • Anchoret, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4> I feel bad for the guy.. he's obviously got deeper problems here.

    Remember what I've repeatedly said here?:

    "OS advocacy is best understood as a psychiatric symptom"?

    I wasn't joking then and I'm not joking now.

    I was suspicious of the story to begin with. The part about the manager's brand new notebook digesting an Ubuntu install without a hitch just didn't ring true. I've never -- NEVER -- known that to happen.
  • Rellek, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I do understand why bloggers don't want the sites to be put on diggs, unfortunately we have a few members here who like to post useless comments on web-sites. I think how he acted was a tad overboard but I think I would be a bit mad as well if I had not only been caught in a lie, but had to go and remove all the junk people put on my site. To comment on someones site that they are busted and it was a stupid thing to lie about is one thing, to start becoming immature and resulting to name calling or cussing is just a way of showing your ignorance. Guys we are on a ground breaking web-site here. We are probably taking part in a shift in the way people will get and read news from here on out. Let's use this to push the accountability of people but do so in a mature manner. If you are going to post a comment then have the common courtesy to keep it clean. I know I wouldn't want my kid reading some of the stuff left on this comment section and definitely on the comment sections of some the web-sites that have linked to all from our communities users.

    Thanks for reading my rant.... looking forward to being blasted.
  • Fantt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I agree that the kid didn't really do anything that bad, but like mama says, Honesty is the best policy. Both this Digg and the previous one are pretty interesting. If the first one had been true, it would have REALLY been interesting, but just on the surface of it, it HAD to be BS. So, a little bit of shame on the submitter for falling for it in the first place.

    But to the guy who made up the story, this oughta serve as a fantastic lesson in life to always tell the truth and to accept the truth (Ubuntuu is great, but it's NOT ready to be a replacement for most of the worker drones yet) even if it makes you mad.
  • felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Hilarious. I particularly like the "copyright" tantrum.

    Anyone want to register Foxlogic.org? Could be a site devoted to fake stories and exaggerated claims on the internet...
  • agimat, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3"youre an ***** for posting his personal information. he didnt do anything *that* wrong. youre a dick and youre throwing him to the wolves of the digg community for no reason. ***** you"

    Exactly.
  • Illuminatus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0That Republican/Democrat jokes works better in its original form. Sub in "You must be in I.T." for "Republican" and "You must be in management" for "Democrat".

    See? Now, it's freakin hilarious!
  • FunkyWitDaSysTm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@ anchoret

    my powerbook digested an Ubuntu (and KUbuntu) live cd without a "hitch". perhaps it was unbvelievable cuz it was a PC notebook (hee!), ok, ok, just kidding, let's not strat a pc/mac debate here, too.

    but seriously, on my powerbook G4 and my friend's MacBook Pro, i've been able to boot both flavors of Ubuntu from live cds without even the slightest problem. i wonder why that is...
  • abeg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0WHAT!!! this guy is mad cause some one linked to his forum post about his lie. dude get a life its like getting mad for writing you GF number saying she gives good head on the bathroom wall and get mad cause guys call her to find out. Moral.. don't post lies on PUBLIC forums you will be called on it. and also he sounds like an a$$ with a capital A and double $. walking out of work for this waa waa waa good luck in the unemployment line
  • Seumas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I told you all in the last story.

    TOLD YOU
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