If the string is statically allocated or on the stack (but not dynamically allocated), then it's quite possible to get its size. If you have char foo[12], then you get the size of foo in bytes with sizeof(foo). It would be fairly trivial to write a string-assignment macro that behaves like COBOL, with sizeof and strncpy. But again, it would only work with non-dynamically allocated strings.
COBOL is able to do all the truncation and padding automatically because all data is statically allocated, so all the sizes are known at compile-time.
Hmm, spamming doesn't depend on pissing people off; rather I would say that it's successful in spite of peoples' anger. Same for the other slimy businesses
Intriguing. I bet this could be useful for making a nice active firewall, instead of using iptables or a kernel module for the netfilter hooks. It should be interesting to see what ideas come of this.
How long ago was this? IIRC, you can do these things by putting the following lines in ~/.mplayer/config:
xy=2
loop=0
This corresponds to the command line
mplayer -xy 2 -loop 0 <movie.ext>
I don't know how along ago loop was put in, at least a few months ago. xy has been there much longer. Granted, these are permanent settings, not ones that are saved when you toggle them in the GUI. And they were/are all documented in the manpage </cheapshot>.
And the point other people are making is that it doesn't matter how good their encryption algorithm is. If they have control of the hardware it's running on, they can break the registration system and/or view the encrypted data being transmitted, without ever having to break the encryption.
Instead of using a leaked key, you would use a binary crack, which according to some posters has already been used for older versions of windows.
You missed his first point after taking it the wrong way, and you completely ignored the rest of his post. I haven't yet seen you respond to the opinion that you should release the vulnerabilities for the sake of Microsoft's users.
You say that it could only cause mischief, but it would also, and more importantly, force Microsoft to fix their code. Sure, this is extra work for them, but it's likely that some of those problems are already known by the blackhats. As evidenced by the Samba vulnerability found by observing a previously-unknown exploit, the point grandparent made.
The mischief is already occurring, just not out in the open.
I have one: googlebashing. Which is what the article is doing;) "perverted the language." Heh. the original usage of "second superpower" was just as much a "perversion." How amusing.
I don't get it though; what's the difference between all these MPEG-4 implementations (Apple has one too)? Aren't they just some sort of wrapper for the video/audio stream? Why can't plain MPEG-4 be used?
I could have sworn that Linux's ld complained if you linked a program that used sprintf, but it doesn't appear to in my testing. Not sure where I saw that. Maybe it's an option somewhere.
Rats; based on the link, I was hoping it would generate a Peano (plane-filling fractal) curve. The scary thing is, I think it could actually be done with C++ templates.
I don't think export is very hard to understand. It's apparently just really hard for compiler writers to implement. Example from Stroustrup's book (fair use, baby!):
// file1.c:
export template<class T> T twice (T t) { return t + t; }
//file2.c:
template<class T> T twice (T t);//declaration
int g (int i) { return twice(i); }
At this point you are supposed to be able to compile file1.c and file2.c separately, and have it all work. Easy for the programmer, hard for the compiler implementor.
I think his point was that by following this method, a vendor denies themself the use of GPL'd code, thus having to reinvent the wheel in several areas instead of using what's available. That's not as efficient as GPL'ing software from the beginning. And it misses out on other advantages of open source, like community-contributed improvements.
That said, I don't have a problem with businesses following the escrow model.
I don't disagree that the government should assist businesses in some cases. In fact, businesses already get a tax break on their losses. If the content companies could actually show a loss from people infringing copyright, then they would get that tax break (I'm guessing they already claim some losses from piracy). So I don't think that filesharing etc. is an acceptable justification for the media tax. Personally, I don't think the government should ever follow the path of least resistance, when that path insinuates, "we're taxing you because we think you'll probably use this product to steal music."
It's not the corporate welfare that bothers me so much as the implementation.
An organization passing its losses onto the consumer is different from the government doing it on their behalf. Criminals should be punished. Everyone else should not be. These industries should pressure the government to improve enforcement rather than trying to make everyone pay for the misdeeds of a few. In any case, the copyright infringement tax is in pursuit of implausible losses.
The package system you get with Debian (or RedHat, for that matter) is already so much better than anything you get for Windows that it isn't funny. If Linux developers adopted the equivalent of setup.exe more widely, that be a real blow to Linux.
You are painfully correct. Just look at the commercial programs available for Linux that use installer programs. I have several examples:
Macromedia Flash plugin 6: It comes with a ridiculously long script that checks all kinds of special conditions, which you can tell was written by a newbie. What does it ultimately do? Install two (2) files! I simply unpacked the tarball and symlinked them into my plugins directory.
RealONE (Real media player): It doesn't appear possible to install this program globally, only in your home directory. It uses a GUI installer that's heavy on flashiness, but low on usability. I didn't feel like messing with it to try and make it world-usable.
Intel C Compiler: Haven't looked at this in a long time, but I heard that it's very difficult to install it on some systems; you basically have to fix the installer's broken assumptions. The old version I have had a hacked-up RPM to allow it to be installed on Debian.
Sun JRE 1.4: This comes as a "self-extracting" executable. In reality, it's a shell script with a tarball tacked on the end. I don't remember why anymore, but I had to futz around with the script to make it work. In addition, it depended on an old version of libstdc++ that I had to find.
Oracle: Never used this, but I hear it's a bitch to get working on some systems.
Now granted, they all use a custom installer rather than something like InstallShield, but I see parallels to Windows setup programs here.
I take offense to that... I have poor hygiene and poor social skills, and it hasn't made me a good programmer!
Typical converse error;-)
If you figure out what a converse error is, maybe you'll become a better programmer in the process. Then you can work on the social skills and...ah, screw it; programming's good enough!
Slashdot Mirror
COBOL is able to do all the truncation and padding automatically because all data is statically allocated, so all the sizes are known at compile-time.
Inviting trolls with strawmen? PEBSAC (Problem exists between slashdot and chair).
Hmm, spamming doesn't depend on pissing people off; rather I would say that it's successful in spite of peoples' anger. Same for the other slimy businesses
Intriguing. I bet this could be useful for making a nice active firewall, instead of using iptables or a kernel module for the netfilter hooks. It should be interesting to see what ideas come of this.
xy=2
loop=0
This corresponds to the command line
mplayer -xy 2 -loop 0 <movie.ext>
I don't know how along ago loop was put in, at least a few months ago. xy has been there much longer. Granted, these are permanent settings, not ones that are saved when you toggle them in the GUI. And they were/are all documented in the manpage </cheapshot>.
Instead of using a leaked key, you would use a binary crack, which according to some posters has already been used for older versions of windows.
You say that it could only cause mischief, but it would also, and more importantly, force Microsoft to fix their code. Sure, this is extra work for them, but it's likely that some of those problems are already known by the blackhats. As evidenced by the Samba vulnerability found by observing a previously-unknown exploit, the point grandparent made.
The mischief is already occurring, just not out in the open.
I have one: googlebashing. Which is what the article is doing ;) "perverted the language." Heh. the original usage of "second superpower" was just as much a "perversion." How amusing.
I don't get it though; what's the difference between all these MPEG-4 implementations (Apple has one too)? Aren't they just some sort of wrapper for the video/audio stream? Why can't plain MPEG-4 be used?
[ObSlashdot: Where the hell's the reply link when not logged in? Damn slashdot fascists ;)]
I could have sworn that Linux's ld complained if you linked a program that used sprintf, but it doesn't appear to in my testing. Not sure where I saw that. Maybe it's an option somewhere.
YHBT. HAND.
Love,
John Dvorak
I think you're confusing Zsh with Csh. Bash was around before Zsh. Generally, Zsh can do everything Bash can, and then some.
I can't wait until I see one of those billboards saying, "Hacked by Chinese," or some such.
Rats; based on the link, I was hoping it would generate a Peano (plane-filling fractal) curve. The scary thing is, I think it could actually be done with C++ templates.
Here ya go. A 45 byte executable. Although it's not written in C++, and it's not quite at the "Hello, world!" level of complexity ;)
export template<class T> T twice (T t) { return t + t; }
template<class T> T twice (T t);
int g (int i) { return twice(i); }
At this point you are supposed to be able to compile file1.c and file2.c separately, and have it all work. Easy for the programmer, hard for the compiler implementor.
That said, I don't have a problem with businesses following the escrow model.
It's not the corporate welfare that bothers me so much as the implementation.
An organization passing its losses onto the consumer is different from the government doing it on their behalf. Criminals should be punished. Everyone else should not be. These industries should pressure the government to improve enforcement rather than trying to make everyone pay for the misdeeds of a few. In any case, the copyright infringement tax is in pursuit of implausible losses.
- Macromedia Flash plugin 6: It comes with a ridiculously long script that checks all kinds of special conditions, which you can tell was written by a newbie. What does it ultimately do? Install two (2) files! I simply unpacked the tarball and symlinked them into my plugins directory.
- RealONE (Real media player): It doesn't appear possible to install this program globally, only in your home directory. It uses a GUI installer that's heavy on flashiness, but low on usability. I didn't feel like messing with it to try and make it world-usable.
- Intel C Compiler: Haven't looked at this in a long time, but I heard that it's very difficult to install it on some systems; you basically have to fix the installer's broken assumptions. The old version I have had a hacked-up RPM to allow it to be installed on Debian.
- Sun JRE 1.4: This comes as a "self-extracting" executable. In reality, it's a shell script with a tarball tacked on the end. I don't remember why anymore, but I had to futz around with the script to make it work. In addition, it depended on an old version of libstdc++ that I had to find.
- Oracle: Never used this, but I hear it's a bitch to get working on some systems.
Now granted, they all use a custom installer rather than something like InstallShield, but I see parallels to Windows setup programs here.PERSONALLY, I also like to capitalize the first word in a sentence.
I got your content right here. Well, the same amount of content, anyway.
If you figure out what a converse error is, maybe you'll become a better programmer in the process. Then you can work on the social skills and...ah, screw it; programming's good enough!