Ken Thompson - Reflections on Trusting Trust

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • pemo
    #1

    Ken Thompson - Reflections on Trusting Trust

    Certain that it's been linked to before from c.l.c, but I've only just
    noticed it ... so I thought I'd post a link for others that haven't seen it.

    http://www.acm.org/classics/sep95/

    P.S.

    http://www.acm.org/classics/oct95/ is the classic Go To Considered Harmful.


    Tags: None
    • Nils O. Selåsdal
      #2
      Re: Ken Thompson - Reflections on Trusting Trust

      pemo wrote:[color=blue]
      > Certain that it's been linked to before from c.l.c, but I've only just
      > noticed it ... so I thought I'd post a link for others that haven't seen it.
      >
      > http://www.acm.org/classics/sep95/[/color]
      And http://angband.tip9ug.jp/magic/srcgw...sys/src/cmd/cc
      is Kens C compiler - the frontend atleast , btw :-)

        Comment

        • Richard Bos
          #3
          Re: Ken Thompson - Reflections on Trusting Trust

          "pemo" <usenetmeister@ gmail.com> wrote:
          [color=blue]
          > Certain that it's been linked to before from c.l.c, but I've only just
          > noticed it ... so I thought I'd post a link for others that haven't seen it.
          >
          > http://www.acm.org/classics/sep95/[/color]

          It has, I think, but all discussions of it I've seen miss the obvious
          work-around...

          Write your C implementation in another language. By preference an
          interpreted language, as a cross-compiler on another platform. E.g., use
          a Lisp interpreter on a Mac to write a compiler for C that targets MS
          Windows. Now compile your original C compiler on that platform. Good
          luck to anyone who manages to infect _all_ alternative languages on all
          possible platforms, from Befunge 'terps hand-hacked in machine language,
          up to full-scale Ada implementations compiled from Modula.

          Bonus points if your intermediate language was designed specifically for
          this exercise. Extra bonus if you use two or more intermediates.

          The problem with Trusting Trust exists only if you assume a single
          language and a single platform (or limited numbers of both). In reality
          we have a plethora of languages and quite a few platforms (even if only
          a few are common), and of the former we can create as many as we want,
          as exotic as we want.

          Richard

            Comment

            Previous template Next
            Working...