Groups > comp.os.linux.misc > #19525

Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities

From	Frank V <frank.vandermeiren@telenet.be>
Newsgroups	comp.os.linux.misc
Subject	Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities
Date	2017-03-12 23:10 +0100
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<oa4gr3$s4$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	(7 earlier) <87efy368yj.fsf@usenet.ankman.de> <oa1ef4$u66$1@news.albasani.net> <87fuiil5qm.fsf@usenet.ankman.de> <oa44ai$im5$1@dont-email.me> <oa46r6$r12$1@news.albasani.net>

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On Sunday 12 March 2017 20:16, The Natural Philosopher conveyed the 
following to comp.os.linux.misc...

> On 12/03/17 18:36, Aragorn wrote:
>> Never forget that GNU/Linux was conceived ─ both by RMS, the founder
>> of the GNU Project, and by Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux
>> kernel ─ as a Free Software alternative to proprietary UNIX. 
>> Microsoft Windows was never a consideration, for either one of them. 
>> (Besides, MS-Windows didn't even exist yet in 1983, which is when GNU
>> was conceived.)
> 
> "The history of Linux began in 1991 with the commencement of a
> personal project by Finnish student Linus Torvalds to create a new
> free operating system kernel. Since then, the resulting Linux kernel
> has been marked by constant growth throughout its history. Since the
> initial release of its source code in 1991, it has grown from a small
> number of C files under a license prohibiting commercial distribution
> to the 4.2.3 version in 2015 with more than 18 million lines of source
> code under the GNU General Public License v2"
> 
> Sorry Aragorn: Linux wasn't even a twinkle in Torvalds eye in 1983.

I know that, and I wasn't talking of Linux, the kernel, but Linus 
himself has stated that if GNU had been fully usable ─ including its 
native kernel, the Hurd ─ in 1991, then he would never have bothered 
writing Linux.  

But as it is, the Hurd wasn't ready yet ─ and it still cannot be called 
fit for production use today ─ and Linus' other choice, 386 BSD, wasn't 
available yet in 1991 either.  So he was using Minix instead, and Minix 
was only 16-bit ─ running in real mode on x86 ─ and it was non-free (as 
in freedom).  

Frustrated that he was not allowed to modify Minix to run in 32-bit 
protected mode on his 80386 computer ─ an HP Vectra, I believe ─ Linus 
started writing his own kernel, starting with the code he had written 
for a terminal emulator by which he interfaced with the university's 
mainframe, which ran UNIX.

Initially, Linus used the Minix tool chain and some BSD utilities, but 
then he started porting GNU gcc to Linux, and then when he made his 
announcement in comp.os.minix, the real GNU developers pitched in and 
started porting the rest of the GNU userland to Linux.  And the rest is 
history.

> Yes the GNU project became everything BUT the kernel and it did start
> in 1983, BUT the kernel is kinda important you know!

It is, but so is the rest of the system, and my point was that both 
Linux as a kernel and GNU as a userland were intended to be replacements 
for proprietary UNIX ─ Minix had a read-only "open source" license at 
the time, so it was still proprietary.

The reason why Stallman himself chose UNIX as the basis for the GNU 
design in 1983 is because UNIX had a strong and solid reputation as a 
robust, powerful, secure and scalable operating system, and it was 
portable too, given that most of it is written in C.

Let's face it, in the world of true information technology ─ which most 
definitely does not include consumerist desktop appliances ─ Microsoft 
Windows is insignificant and utterly impotent.  It's a kitchen sink 
appliance, not a genuine computing platform.  So nobody in their right 
mind would ever have thought of coming up with an alternative for 
Microsoft Windows back in 1991.  

And as I said, MS-Windows didn't even exist yet in 1983.  All x86 had 
back then ─ and all it could run ─ were CP/M and MS-/PC-DOS, which 
itself was an unauthorized 16-bit re-imagining of CP/M.

-- 
= Aragorn =

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Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities pureheart@pacbell.net - 2017-03-08 09:11 -0800
  Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-08 19:43 +0000
    Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Mark Dixon <mnd999@hotmaill.com> - 2017-03-12 11:24 +0000
    Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities 4891wsmith1984@gmail.com - 2017-03-12 09:12 -0700
      Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2017-03-12 09:44 -0700
      Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-12 18:09 +0000
        Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities 4891wsmith1984@gmail.com - 2017-03-12 11:53 -0700
          Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-12 19:19 +0000
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities 4891wsmith1984@gmail.com - 2017-03-12 12:28 -0700
          Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2017-03-12 15:31 -0400
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-12 22:20 +0000
        Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-12 20:22 +0100
          Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities 4891wsmith1984@gmail.com - 2017-03-12 12:59 -0700
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-12 22:23 +0100
              Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Jean-David Beyer <jeandavid8@verizon.net> - 2017-03-14 20:00 -0400
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-15 03:22 +0100
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2017-03-12 20:46 -0400
              Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities 4891wsmith1984@gmail.com - 2017-03-13 04:34 -0700
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2017-03-14 21:30 -0400
  Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2017-03-08 16:09 -0500
    Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-08 22:00 +0000
    Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2017-03-08 22:19 +0000
    Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2017-03-09 15:19 -0500
      Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-09 22:14 +0000
        Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2017-03-09 17:44 -0500
          Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2017-03-10 13:15 -0500
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-10 19:58 +0000
              Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2017-03-11 12:04 -0500
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2017-03-11 17:32 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-11 18:08 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2017-03-12 14:17 -0400
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Aragorn <thorongil@telenet.be> - 2017-03-12 19:36 +0100
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-12 19:16 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2017-03-12 14:12 -0700
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Frank V <frank.vandermeiren@telenet.be> - 2017-03-12 23:10 +0100
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2017-03-12 15:55 -0400
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-12 22:27 +0100
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-12 22:23 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-12 23:33 +0100
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2017-03-12 15:59 -0700
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities 4891wsmith1984@gmail.com - 2017-03-13 04:37 -0700
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-12 19:12 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Aragorn <thorongil@telenet.be> - 2017-03-12 23:39 +0100
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-11 19:40 +0100
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2017-03-11 10:55 -0800
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2017-03-10 21:00 +0000
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Jean-David Beyer <jeandavid8@verizon.net> - 2017-03-10 16:10 -0500
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-10 21:50 +0100
              Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-11 08:08 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-11 12:55 +0100
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2017-03-11 07:22 +0000
              Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-11 07:27 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-11 12:57 +0100
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-11 12:30 +0000
              Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2017-03-11 12:10 -0500
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities notbob <notbob@nothome.com> - 2017-03-11 17:35 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2017-03-11 12:40 -0500
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities notbob <notbob@nothome.com> - 2017-03-11 18:05 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2017-03-12 14:12 -0400
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-11 19:44 +0100
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities notbob <notbob@nothome.com> - 2017-03-11 20:45 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2017-03-11 21:08 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities notbob <notbob@nothome.com> - 2017-03-11 21:46 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2017-03-11 21:05 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2017-03-12 03:56 -0400
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-12 20:34 +0100
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "David W. Hodgins" <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> - 2017-03-11 12:55 -0500
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2017-03-11 10:58 -0800
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-11 22:45 +0100
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2017-03-11 14:46 -0800
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2017-03-12 05:10 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2017-03-12 11:11 +0000
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Jean-David Beyer <jeandavid8@verizon.net> - 2017-03-11 17:16 -0500
                Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2017-03-12 14:21 -0400
  Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2017-03-08 22:14 +0000
  Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Dan Espen <despen@verizon.net> - 2017-03-08 18:03 -0500
    Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-08 23:21 +0000
      Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-09 02:29 +0100
        Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Dave <noone$$@llondel.org> - 2017-03-10 20:44 -0800
          Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2017-03-11 07:21 +0000
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-11 08:20 +0000
              Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-11 11:34 +0000
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2017-03-11 14:27 +0000
  Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities iosvanigch@gmail.com - 2017-03-08 20:12 -0800
    Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2017-03-08 20:24 -0800
      Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-09 08:11 +0000
        Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2017-03-12 14:18 -0700
          Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-12 22:58 +0100
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2017-03-12 15:25 -0700
              Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-12 23:35 +0100
            Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2017-03-13 00:11 +0000
              Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2017-03-13 01:28 +0100
          Re: Wikileaks Vault7 release--Linux vulnerabilities Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2017-03-12 22:58 +0000

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