Article

2016-03-28 Science & Technology

Rage-quit: Coder unpublished 17 lines of JavaScript and "broke the Internet"

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Posted by charger 2016-03-28 00:00|| || Front Page|| [10 views ] Top

#1 Yikes. I depend on npm.

Posted by Sven the pelter 2016-03-28 08:21|| 2016-03-28 08:21|| Front Page Top

#2 "If we built buildings the way we build code the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization."

Posted by CrazyFool 2016-03-28 08:29|| 2016-03-28 08:29|| Front Page Top

#3 Honestly doesn't sound like a big deal. Everyone had to scramble, but the fact that it was handled in 2 hours kind of makes it a success story, not a failure.

Posted by Iblis 2016-03-28 11:21|| 2016-03-28 11:21|| Front Page Top

#4 Oh well. If you're using code that resides on somebody else's web site, you have no control over it so that kind of thing might happen. At least with jquery you get to install the libraries on your own system so nobody can mess with it. Maybe next time write your own code.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2016-03-28 11:33|| 2016-03-28 11:33|| Front Page Top

#5 This takes me back 30 years to the beginning of the whole OpenSource debates and the creation of OS languages and operating systems.

The relevant term was "industrial strength" AND when your system crashes and burns "Who ya gonna call"?

Posted by AlanC 2016-03-28 12:31|| 2016-03-28 12:31|| Front Page Top

#6 These days if you have to call HP you're gonna be outta luck. Unfortunately I suspect it's pretty much the same with the other vendors.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2016-03-28 14:46|| 2016-03-28 14:46|| Front Page Top

#7 This is where hackers can wreak havoc on systems that rely on remote code servers. This news release will alert mischievous hackers of a new target area.

Posted by Ho Chi Crinens5363 2016-03-28 21:07|| 2016-03-28 21:07|| Front Page Top

#8 A tempest in a teapot. But I fear it's just a harbinger of catastrophic things to come. Just wait til the whole cloud comes crashing down like a shattered glass ceiling.

External dependency is simply bad business.
I wonder how much of our national infrastructure is now dependent on external private repositories. A catastrophe waiting to happen.

I agree with Abu Uluque about code libraries such as jquery.
But only as long as they exist internally within your own system.

Not only have external repositories proven fragile, but the link itself presents a duel pathway to hackers. It allows potential hacker access, not only to the repository, but also to your own system files.

Posted by junkiron 2016-03-28 22:30|| 2016-03-28 22:30|| Front Page Top

#9 I also wanted to add:

Simply writing in 17 missing lines of code was no big deal ~ because it was open source code in the first place.

It would have been a whole different story if the code had been locked behind a trademark.

Posted by junkiron 2016-03-28 23:02|| 2016-03-28 23:02|| Front Page Top

23:59 gorb
23:05 Silentbrick
23:02 junkiron
22:57 JosephMendiola
22:55 KBK
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22:04 USN, Ret.
21:43 charger
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21:07 Ho Chi Crinens5363
20:38 charger
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