At 2:38 AM -0700 6/22/97, Adam Back wrote:
A couple of people have complained of the huge efforts put into breaking keys, and of the small efforts invested in cypherpunks code writing of late.
Perhaps there is something to this challenge stuff, in terms of getting contributors, neatly tabulating results, working up enthusiasm etc.
So... how about a code writing challenge, an award for the best cypherpunk project every month. (No monetary prize, just vote on list to decide most significant project).
Perhaps a list of how many lines of code. A hall of fame if you like:
% wc -l `find . -name \*.h -print -o -name \*.c -print`
Eric Young SSL-eay 101,721 lines PGP Inc pgp30 (?) lines Phil Zimmermann & co pgp263 34,891 lines ....
Not to be tedious about this, but why would "lines of code" be an interesting metric? I'm reminded of a cartoon showing a Russian factory winning the "greatest tonnage of screws produced," with a crane lifting a massive, 100 meter long screw above the factory. The dangers of the wrong metric. I think we need a few major innovations more than some number of lines of code. --Tim May (No, I'm not a programmer. But I've done a few "hacks" which were interesting and useful, I think. Taking readily available stuff, "BlackNet" made the concrete point that data havens and anonymous markets already are possible. Number of lines of code written: zero. The task is to combine some of the existing tools into new things. Raw lines of code is not necessarily useful.) There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."