"Cypherpunks Write Code" as a Putdown

[tcmay@sensemedia.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 5:25 PM 7/20/95, Patrick J. LoPresti wrote:

>                            If it is ever feasible to
>do what you suggest, someone will do it; your musings will have no
>effect on that.  If you want to make a difference, try writing some
>code yourself...

I want to comment on this latest version of the "Cypherpunks write code"
universal putdown.

It's become common for debates on what is possible, what is likely, and
what should be done for someone to "trump" the argument with the mantra of
"Cypherpunks write code."

In my posting on why I think Netscape and related operating environments
represent the likeliest targets for widespread crypto use (the "big win" I
used in my title), I did not whine that others ought to write code for me.
I said that this is where users were going in massive numbers.

Take it or leave it, as an analysis, but the "try writing some code" is a
meaningless insult.

The world is made up of bridge designers, legal experts, authors, chip
designers, and on and on. Not just programmers.

The line "Cypherpunks write code"--which is sometimes treated here with a
reverence its origins do not support--was a reference to our view that
technology, meaning actual deployment, was more important and interesting
than yet more gabbing about liberty and privacy.

And what is "writing code"? Is it only Perl and C? Or does defining what a
remailer needs to do count as writing code? (Attendees at the first
Cypherpunks meeting, almost 3 years ago, can confirm that I was the one who
spend about two hours describing Chaum's mix work, and running the
"remailer experiment"...we debated how a remailer could actually work, and
Eric Hughes took on the task of writing the first one.)

The "BlackNet" experiment I ran actually worked...the keys worked, the
mechanisms worked, and the experiment has been used by many as an actual
concrete illustration of how untraceable information markets will develop.
An actual demonstration is worth more than mere speculation, and this was
an actual demonstration. I call this "writing code," albeit not C code.

(My actual code writing, in real computer languages, is oriented toward
Mathematica, on my Mac, and Smalltalk Agents. Not all programming is
oriented toward writing Unix tools, and I think the narrow interpretation
of "Cypherpunks write code" to mean this is misleading.)

In any case, even the ur-crypto hacker Zimmermann is writing very little
actual code in PGP these days...does this mean he should "try writing some
code" instead of doing what he apparently does best?

In short, the insulting tone of many Cypherpunks these days is saddening.

I plan to continue to speak my mind, to point out what I think are the more
important routes to a desirable future, and to criticize what I think are
dead ends and ghettoized approaches.

--Tim May

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Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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