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Smallest Possible ELF Executable?
taviso writes "I recently stumbled across this paper (google cache), where the author investigates the smallest possible ELF executable on linux, some interesting stuff, and well worth a read. The author concludes, 'every single byte in this executable file can be accounted for and justified. How many executables have you created lately that you can say that about?'
It isn't amazing until its also palindromic!
The only good weather is bad weather.
I just heard the news on slashdot -- Frodo Baggins, the smallest elf, was just executed! No other details were available.
... wanting to execute the smallest possible elf. You Americans and your bloodsports. Barbarians.
If you guys go ahead with your cold-hearted plan to execute this elf, the Olsen twins better watch their backs next time they're in Ireland, if you catch my drift.
- SMJ - (It's not just a name: it's a bad aftertaste.)
Linux software is horribly bloated, like even "ls" is above 30k, thats just insane for a program thats supposed to just list files in a directory. About time someone did something about it.
This makes my new 100-gig hard drive seem WAY too big.
This guy clearly doesn't get the point!
67% of Americans are overweight. They can't account for most of the bites they use. By developing software that is just as bloated, the users feel good about themselves.
This kind of skinny programming is very insensitive to the fatass society we Americans live in! Hopefully the U.S. Congress hears of this soon, so that they may legislate this kind of software right off the face of the earth.
Masque, head of the Sensitive Programming Foundation*
[*A division of Maxtor Corporation; come check out our new 320GB drives, featuring room for tomorrow's applications...today.]
every single byte in this executable file can be accounted for and justified
The author's sanity, however, cannot.
moto411.com
Some viruses wouldn't infect suspected goat files; files with 'obvious' sizes. AV researchers would get the virus to infect the files - since the contents were known beforehand any changes were due to the infection.
Of course this AV avoidance didn't work, as evidenced by the fact that viruses are now extinct and a footnote in the history of computer security.
Linus wept.
linuxdoc.org
Chapter 11
Verse 35
You've got an easy breezy wind at your back...most of the time.
Nero-burning ROM for Linux!
The current state of elf proccessors demands an astounding amount of system resources. When combined with dwarf co processor, it provides for unparalleled carnie access.
On Red Hat 8.0 I get:
/bin/true /bin/true
$ wc -c
9752
That's thousands of extra bytes - eek.
In fact, just apply this fact iteratively and you'll find that any program can be written in zero bytes!
where's your spoiler alert?!!?!?
not an elf.
Rumors of his being a fairy persist, however.
KFG
-Kevin
the real reason to obfuscate through efficiency! :)
$ cat >a.pl
./a.pl
#!/usr/bin/perl
exit(42);
$ chmod +x a.pl
$
$ echo $?
42
$ ls -l a.pl
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bcrowell bcrowell 26 Oct 19 12:41 a.pl
Only takes up 26 bytes on my hard disk!
Find free books.
This should really be added to the Linux Gay Conspiracy.
example.org - powered by Linux!
Is that why it took Deep Thought so long to execute it?
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
On systems that automatically use /bin/sh on unknown files, the smallest possible shell script is:
w
Yes, a single character.
Actually, a zero-byte file will work as well. Granted, it doesn't do much. But at least it is guaranteed to be bug-free.
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
...nobody has yet said whether the smallest elf is executable or not? I would imagine that unless he's a water bear, we're probably still going to be able to execute him.
http://saveie6.com/
This one went around the internet a thousand times already, but in case you haven't seen it:
True in a Nutshell
4 bytes! My family would dream of 4 bytes. We had to get up in the morning, defrag the file system, decrypt RSA-65 for 23 hours and then go back to the boot sector where we would be erased. And we had to do it all in 4 bits of space!
4 bytes. Hmph.
I demand a million helicopters and a DOLLAR!