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Easter Egg Hidden in VMWare Fusion and Workstation

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Re: Easter Egg Hidden in VMWare Fusion and Workstation

#11

Post by aaron695 »

ayrx wrote: post #2

Am I the only one not amused by easter eggs in software? It's code that I don't know about doing stuff that I don't know about. More code means more chances for bugs, maybe even bugs that results in security vulnerabilities. If the programmer snuck it in without management approval, it may mean code that isn't as thoroughly tested as the rest of the program.

A programmer who bothers to put in an Easter egg to me has pride in what they are creating and also gives them more ownership.

So I see it as both an indicator of good work and a positive thing.

Yes, other's believe that Easter eggs are bad I assume you're referring to the famous http://blogs.msdn.com/b/larryosterman/archive/2005/10/21/483...

It has good points but I believe it to be wrong in conclusion, there's lots of real issues to care about before this one.

Re: Easter Egg Hidden in VMWare Fusion and Workstation

#14

Post by userbinator »

aaron695 wrote: post #11
ayrx wrote: post #2

Am I the only one not amused by easter eggs in software? It's code that I don't know about doing stuff that I don't know about. More code means more chances for bugs, maybe even bugs that results in security vulnerabilities. If the programmer snuck it in without management approval, it may mean code that isn't as thoroughly tested as the rest of the program.

A programmer who bothers to put in an Easter egg to me has pride in what they are creating and also gives them more ownership. So I see it as both an indicator of good work and a positive thing. Yes, other's believe that Easter eggs are bad I assume you're referring to the famous http://blogs.msdn.com/b/larryosterman/archive/2005/10/21/483... It has good points but I believe it to be wrong in conclusion, there's lots…

I see an Easter egg as a sort of "finishing touch" - something added after everything else is done. Thus, if one occurs in software that appears to be buggy and/or unfinished, it definitely creates a bad impression for me, wheres if the software looks nearly perfect it has the opposite effect.

Re: Easter Egg Hidden in VMWare Fusion and Workstation

#15

Post by ayrx »

onion2k wrote: post #8
ayrx wrote: post #2

Am I the only one not amused by easter eggs in software? It's code that I don't know about doing stuff that I don't know about. More code means more chances for bugs, maybe even bugs that results in security vulnerabilities. If the programmer snuck it in without management approval, it may mean code that isn't as thoroughly tested as the rest of the program.

You aren't concerned with 'hidden' code - you're concerned about this now because you know it's there. Because it isn't hidden. If you're worried about code doing things you don't know about then there's a heck of a lot more to VMWare that you could be concerned with. It's a huge, complex application. A few KB for a hidden game is irrelevant - you don't know what hundreds of MB of it actually does. If you're worried…

Yes. It's a huge codebase. Why complicate it further by adding something 100% unnecessary? You cannot assume any bit of code no matter how small is irrelevant. If it's there it's potentially exploitable.

Re: Easter Egg Hidden in VMWare Fusion and Workstation

#16

Post by jadc »

blowski wrote: post #9

This is just an article linking to an article[1], which itself links to a Google translation of an article written in French[2]. [1] http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2013/09/vmware-nested-easter-... [2] http://www.hypervisor.fr/?p=4063

The French article has a comment by Regis Duschene one of the VMware Fusion developers stating that there is an Easter Egg in the Easter Egg.

The virtualghetto.com article is referring to that second easter egg (i.e. the Pride mode) and telling you how to "unlock" it.

The post linked to here on HN is by M. Elizabeth Scott who created the Pong OS easter egg while at VMware.

A version of the code of the Pong OS can be found here: http://sourceforge.net/p/vmware-svga/git/ci/master/tree/exam...

From a cursory look, I don't think it has the Pride mode.

Re: Easter Egg Hidden in VMWare Fusion and Workstation

#17

Post by walterbell »

walterbell wrote: post #4
ayrx wrote: post #2

Am I the only one not amused by easter eggs in software? It's code that I don't know about doing stuff that I don't know about. More code means more chances for bugs, maybe even bugs that results in security vulnerabilities. If the programmer snuck it in without management approval, it may mean code that isn't as thoroughly tested as the rest of the program.

It would be acceptable if each easter egg lasted a maximum of one release, followed by a public post-mortem on the vulnerability identified in the release management process.

To the three downvoters: are you saying that easter eggs are approved by the release management process? Wouldn't that make them features?

Re: Easter Egg Hidden in VMWare Fusion and Workstation

#18

Post by PeterWhittaker »

ayrx wrote: post #2

Am I the only one not amused by easter eggs in software? It's code that I don't know about doing stuff that I don't know about. More code means more chances for bugs, maybe even bugs that results in security vulnerabilities. If the programmer snuck it in without management approval, it may mean code that isn't as thoroughly tested as the rest of the program.

No, you're not the only one. I share your concern for all the reasons you cite.

I'm also concerned about the development process itself. Design reviews? Code reviews? Automated testing? CI/CD? What is the impact of an easter egg on these things? Were the eggs noticed and tacitly approved? What does this tell us about the process?

Do I want to rely on the product of that process?

Or are we saying we don't care?

I appreciate the idea behind the easter egg, the little human touch, the little flourish that says "look what I built", I really do. But, fundamentally, the software I use becomes part of the machine - and I want it to behave that way, like a reliable machine that does exactly what I expect and only what I expect. If I want a human touch, I'll reach out to a human. If I want a surprise, I'll read a book or play a game.

Imagine an easter egg in your car's navigation system. Won't that be cool! Not.

Easter eggs, especially in software that should be part of the machine, strike me as the height of unprofessional irresponsible behaviour. An f-u to management and to users that deserves its own resounding f-u, I'll use someone else's professional, reliable tools, thank you.

Re: Easter Egg Hidden in VMWare Fusion and Workstation

#19

Post by TeMPOraL »

ayrx wrote: post #15
onion2k wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You aren't concerned with 'hidden' code - you're concerned about this now because you know it's there. Because it isn't hidden. If you're worried about code doing things you don't know about then there's a heck of a lot more to VMWare that you could be concerned with. It's a huge, complex application. A few KB for a hidden game is irrelevant - you don't know what hundreds of MB of it actually does. If you're worried…

Yes. It's a huge codebase. Why complicate it further by adding something 100% unnecessary? You cannot assume any bit of code no matter how small is irrelevant. If it's there it's potentially exploitable.

Because it's fun. As the industry matures, people seem to lose the sense of humuor - which is sad, because practical jokes and playfullness is what created said industry.

Re: Easter Egg Hidden in VMWare Fusion and Workstation

#20

Post by ayrx »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #19
ayrx wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It's a huge codebase. Why complicate it further by adding something 100% unnecessary? You cannot assume any bit of code no matter how small is irrelevant. If it's there it's potentially exploitable.

Because it's fun . As the industry matures, people seem to lose the sense of humuor - which is sad, because practical jokes and playfullness is what created said industry.

There is a time and place for humor. Important software is not one of them. When I run something on my machine I want it to do exactly what it is supposed to, nothing more and nothing less.

You won't be laughing if $RANDOM_EASTER_EGG has a bug that allows for remote code execution.

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