From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id 7ee60f64 for ; Tue, 12 Nov 2019 20:57:05 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id A38ED9C12A; Wed, 13 Nov 2019 06:57:03 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 40E939BB5B; Wed, 13 Nov 2019 06:56:42 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id B7EAA9BB5B; Wed, 13 Nov 2019 06:56:39 +1000 (AEST) Received: from oclsc.com (oclsc.com [206.248.137.164]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 5D58D9BB16 for ; Wed, 13 Nov 2019 06:56:37 +1000 (AEST) From: Norman Wilson To: tuhs@tuhs.org Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2019 15:56:15 -0500 Message-ID: <1573592179.5935.for-standards-violators@oclsc.org> Subject: Re: [TUHS] Happy birthday Morris worm X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" I think I recall an explicit statement somewhere from an interview with Robert that the worm was inspired partly by Shockwave Rider. I confess my immediate reaction to the worm was uncontrollable laughter. I was out of town when it happened, so I first heard it from a newspaper article (and wasn't caught up in fighting it or I'd have laughed a lot less, of course); and it seemed to me hilarious when I read that Robert was behind it. He had interned with 1127 for a few summers while I was there, so I knew him as very bright but often a bit careless about details; that seemed an exact match for the worm. My longer-term reaction was to completely drop my sloppy old habit (common in those days not just in my code but in that of many others) of ignoring possible buffer overflows. I find it mind-boggling that people still make that mistake; it has been literal decades since the lesson was rubbed in our community's collective noses. I am very disappointed that programming education seems not to care enough about this sort of thing, even today. Norman Wilson Toronto ON