[UFO Chicago] multiuser computing space

[Peter A. Peterson II]

So, I met Nick Moffitt (Crackmonkey) because of a TRON mailing list.
And I've often thought that one of the things that he and I share is a
respect for, even a awe for the space inside a multiuser computer.
That's one of the main things that appealed to me about TRON, the idea
of these programs and people coexisting in the computer space -- not
some shiny CGI cyberspace, but the actual thought-space of filesystems
and memories ("Somewhere... in one of these... MEMORIES!") and ptys.

That's why I wanted to get on unix systems when I was in junior high
and high school, and why I wanted to see usenet, and use irc -- was
that multiuser, thoughtspace environment that those computers offered
that other computers didn't. I think that's part of why I enjoy
chatting in console based environments rather than GUIs -- because
there's something rawer, more honest, more real about them.

Anyway, Nick has written a cool application, called "nwall," which is
"Nick's wall". It is in debian, and it allows users on a local system
to chat with one another while they're logged in, sort of like an
interactive, one-line wall. You can also opt in and out so you don't
have to listen if you don't want to.

It is a great part of the zork.net community (Nick's server), and
inkblot, leklund (Lukas), and I use it to communicate on flynn. I'd
like to offer shell accounts for people in UFO to use on flynn -- and
you're free to use it for mail, or web hosting, or just for chatting
with your fellow ufo'ers. Flynn is not a high bandwidth server, so
don't use this to share your family videos.

I'm making this offer to people who have been to UFO meetings
primarily, since I'm not writing a blank check to the World Wide
Interweb for shell access. If you haven't been to UFO, but would like
an account on flynn, please let me know, and I'll consider your
request on a case-by-case basis.

			!!! WARNING !!!

Also, I won't tolerate any system abuse -- if I find that you've been
tampering, or abusing the system in any way (including doing illegal
things), I will remove you from the system with extreme prejudice.

But that's just the warning. This should actually be a happy
invitation.

That being said, I'd also like to use ssh keys instead of passwords,
so for those of you who are interested in participating, we'll need to
sort that out.

If you're interested, please let me know.

Yours,
Peter

-- 
"Sure I want to be the biggest telecom company in the world,
but it's just a commodity. I want to be able to form opinion.
By controlling the pipe, you can eventually get control of
the content." -- IDT chairman Howard Jonas