dvk (08/06/82)
For my part in this fiasco, I would like to offer a public apology. Jim Reeds posted a rogue Spoiler some time ago, and like others, I flamed at his "lack of couth". Well, in a way I was justified. The indications were that he had written "rascal" with a knowledge, if not a copy of the rogue sources, and that he was saying "gee, here is a neat way to cheat, here's how you can get on the board too". Sounded kinda like a twelve year old on the rampage. What i did not realize was that Jim did not have access to the sources, and indeed was not even able to (Unix-legally) read the binary. What he did was use cleverness (instead of heavy handed-ness) to write his program. What follows is a copy of a piece of mail he sent me, and with it, I would like to apologize for my public and private flames. I'm sorry, Jim. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indeed I find it boring to use my cheating program. The challenges for me were to see if I could break the code (which I did without looking at sources) and to see if I could break the fstat() scheme (whose details I deduced from program behavior) and to see if I could write it all up in idiot-proof instructions anybody could follow in an hour or so. A second line of work not described in my paper was the following: I do not have read access to either binary or source for the current rogue, so I execrcise my unix smarts by 1) getting a copy of the binary, and 2) disassembling it into meaninful descriptions of algorithms. I did this as a recreational way of learning VAX assembler. On the issue of score inflating being silly but skill & hitpoint inflation being better, well, yes. In my paper I explain score inflation simply because it is easier to explain. Also, anyone who ends up in the log file as having quit on level 1 with $1000000 is bound to startle the naive. In the production version of rascal at Berkeley you get your armor class inflated and hit points improved automatically. I learned the location of the appropriate cells in a couple hours of experimentation, ditto of the bits that give you magic knowledge. So. Put it all together: I amuse hundreds over the netnews airwaves, although not as much as Ken Arnold did in the first place. I learn VAX assembly language, I learn much more about 4bsd process images and file system sturcture. I hone my codebreaking skills (which, I assure you, are marketable). I get practice at English composition: explaining an intricate thing in such a way that people on the East Coast can understand it is no mean feat. I get publicity. And what do you get? You get outraged because I have somehow demeaned your (not inconsiderable, but not unusual) skill at Hobgoblin Bashing and Wand Waving. Who is the better person? Sincerely, Jim Reeds