From: jch+@cs.cmu.edu (Jonathan Hardwick)
Subject: Re: RAS hummm....
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 04:05:08 GMT

bond@barracuda.cps.msu.edu (Curtis R Bond) writes (in 80 columns -- is
this a spreading disease or something?)
> 
> 	Well it seems to me that someone out there with the skill and
> presistence will eventually find a way around or through RSA. Be it
> by hacking or stealing code. So while this may work for awhile, it 
> could be possiible for borgs to be on RSA servers in two years tops. 

Two years????  It'd take anyone with a modicum of clue and the right
tools two *days* to break it.  Heck, a really good hacker might take
two hours -- I've seen this done to a reserved.c binary, by someone
who knew nothing about netrek but was interested in the challenge.
But that's not the point.  The point is that as soon as a key is
broken, every server god can lock out all clients using that key by
changing a config file.  *Not* by recompiling.  *Not* by demanding
that everyone in existence switch to a new reserved.c scheme.  Sure,
it'll happen, but:
  (a) it's not going to cause undue hassle to server gods 
  (b) most of the netrekking population will be unaffected
  (c) those who *are* affected (ie anyone using the client whose key
      was compromised) can FTP a different client, and then use
      suitable, ahhh, peer pressure to convince whoever was using the
      "illegal" client that they don't want to do it again.

> So all this ends up being is a pain in the players ass to go out find
> the codes jump thorugh all the hoops just to play the game without
> borgs.

Apparently (fingers crossed...) we won't need to mess around with
encrypted binaries at all now.  So you'll be able to FTP an RSA client
just like you used to FTP a reserved.c client, and not know (or care)
what happens under the hood. 

> A simpler idea would be start using borgs all the time, and end 
> this sillyness of "I got a new way of keeping borgs out game". I
> think borgs discourage new comers to the game because they (the new
> ones) have blessed binaries and they get the tar whipped out of them
> by any smuck in a borg, let alone an Flt. Adm. with a blessed client.

I agree, borgs discourage newcomers.  That's why most servers are now
"human-only", both to attract new players and to keep the old
die-hards.  I don't see what using borgs all the time would buy us;
the die-hards would simply give up in disgust, and newbies would die
even faster.  Auto-aimed torps are lethal against someone who hasn't
yet learned that dodging == life, and if everyone has them, then
newbies simply aren't going to live long enough to (a) learn and (b)
have fun.  Of course, you could then give all newbies auto-dodge
clients.  Soon you'll have auto-everything.  And boy, that's just a
whole BUNCH of fun.

> I don't need any flames, this is just an idea to kick around in your 
> heads.  We can either update and change codes every few years or we
> could just say screw it and have a hands off attitude and try to help
> new comers by giving them a borg to use so they'll at least be able
> to defend themselfs from "ogg the new guy scum" that are out there.

A newbie in a borg is easier to kill than a newbie out of a borg,
because current borgs are predictable.  You can run them out of fuel
in 30 seconds, and then kill them at your leisure.  You waste a
minimum of fuel, and take no damage.  A newbie in a normal client
takes more time to use up his or her fuel, and sometimes does
unpredictable things, so you end up wasting more fuel, taking more
time, or even (horrors!) suffering damage. 

But hey, go ahead, try your idea out.  Set up a borg-only server,
advertize it on r.g.n, and include pointers to all the popular borgs
in the MOTD.  Heck, make it an RSA server, get all the borg authors to
make new RSA versions of their borgs, and allow *only* those borgs on,
so that newbies *can't* play with just a plain vanilla client.  I know
that there are borg authors out there who are dying to have a good
24-hr borg server to play on -- they'd thank you. 

Jonathan H., jch@cs.cmu.edu                    Keeper Of The Netrek Archives
Access for the masses : anonymous FTP to gs69.sp.cs.cmu.edu (128.2.206.167).
If you have AFS, look in /afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/jch/netrek.  If you have WAIS,
use the netrek-ftp database, available on port 6000 of gourd.srv.cs.cmu.edu.