What is Digg?173 Comments
- Durrok, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"I hope whoever does this gets arrested."
Why? There is no actual damage done to the PC. Yes, you could mount the hard drive and screw with the contents but that is not what this guy is doing. - dirtyfratboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9http://www.manucornet.net.nyud.net:8090/pcjacking/index.php
- Lewisham, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12I seriously need to write a Greasemonkey script to stop myself clicking on the comments link. The amount of idiocy in here makes LiveJournal look like Chaucer.
"This guy should be arrested" - for what exactly?
"What's knoppix?" - This is what we use Google for.
"Unless 3d acceleration means ANYTHING to you" - Linux is just as capable at 3D acceleration as anyone else.
Tomorrow we'll all be commenting on a post about the alphabet.
"LOLZ! who said it had to strt at a?? I like c betterr!" - Vesty, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7For those who say its not hurting anyone, its hurting the store. He's putting Knoppix on then leaving. What does that do to that comptuer left? Render is useless to the store until they fix it. Yes the computer works, but its not showing what they are trying to sell. Until they fix it, the store can not use that computer to show to customers to try to sell it. Which means possible lost sales and profits for the store.
- Ignathius, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7seems to be alot of idiots in this thread.
1. it's a HARMLESS prank.
2. the stores are trying to sell computers, NOT windows.
3. this prank only lasts untill the machine is rebooted (correct me if i'm wrong here, but don't you have to press a key during bootup to boot from cd?).
4. it's the stores fault this is even possible. Best Buy had their laptop hold down's redesigned to prevent people plugging iPods into them to steal software. these stores need to reconfigure their machines to prevent BIOS access.
5. booting into knoppix is NOT akin to stealing someones car and going for a joyride. if anything, it's more akin to going into a car dealership, turning the radio on and putting a tape in the deck, turning the car off and leaving.
6. this does NOT render the computer useless. formatting the harddrive would render the computer useless. this DOES NOT change the functionality of the PC at all (except maybe make it more stable and run faster).
+digg - mpeters13, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"If everyone did this, the world would be a better place."
Unless 3d acceleration means ANYTHING to you. - vonskippy, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11Nothing like showing the world that Linux is populated with a bunch of freaky ***** that have no respect for other peoples property.
- generalleoff, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It's more fun to go into a department store and set all the alarm clocks to go off 5 minutes apart. But I guess this is more tech related.
- ElectroOverlord, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3So I should be quiet about the systems I have overclocked on the floor of various stores?
- Drahknon, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7"so technically he could say he is just trying out Knoppix"
Really? And you think the store would be okay with that? Let's drop the pretense that this is kosher with these stores. It isn't. If it were, this guy wouldn't have to sneak around, trying not to get caught. He knows as well as you do, that even if you asked a store, they'd likely say no, and they certainly wouldn't like it if you did it without permission. . - jav1231, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This is the geek equivalent of putting a flower on every windshield. Makes you all choked up, no?
- Khaosx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Um, this actually does hurt someone. It hurts every sysadmin who's fighting a losing battle with management to bring Linux into the enterprise. Everytime some jacka$$ rebel-without-a-clue gets a hairbrain idea like this, they only cement the image of Linux-as-a-geek-pet-project in the minds of people who get a say in whether or not it gets adopted in the real world.
- Swoop_dk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Why oh why oh why why why why WHY ? do all people keep saying that customers are going to take one look, get confused and leave the store because they don't know how to use the computer ?
If they are THAT inept at computers I'm actually sure they wont experience any difference if there was windows on the system, compared to Linux.
Desktop Linux like knoppix and ubuntu are extremely easy to use for beginners, especially when the user haven't been "corrupted" by years of windows use. Several tests showed that inexperienced computer users didn't have a problem using Linux as their first OS compared to using windows, and in fact the large variety of applications available was a good thing.
The only "bad" thing is that the sales clerks probably don't know how to really demonstrate the computer when it's running Linux, but how often do you see sales reps show off computers by .. hmm opening the start menu ect. What does that prove about anything really ? Nothing.. they show the computer and talks the customers ears off. They don't go opening a bunch of applications.. it's not show and tell! ;)
So i dugg it simply because i cant see the harm in having 1 computer running a free alternative to windows... especially not when they distros of this time are so easy to use ;) - blhack, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3this is really stupid and counter productive. If somebody's first experience with linux is a really bad one.....do you think they're gonna want to switch to it?
no - lmanul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1All right, so I'm the guy who did this. Earlier today I tried to connect to my server and... WTF, why is apache so busy ? I found my website being a victim of some DDoS very unlikely... So I analyzed a few logs, backtraced you guys here, and here I am :) Ok, so this is what being "digged" looks like... being slashdotted is probably even harder for apache !
And I agree about Ubuntu, next time I'm gonna use it (I'm a member of Ubuntu, it's a shame I had to use Knoppix for these first tries).
Anyway, thanks for visiting my website ! And sorry for sluggish loading, my connexion only allows 100 k/s upload. Looking forward to hearing from new pcjackers soon ! - sidebuster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Who the hell uses a demo pc that would consider buying Linux. If your old grandma came in looking for a computer and saw one with a Linux version, she would probably think it was broken. The only thing I ever used a demo PC for was for my sister. She wanted to buy a laptop and we all know they don't what they have so you gotta use dxdiag. What I am trying to say is that if a tech person was looking to buy an emachine (heaven forbid) and it had Linux on it, most likely the would call a helper guy over or just reboot.
Putting Linux on a demo PC will have absolutely 0% chance of actually persuading ANYONE to change. - dwhitbeck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I see it as a harmless kind of practical joke.
- stoops, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2First off, lmfao thats awesome. Secondly, if a store is dumb enough not to disable access to the bios and boot from cdrom option, then I guess they kinda desrve it. Also, atleast the computers wont need any windows updates, anit virus, spyware cleaners while knoppix is running, so he's probably doing them a favour.
- floor-9.com, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Damn - this is stupid. What do you think -- that Joe Newbie is going to walk into Best Buy, see Knoppix, and think "Wow! An alternative operating system? That's awesome! GO LINUX!"?
No. Not even close. Here's reality: Joe Newbie will walk into Best Buy and try to load Word. Maybe he wants to be clever and type "BEST BUY SUX", or maybe he wants to try the keyboard, or maybe it's the only app that comes to his mind. Point is, he's looking for Word. Not Ami, not OpenOffice, but Word. And when he can't find it, he'll arrive at the conclusion that this computer sucks, and he'll leave.
Or maybe he'll loook for solitaire. Yeah - when he hits Start and can't go All Programs -> Games -> Solitaire, he'll give up and leave. Or maybe he'll try to fire up Internet Explorer. Except it's not there; no blue "e" to be found. There's something called "web browsing", but he has no idea what this Konqueror or Firefox crap is. "Where the hell's the internet?" he'll wonder.
Point being, keep your anti-Windows fanboy rants to yourself. You like to scream about how Microsoft (always spelled with a "$" to prove you're hardcore) forces Windows on people, but you applaud at a story about forcing Linux on people (do you believe Joe Newbie is going to be smart / care enough to reboot into Windows?).
If you want to promote Linux, quit frothing at the mouth over it. This kind of crap doesn't help. All it does is associate Linux with fanaticism. - akira117, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Dude that's awesome!
I think I'll start doing that! - Drahknon, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4"How so, he was protesting against a company that makes a terrible os and then charges you to protect you from the hackers that got into the massive holes that they created."
The question isn't what he's protesting... but how he's doing it. If he'd like to convince people to use a different OS, there are any number of ways to do so that don't involve messing with someone else's computer without their permission. - pingviini, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think I'll do this with the ubuntu live disk and leave the install disk next to it.
- wnathans, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3cute, funny...yeh sure
but not a very nice thing to do regardless of one's opinion on windows vs opensource
i'm with you drahknon - Bicep, on 07/10/2008, -0/+1Someone should do this with the linuX-gamers live DVD:
http://digg.com/linux_unix/One_live_DVD_one_ton_of ...
http://live.linux-gamers.net/ - pianoman55, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3lol... first of all.. i loved the comment "What the hell is Knoppix?"
but also... drahknon... the computers in the store are for the customers to try out.. so technically he could say he is just trying out Knoppix. - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3@ vesty:
"Oh here's this awsome comptuer, it doesn't work but trust me its good".
But isn't that, in essence, how they sell Winblows based computers anyhow? - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ztirffrirz:
"This is totally unrelated to the story, but his web page completely blows up in Firefox, but works fine in Safari, yet he is promoting Firefox on his page. Weird."
The page worked perfectly for me, with Firefox. - Zuggy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I laughed out loud at this. Sure it's a good way to spread linux, but I can only imagine the sales peoples faces when someone says, "What's this" and they don't know what to do.
- ShadowXiv, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2FIRST POST YAY.
What's the big deal I think its funny even artistic. Most people are mindless drones who buy or consume what they are told to. Sometimes they need people like this guy to open they're eyes to something new. - humanzoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Heh heh heh.... After seeing the hysterical reactions from people on Digg over this very minor situation, I want to try it now!
Is this bothering you? Is this bothering you? Is this bothering you? Is this bothering you? Is this bothering you?
Oh, and by the way... Dear Windows Users,
This is not illegal, like booting a computer to Windows without a license would be. Does that make you feel any better? - SirGrant, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1****Bad example. It would take a long time to fix the pile of clothes. It would be like turning one shirt inside out in the store. It takes like 2 minutes to undo what he did. They turn the computers off at the end of the day anyway, they just need to remove the CD first and everything is normal again.
Apparently it took 6 days, while it may take only 2 minutes to fix, the end result is it took them so much more time resulting in a big pain for them trying to figure out what happened (while I mean it is a simple fix) it isn't their fault they didn't know how and wasted a crap load of time for them. - saysaknow, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4"This site crashed my IE7 beta 2 preview browser."
+3 - dylanA, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Best Buy here i come!
- TenaciousMe, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I'm looking forward to the "Man gets arrested loading linux onto store demo PC's" report.
- Darth_tater, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this is funy and the ppl at BB or wahtever will get mad bc they dont trust you and they dont know what it is. lol
put like auditor or backtrack...... find some way of xploiting there network
oh well i AM SO DOING THIS. - Kissitfatty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"If there is an OS on there they dont know how to use,"
If the people at a pc store dont know how to run linux they shouldnt be working at a pc store.... and the average user will go the pc look at it move the mouse around ask about it they man will look at the pc and say this isnt right restart the pc and bam back to normal.... not that hard - EdLesMann, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I did this when I worked at CompUSA back in high school. They all knew I was the Linux guy, so when the mnager saw this he came running back to the room where I was at yelling and screaming, threatning to fire me because i had replaced Windows with Linux. I rebooted into windows, took the disc out to show him no harm was done and he calmed down.
I hated that particular manager (most did, hes the reason I left) and so every employee had a good laugh at his expense and it became one of the best pranks that got pulled.
As a side note, I got permission to run one copy of knoppix on one display, and got a BUNCH of people asking about Linux. Sold a BUNCH of copies of SuSE and Red Hat (only 2 distros CompUSA would carry at the time...and I dont care what you say about selling Linux, the guides, tutorials, and tech support help newbies out alot).
So this method does work, but some people /will/ overreact. - Quactaur, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2"kissitfatty ...you are really a ***** idiot. You have NO idea what you are talkingabout yet you keep spouting off your inane garbage. You CANNOT change a store display around without permission."
-The Cd Drives open don't they? That's like saying you can't put a tshirt in front of you in a mirror to see what it looks like; you're changing nothing but the RAM
"Will they press criminal charages? No. You are not worth it. (Especially you.) Could they sue. Absolutely. Sue for ht etime it takes to make the computers better again. (Yes, better. Not havign a peice of ***** system that nobody wants on it.) And sue for possible lost revnue from customers who aren't pathetic fanboys and not wanting the computer becuase it hasn't such a ***** OS on it."
Whoo, badly spelt legal advice; They can't sue you unless you've broken into the computer or its bios; if they put a password lock on the BIOS boot sequence then they could take legal action, if they allow a computer to boot a disk and have that computer set with an openable cd drive on demonstration computers, they can't hold anyone responsible for using the computers as a demonstration.
"Think about this for a second you dumb *****! If a store has a big banner advertisement for a new Britney Spears CD, you can't go in and tape over your own banner for whatever lame Emo ***** you probably listen to. (Don't lie, you know your lives are that devoid of meaning.) It is against the law. And this falls into the exact same category."
Again, bad analogy, bad legal advice. It's not taping over, a tap of a reset button and you have your precious Britney music back!
"So, is it worth a big lawsuit just to show the world what a ***** dick you are? After all, we already KNOW."
You're throwing legal action back and forth... are you related to Mr RIAA?
Please, though it was a stunt, it was completely harmless, just like Windows PE or any Linux Live boot, the 'damaging effects' take about 30 seconds to clear up, and the stores really should enforce BIOS locks on the boot sequence; otherwise someone could quite easily bring a flash disk with a self copying trojanifier for windows in, and let it run riot on the system. Someone above posted that linux fanboys were having a fielday; but over half the comments so far are misinformed nugggets of Bull Poo; it's about as damaging and malicious as changing the wallpaper on the system.
To conclude, it's totally non-dangerous; unlike another trick:
Goto C:boot.ini and mess it up, then save over it; pray they never reset that machine :) - bigtomrodney, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"Unless 3d acceleration means ANYTHING to you."
A little bit without knowledge or experience. 3D acceleration is fine on linux. Benchmarks show nVidia card perform better under linux. As for this clown, whether or not his heart was in the right place he had no right doing this. Regardless of the shop's system security or the lack longterm effects this is not something he should have done. - Edgeworth, on 11/14/2007, -0/+0I did something similar to this. I was buying a laptop and wanted to see if it was compatible with fiesty, and the tech let me go right ahead.
- GuineaPig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This guy has a lot of time on his hands.
Dirty Linux hippies need to find jobs. - Linuxrocks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1La resistance lives on!
- d1337r, on 02/02/2009, -0/+0Unless this computers have an Nvidia, not a ATI ;-)
- Ag3nt0rang3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I used to sell PC's for a living, and personally I don't think I'd mind what this guy did, if that's all he did. My boss might not have been too happy though.
"Yes... and that's precisely the problem! They demonstrate 'windows', but they don't show the potential computer buyers how vulnerable and unstable it is."
Nobody needs to be told how unstable Windows is, take my word for it, everyone knows. PC buyers, despite what everyone here seems to think, aren't all stupid sheep. Many of them know that Windows is unstable, vulnerable to malware of all kinds, blablabla. They also know that they can get the software they need for windows, and they know that their hardware will be supported. You can't guarantee those things with Linux, and you have to factor in the cost to most people of the inevitable learning curve.
"Like typical, lying salesmen, they hide all the flaws of the product--or in this case, of the bogus OS that comes bundled with the computer."
Bite my ass. Salesmen, contrary to your opinion, have to sell what lands in the store, not some wonderful ideal OS that really doesn't exist. I could have sold piles of Apple boxen if I were provided with Apple stock to sell, but that never happened. Frankly, I wouldn't sell Linux to most of the users I spoke to in my retail career, because I wouldn't want to deal with the headaches. "Why doesn't my Wifi card work? How do I play my favourite game on this machine? What do you mean I have to edit a system file, shouldn't the thing just work?" Try selling the wonders of vi to someone who just wants to play Minesweeper.
"Then it is sold to folks who don't know that they can make their own choice of operating systems."
Actually, most folks know that they can't make their own choice of operating systems. Despite what the fanboys think, Linux is not ready for prime time yet, and won't bee until more hardware is supported properly. Deal.
"That is the precise value of this bit of 'guerilla warfare' against the M$ empire."
I'm sure Chairman Bill is quaking in his boots.
"People go to buy a computer, and they get 'Windows' forced on them, and are not even told about other options to run the same computer."
Again, you seem to think people don't know their options. They do. They make a decision. You don't like that decision. Poor you.
"There have always been laws against illegal trusts, and such coercions in business, and Microsoft has certainly been in trouble for precisely that, several times."
No argument there.
"Putting Linux on computers that are shown for sale...can be an excellent way to supplement the ineffective and too-slow action of the courts-- to try and slow down the illegal and fascistic business practices of Microsoft."
Erm, no I don't think so. At best it will give a few people and idea of what Linux looks like. At worst it will send them running for the Windoze hills. Most people don't have the time or the inclination to ascend the Linux learning curve. Deal. - OttifantSir, on 07/13/2008, -0/+0So, my sense of right and wrong doesn't permit me to do the same thing, but I admire his b***s for doing it.
If I had ever thought of doing this, I probably would have brought two things: A live CD to show off the system, and a USB-drive containing a text- or PDF-document describing some features of the system, and how to revert this "crazy-looking, foreign malware/Windows-theme" back to its vanilla-Microsoft state costing more and more each time they release an OS that needs tweaking and rebooting and maintenance and more expensive software to run with any meaning. The text- or PDF-file would be named something like: "Confused? Open me!.ext" and placed on the desktop.
I might try to convince some of my local computer stores (in one I know the staff pretty well) to take on the task of showing off a few of the features of Ubuntu on a computer.
Maybe I'll even persuade them to give out/sell the fancy CDs you can order/buy from ShipIt.
A hard and demeaning task, I know. I've been trying for the last two years to convince my friends to change, but they're all like: But I wanna chat, play games, surf the Net, use my iPod, connect my computer to my TV, etc...
Worst case of this mindset I encountered when talking to a few Windows-savvy friends. I asked them to look at Ubuntu Linux, and one said: I have tried Linux in high school six years ago, and I had to mount the CD-ROM. No thanks, I'll stick with Windows. Don't want to do that for every CD I wanna play.
It may be morally incorrect forcing people to use a GNU/Linux-distro like this guy, but people are taking it WAY too seriously. I mean; legal actions? Lawsuits? Arrests?
If you are found out, the worst thing they can do to you is ban you from the store. And when online shopping is so easy, and you already have a computer (kinda figures when you know how to use a GNU/Linux-distro), what would be the real consequence? He hasn't damaged any hardware. He hasn't formatted any harddrives. He hasn't violated any EULA. He hasn't inserted malicious code. He hasn't taken anything (apart from shooting/taking some pictures).
What I think is the main reason why people should do this, or if not force people to use it, at least try to convince the staff to make a (number of) GNU/Linux-distro(s) available for testing, is that people need the possibility to see and feel the difference of proprietary software and Free Open-Source Software.
People have made several analogies already about what this would be like. From stealing to vandalism to trying out clothes to fiddling with car stereos. In my opinion, what he has done is the equivalent to placing a photo/image of himself in a picture frame at a photostore. Everyone knows how to replace it with their own picture. The same with computers: Everyone knows how to do a reboot (one way or another) of a computer. - tanglang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Great Idea. I will do that ;)
- WDot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Dugg. I actually did something similar a couple of times: I went to those Dell kiosks in the mall, opened up a text editor and wrote "Use a REAL browser: http://www.getfirefox.com" Unfortunately the message doesn't last real long as Someone usually notices and closes it out by the next time I walk by.
- Cerberus047, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Think about this for a second you dumb *****! If a store has a big banner advertisement for a new Britney Spears CD, you can't go in and tape over your own banner for whatever lame Emo ***** you probably listen to. (Don't lie, you know your lives are that devoid of meaning.) It is against the law. And this falls into the exact same category."
no YOU listen you dumb ***** its more like if you put an alternitive next to the britany spears cd and say its better..... way to go you lost all your credibility - cokebottletuque, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1you might be asked to leave and then escorted to the door but being arrested is a stretch and to all you nitwits that think booting knoppix is some how going to harm the system stfu i have used knoppix/other live distros to fix windows more times that i can count
"Unless 3d acceleration means ANYTHING to you." - mpeters13
last i checked some Linux distros have opengl runing as part of the OS and running faster than windows can ever hope to. in fact Linux will run games that take advantage of opengl at a much higher frame rate with better texture quality than the same system using windows. - Vesty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@WaterDragon
Truthfully I dont know how they sell those computers now a days, I havn't been shopping for one in that sense in a long while. But I do know they can atleast run demos and navigate windows to show off features they they wouldn't be able to do otherwise with an OS on there they dont know -
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