Microsoft Apologizes For Inserting Naughty Phrase Into Linux Kernel

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Microsoft Apologizes For Inserting Naughty Phrase Into Linux Kernel

Posted by timothy on Thursday July 19, 2012 @07:32AM from the brogrammers-at-work dept.

netbuzz writes "Microsoft has apologized and promised to rectify the fact that one of its developers slipped a sexist phrase into Linux kernel code supporting Microsoft's HyperV virtualization environment. In that code, the magic constant passed through to the hypervisor reads '0xB16B00B5,' or a slightly camouflaged 'BIG BOOBS.' After Linux developer/blogger Matthew Garrett criticized Microsoft for the stunt, the predictable debate over sexism in the technology world ensued. Microsoft issued a statement to Network World apologizing and added, 'We have submitted a patch to fix this issue and the change will be published in a future release of the kernel.'"

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0xB16B00B5 by Jobless+Fellatio · 2012-07-19 07:32 · Score: 5, Funny

Excuse me but could someone clarify how is "big boobs" sexist phrase? It might mean either gender. For statistical reasons I can verify that my own boobs are often larger than I see on females.
1. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:35 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I'm sorry, but I can't take you serious on this subject because of your nickname.
2. Re:0xB16B00B5 by jellomizer · 2012-07-19 07:45 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  For statistical reasons woman boobs are bigger then mens.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
3. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:50 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  If it somehow read 'BIG BICEPS' would anyone care?
  Bug reporters, I hope...
4. Re:0xB16B00B5 by karlandtanya · 2012-07-19 07:57 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Of course "boobs" is specific to women. The homologous structures in men are known as "moobs".
  There is no hex number that looks similar to "Moobs".
  From now on, all numbers must be represented as Unicode (it would not be politically correct to favor the character set used by any specific culture) where each 16-bit element specifies the text representation of the numerical value desired.
  Who do you blame when it costs $75.00 to fill your gas tank? 71077345
  
  --
  "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
5. Re:0xB16B00B5 by kimvette · 2012-07-19 08:00 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  That would be B16M00B5 so it doesn't work in hexadecimal.
  
  --
  The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
6. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:02 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  i doubt saying "big fat cock" would get you fired if you worked in a chicken factory. everything requires context.
7. Re:0xB16B00B5 by PraiseBob · 2012-07-19 08:04 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I think 0xB16BA115 would be the most appropriate analogy
8. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Idaho · 2012-07-19 08:14 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Next up: vegetarians against using 0xdeadbeef to detect memory corruption? Well, Fuck me gently with a chainsaw!
  
  --
  Every expression is true, for a given value of 'true'
9. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Archangel+Michael · 2012-07-19 08:16 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Some are held for charity ...
  
  --
  Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
10. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:31 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  LOL, hy-perv
11. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Chrisq · 2012-07-19 08:34 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  i doubt saying "big fat cock" would get you fired if you worked in a chicken factory. everything requires context.
  And in the porn industry it might be compulsory
12. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:37 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  that M is however very hard to squeese into a hex number like that :-)
13. Re:0xB16B00B5 by drinkypoo · 2012-07-19 08:38 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Yeah, but I doubt anyone is under the dilution
  If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
14. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:43 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I've always preferred 0x5MA11B00B5 myself.
  What base are you using?
15. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Applekid · 2012-07-19 08:53 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Maybe it's in base 36
  
  --
  More Twoson than Cupertino
16. Re:0xB16B00B5 by aaaaaaargh! · 2012-07-19 08:55 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  So the phrase "Sorry, I have my period" is sexist?
  I knew it, I knew it!
17. Re:0xB16B00B5 by mydn · 2012-07-19 09:16 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  This is what you get when you have teenagers in their parents basement writing your operating system. You would get more professional behavior from a large, established corporation.
  Oh, wait...
18. Re:0xB16B00B5 by meerling · 2012-07-19 09:35 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Maybe, but they're both running on silicon.
19. Re:0xB16B00B5 by cmdrbuzz · 2012-07-19 09:47 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  No, but eating vegan's might :-)
20. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Luckyo · 2012-07-19 10:09 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Big enough to handle it apparently.
21. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 10:20 · Score: 0, Funny
  
  I'm sorry to say this, but this is another bit of typical patriarchy talk -- if a woman feels uncomfortable with something men are doing, she's automatically "uptight" or "frigid." Sorry, but no.
  True.
  She could just be a dyke.
22. Re:0xB16B00B5 by arthurpaliden · 2012-07-19 10:23 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Had a Japanese VP who was in charge of industrial software design at a very famous company tell me, while in a meeting with myself and my staff, that women did not have the brains to be programmers. I was very proud that the two lead programmers did not jump up an beat the crap out of him right there and then. He thought they were secretaries taking minutes of the meeting.
  
  --
  Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
23. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 10:39 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  > I use 0xdeadbeef as a magic constant
  Have you considered how offensive that can be to vegans?
24. Re:0xB16B00B5 by exomondo · 2012-07-19 10:51 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  It's sexist in that if a very talented woman programmer was going around hacking in the kernel and found it, it might make her feel uncomfortable.
  
  Bullshit, what's sexist here is that you immediately assume it was a male who wrote it. Oh shit let's get all PC and outlaw codes like 0xDEADBEEF for fear of offending vegans...under the assumption that only non-vegans would ever use such a thing.
25. Re:0xB16B00B5 by FatdogHaiku · 2012-07-19 12:02 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Maybe it's in base 36
  In this thread I would think it obligatory to go all the way to base 69.
  
  --
  You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
26. Re:0xB16B00B5 by viperidaenz · 2012-07-19 13:35 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  But it was a hexadecimal gag, not octal...
27. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 20:12 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  MSexchange?
28. Re:0xB16B00B5 by TheRaven64 · 2012-07-19 21:16 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  As a vegetarian, I am offended that Microsoft's implementation marks free'd memory with 0xDEADBEEF! I demand that this be changed to something that won't offend me! Or Hindus! Or people with irrational dislike of certain numbers when represented in hex!
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
29. Re:0xB16B00B5 by FatdogHaiku · 2012-07-20 05:27 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  They talk about base 69; but never get there.
  The heartbreak of premature enumeration...
  
  --
  You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
That's not sexist! by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-07-19 07:35 · Score: 4, Funny

Ballmer's got 'em, after all.

--
#DeleteChrome
1. Re:That's not sexist! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:37 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  My first reaction to this thread was to "Gee, I wish Slashdot allowed for the posting of inline images."
  
  Ballmer's got 'em, after all.
  ...never mind.
2. Re:That's not sexist! by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2012-07-19 07:41 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Ballmer's got 'em, after all.
  No, he makes them . . . Vista . . . Windows Phone 7 . . .
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Well... by pinkj · 2012-07-19 07:35 · Score: 3, Funny

Obviously they put big boobs in to swell the kernel.
HyPerv? by Speare · 2012-07-19 07:40 · Score: 5, Funny

So now we will be calling it "Hy Perv"?
As with all of the feminist jokes, the punchline is: That's not funny!

--
[ .sig file not found ]
1. Re:HyPerv? by sconeu · 2012-07-19 08:04 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  As in...
  Q: How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb?
  A: THAT'S NOT FUNNY!!!!
  
  --
  General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Even more interesting... by X86Daddy · 2012-07-19 07:46 · Score: 2, Funny

I find it more interesting that 10-year-olds are committing code to the Linux kernel.
The patched code by Sqr(twg) · 2012-07-19 07:48 · Score: 5, Funny

#define HV_LINUX_GUEST_ID_HI 2976579765 /* That better, fuckers? */
Re:Babecafe by blueg3 · 2012-07-19 07:48 · Score: 3, Funny

Don't forget 0xABAD1D34.
Re:Big Boobs? by MarkGriz · 2012-07-19 07:53 · Score: 3, Funny

How about 0xB15BA115 instead. If it was good enough for AC/DC....

--
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
Oh, and trolls, too. by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2012-07-19 07:55 · Score: 3, Funny

I don't know why Microsoft would apologize -- programmer nerds love paying tribute to mythalogical things like hobbits, goblins, and female breasts.

--
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by NFN_NLN · 2012-07-19 08:03 · Score: 5, Funny

I wonder if PETA will complain about 0xDEADBEEF?
I've seen that used often.
Re:We're Supposed To Be The Good Guys by GameboyRMH · 2012-07-19 08:05 · Score: 4, Funny

At least one girl has come up to her, squeezed her boobs and said she has big boobs.
I see. Could you tell us more about this incident?

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Bad title by SolitaryMan · 2012-07-19 08:06 · Score: 4, Funny

Slashdot editors, the title for this post should read "Microsoft Apologized for Big Boobs". Work better next time.

--
May Peace Prevail On Earth
1. Re:Bad title by GameboyRMH · 2012-07-19 08:19 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  "Microsoft Apologizes for Sticking Big Boobs in Linux Kernel Devs' Faces" The Register-style.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by hawguy · 2012-07-19 08:08 · Score: 5, Funny

For statistical reasons woman boobs are bigger then mens.
No, women's breasts are (statistically) larger than mens for evolutionary reasons, not statistical ones. In fact, I doubt that statistics themselves have much effect on breast size at all!:-)

Statistically, some women obtain big boobs because they believe that statistically speaking, they will be able to attract a better mate with larger boobs.
So an argument could be made that, on average, women's boobs are statistically larger due to statistics.
Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by camperdave · 2012-07-19 08:09 · Score: 5, Funny

Personally, I find it offensive that big boobs is now sexist. What about us guys with big boobs?
I'm pretty sure most would find that offensive as well.

--
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Microsoft Response by erdos-bacon+sandwich · 2012-07-19 08:10 · Score: 4, Funny

A spokesman for Microsoft has issued the following statement in response: "or vagina"
Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Archangel+Michael · 2012-07-19 08:19 · Score: 3, Funny

One of my favorites ... 0XBADCOFFE

--
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by XiaoMing · 2012-07-19 08:22 · Score: 4, Funny

Soon even the word "sexist" will be sexist.
Or vagina!
Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Kalten · 2012-07-19 08:51 · Score: 5, Funny

Nah. 0xDECAFBAD.
Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by alexo · 2012-07-19 10:26 · Score: 5, Funny

surveys have been constantly reporting that the ideal breast size is 'C' in terms of aesthetic appeal.
Eat that, Java advocates!