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Stories and comments across the archive that link to ioccc.org.

Comments · 408

  1. Re:Mirror this already! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released

    There are several mirrors. I know, I run one of them. Why the submitter hardcoded the us one is beyond me.

    • Antarctica
      none yet :-)
    • Africa
      none
    • Australia and other Pacific
    • www.au.ioccc.org - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)
    • Extraterrestrial
      SETI is looking for some sites :-)
    • South America
      none
  2. Re:Mirror this already! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released

    There are several mirrors. I know, I run one of them. Why the submitter hardcoded the us one is beyond me.

    • Antarctica
      none yet :-)
    • Africa
      none
    • Australia and other Pacific
    • www.au.ioccc.org - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)
    • Extraterrestrial
      SETI is looking for some sites :-)
    • South America
      none
  3. Re:Mirror this already! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released

    There are several mirrors. I know, I run one of them. Why the submitter hardcoded the us one is beyond me.

    • Antarctica
      none yet :-)
    • Africa
      none
    • Australia and other Pacific
    • www.au.ioccc.org - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)
    • Extraterrestrial
      SETI is looking for some sites :-)
    • South America
      none
  4. Re:Mirror this already! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released

    There are several mirrors. I know, I run one of them. Why the submitter hardcoded the us one is beyond me.

    • Antarctica
      none yet :-)
    • Africa
      none
    • Australia and other Pacific
    • www.au.ioccc.org - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)
    • Extraterrestrial
      SETI is looking for some sites :-)
    • South America
      none
  5. Re:Mirror this already! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released

    There are several mirrors. I know, I run one of them. Why the submitter hardcoded the us one is beyond me.

    • Antarctica
      none yet :-)
    • Africa
      none
    • Australia and other Pacific
    • www.au.ioccc.org - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)
    • Extraterrestrial
      SETI is looking for some sites :-)
    • South America
      none
  6. Re:Mirror this already! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released

    There are several mirrors. I know, I run one of them. Why the submitter hardcoded the us one is beyond me.

    • Antarctica
      none yet :-)
    • Africa
      none
    • Australia and other Pacific
    • www.au.ioccc.org - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)
    • Extraterrestrial
      SETI is looking for some sites :-)
    • South America
      none
  7. Re:Mirror this already! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released

    There are several mirrors. I know, I run one of them. Why the submitter hardcoded the us one is beyond me.

    • Antarctica
      none yet :-)
    • Africa
      none
    • Australia and other Pacific
    • www.au.ioccc.org - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)
    • Extraterrestrial
      SETI is looking for some sites :-)
    • South America
      none
  8. Official IOCCC mirrors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released
    IOCCC Mirrors

    Asia


    Europe

    North America
  9. Official IOCCC mirrors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released
    IOCCC Mirrors

    Asia


    Europe

    North America
  10. Official IOCCC mirrors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released
    IOCCC Mirrors

    Asia


    Europe

    North America
  11. Official IOCCC mirrors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released
    IOCCC Mirrors

    Asia


    Europe

    North America
  12. Official IOCCC mirrors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative · on 2004 IOCCC Winners Source Code Released
    IOCCC Mirrors

    Asia


    Europe

    North America
  13. Re:Don't forget ICFP by greenreaper · · Score: 2 · on Geek Olympics Code for Gold

    Whereas, of course, contestants for the IOCC attracts people attempting to construct the programs of choice for indiscriminate hackers. :-)

  14. Re:Time to turn in your geek card... by SirPrize · · Score: 1 · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    To those who want to know, the program is the schnitzi program, submitted in 1994.

  15. IOCCC - FAQ and History by chongo · · Score: 2, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced
    Several people have asked / wondered what the International Obfuscated Code Content was all about, how it got start, etc.

    Definition

    Obfuscate: tr.v. -cated, -cating, -cates. 1. a. To render obscure. b. To darken. 2. To confuse: his emotions obfuscated his judgment. [LLat. obfuscare, to darken : ob(intensive) + Lat. fuscare, to darken < fuscus, dark.] -obfuscation n. obfuscatory adj.

    Goals:

    • To write the most Obscure/Obfuscated C program under the content rules.
    • To show the importance of programming style, in an ironic way.
    • To stress C compilers with unusual code.
    • To illustrate some of the subtleties of the C language.
    • To provide a safe forum for poor C code. :-)

    And here is one entry from the IOCCC FAQ that talks about how the IOCCC got started:

    One day (23 March 1984 to be exact), back Larry Bassel and I (

    Landon Curt Noll) were working for National Semiconductor's Genix porting group, we were both in our offices trying to fix some very broken code. Larry had been trying to fix a bug in the classic Bourne shell (C code #defined to death to sort of look like Algol) and I had been working on the finger program from early BSD (a bug ridden finger implementation to be sure). We happened to both wander (at the same time) out to the hallway in Building 7C to clear our heads.

    We began to compare notes: ''You won't believe the code I am trying to fix''. And: ''Well you cannot imagine the brain damage level of the code I'm trying to fix''. As well as: ''It more than bad code, the author really had to try to make it this bad!''.

    After a few minutes we wandered back into my office where I posted a flame to net.lang.c inviting people to try and out obfuscate the UN*X source code we had just been working on.

    BTW: I (Landon Curt Noll) had to post this

    typo correction. Thus began the tradition of putting typos in the contest rules and guidelines ... to make them more obfuscated of course! :-)

    BTW: This posting was made back in the days when AT&T was the evil giant. Now, Microsoft makes AT&T look mild and kind in comparison. :-( (IMHO) ).

    BTW: See the story about the '' Bill Gates'' award. :-)

    OK, back to the story. We (Larry and I) received a number of entries by EMail. When we began to receive messages from outside of the US, Larry and I decided to include International in the name. The 1st IOCCC winners were posted on 17 April 1984.

    There were 4 winners in 1984:

    <dis>honorable mention

  16. IOCCC - FAQ and History by chongo · · Score: 2, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced
    Several people have asked / wondered what the International Obfuscated Code Content was all about, how it got start, etc.

    Definition

    Obfuscate: tr.v. -cated, -cating, -cates. 1. a. To render obscure. b. To darken. 2. To confuse: his emotions obfuscated his judgment. [LLat. obfuscare, to darken : ob(intensive) + Lat. fuscare, to darken < fuscus, dark.] -obfuscation n. obfuscatory adj.

    Goals:

    • To write the most Obscure/Obfuscated C program under the content rules.
    • To show the importance of programming style, in an ironic way.
    • To stress C compilers with unusual code.
    • To illustrate some of the subtleties of the C language.
    • To provide a safe forum for poor C code. :-)

    And here is one entry from the IOCCC FAQ that talks about how the IOCCC got started:

    One day (23 March 1984 to be exact), back Larry Bassel and I (

    Landon Curt Noll) were working for National Semiconductor's Genix porting group, we were both in our offices trying to fix some very broken code. Larry had been trying to fix a bug in the classic Bourne shell (C code #defined to death to sort of look like Algol) and I had been working on the finger program from early BSD (a bug ridden finger implementation to be sure). We happened to both wander (at the same time) out to the hallway in Building 7C to clear our heads.

    We began to compare notes: ''You won't believe the code I am trying to fix''. And: ''Well you cannot imagine the brain damage level of the code I'm trying to fix''. As well as: ''It more than bad code, the author really had to try to make it this bad!''.

    After a few minutes we wandered back into my office where I posted a flame to net.lang.c inviting people to try and out obfuscate the UN*X source code we had just been working on.

    BTW: I (Landon Curt Noll) had to post this

    typo correction. Thus began the tradition of putting typos in the contest rules and guidelines ... to make them more obfuscated of course! :-)

    BTW: This posting was made back in the days when AT&T was the evil giant. Now, Microsoft makes AT&T look mild and kind in comparison. :-( (IMHO) ).

    BTW: See the story about the '' Bill Gates'' award. :-)

    OK, back to the story. We (Larry and I) received a number of entries by EMail. When we began to receive messages from outside of the US, Larry and I decided to include International in the name. The 1st IOCCC winners were posted on 17 April 1984.

    There were 4 winners in 1984:

    <dis>honorable mention

  17. IOCCC - FAQ and History by chongo · · Score: 2, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced
    Several people have asked / wondered what the International Obfuscated Code Content was all about, how it got start, etc.

    Definition

    Obfuscate: tr.v. -cated, -cating, -cates. 1. a. To render obscure. b. To darken. 2. To confuse: his emotions obfuscated his judgment. [LLat. obfuscare, to darken : ob(intensive) + Lat. fuscare, to darken < fuscus, dark.] -obfuscation n. obfuscatory adj.

    Goals:

    • To write the most Obscure/Obfuscated C program under the content rules.
    • To show the importance of programming style, in an ironic way.
    • To stress C compilers with unusual code.
    • To illustrate some of the subtleties of the C language.
    • To provide a safe forum for poor C code. :-)

    And here is one entry from the IOCCC FAQ that talks about how the IOCCC got started:

    One day (23 March 1984 to be exact), back Larry Bassel and I (

    Landon Curt Noll) were working for National Semiconductor's Genix porting group, we were both in our offices trying to fix some very broken code. Larry had been trying to fix a bug in the classic Bourne shell (C code #defined to death to sort of look like Algol) and I had been working on the finger program from early BSD (a bug ridden finger implementation to be sure). We happened to both wander (at the same time) out to the hallway in Building 7C to clear our heads.

    We began to compare notes: ''You won't believe the code I am trying to fix''. And: ''Well you cannot imagine the brain damage level of the code I'm trying to fix''. As well as: ''It more than bad code, the author really had to try to make it this bad!''.

    After a few minutes we wandered back into my office where I posted a flame to net.lang.c inviting people to try and out obfuscate the UN*X source code we had just been working on.

    BTW: I (Landon Curt Noll) had to post this

    typo correction. Thus began the tradition of putting typos in the contest rules and guidelines ... to make them more obfuscated of course! :-)

    BTW: This posting was made back in the days when AT&T was the evil giant. Now, Microsoft makes AT&T look mild and kind in comparison. :-( (IMHO) ).

    BTW: See the story about the '' Bill Gates'' award. :-)

    OK, back to the story. We (Larry and I) received a number of entries by EMail. When we began to receive messages from outside of the US, Larry and I decided to include International in the name. The 1st IOCCC winners were posted on 17 April 1984.

    There were 4 winners in 1984:

    <dis>honorable mention

  18. IOCCC - FAQ and History by chongo · · Score: 2, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced
    Several people have asked / wondered what the International Obfuscated Code Content was all about, how it got start, etc.

    Definition

    Obfuscate: tr.v. -cated, -cating, -cates. 1. a. To render obscure. b. To darken. 2. To confuse: his emotions obfuscated his judgment. [LLat. obfuscare, to darken : ob(intensive) + Lat. fuscare, to darken < fuscus, dark.] -obfuscation n. obfuscatory adj.

    Goals:

    • To write the most Obscure/Obfuscated C program under the content rules.
    • To show the importance of programming style, in an ironic way.
    • To stress C compilers with unusual code.
    • To illustrate some of the subtleties of the C language.
    • To provide a safe forum for poor C code. :-)

    And here is one entry from the IOCCC FAQ that talks about how the IOCCC got started:

    One day (23 March 1984 to be exact), back Larry Bassel and I (

    Landon Curt Noll) were working for National Semiconductor's Genix porting group, we were both in our offices trying to fix some very broken code. Larry had been trying to fix a bug in the classic Bourne shell (C code #defined to death to sort of look like Algol) and I had been working on the finger program from early BSD (a bug ridden finger implementation to be sure). We happened to both wander (at the same time) out to the hallway in Building 7C to clear our heads.

    We began to compare notes: ''You won't believe the code I am trying to fix''. And: ''Well you cannot imagine the brain damage level of the code I'm trying to fix''. As well as: ''It more than bad code, the author really had to try to make it this bad!''.

    After a few minutes we wandered back into my office where I posted a flame to net.lang.c inviting people to try and out obfuscate the UN*X source code we had just been working on.

    BTW: I (Landon Curt Noll) had to post this

    typo correction. Thus began the tradition of putting typos in the contest rules and guidelines ... to make them more obfuscated of course! :-)

    BTW: This posting was made back in the days when AT&T was the evil giant. Now, Microsoft makes AT&T look mild and kind in comparison. :-( (IMHO) ).

    BTW: See the story about the '' Bill Gates'' award. :-)

    OK, back to the story. We (Larry and I) received a number of entries by EMail. When we began to receive messages from outside of the US, Larry and I decided to include International in the name. The 1st IOCCC winners were posted on 17 April 1984.

    There were 4 winners in 1984:

    <dis>honorable mention

  19. Re:Free Ads / Free Betas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Gates Explains Longhorn Delay, Diet
    Look at the IOCCC Winners Announced story : that's software being delivered on time! With full source code!

    Nope. It says,

    The source code has not been released yet. The winners have been notified by EMail. They will be given a chance to review the write-up of their entry. Once this process is complete the source code will be made available on the winning entries web page. We anticipate that this will be in mid-October.
    It's just another case of vaporware. :-)
  20. IOCCC mirrors by Bisqwit · · Score: 1 · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Mirrors:
    http://www.es.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.tw.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.gr.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www1.us.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.au.ioccc.org/whowon.html

  21. IOCCC mirrors by Bisqwit · · Score: 1 · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Mirrors:
    http://www.es.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.tw.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.gr.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www1.us.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.au.ioccc.org/whowon.html

  22. IOCCC mirrors by Bisqwit · · Score: 1 · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Mirrors:
    http://www.es.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.tw.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.gr.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www1.us.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.au.ioccc.org/whowon.html

  23. IOCCC mirrors by Bisqwit · · Score: 1 · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Mirrors:
    http://www.es.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.tw.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.gr.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www1.us.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.au.ioccc.org/whowon.html

  24. IOCCC mirrors by Bisqwit · · Score: 1 · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Mirrors:
    http://www.es.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.tw.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.gr.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www1.us.ioccc.org/whowon.html
    http://www.au.ioccc.org/whowon.html

  25. Re:Funny, but sickening by arcanumas · · Score: 3, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced
    Yeah, i'm sure the guy who wrote this entry is a newbie... :)
    short main[] = {
    277, 04735, -4129, 25, 0, 477, 1019, 0xbef, 0, 12800,
    -113, 21119, 0x52d7, -1006, -7151, 0, 0x4bc, 020004,
    14880, 10541, 2056, 04010, 4548, 3044, -6716, 0x9,
    4407, 6, 5568, 1, -30460, 0, 0x9, 5570, 512, -30419,
    0x7e82, 0760, 6, 0, 4, 02400, 15, 0, 4, 1280, 4, 0,
    4, 0, 0, 0, 0x8, 0, 4, 0, ',', 0, 12, 0, 4, 0, '#',
    0, 020, 0, 4, 0, 30, 0, 026, 0, 0x6176, 120, 25712,
    'p', 072163, 'r', 29303, 29801, 'e'
    };

    Oh, here is the explanation.

  26. Re:Time to turn in your geek card... by mirko · · Score: 1 · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Well, not Jean-Louis Gassee who was considered a visionary among geeks...

  27. Mirrors by lachlan76 · · Score: 5, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Before it all goes down, here are the mirrors:

    Asia
    * http://www.tw.ioccc.org/ - Hsin-Chu, Taiwan (24 48' N 120 59' E)

    * Australia and other Pacific http://www.au.ioccc.org/ - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)

    Europe
    * http://www.de.ioccc.org/ - Hamburg, Germany (53 33' N 10 2' E)
    * http://www.es.ioccc.org/ - Madrid, Spain (40 25' N 3 41' W)
    * http://www.gr.ioccc.org/ - Athens, Greece (38 00' N 23 44' E)
    * North America www0.us.ioccc.org - Sunnyvale California, US (37 22' N 122 02' W)
    * www1.us.ioccc.org - Saint Paul, Minnesota US (44 57' N 93 06' W)

  28. Mirrors by lachlan76 · · Score: 5, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Before it all goes down, here are the mirrors:

    Asia
    * http://www.tw.ioccc.org/ - Hsin-Chu, Taiwan (24 48' N 120 59' E)

    * Australia and other Pacific http://www.au.ioccc.org/ - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)

    Europe
    * http://www.de.ioccc.org/ - Hamburg, Germany (53 33' N 10 2' E)
    * http://www.es.ioccc.org/ - Madrid, Spain (40 25' N 3 41' W)
    * http://www.gr.ioccc.org/ - Athens, Greece (38 00' N 23 44' E)
    * North America www0.us.ioccc.org - Sunnyvale California, US (37 22' N 122 02' W)
    * www1.us.ioccc.org - Saint Paul, Minnesota US (44 57' N 93 06' W)

  29. Mirrors by lachlan76 · · Score: 5, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Before it all goes down, here are the mirrors:

    Asia
    * http://www.tw.ioccc.org/ - Hsin-Chu, Taiwan (24 48' N 120 59' E)

    * Australia and other Pacific http://www.au.ioccc.org/ - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)

    Europe
    * http://www.de.ioccc.org/ - Hamburg, Germany (53 33' N 10 2' E)
    * http://www.es.ioccc.org/ - Madrid, Spain (40 25' N 3 41' W)
    * http://www.gr.ioccc.org/ - Athens, Greece (38 00' N 23 44' E)
    * North America www0.us.ioccc.org - Sunnyvale California, US (37 22' N 122 02' W)
    * www1.us.ioccc.org - Saint Paul, Minnesota US (44 57' N 93 06' W)

  30. Mirrors by lachlan76 · · Score: 5, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Before it all goes down, here are the mirrors:

    Asia
    * http://www.tw.ioccc.org/ - Hsin-Chu, Taiwan (24 48' N 120 59' E)

    * Australia and other Pacific http://www.au.ioccc.org/ - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)

    Europe
    * http://www.de.ioccc.org/ - Hamburg, Germany (53 33' N 10 2' E)
    * http://www.es.ioccc.org/ - Madrid, Spain (40 25' N 3 41' W)
    * http://www.gr.ioccc.org/ - Athens, Greece (38 00' N 23 44' E)
    * North America www0.us.ioccc.org - Sunnyvale California, US (37 22' N 122 02' W)
    * www1.us.ioccc.org - Saint Paul, Minnesota US (44 57' N 93 06' W)

  31. Mirrors by lachlan76 · · Score: 5, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    Before it all goes down, here are the mirrors:

    Asia
    * http://www.tw.ioccc.org/ - Hsin-Chu, Taiwan (24 48' N 120 59' E)

    * Australia and other Pacific http://www.au.ioccc.org/ - Sydney, Australia (34 0' S 151 0' E)

    Europe
    * http://www.de.ioccc.org/ - Hamburg, Germany (53 33' N 10 2' E)
    * http://www.es.ioccc.org/ - Madrid, Spain (40 25' N 3 41' W)
    * http://www.gr.ioccc.org/ - Athens, Greece (38 00' N 23 44' E)
    * North America www0.us.ioccc.org - Sunnyvale California, US (37 22' N 122 02' W)
    * www1.us.ioccc.org - Saint Paul, Minnesota US (44 57' N 93 06' W)

  32. Additional Mirror by pikine · · Score: 5, Informative · on IOCCC Winners Announced

    us1 mirror and see Google cache for more.

  33. Re:EFL and the road to E17 by Erik+Hollensbe · · Score: 1 · on Enlightenment Lives

    Perl hackers are the new guys...

    Of course, you might be thinking of this, as that's where all this stuff got popular.

  34. Re:Code sloppy? by DMUTPeregrine · · Score: 1 · on 'Stealth' Worm Hinders Sandbox Analysis

    Because hey no coder legit or illicit wants to be thought of as a sloppy coder.
    Like these guys?

  35. Re:why more ram anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on A DIMM Future for RAM Bundles

    But, you only need a couple Kb. No reason to use up a gigabyte.

    (See here for an explanation)

  36. Re:why more ram anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on A DIMM Future for RAM Bundles

    But, you only need a couple Kb. No reason to use up a gigabyte.

    (See here for an explanation)

  37. Re:The best line is about the spies who insert cod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful · on Embedded RTOS Maker Raises Linux Security Issues

    The whole story is so absolutely paranoid (The Russians are coming! Beware of the Yellow Peril!) and shows such a complete lack of understanding of the Linux Open Source process that it would make me worry if I were buying Green Hills' software: Do you want to buy something from somebody who is this divorced from reality and has this little understanding of how his competitor works?

    There are a number of open source projects that have had their servers 0wn3d by crackers in the last year or two. In at least one or two cases the source code was tainted.

    So, are you saying that, given an appropriate motivation (like linux being used to power Star Wars weapons) that the national security apparatus of a major power, with what are relatively unlimited resources and methods (buy equipment, time, expertise or information, hack, bribe, extort, tait software at source, infiltrate, murder (project lead?)) wouldn't be able to insert code when a pimple faced kid somehwere was able to do so?

    Do you think that code would automatically be detected when so many bugs, bad practices, poor design, etc., etc., go undetected or fixed in open source software?

    Consider this. Ken Thompson used to be able to login to just about any unix system in the world even if he didn't have an account. People checked and rechecked their systems. It didn't tend to help them. He later revealed his secret. Next, check out the Obfuscated C Contest. Some of the entries have additional functionality that isn't evident. One example is this one which implements 4 functions. I certainly wouldn't put it past somebody to be able to produce pretty standard looking C code that would pass the sniff test but which would, either by itself, or perhaps in combination with other code, implement an entirely different, second level of functionality which could be exploited as needed.

    Given the potential stakes of defense work (losing a war, national survival, etc.) there is plenty of potential incentive for the finest minds a nation produces to tackle these problems, and potentially solve them. If you believe otherwise I think you are living in an open source dream world.

  38. Re:The best line is about the spies who insert cod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful · on Embedded RTOS Maker Raises Linux Security Issues

    The whole story is so absolutely paranoid (The Russians are coming! Beware of the Yellow Peril!) and shows such a complete lack of understanding of the Linux Open Source process that it would make me worry if I were buying Green Hills' software: Do you want to buy something from somebody who is this divorced from reality and has this little understanding of how his competitor works?

    There are a number of open source projects that have had their servers 0wn3d by crackers in the last year or two. In at least one or two cases the source code was tainted.

    So, are you saying that, given an appropriate motivation (like linux being used to power Star Wars weapons) that the national security apparatus of a major power, with what are relatively unlimited resources and methods (buy equipment, time, expertise or information, hack, bribe, extort, tait software at source, infiltrate, murder (project lead?)) wouldn't be able to insert code when a pimple faced kid somehwere was able to do so?

    Do you think that code would automatically be detected when so many bugs, bad practices, poor design, etc., etc., go undetected or fixed in open source software?

    Consider this. Ken Thompson used to be able to login to just about any unix system in the world even if he didn't have an account. People checked and rechecked their systems. It didn't tend to help them. He later revealed his secret. Next, check out the Obfuscated C Contest. Some of the entries have additional functionality that isn't evident. One example is this one which implements 4 functions. I certainly wouldn't put it past somebody to be able to produce pretty standard looking C code that would pass the sniff test but which would, either by itself, or perhaps in combination with other code, implement an entirely different, second level of functionality which could be exploited as needed.

    Given the potential stakes of defense work (losing a war, national survival, etc.) there is plenty of potential incentive for the finest minds a nation produces to tackle these problems, and potentially solve them. If you believe otherwise I think you are living in an open source dream world.

  39. Bleh by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny · on ACM Collegiate Programming Contest Winner Announced

    This championship looks very amateurish and unprofessional compared to this!

  40. Re:Prior art? by Drantin · · Score: 1 · on Morphing Code to Prevent Reverse Engineering?

    The IOCCC

  41. Re:Enough by Mick+Ohrberg · · Score: 1 · on Morphing Code to Prevent Reverse Engineering?

    I agree - I think it's hard enough to write non-obfuscated code, so why try to obfuscate it more?

  42. Re:Mod the parent up by thogard · · Score: 1 · on Perl's Extreme Makeover

    The IOCCC evidence seems to show C as worse:
    such as this roman number generator

  43. Re:Kernel development interests me terribly by po8 · · Score: 5, Funny · on Behind the Scenes in Kernel Development

    Does the fact that Diomidis Spinellis has repeated won the International Obfuscated C Code Contest (IOCCC) make him more or less qualified to write such a book :-)? Check out his "best abuse of the rules" entry from 1988 that is my all-time favorite. BTW, the contest is currently open.

  44. Re:Kernel development interests me terribly by po8 · · Score: 5, Funny · on Behind the Scenes in Kernel Development

    Does the fact that Diomidis Spinellis has repeated won the International Obfuscated C Code Contest (IOCCC) make him more or less qualified to write such a book :-)? Check out his "best abuse of the rules" entry from 1988 that is my all-time favorite. BTW, the contest is currently open.

  45. Re:Humbug by sydneyfong · · Score: 1 · on Extinction Of Human Languages Affects Programming?

    There might not be poetry in COBOL, but there sure is for C:

    http://www0.us.ioccc.org/1990/westley.c

  46. Re:Rethink English ! by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Computers Paraphrase English
    Right now, trying to work with English in computers deals way more with the strangeness of the language than the more interesting issues of cognition that lie underneath.

    That's true. Computer languages that don't stick close to "regular" human expression are very popular and growing quickly. Languages that resemble written English are dwindling rapidly.

    After all, code is meant to be written, not read, and programmers should strive to write such that their work can't be understood by anyone not an expert in the language they're using.

    Put another way: as long as I have to fix other people's code, or I want my boss to be able to read my code without me spending an afternoon explaining it to him, I really hope it doesn't look like a string of line noise. English-like constructs may be distracting for some, but they're pretty handy for the rest of us.

  47. Re:source code escrow not very useful by k12linux · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Source Code Escrow
    The biggest problem I would have with this type of escrow situation is that there is no way to know how clean and maintainable the code is until the original developers are gone. Are there comments, are they meaningful. Is the code easy to follow, or does it look like this?

    Will my in-house programmers be able to work with it right away, or will they spend the next 6-9 months just figuring out how it works? Will *anybody* but the original programmer know anything about how it works?

  48. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Anatman, Pumpkin Seed, Algorithm

    I agree with your second argument. Code obviously reflects the personnality of the one who wrote it. But still this is not enough, in my opinion. Have you ever tried to make programs like that ? Not to counter your argument, but you'll have to be a bit more specific to make your point than that. Check out the International Obfuscated C Contest results to see some interesting things people do with their code. Some are more visual than others; but I'm sure if you'll browse around a bit, you'll see the problems with your example.

  49. cpp by mr_klaw · · Score: 3, Interesting · on 108 Ways To Do The Towers of Hanoi

    The best one still have to be the version implemented in the C preprocesser.

    http://www0.us.ioccc.org/years.html#1995_vanschnit z

  50. Yes, they overlap. by Logic · · Score: 3, Interesting · on Do Computer Geeks and Gearheads Overlap?

    I grew up as a geek in a small rural town. That meant two things: first, any money I had went into my computer, meaning the truck I drove was a POS; and second, the teasing you took by being a geek in the lower grades turned into the teasing you take having a slow POS when your low-GPA, V8-loving classmates are getting their licenses.

    Karma's a bitch, though. Being a geek today means a lifestyle that those same knuckle-draggers can only envy (assuming, of course, that you're working right now), and their "old-n-busted" will have a tough time keeping up with my "new hotness".

    Seriously, while I might have gotten a bit of satisfaction out of the way things played out, I just sort of naturally gravitated towards import modification after finally coming up for air after immersing myself in technology for so long. Racing (autocross is my primary interest right now, although I make it to the drag strip every so often) and performance tuning makes the time and effort you put in "real" to others around you in a way that an elegant hack can never be. Go ahead, tell a non-geek friend or family member that you're entering the International Obfuscated C Code Contest this year, and compare that reaction to the one you get when you say you ran your car at Real Street Drags last week and smoked a few V8s with your little four-banger.

    Still, I don't see automotive performance being a mainstream geek thing. Sites like DSMtuners are filled with /. readers, but whenever I mention that my car is up on jackstands again, most of the folks I work with give me that "why wouldn't you just have your mechanic do that?" look.