pst@comdesign.cdi.com (Paul Traina) (11/11/88)
Look, this is getting out of hand. Maybe I feel the way I do because my
network was not infected.
In a >criminal< case, state-of-mind is a very important factor when
assessing guilt. We've heard from some reliable folk who say:
Morris didn't realize the dammage potential from the worm
(cpu megabog)
Morris tried to stop it by himself, but he got bitten by it
(his net was too clogged to get out)
Morris then called other people and told them to get the word out.
He was shocked. He knew his ass was in the can. He was scared of having
a lynch mob outside his door, so he "hid out." I'm not saying he did the
right thing. I'm not going to comment about the benignness of the worm,
and I can't speak for the people who spent 48 sleepless hours trying to
figure out what it was doing.
However, to the people like me, who don't have a "big" reason to hate
Morris, I say "Lay off the guy." We all make mistakes.
He did not do it on purpose.
He *was* negligent.
He *should* have done more to spread the word.
He was *scared* of the reaction.
He is intelligent, and has made *valuable*
contributions to the net.
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Paul Traina To believe that what is true for
{uunet|pyramid}!comdesign!pst you in your private heart is true
pst@cdi.com for all men, that is genius.