Re: cypherpunks coding challenge

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

At 2:38 AM -0700 6/22/97, Adam Back wrote:
>A couple of people have complained of the huge efforts put into
>breaking keys, and of the small efforts invested in cypherpunks code
>writing of late.
>
>Perhaps there is something to this challenge stuff, in terms of
>getting contributors, neatly tabulating results, working up
>enthusiasm etc.
>
>So... how about a code writing challenge, an award for the best
>cypherpunk project every month.  (No monetary prize, just vote on list
>to decide most significant project).
>
>Perhaps a list of how many lines of code.  A hall of fame if you like:
>
>% wc -l `find . -name \*.h -print -o -name \*.c -print`
>
>Eric Young		SSL-eay		101,721 lines
>PGP Inc			pgp30		    (?) lines
>Phil Zimmermann & co	pgp263		 34,891 lines
....

Not to be tedious about this, but why would "lines of code" be an
interesting metric?

I'm reminded of a cartoon showing a Russian factory winning the "greatest
tonnage of screws produced," with a crane lifting a massive, 100 meter long
screw above the factory. The dangers of the wrong metric.

I think we need a few major innovations more than some number of lines of code.

--Tim May

(No, I'm not a programmer. But I've done a few "hacks" which were
interesting and useful, I think. Taking readily available stuff, "BlackNet"
made the concrete point that data havens and anonymous markets already are
possible. Number of lines of code written: zero. The task is to combine
some of the existing tools into new things. Raw lines of code is not
necessarily useful.)

There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."