Flashes of Panic

There’s an art to crafting the messages sent to users logging in to a shared machine (from a multi-user system to an FTP server.) These are called, variously, motd (for Message Of The Day) or “banners” and they’re supposed to communicate the basic stuff your users should be reminded of when they log on. An analogous message in the non-computer world would be the FBI warning at the beginning of a videotape, or the “This preview approved for all audiences…” clip at the beginning of a movie preview.

I need a lot more practice in this art, since most of my users don’t open interactive sessions with banner-delivering systems on a regular basis. The heaviest banner-server is the FTP server, and it’s also the trickiest to write for. For one thing, most people don’t use FTP servers very much anymore, so they need a quick refresh on how to use anonymous FTP. (For the record, log in as “anonymous” and provide a valid email address—preferably yours—as the password.) And for the |33# |<!dd33z who are perfectly aware of how to exploit an anonymous file server, there needs to be some notice that yes, I’m paying attention. Without scaring the legitimate readers too much.

On Cuckoo, the message was far too wordy. I may have swung too far in the other direction on Kinglet. The message simply reads:

You have reached the FTP service on kinglet.ourcompany.com. You are being watched. Behave accordingly.