7 ms·

When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth (2007)

102 points by ux-app 12y ago

justizin 12y ago
this is the read that got me into doctorow, of course basically all of his other writing is great. 'little brother' was the 'one city, one book' selection by SF Library last year, and anyone concerned about the surveillance state should definitely give it a read.
- toomuchtodo 12y ago
  I fell in love with Doctorow's works through Pirate Cinema and Makers. Please grab one of his books when you have time; its worth the read.
  - angersock 12y ago
    "Makers" is fantastic, and has a lot of fun ideas in it. Doctorow nails the tech personalities in his works very well, arguably better than Stephenson.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
webmaven 12y ago
Should be labeled [2007].
- ihsw 12y ago
  Yes, definitely. The title was familiar to me however the age of the article would've made me instantly recall what this is.
ihsw 12y ago
With regards to governance of the world, why wasn't a federation considered (eg: a United Federation of Networks)? Perhaps modeled after Canada and her provinces (one of the most decentralized federal states), there is still a central seat of power however there is a great deal of autonomy afforded to members.
- maaarghk 12y ago
  why dont you check usenet ?
- RRRA 12y ago
  Canada is more centralized than it seems. The Prime Minister has more power than the US president (relatively speaking, of course!)...
  - herge 12y ago
    The Prime Minister of Canada is the head of the legislative (usually!) and executive branches. It's the combination of the speaker of both houses and the president, in one position. Individual provinces have more power than US states, with clear separation of powers.
peterwwillis 12y ago
Well since this is a short story, we probably need reviews so people know whether it's worth their time to read it. Here's mine: As far as 11th-grade high school english lit writing assignments go, this one is pretty good. I like how the author tells the reader technical things without ever trying to explain them, assuming that his readership is completely familiar with the subject matter. I also like how there's virtually no character development whatsoever, the ending is forced, and there's no conflict or strife in this idealized post-apocalyptic world. Anyone who would normally fight or kill for resources has apparently died, leaving only calm, rational citizens to share plentiful provisions. My favorite part is how completely emotionally detached the protagonist is. His wife and baby boy dies, and he's basically alright about 5 minutes later. Each time he remembers them he seems to feel sad, then forget about them like an alzheimer patient. No shock, no panic, no guilt, no sorrow. Just a completely emotionally dead nerd who's more focused on his computers than his real relationships. It puts a realistic face on what could have been just another cypherpunk dystopian piece of drivel.
- angersock 12y ago
  Wow, careful you don't cut yourself on that edge. He doesn't explain the details because it really doesn't matter a huge amount from a technical standpoint; either you're in the know (a fellow admin/hacker/dev) or you aren't, and in neither case does Tom Clancy or Neal Stephenson-like drooling over the tech matter. As for the complaint about emotional detachment, everyone handles these things differently. Especially in the case where something so close to you is gone, it can take a long time to process it. Grief and assimilation is handled differently. I'm sorry it wasn't a masturbatory journey into the grim future and anarchy of post-apocalypse--perhaps you'd enjoy the Dies the Fire series more.
- wtbob 12y ago
  Yeah, my back's sore from all the geeky back-patting.
  - a_bonobo 12y ago
    This is the reason why I stopped reading Doctorow, it's all just 'geeky back-patting'. His stance on copyright is very black and white, and he uses his books to preach this black and white 'internet is best' world-view - Makers for example has the 100% good open blogger vs. the 100% evil traditional journalist, Down and out in the magic kingdom has post-scarcity financial system based on how much people like you on the internet.. It's all just preaching to the choir mixed with an obsession with Disney, and I learn nothing new from his writings. Edit: Why the downvote?
slashedzero 12y ago
Great read! Interdependence is something that I always think about in these situations. Our society is so dependent on trade and working with other regions/countries that to see those systems collapse would be utter chaos.
_asciiker_ 12y ago
Really enjoyed this read, and mostly accurate on the technical aspects.
snake_plissken 12y ago
OK so did...anyone else realize this was not a satire and go read the CN tower wiki to see when it fell down/caught on fire, only to become very confused?
andyidsinga 12y ago
this was great ...why i come to hacker news

102 points by ux-app 12y ago

this is the read that got me into doctorow, of course basically all of his other writing is great. 'little brother' was the 'one city, one book' selection by SF Library last year, and anyone concerned about the surveillance state should definitely give it a read.

toomuchtodo 12y ago
I fell in love with Doctorow's works through Pirate Cinema and Makers. Please grab one of his books when you have time; its worth the read.
- angersock 12y ago
  "Makers" is fantastic, and has a lot of fun ideas in it. Doctorow nails the tech personalities in his works very well, arguably better than Stephenson.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]

webmaven 12y ago

Should be labeled [2007].

ihsw 12y ago
Yes, definitely. The title was familiar to me however the age of the article would've made me instantly recall what this is.

ihsw 12y ago

With regards to governance of the world, why wasn't a federation considered (eg: a United Federation of Networks)? Perhaps modeled after Canada and her provinces (one of the most decentralized federal states), there is still a central seat of power however there is a great deal of autonomy afforded to members.

maaarghk 12y ago
why dont you check usenet ?
RRRA 12y ago
Canada is more centralized than it seems. The Prime Minister has more power than the US president (relatively speaking, of course!)...
- herge 12y ago
  The Prime Minister of Canada is the head of the legislative (usually!) and executive branches. It's the combination of the speaker of both houses and the president, in one position. Individual provinces have more power than US states, with clear separation of powers.

peterwwillis 12y ago

Well since this is a short story, we probably need reviews so people know whether it's worth their time to read it. Here's mine: As far as 11th-grade high school english lit writing assignments go, this one is pretty good. I like how the author tells the reader technical things without ever trying to explain them, assuming that his readership is completely familiar with the subject matter. I also like how there's virtually no character development whatsoever, the ending is forced, and there's no conflict or strife in this idealized post-apocalyptic world. Anyone who would normally fight or kill for resources has apparently died, leaving only calm, rational citizens to share plentiful provisions. My favorite part is how completely emotionally detached the protagonist is. His wife and baby boy dies, and he's basically alright about 5 minutes later. Each time he remembers them he seems to feel sad, then forget about them like an alzheimer patient. No shock, no panic, no guilt, no sorrow. Just a completely emotionally dead nerd who's more focused on his computers than his real relationships. It puts a realistic face on what could have been just another cypherpunk dystopian piece of drivel.

angersock 12y ago
Wow, careful you don't cut yourself on that edge. He doesn't explain the details because it really doesn't matter a huge amount from a technical standpoint; either you're in the know (a fellow admin/hacker/dev) or you aren't, and in neither case does Tom Clancy or Neal Stephenson-like drooling over the tech matter. As for the complaint about emotional detachment, everyone handles these things differently. Especially in the case where something so close to you is gone, it can take a long time to process it. Grief and assimilation is handled differently. I'm sorry it wasn't a masturbatory journey into the grim future and anarchy of post-apocalypse--perhaps you'd enjoy the Dies the Fire series more.
wtbob 12y ago
Yeah, my back's sore from all the geeky back-patting.
- a_bonobo 12y ago
  This is the reason why I stopped reading Doctorow, it's all just 'geeky back-patting'. His stance on copyright is very black and white, and he uses his books to preach this black and white 'internet is best' world-view - Makers for example has the 100% good open blogger vs. the 100% evil traditional journalist, Down and out in the magic kingdom has post-scarcity financial system based on how much people like you on the internet.. It's all just preaching to the choir mixed with an obsession with Disney, and I learn nothing new from his writings. Edit: Why the downvote?

slashedzero 12y ago

Great read! Interdependence is something that I always think about in these situations. Our society is so dependent on trade and working with other regions/countries that to see those systems collapse would be utter chaos.

_asciiker_ 12y ago

Really enjoyed this read, and mostly accurate on the technical aspects.

snake_plissken 12y ago

OK so did...anyone else realize this was not a satire and go read the CN tower wiki to see when it fell down/caught on fire, only to become very confused?

andyidsinga 12y ago

this was great ...why i come to hacker news