Tuttle, Oklahoma, USA

Tuttle, Oklahoma, located just south-west of Oklahoma City, successfully turned a minor web server problem into a national fiasco.

The issue exploded when city manager Jerry A. Taylor emailed the development team from CentOS demanding that CentOS stop hijacking the Tuttle city web site. Johnny Hughes, a lead developer for the CentOS Linux operating system replied that CentOS was not a hacking program, but an operating system, and that Taylor should speak with his IT department about properly configuring the city’s web server.

Apparently that answer didn’t suit Taylor who went on to threaten Hughes that he would “…file a complaint with the FBI.”

Hughes displayed what some might call valor and extreme patients as he continued to explain that CentOS was an operation system not a hacking program. In total 17 emails were exchanged between the two men. Finally, Hughes decided to do some research and responded to Taylor with very specific details on who the city’s web presence provider was, his web server’s IP and who to contact. Taylor then replied stating that it was in fact not CenOS’s problem, that the problem was resolved by their Internet provider and that:

I am sorry that we had to go through the process and accusations to get the
problem resolved. It could have been resolved a lot quicker if the initial
correspondence with you provided the helpful information that was
transmitted in the last messages.
~Jerry Taylor to Johnny Hughes

There are two morals to this story.

1. Just because something happens that we don’t understand, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions and threaten people.
2. Try to have the patients of a saint like Johnny Hughes.

As all good stories go, there is more… The Register, a British news site, picked up the story on March 24th. Reporter Ashlee Vance sent a request for comment to Mr. Taylor but did not receive any response. Taylor did however email a marketing team member and had this to say:

I do not follow instructions that show up when a website that I am not familiar with appears on my computer and I do not think anyone with experience would do so either. Once the Centos site appeared on four computers at one site I contacted our web service provider. The web service provider did not know what could cause the problem and had never heard of “CentOS”. I then contacted the internet provider’s local office and was told that they did nothing to cause the problem. I checked the building’s server and found nothing relating to CentOS on the server. I was then left with only the web page email address to contact. I asked for the strange website to be removed because it blocked my City web site and I could not post public information. I only got help after threatening to contact the FBI.

Now I am being flooded with emails from CentOS users that after knowing the answer say the problem was simple. I think this is unjustified and would like for this to stop. Your website should provide useful information and be a credit to the IT world. I do not believe it should be used to incite the users. Your attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.
~Jerry Taylor to The Register Marketing Team

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Further Reading:

City of Tuttle

• City of Tuttle Web Site
• City Manager Jerry A. Taylor

CentOS

• Entire Email Conversation
• Type of Configuration Page Taylor Was Complaining About

The Register

• Oklahoma city threatens to call FBI over ‘renegade’ Linux maker
• Oklahoma man asks Reg to turn off the internet