That was an enjoyable read, and Id like to Point out that it is also a chapter in many of our lives. Maybe not as directly or deeply, but for me my discovery of slashdot coincided with my move back to the valley in 97 specifically to get into silicon valley IT.
I've grown a lot, slashdot was a part of that growth and while I don't visit it that often any longer, it's still a part of my professional and personal DNA.
Nostalgia is a good thing, after all; memories are the only things you have to think back on. ;)
Just want to say thanks for all of the great work over the years. Slashdot was never my home - I never signed up, always contributed as AC - but I've been a loyal reader for almost a dozen years.
It's not what it once was, but it's still the best at what it does.
I'm 25 and I can honestly say that for all of us on Hacker News, Slashdot has been a part of all our lives, a huge one. I've checked Slashdot at least once every second day since 2000 (I'll admit more frequently in the past), and I couldn't have imagined the past decade without it.
It may not keep up with some of the better subreddits, Metafilter or Hacker News in many respects and I can feel its userbase aging when I read the comments... but...
It stands like a rock, and may it always.
I remember my being in high school, checking Slashdot on the school computers and telling other students about Wikipedia, their reaction being "anyone can just edit it?", in about 2001. Memories of the phosphorus on white school CRT with Windows NT 4.0 burning news of technology as it came along.
I will continue checking Slashdot for my fix of news just about every day, and may you find my IP in your access.log for years to come. A true verdant thou hast burnt in mine eyes and may it shine on brightly within them forever.
I wonder how many long time ACs there are. I think I started reading /. In mid 1998 but for some reason never got around to creating an account. I checked it almost every day up until I found HN.
Truly. Slashdot was on of the great influences on my young self (I was 13 when I signed up in 1998) and I checked it daily for over a decade. I'd probably not be the nerd I am today if it had never existed!
Before HN, before Digg, before any kind of social networking or all encompassing tech news sites, there was Slashdot. I still remember when one of the first questions to ask a fellow programmer was, "You on Slashdot? What's your number?"
Sadly, I think you may be right. We can do better though, because it still sucks. Something merging the innovations in thread sorting from HN and cherry picking from large amounts of comments from /. would be nice.
In 1998 I moved to VA for a job as an Account Manager with a web consulting firm. Their business model changed almost immediately and I had to learn how to sell Sun hardware if I wanted to stay employed. Reading Slashdot was an important part of my education into Unix, system administration, and system administrators. That lead to an interest in open source and ultimately to me installing Red Hat at home. Today I am much more comfortable in the FOSS world than I am in the Windows world, and it all started with me reading Slashdot. I finally removed Slashdot from my feed reader last year, when I realized I couldn't remember the last time I clicked through to read a story.
However, I am still waiting for the box of swag I was supposed to get to pass out at the 10th anniversary party that I organized.
I also arranged a 10th anniversary party and I had no swag to give out. Two weeks later, a box of 15 or so anniversary shirts showed up. I tracked a few attendees down, but most of the shirts remain in a box that follows me around as I move.
Which is to say, I'd be happy to provide a shirt. I've been wondering what to do with them. I've been thinking about setting up an auction and giving the proceeds to the EFF...
I first got good at network programming by writing /. crapflooders in the late 90's and early 00's, and my profanity skills honed in the trolltalk salt mines still take my mother's breath away to this day.
I think my most successful 'troll' was a response to an Opera update post. My response was serious, as well as a 'troll'. It wasn't the most appropriate.
Semi-long time /. reader here -- six digit UID but just barely. If I had known it would have conferred bragging rights I would have signed up a week or two earlier.
Slashdot was absolutely the best community from the late 90s up through maybe 2005 or '06. I learned so much from both the news articles and the subsequent discussion. Still have never found a better comments section than what Slashdot had then, though I keep searching.
#79509 here and was AC posting quite a bit before ever signing up. I've actually got a few accounts there and my oldest was hardly used for posting even back then.
Surprisingly I still remember my password on /. though I hadn't used that password in many years.
Lucky thing I remember it too since the email account (gfm@my-dejanews.com) registered to the /. account is long since dead.
As someone firmly ensconced in the six-digit UID I'd like to say: CmdTaco I hold you personally responsible for all that lost time, and I intend to collect if I ever meet you in person. My weapon of choice will be beer, though perhaps milk is now more appropriate as ages have advanced.
Anyway, adding my thanks for a great site. I learned a bunch.
Slightly OT, but I'm very glad that working at WaPo Labs feels like those early days of Slashdot. I very much believe in news organisations and I want them to have a future- hearing about this kind of innovation is fantastic. Someday I hope to able to get into a similar news labs environment myself.
Slashdot introduced me to ArsDigita, which introduced me to web programming and linux, leading me out of the depths of a corporate visual basic dead-end job. I'm very grateful for the impact this had on my life. Thanks, Rob.
I'm splitting my time between here and Slashdot nowadays. Karma is certainly a lot more difficult to get here but I think that's a function of the quite different communities.
I'm curious though, do you know if Dice has any plans for reviving Slashcode or creating a new version of it? It looks like it hasn't been touched in about two years.
In any case, thanks for everything, and I'm sorry that the site seemed to grow away from you. I think most people here agree that it was better when you were part of it.
This is a great example of solid writing that transcends the specific knowledge of any community. The nouns are all familiar, but the story would resonate even if they weren't. It's just about being human, and doing human stuff.
Still remember the moment six months into it's history when I found out that Slashdot was a Michigan company. You never heard about any cool Internet companies originating from Michigan in those days. I remember being dumbstruck and then proud, damned proud.
/. user #5825 here. I have great memories of the old days.
Let's start a list of funny and cool things that we learned about for the first time on Slashdot. Here's mine:
1. Google - I still remember the first postings about their search engine and how awesome it was compared to everything else when I first tried it out back in the mid 90's.
2. RootServers, a startup that sold colo'd linux boxes and would give you root--a big deal back in the mid 90's. I saw their ad on /. and was surprised that they were based in my hometown. They later morphed into Rackspace, which has been my employer for the last five years!
3. Mac OS X. I remember the early posts about Rhapsody, which encouraged me to go buy a Mac at the just-opened second-ever Apple Store in DC. Been a Mac user ever since.
Slashdot will always be near and dear to my heart. Slashdot was a big catalyst in my early tech education, even if I had to wait for long threads to load over my Courier Robotics modem. I can't remember if my user number was 8811 or 8872 but I do remember how cool it was to meet cmdrtaco at an early Linuxworld in nyc.
Slashdot user #527 here. I feel as similarly as an outsider can to Taco's feelings. Slashdot did a lot to shape what I think of as a real community, both on and offline. It was based around news but there were also fun things like all the Natalie Portman's grits stuff that not only didn't detract, it added to the feeling. HN is a great discussion place but there's very little "frivolous" stuff that really makes a friendly community. It'll never really be replaced.
Slashdot had an incredible influence on my perception of computers, the internet, privacy, and participation. Though I don't remember the subject, I remember printing out my first successful submission and posting it on the wall.
Long-time top submitter here (still top 4, although I think I stopped in 2005 http://slashdot.org/hof.shtml), many good memories, the sense of community helped shape my interests in many ways, influencing my career, so just want to thank for your great work.
Ah, the fond memories of hitting Slashdot at least 5x per day back when I worked for early Amazon (1998?). I remember all the memes from back then. Like many people attest, it was hugely useful to make connections to other FOSS and Linux users.
But the biggest thing I remember was 9/11 and the updates from /. users who lived in NYC, Brooklyn, and Queens right after the disaster happened...at the point when the only other coverage was CNN.
57 comments
[ 6.5 ms ] story [ 159 ms ] threadI've grown a lot, slashdot was a part of that growth and while I don't visit it that often any longer, it's still a part of my professional and personal DNA.
Nostalgia is a good thing, after all; memories are the only things you have to think back on. ;)
It's not what it once was, but it's still the best at what it does.
I'm 25 and I can honestly say that for all of us on Hacker News, Slashdot has been a part of all our lives, a huge one. I've checked Slashdot at least once every second day since 2000 (I'll admit more frequently in the past), and I couldn't have imagined the past decade without it.
It may not keep up with some of the better subreddits, Metafilter or Hacker News in many respects and I can feel its userbase aging when I read the comments... but...
It stands like a rock, and may it always.
I remember my being in high school, checking Slashdot on the school computers and telling other students about Wikipedia, their reaction being "anyone can just edit it?", in about 2001. Memories of the phosphorus on white school CRT with Windows NT 4.0 burning news of technology as it came along.
I will continue checking Slashdot for my fix of news just about every day, and may you find my IP in your access.log for years to come. A true verdant thou hast burnt in mine eyes and may it shine on brightly within them forever.
However, I am still waiting for the box of swag I was supposed to get to pass out at the 10th anniversary party that I organized.
Which is to say, I'd be happy to provide a shirt. I've been wondering what to do with them. I've been thinking about setting up an auction and giving the proceeds to the EFF...
Thanks for everything Rob!
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=52837&cid=5227877
Yes: 382 responses. Successful troll was successful.
Slashdot was absolutely the best community from the late 90s up through maybe 2005 or '06. I learned so much from both the news articles and the subsequent discussion. Still have never found a better comments section than what Slashdot had then, though I keep searching.
Surprisingly I still remember my password on /. though I hadn't used that password in many years.
Lucky thing I remember it too since the email account (gfm@my-dejanews.com) registered to the /. account is long since dead.
Anyway, adding my thanks for a great site. I learned a bunch.
Thanks man!
I'm curious though, do you know if Dice has any plans for reviving Slashcode or creating a new version of it? It looks like it hasn't been touched in about two years.
In any case, thanks for everything, and I'm sorry that the site seemed to grow away from you. I think most people here agree that it was better when you were part of it.
Also, thanks for building something awesome.
Let's start a list of funny and cool things that we learned about for the first time on Slashdot. Here's mine:
1. Google - I still remember the first postings about their search engine and how awesome it was compared to everything else when I first tried it out back in the mid 90's.
2. RootServers, a startup that sold colo'd linux boxes and would give you root--a big deal back in the mid 90's. I saw their ad on /. and was surprised that they were based in my hometown. They later morphed into Rackspace, which has been my employer for the last five years!
3. Mac OS X. I remember the early posts about Rhapsody, which encouraged me to go buy a Mac at the just-opened second-ever Apple Store in DC. Been a Mac user ever since.
I'm sure there's more...
I just wish there was a way to find out when my slashdot account was created!
http://www.slashcode.com/www.slashcode.com/
Thanks for everything /.
I dont think nobody has yet solved the problem of comments once a site gets too popular.
But the biggest thing I remember was 9/11 and the updates from /. users who lived in NYC, Brooklyn, and Queens right after the disaster happened...at the point when the only other coverage was CNN.