The War on Terror
As viewed from the Bourne shell.
$ cd /middle_east
$ ls
Afghanistan Iraq Libya Saudi_Arabia UAE
Algeria Israel Morrocco Sudan Yemen
Bahrain Jordan Oman Syria
Egypt Kuwait Palestine Tunisia
Iran Lebanon Qatar Turkey
$ cd Afghanistan
$ ls
bin Taliban
$ rm Taliban
rm: Taliban is a directory
$ cd Taliban
$ ls
soldiers
$ rm soldiers
$ cd ..
$ rmdir Taliban
rmdir: directory "Taliban": Directory not empty
$ cd Taliban
$ ls -a
. .. .insurgents
$ chown -R USA .*
chown: .insurgents: Not owner
$ cd ..
$ su
Password: *******
# mv Taliban /tmp
# exit
$ ls
bin
$ cd bin
$ ls
laden
$ cd ..
$ rm -r bin/laden
bin/laden: No such file or directory
$ find / -name laden
$
$ su
Password: *******
# mv bin /tmp
# exit
$ pwd
/middle_east/Afghanistan
$ cd /opt/UN
$ ln -s /Bad_Guys/Al_Qaeda /middle_east/Iraq/.
ln: cannot create /middle_east/Iraq/Al_Qaeda: Permission denied
$ su
Password:*******
# ln -s /Bad_Guys/Al_Qaeda /middle_east/Iraq/.
# cd /middle_east/Iraq/Al_Qaeda
Al_Qaeda: does not exist
# rm /middle_east/Iraq/Al_Qaeda
# mkfile 100g /middle_east/Iraq/Al_Qaeda
mkfile: No space left on device
# rm /middle_east/Iraq/Al_Qaeda
# cd /opt/Coalition/Willing
# mkfile 1b /middle_east/Iraq/Al_Qaeda
# chown -R USA:Proof /middle_east/Iraq/Al_Qaeda
#exit
$ cd /middle_east/Iraq
$ ls
saddam
$ ls
saddam
$ ls
saddam
$ ls -a
. .. saddam
$ find / -name [Ww][Mm][Dd]
/Korea/North/wMd
$ wall Propaganda.txt
Broadcast Message from USA (pts/1) on USS_Abraham_Lincoln Th May 1st
Mission Accomplished!
$ rm saddam
saddam: No such file or directory
$ find / -name saddam
/var/opt/dictators/spiderhole/saddam
$ wall NewsWorthy.txt
Broadcast Message from USA (pts/1) on Time.Magazine Sat Dec 13
We Got Him!
$ mv /var/opt/dictators/spiderhole/saddam /opt/jail
$ cd /opt/USA
$ cp -Rp Democracy /middle_east/Iraq
$ cd /middle_east/Iraq/Democracy
$ ./install
Install Error: Install failed. See install_log for details.
$ more install_log
Installed failed!
Prerequisite packages missing
Conflicting package Wahhabism found in /midde_east/Saudi_Arabia
Packages Church and State must be installed separately
File System /PeakOil nearing capacity
Please read the install guide to properly plan your installation.
$
Shirt Update: New Shirts for sale over at Giant Robot Printing. Please read here for details. I will be closing down the CafePress shirt store, but will leave the poster up for sale. After working with Ken from GRP, there is no way that all that text is going to look good on the CafePress Shirt. I fully expect to have all the prior shirts returned.
Update: If you don't get it, go here.
Nice. For completeness, we need a bunch of cron jobs to keep (re)creating links all over the place, so that <code>rm</code> in one place doesn't get rid of the target. And of course there are symbolic links pointing off in various directions, some of which are real and some of which dereference to nothing at all.....
Posted by Geoff Arnold on July 23, 2005 at 02:02 PM PDT #
(pssst, middle is more than Iraq, Afganistan :) ) I understand it's bourne shell restriction... - life'd seem more simple through b-sh glasses.
Posted by Lukas on July 23, 2005 at 02:36 PM PDT #
Yeah I know there's more to the middle east, I did not want to type out every country.
I also forgot to add to the whole WMD part, fixed that.
I started thinking about this from see a shirt on thinkgeek (rm -r /bin/laden) and listening to Richard Black joke about our plan for Iraq which was basically to "install" democracy. When ever I hear "install" I automatically think "computer related".
Posted by ThinGuy on July 23, 2005 at 03:04 PM PDT #
It does look more complete.
Posted by ThinGuy on July 23, 2005 at 03:16 PM PDT #
Posted by Faruk Ateş on July 23, 2005 at 03:45 PM PDT #
Posted by Kevin Burton on July 23, 2005 at 04:26 PM PDT #
Posted by 31d1 on July 23, 2005 at 04:28 PM PDT #
$ cd /middle_east/Iraq/Democracy
$ ./configure
$ make
$ make install
$ ./Democracy
Segmentation fault
Posted by Ian Meyer on July 23, 2005 at 04:53 PM PDT #
Posted by Perl tester on July 23, 2005 at 05:39 PM PDT #
I cannot post trackback :( See more war stories in my blog entry ;)
Posted by Lukas on July 23, 2005 at 05:50 PM PDT #
$ ls iraq
saddam civilians
$ rm -rf iraq
$ undelete civilians
undelete: command not found
</small>
Posted by 31d1 on July 23, 2005 at 06:03 PM PDT #
What sysadmin doesn't love wall?
To the .config .make fans, I thought of that, but that would show too much planning.
I thought trying to install a pre-made program was more fitting.
Thanks for all the comments, I had fun writing it.
Again, props to ThinkGeek.com and Lewis Black (called him Richard before) for the inspiration.
Posted by ThinGuy on July 23, 2005 at 06:53 PM PDT #
I had to give Geoff a symlink.
Posted by ThinGuy on July 23, 2005 at 07:09 PM PDT #
Posted by Honza on July 24, 2005 at 09:29 AM PDT #
Posted by Random stuff on July 24, 2005 at 10:22 AM PDT #
$ more install_log
Installed failed!
Prerequisite packages missing
Please read the install guide to properly plan your installation.
$ finger Democracy
No Plan.
$
There is .. no plan.
Posted by Sascha Reissner on July 24, 2005 at 01:17 PM PDT #
Posted by Michael Turyn on July 24, 2005 at 03:12 PM PDT #
Posted by cellphone on July 24, 2005 at 11:01 PM PDT #
Posted by afsheenb on July 25, 2005 at 12:54 AM PDT #
Posted by Mikhail Esteves on July 25, 2005 at 02:20 AM PDT #
Posted by justiceman on July 25, 2005 at 04:57 AM PDT #
Posted by zar on July 25, 2005 at 09:12 AM PDT #
rm -
rm: cannot remove `-'
Posted by Simon on July 25, 2005 at 10:07 AM PDT #
Posted by LLx2 on July 25, 2005 at 11:22 AM PDT #
Posted by matt on July 25, 2005 at 11:54 AM PDT #
Posted by Dan Ray on July 25, 2005 at 12:38 PM PDT #
Posted by bölzebub on July 25, 2005 at 12:50 PM PDT #
Posted by hpj on July 25, 2005 at 12:51 PM PDT #
Posted by fu on July 25, 2005 at 01:31 PM PDT #
That trojan is owned by chalabi:chalabi
Posted by fnord on July 25, 2005 at 02:00 PM PDT #
Posted by kdog on July 25, 2005 at 02:32 PM PDT #
Posted by Aaman on July 25, 2005 at 03:06 PM PDT #
Posted by angry kafir on July 25, 2005 at 06:29 PM PDT #
The T-shirt is a great idea, although to be really Unix-geek friendly it should have white text on a black shirt. Never mind; I'm going to get one.
Posted by Geoff Arnold on July 25, 2005 at 07:01 PM PDT #
I hear you on the black, didn't see that option on CafePress. Also for I hate how black tshirts fade.
Probably just horrible @ doing dark laundry the right way. Hot water w/ bleach right?
If anyone has a better idea than CafePress, I'm all ears.
Ideally, the site would have 1) Affordable swag and 2) let you contribute to the charity of your choice.
I chose the IFRC because I don't want to contribute to any politicians. I'm sure that a lot of folks would think moveon.org would be correct, but let's not forget the dem's didn't do their homework (as Lewis Black would say).
Posted by ThinGuy on July 25, 2005 at 07:27 PM PDT #
Posted by gev on July 25, 2005 at 08:46 PM PDT #
Posted by Bootleg Greg on July 26, 2005 at 01:58 AM PDT #
Posted by noisex on July 26, 2005 at 03:28 AM PDT #
Posted by Anonymous Donkey on July 26, 2005 at 04:17 AM PDT #
Posted by bob on July 26, 2005 at 05:50 AM PDT #
Posted by Zappy on July 26, 2005 at 06:32 AM PDT #
Posted by John Shifflet on July 26, 2005 at 08:43 AM PDT #
Posted by Dave on July 26, 2005 at 09:03 AM PDT #
We have this thing called taxes.
If you open a store on CafePress your social security number will be used to reflect the income. So if this was popluar, which it won't be, my tax base would rise. If I did just $1.00, the donation is not going to offset the income.
So in the end, this is exactly why I was hesitant to do this. I'd love to find a better way. Like I said, I'm all ears.
Posted by ThinGuy on July 26, 2005 at 09:14 AM PDT #
Posted by Jen on July 26, 2005 at 08:23 PM PDT #
Posted by kathy on July 27, 2005 at 12:01 PM PDT #
Posted by L. on July 27, 2005 at 03:21 PM PDT #
Posted by ThinGuy on July 27, 2005 at 09:13 PM PDT #
Posted by Spider on July 28, 2005 at 06:37 AM PDT #
Posted by Spider on July 28, 2005 at 06:38 AM PDT #
$ ./configure
$ make
$ su
Password: *******
# make install
# ./Democracy
Segmentation fault</br> at this level not even ROOT can build it.
Posted by Beken One on July 28, 2005 at 09:49 PM PDT #
Posted by Mohamed on July 29, 2005 at 03:20 AM PDT #
Posted by Technosailor on July 29, 2005 at 07:32 AM PDT #
Posted by g on July 29, 2005 at 08:31 PM PDT #
Posted by Fire Rove on July 30, 2005 at 06:32 PM PDT #
$ grep "yellow cake" /niger $ wall $ chmod a+r vplame
$ wall LeakTopSecretInformation.txt
Broadcast Message from novak (pts/1) on CNN Sat July 2003
$ exit
$ rm -rf krove
rm: krove: Permission denied
$ ls
krove
$ ls -l krove
-rw------- 1 bush republican 11 May 10 16:57 krove
Posted by Fire Rove on July 30, 2005 at 06:42 PM PDT #
Posted by Rezidentní Lurker Bloguje.cz on August 02, 2005 at 11:58 AM PDT #
Posted by Oli on August 03, 2005 at 06:28 AM PDT #
Posted by sil on August 04, 2005 at 12:24 PM PDT #
Posted by Kristen Ankiewicz on August 04, 2005 at 02:29 PM PDT #
Have I told you lately that I love you?
;)
Posted by ThinGuy on August 04, 2005 at 09:49 PM PDT #
Posted by 諸悪の根源は物理的 （旧「がりゅう日記」） on August 07, 2005 at 08:57 AM PDT #
Posted by Emily on August 20, 2005 at 02:29 PM PDT #
Posted by Burka_Babe on August 22, 2005 at 11:02 PM PDT #
Posted by Ames Tiedeman on April 14, 2006 at 03:44 PM PDT #
Posted by Webdigity webmaster forum on August 29, 2006 at 05:36 AM PDT #
Posted by n1xt3r on August 29, 2006 at 12:54 PM PDT #
Posted by talon on August 29, 2006 at 05:30 PM PDT #
http://www.mideastinfo.com/countries.html
Anyhow I kept getting pinged about missing countries. Some people consider those middle eastern countries, some do not.
Anyhow, it's a joke.
Posted by ThinGuy on August 29, 2006 at 06:15 PM PDT #
Posted by Ben Atkin on August 29, 2006 at 08:54 PM PDT #
I don't know exactly what you are driving at. It's pretty hard to tell from that link.
But you obviously have me (or Sun) painted in some corner, left or right.
There are many liberal and conservative folks @ Sun. To paint the whole company one way would be a farce.
If you really study the post I made, it's an accurate account of history, not a political statement. It's just odd/humorous that you can make *nix commands duplicate recent history.
Funny how most true *nix geeks don't think it's political, but a few do.
Posted by ThinGuy on August 29, 2006 at 09:39 PM PDT #
Posted by 196.33.58.254 on August 30, 2006 at 06:12 AM PDT #
> Funny how most true *nix geeks don't think it's political, but a few do.
That's a silly statement. Ever heard of /.? You don't have to look far to find a political stance from a geek on America's foreign policies. Just because they're almost all one-sided views, doesn't exempt them from being political views.
While I appreciate you're clever attempt at humor, I think you're being a little naive when you say that "true *nix geeks" don't have a political opinion on something as big as the war in Iraq - of course they do, to think otherwise would be preposterous!
Posted by n1xt3r on August 30, 2006 at 07:02 AM PDT #
> If you really study the post I made, it's an accurate account of history, not a political statement. It's just odd/humorous that you can make *nix commands duplicate recent history.
I wouldn't flatter yourself so much, when you were obviously being very selective in your "accurate account" of recent history. You fail to mention the UN's Oil for Food scandal, Iraq's government, Iraq's elections, Iran's role in the propagation of violence in Iraq, the death of terrorist leader Zarqawi, etc. etc.
Posted by 24.93.126.105 on August 30, 2006 at 07:31 AM PDT #
Posted by ThinGuy on August 30, 2006 at 07:40 AM PDT #
Is the UN Corrupt? Absolutely.
Posted by ThinGuy on August 30, 2006 at 08:56 AM PDT #
Posted by venzke.org | venzke.eu on August 30, 2006 at 10:40 AM PDT #
> Flattering myself? Zarqawi? Please. Look at the date of the post. Iran? By invading Iraq we took out the only major check and balance to Iranian power in the region.
Point taken on the date, but if you want to get technical, then you shouldn't have called Democracy a failure in Iraq. It's a glaring discrepancy on your account, since that part of history was then, and is now, still being written.
I hate to get in a long winded debate here, but to suggest that things were stable or getting better in the middle east before the war is to neglect the reality of hate that has fueled much of the turmoil in the mideast for centuries. Remember Iran's ultimate goal? The roadmap to peace is a facade to the destruction of Israel. Even calling it a facade is giving it too much credit, as it should be quite obvious to any chess player.
Still for all that we may disagree on, I love the idea with the shell script, just wish you would've picked a lighter topic. :)
Posted by n1xt3r on August 30, 2006 at 03:29 PM PDT #
The problem I see with democracy in Iraq is that it won't be a secular government.
I have many problems with Islamic nations that rule themselves under Sharia Law (mainly surrounding the laws regarding women - none of which have to do with vanity, gays, and those who wish to leave the religion) and I see Iraq heading there. On the same note (religion), it's a major problem I have with the theme of the GOP as of late - stating that the framers never intended a secular nation. I can buy that argument, and I feel the free exercise clause shows that. But on the same not they surely did not want a state preferred/sponsored religion, which is why we have the establishment clause. The minute we allow that, it's a slipperly slope to allow laws that are in direct conflict with the Constitution.
If there is no respect for man made laws, then a stable democracy cannot exist.
Posted by ThinGuy on August 30, 2006 at 04:17 PM PDT #
Posted by ThinGuy on August 30, 2006 at 04:20 PM PDT #
> they surely did not want a state preferred/sponsored religion, which is why we have the establishment clause. The minute we allow that, it's a slipperly slope to allow laws that are in direct conflict with the Constitution.
The idea that the establishment clause requires a seperation is one of the biggest lies in America today being used to suppress religion and is a contradiction to the protection of religious freedom which the first amendment guarentees. The Framers meant that Congress couldn't establish a national church. It was never their intention to forbid every little religious activity on government property or partially funded by the government, yet indeed that's what is happening under the guise of "seperation of church and state". The "Seperation of church and state" can only be found in a letter once written by Thomas Jefferson. It's beyond sinister how the courts have extended the clause to apply to the states as well as Congress.
Other lies in America today, include these two gems, "I'm from the goverment and I'm here to help you," and "The check is in the mail."
Posted by n1xt3r on August 30, 2006 at 09:52 PM PDT #
PS...It's sepArate.
Posted by ThinGuy on August 30, 2006 at 11:39 PM PDT #
Posted by Tom on August 31, 2006 at 05:02 AM PDT #
So tell me, is that left/right/moderate view of the world? Or a view of someone who considers all the information available and thinks for themselves. Anyhow, this entry is old news. Been around for quite a while. There are much more interesting things to see on the internet and far more interesting bloggers than I.
Posted by ThinGuy on August 31, 2006 at 07:17 AM PDT #