Scheduled Downtime - January 18th 2018 @ 18:00 approx.

[AdeV]

Hi folks,

I've just been informed by Linode, our host, that this virtual server is being migrated to new hardware tomorrow, January 18th, at around 6pm GMT. I'm not totally sure of the timezones, but I think that's around lunchtime on the west coast of the USA, it's definitely 2am in China, and presumably around 4-5am in Australia (can't remember how many TZs you guys have).

With a bit of luck and a fair wind, a nice loud creak from the electron injector, and a good swing on the harddisks, we'll be back up and running in around 10 minutes from shutdown.... but, this being IT and not an 80 year old Lister, the old girl might take a bit longer to make black smoke. I'll be around at the time of the reboot, so I'll keep an eye on things & hopefully I can fix it if it all goes titsup.

This downtime is to patch the server to prevent the Meltdown bug from affecting it. More downtime will follow later to patch against Spectre, but it should be less dramatic.

So.... break out your Listers, and be prepared to take a 10 minute smoke break while we wait for the electrons and positrons to do their thing!

Cheers,
Ade.

[dieselgman]

Thanks Ade,

I am sure we will be back up without too much drama... another Forum I frequent was thrashed last night by Chinese hackers. Back up and running there. Dangerous world we are in!

dieselgman

[dieselspanner]

It may be my low self esteem creeping back, but why would ANYONE with the wherewithal to write programmes and viruses the like of which I'll never understand, want to get involved in any way shape or form with a site which is largely concerned with 100 year old technology and has no commercial base at all?

Beats me!

Cheers Stef

[AdeV]

It may be my low self esteem creeping back, but why would ANYONE with the wherewithal to write programmes and viruses the like of which I'll never understand, want to get involved in any way shape or form with a site which is largely concerned with 100 year old technology and has no commercial base at all?

Hi Stef,

Meltdown isn't actually a virus - it's a vulnerability that's been discovered in Intel chips which allow "unprivileged" software - that is, things like your web browser - to access "privileged" data inside the CPU - that's things like your login/password to the machine. The "privileged" data is supposed to be off-limits to anything that doesn't run in privileged mode, and most things aren't allowed to run like that (and if they do, the OS warns you and asks your permission first - that's why you should never just click the "OK" button on a piece of SW you downloaded from t'internet, unless you know what it's doing).

So, whilst Meltdown doesn't have any viruses etc. exploiting it yet (that we know of), it's nevertheless going to be exploited now it's known, so Intel etc. have rushed a load of patches out. Preventative medicine.

As to your specific point - why do people do it? Same reason kids spray graffiti under bridges, or go tear arsing around neighbourhood streets at high speed on motorbikes: a) because they can, b) because it makes them look cool to their mates, and c) because they're "rebels" sticking 2 fingers up to authority. The fact that it causes misery and problems to potentially thousands or millions or even billions of other people doesn't bother them in the slightest, sadly.