Hacked by CentOS (Linux, I think)

[iago]

(NOTE: this is a TRUE, but FUNNY story, and has little to do with actual security)

This tale kicked off yesterday when Tuttle's city manager Jerry Taylor fired off an angry message to the CentOS staff. Taylor had popped onto the city's web site and found the standard Apache server configuration boilerplate that appears with a new web server installation. Taylor seemed to confuse this with a potential hack attack on the bustling town's IT infrastructure.

"Who gave you permission to invade my website and block me and anyone else from accessing it???," Taylor wrote to CentOS. "Please remove your software immediately before I report it to government officials!! I am the City Manager of Tuttle, Oklahoma."
[...]
"I feel sorry for your city," he replied in an e-mail. "CentOS is an operating system. It is probably installed on the computer that runs your website. . . . Please contact someone who does IT for you and show them the page so that they can configure your apache webserver correctly."

That response didn't go over so well.

"Get this web site off my home page!!!!! It is blocking access to my website!!!!~!," Taylor responded, clearly excited about the situation and sensing that Bin Laden was near.
[...]
"I have four computers located at City Hall. All of these computers display the same CentOS page when attempting to bring up Tuttle-ok.gov. Now if your software is not causing this problem, how does it happen??? No one outside this building has complained about this problem. This is a block of public access to a city's website. Remove your software within the next 12 hours or an official complaint to the FBI is being filed!"
[...]
"I am computer literate! I have 22 years in computer systems engineering and operation. Now, can you tell me how to remove 'your software' that you acknowledge you provided free of charge? I consider this 'hacking.'"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/24/tuttle_centos/
http://www.centos.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=127

Incidentally, the site still hasn't been fixed.

[Newby]

Bahahahahaha. Sad!

[Feanor]

Wow. Who elected him mayor?

[Newby]

The people. ;0

[Ergot]

* Ergot giggles

[Sidoh]

What a flaming moron.

[DeploY]

It's what happens when you don't know what you're talking about  :D

[Blaze]

Oh noes!

[iago]

By the way, I laughed hardest while reading the second link, where it shows the actual Emails.  I mean, God! :)

[Sidoh]

I ... am lost for words.  I didn't know there were people that stupid in this world. :(

[Joe]

tuttle-ok.gov works. =)

[iago]

tuttle-ok.gov works. =)

Yeah, but as I said in my first post (and it's still true now),

the site still hasn't been fixed.

[Nate]

tuttle-ok.gov works. =)

Yeah, but as I said in my first post (and it's still true now),

the site still hasn't been fixed.

Read the last couple of emails, they "used to" run the website, i bet when the contract ran up and that company still owned the domain name, no one told this guy they changed it.

[Sidoh]

Read the last couple of emails, they "used to" run the website, i bet when the contract ran up and that company still owned the domain name, no one told this guy they changed it.

He's still a dolt. ;)

[Mythix]

CentOS should replace all of his webservers and compensate him for emotional stress. Then let him kick each one of them in the crotch.