News for nerds, stuff that matters

Even among those who are proficient with computers, citing the name "slashdot" is a geek alert. Located at http://slashdot.org, the name itself is a geeky joke. If you don't get it, try saying the name out loud. If you still don't get it, please remove yourself from the internet and study that url until it makes sense. With the subtitle "News for nerds, stuff that matters," Slashdot exists as a source of news about technology, math, science, and actually anything else that happens to be interesting. Slashdot is different from the traditional news site in that it relies on submissions from users which are filtered through Slashdot's editing process, and at least in theory, the result is interesting news.

However, reading the articles on slashdot is hardly what makes it interesting. The format of Slashdot allows users to comment on articles, and to comment on the comments of other users. Reading these discussion threads is all-too-often much more interesting than the article in question. The Slashdot community predominantly consists of Linux users and advocates for open source software(possibly; no one REALLY knows how many users use which operating systems), many of whom are programmers as well. This leads to in depth discussions on various programs, philosophies of software companies like Microsoft(a company that is well-hated by /.ers), and of course, endless inside jokes.

That's what makes /. so fun, actually. At first, it can be hard to pick up on, but /. has its own culture, full of references that make non/.ers' heads whirl. For example, in this article about Italian research that may lead to artificial life, comments include a Russian Reversal and the obligatory, "I for one welcome our glowing green overlords." Of course, no /. discussion would be complete without some contrarian attempting to ruin everyone's fun, a couple Douglas Adams references, and at least one association with programming languages or Unix commands. None of this may seem funny to the Average Joe out there, but to nerds, it's a glorious cestpool of humor.

However, reading /. will occasionally be tedious. The elitism of the users can be overbearing. In the Linux community, the most common response to a problem someone identifies in Linux is "Fix it yourself." Since most Linux users are also C++ programmers, they commonly assume that everyone can and should write the code that makes their operating system work, and they're unhesitatingly critical of those who don't. That kind of haughtiness transferred to a discussion on an article can be annoying to read. It's very common for /.ers to completely disregard MySpace, Facebook, and other such sites on the internet entirely, and many /.ers absolutely hate the term "Web 2.0." Arguments about Google, Microsoft, and Apple are common, as one camp of users sees Google and Apple as the shining gateway to the future, another thinks both are overhyped, evil corporations, and everyone on /. hates Microsoft and Steve Ballmer(watch out for thrown chairs). But as long as one doesn't get too into the discussion, /. is usually safe for the average nerd.

In this blog, I've completely failed to mention the /. interest in the RIAA, Russians, Polonium 210, privacy, copyright law, and many other topics. But I think you get the gist, and if you visit the site, you'll see what I mean.