The Intel Lab Lectures at IIT Delhi
During my undergraduate stay at IIT Delhi, my professors often gave me the opportunity to speak my mind before other students and the faculty (and certainly, I am deeply grateful to the wonderful professors I have had the pleasure and good fortune to interact with at IIT-D). Sometimes we used to arrange get-togethers for formal/informal lectures, and discuss/digress upon issues both of general interest and of specific nature. I like to believe that these lectures were of some use to the listeners. Following are some of the topics that were popular at that time.
Linux
- Why Linux at all?
- Windows 95?
- Windows NT?
- Other options (FreeBSD, etc.)
Advanced Linux Installation
- Slackware or Redhat?
- /usr over NFS
- Even / over NFS, kernel on disk
- Everything over NFS, kernel via BOOT PROM
- Why have a diskless installation?
- Administration woes
Important concepts/protocols employed in the Intel Lab
- automounting
- DHCP
- DNS
- HTTP
- IMAP
- PAM
- POP
- PPP
- NFS
- NIS
- SMTP
- UPS automation
Reflections on hacking
- Should one openly talk about these things?
- How secure is IIT-D indeed?
- How secure are systems elsewhere in India?
- If security is a problem, then what is the solution?
- Should you hack? Should you crack? What is the difference?
- How computing makes life better Towards secure systems
- Current Trends
- Audit-Trailing
Information Overload
- Is this a problem?
- Why does it make certain things difficult?
- Does it result in creating incapable and/or irresponsible users?
Free Software: The Reality and the Myths
- Will (should) all software become free?
- Why free anyway?
- What about intellectual rights?
- Will programmers starve?
Hacking: Our Incredible Stubborn-ness
Well, why is it that some guys just don't understand? Perhaps, they will ...
Hacking: The Art and the Techniques
An overview of what's involved and what it takes.
On Friendly Terms With the Linux Kernel
An overview of the Linux kernel. Device driver writing, with a few examples.
The Art of Programming Revisited
Are we good programmers? Are we programmers? Miscellaneous ...