harmful code and rumor? ELPA etc. you figure it out :)

harmful code and rumor? ELPA etc. you figure it out :)

[Emanuel Berg via Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor]

here is the UNEDITED backlog where incal asked
about... just read it, no comments, no
introduction, no excuses. incal = me, but you
knew that ;)

<incal> is the rumor true that destructive
        self-modiying (spelling...?) that
        harmful code was distributed on
        purpose, thru ELPA with Stephan knowing
        it, to eliminate a political opponent
        operating from an unknown platform?
<bandali> what kind of conspiracy theory
          is that?
<bandali> any proof?
<incal> Eli said on gmane.emacs.devel it wasn't
        a good idea to do it
<bandali> to do what?
<incal> yes I'm getting to that
<incal> Stephans code was so clever
<incal> what it destructed was itself!
<incal> so he didn't even have to remove it
        from ELPA!
<bandali> you mean Stefan?
<incal> sorry yes
<incal> Monnier?
<fsbot> I think monnier is at
        http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/monnier
<incal> right right
<incal> so after that it was commonly accepted
<incal> that while you take orders from Eli
<incal> you listen to Stefan
<bandali> can you get to the point please?
<bandali> and point to the code?
<incal> I mean, in a normal setting, Emacs does
        not operate like
        a military organization!
<incal> you are not reading, the code was
        self-modyfiing so the target was
        changed, the political opponent was
        actually a friend of Stefan's, relaxing
        minding his matters!
<incal> so when the code was in mid space,
        outside of ELPA
<incal> it turned to itself and was destructed!
<incal> NOTHING LEFT!
<incal> a normally skilled programmer would
        just remove it anyway
<incal> i.e. run the command
<incal> but Stefan knew it was gone!
<bpalmer> incal: you seem to be posting 5
          messages to every 1 from somebody
          else. Make a complete thought; write
          it; and then stop.
<incal> bpalmer: this works out for you?
<bpalmer> incal: this is your last warning
          before I mute you again. 
<VG234> Deciding on the best way to configure
        emacs is like being Tim Allen on home
        improvements. You always want "More
        Power..."
<bandali> okay let's all take a moment to
          calm/cool down please
<bpalmer> VG234: at least you can keep backups
          of your configuration.
<incal> I am the MAN! you know that's true.
        show me your projects :D
<bandali> incal, i hadn't ever heard anything
          like that. maybe you should stefan
          directly or perhaps on help-gnu-emacs
<incal> bandali: you are right!
<bandali> should *ask stefan
<VG234> bpalmer: True. Or use git. 
<incal> I use the backlog as a mail
<incal> just post it on gmane.emacs.help
<deego> incal: i didn't know that. can you
        point me to that self-modifying code? 
<incal> deego: OK now I already told the story,
        and posted so many links and photos,
        what do you do? buhu buhu incal isn't
        the man
<incal> OK you are right I should me more clear
        in my thinking and not let every
        thought about code be the programmers
        view of thinking whatever was the
        thought to begin with
<incal> wait! now I digress from the harmful
        code story
<incal> I remember one last thing
<incal> on gmane.emacs.gnus.general
<ldlework> come on
<ldlework> why are we pretending this isn't
           a bot
<incal> Lars Ingebrigtsen said the harmful code
        was actually creative!
<incal> he urged Stefan to keep it in ELPA
<ldlework> i mean, the effect of a gpt-2 based
           bot is much stronger if you get
           a couple people replying  to it with
           a straight face, and i admit that's
           pretty funny
<incal> but it considered too dangerous
<incal> yeah, that's all I know
<incal> so ANYWAY, back to my question, sorry
        about irritability :D
<incal> can you confirm this story? any of you?
* ldlework questions his own sanity.
<deego> ldlework: heh, yeah, gpt-2 is amazing
<bandali> incal, when was all of
          this? recently?
<hodapp> I need to play with GPT-2 a bit
<ldlework> I recommend playing with AI Dungeon
<ldlework> It's trained on tons of Choose Your
           Own Adventure material, and you kind
           of cooperatively tell a story
           with it.
<incal> bandali: good question, there wher
        maybe time data in the TCP
        communication, or if it used the other
        one... UDP?
<ldlework> Sometimes the way in which it seems
           to understand the nuance of what
           I just said, and how it creatively
           replies, is extremely unnerving.
<incal> but all of that is gone!
<incal> the data
<incal> just binary digits on a computer memory
<incal> bitstrings
<bandali> okay, we get it
<ldlework> bandali: you're evil :)
<incal> right thanks for letting me tell the
        story, no one seems to be able to
        confirm it
<bandali> incal, my question was, e.g. can you
          point me to any of these posts on the
          newsgroups you mention that talk
          about it?
<bandali> surely the newsgroup posts didn't
          self-destruct?
<bandali> ldlework, ?
<incal> bandali: good point, I can assure you
        none of this happened without extensive
        discussion covering all points of the
        operation. just the transformation of
        the documents supporting everything was
        done after discussing every detail.
        I wasn't there but 100% I assure you
<incal> it happened!
<bandali> okay, idk, let's move on from this
          topic
<incal> right
<ldlework> incal, what day of the week is it?
<incal> wait
<incal>      2019-12-26       16:50       Thu
        Dec    W52         up 
<incal> up = Internet is up
<ldlework> incal, what day of the week is it?
<bandali> ldlework, stop
<incal> yeah look at the data! Thursday!
<ldlework> hmm, ok
<incal> sorry irritability PTSD
<incal> this whole thing with the escape
<incal> from the mental institution
<incal> maybe wasn't a good idea?
<incal> especially with Emacs being in
        a semi-military state
<incal> maybe I do more harm than good?
<bandali> incal, can you please try to condense
          your messages more, and e.g.
          write complete sentences in
          each message?
<bandali> rather than 10 separate messages?
          it annoys people here
<incal> oh, no! :( how many people were
        annoyed???
<fsbot> Of course not!
<incal> M-x how-many RET
        use-emacs-every-second-day RET
<incal> 1577375631
<incal> nah, its unix time

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573
https://dataswamp.org/~incal