Joy of Reproduction - other side

[whuxlb!mash]

DMR gave an amusing description of Ken's self-reproducing loophole bug done
years ago. As a user of (one of the) systems on which it got installed
(Piscataway PWBs), I recall a few more amusing items:
1) We never would have found it if Ken hadn't been lazy and made the
extra code a function -- the tipoff was the item in the namelist that
never appeared in the source.
2) I doubt that anyone would have known what happened if Ken hadn't left
everything lying around on research.
3) This occurred when one could seldom expect that one's old cc would compile
Dennis's newest cc source (due to continual bootstrapping) -- we always had
to grab both new source and new object. this helped the trap considerably.
been sniping at Ken and
Dennis for security problems. The loophole code came soon thereafter...
5) Finally, the scariest/funniest part of the whole business was
reading Brunner's Shockwave Rider book several weeks before this,
liking it, but thinking that "worm programs with infinitely replicating
tails" were ridiculous. Then Ken's program showed up...
-john mashey