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Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

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Re: Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

#11
post #5

I don't think I'm ready to trust very security sensitive functions to pure vibe-coded software, and that's what this seems to be? Certainly the README is authored by an LLM, and there's a gazillion empty commits and other weirdness that indicates no human is in the loop. It looks like a loop engineered this software. Models have gotten good, but c'mon. Good idea, maybe even a good implementation, but I don't have con…

How you type is a poor proxy for code quality. Code quality is a good proxy for code quality. Inspect the code, build a verification pipeline for it, use agents to explore the code and the architecture, see if you can unearth anything fowl.

I'm not judging based on how they type. I can't see how they type, they vibed the README.

And, it's not my monkey. You can inspect the code, build a verification pipeline for it, use agents to explore the architecture and see if you can unearth anything fowl.

My heuristic is to dismiss purely vibe-coded apps from people I don't know, particularly for security sensitive stuff. If the README is written by a human and is coherent and exhibits some kind of desire and competence to make good software on the part of the author, I'm more likely to trust they drove their agents with care.

Here's the thing: you can make good software with agents, if you exhibit good judgement and put yourself in the path as a gate on quality. Too many clues point at this being loop engineering. And, C for this task, given 100% agent authorship, gives me the ick. Seems like bad judgement or opting out of making judgement calls.

Re: Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

#12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How you type is a poor proxy for code quality. Code quality is a good proxy for code quality. Inspect the code, build a verification pipeline for it, use agents to explore the code and the architecture, see if you can unearth anything fowl.

It's not "how you type", it's "whether any human so much as laid eyes on the code". I wouldn't automatically discard code from an LLM, but let's put the goalposts where they actually are.

How do you know nobody laid eyes on the code in the project?

Re: Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

#13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How you type is a poor proxy for code quality. Code quality is a good proxy for code quality. Inspect the code, build a verification pipeline for it, use agents to explore the code and the architecture, see if you can unearth anything fowl.

How big a video file is a poor proxy for the encode, quality is a good proxy. The problem is finding the actual quality of a video file is a hell of a lot more work and resources than using a proxy to see if doing so is a good use of our resources. See if you can go the extra mile you described for a few hours/dollars tonight and let us know what you find, it would be appreciated!

I do for projects I have interest in running and for my own projects. For instance I had agro with https://github.com/Mord3rca/gamma-launcher so I pulled my trusted agent, hammered the code with architectural and static analysis and made it my own here https://gitlab.com/gabriel.chamon/yagi

Re: Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

#14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How you type is a poor proxy for code quality. Code quality is a good proxy for code quality. Inspect the code, build a verification pipeline for it, use agents to explore the code and the architecture, see if you can unearth anything fowl.

I'm not judging based on how they type. I can't see how they type, they vibed the README. And, it's not my monkey. You can inspect the code, build a verification pipeline for it, use agents to explore the architecture and see if you can unearth anything fowl. My heuristic is to dismiss purely vibe-coded apps from people I don't know, particularly for security sensitive stuff. If the README is written by a human and i…

Took a look at the readme and seems coherent enough. A readme is also a technical entrypoint, no problem in parts of it being generated, specially if you have quick start, tables and loose documentation there you need updating.

Re: Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

#15
post #7

Who the F* runs a minimizer on friggin C sources? And it's inconsistent too. Security-related code should be readable and auditable.

> inconsistent

I have a strong feeling that this person just likes this as a style and enforces it by hand…

Re: Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not "how you type", it's "whether any human so much as laid eyes on the code". I wouldn't automatically discard code from an LLM, but let's put the goalposts where they actually are.

How do you know nobody laid eyes on the code in the project?

Have you look at the commits? A bunch of empty ones (seemingly all empty ones, though there must be some real ones in there somewhere). It's a bizarre looking repo. I don't even know how you make a repo look like that, but it certainly doesn't allow tracing of what code was added when and why.

It looks suspicious, even if it isn't. All those empty commits look like an intentional obfuscation of something, though I have no idea what.

Re: Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

#17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know nobody laid eyes on the code in the project?

Have you look at the commits? A bunch of empty ones (seemingly all empty ones, though there must be some real ones in there somewhere). It's a bizarre looking repo. I don't even know how you make a repo look like that, but it certainly doesn't allow tracing of what code was added when and why. It looks suspicious, even if it isn't. All those empty commits look like an intentional obfuscation of something , though I h…

It's indeed strange, it's likely some agent running amok. Doesn't look good indeed, but if I was interested in the project I'd still investigate the code itself

Re: Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How big a video file is a poor proxy for the encode, quality is a good proxy. The problem is finding the actual quality of a video file is a hell of a lot more work and resources than using a proxy to see if doing so is a good use of our resources. See if you can go the extra mile you described for a few hours/dollars tonight and let us know what you find, it would be appreciated!

I do for projects I have interest in running and for my own projects. For instance I had agro with https://github.com/Mord3rca/gamma-launcher so I pulled my trusted agent, hammered the code with architectural and static analysis and made it my own here https://gitlab.com/gabriel.chamon/yagi

Oh, I'll just have to stick with what info SwellJoe provided using the proxy on this project for now then as it seems none of us have the time or resources to go much further :/. Thanks!

Re: Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do for projects I have interest in running and for my own projects. For instance I had agro with https://github.com/Mord3rca/gamma-launcher so I pulled my trusted agent, hammered the code with architectural and static analysis and made it my own here https://gitlab.com/gabriel.chamon/yagi

Oh, I'll just have to stick with what info SwellJoe provided using the proxy on this project for now then as it seems none of us have the time or resources to go much further :/. Thanks!

You are welcome! My point stands though. Evidence of agentic loop is a bad proxy for code quality. If you are interested in a project you need to do the legwork, vibecoded or not.

Re: Show HN: Z-Jail – A 130 KB Linux sandbox-C99 with 7 defense layers and zero deps

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I'll just have to stick with what info SwellJoe provided using the proxy on this project for now then as it seems none of us have the time or resources to go much further :/. Thanks!

You are welcome! My point stands though. Evidence of agentic loop is a bad proxy for code quality. If you are interested in a project you need to do the legwork, vibecoded or not.

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