this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I think you are thinking of this.
But, more recently, this should make anyone who is concerned about security shudder. And it was only discovered because some guy in Germany noticed ssh logins were taking a bit longer than in previous versions.
The YT channel Veritassium recently did a video going into more depth about the SSH thing. Was interesting!
Yeah, I watched that. I mostly already knew the story, but it was a great video anyway. And...extremely disturbing. Whoever it was will learn from the mistakes of this attempt...
It can be frustrating, but Debian's policy against binary blobs was a smart decision. I've run into it for glances web interface, and it's easy enough to decide I'm okay with installing it (and hopefully glances revises their release to address the issue), but removing them by default is smart.
Spot on, thanks for finding that. I wonder if there was ever a proof of concept or something like that. I installed my first copy of Slackware some time in the early 90… Maybe late 80s… it’s getting a bit fuzzy, I want to say that the kernel was pre 0.9.
One of the scariest things I had ever done, but I learned so much more about computers than I would have otherwise. Point being there was definitely some years between Ken’s article… still very much the era of viruses for the same of proving you could create something novel and powerful. We kept collections of them like weirdos that keep poisonous snakes 🐍
Anyway, it’s past grandpas bed time. Thanks again for finding the article, I’ll definitely have to do a bit more research… It was a super fun time in my life and I enjoyed remembering.
I thought he did do a proof of concept, but I could be wrong. It's been a while (many years) since I've read up on it.
My first Linux install was also Slackware, albeit Slackware 3.x, in the late 90s, while avoiding grad school work. I don't remember what kernel it used at that time. So if you're grampa, I guess I'm your son. :)
Just for anyone who doesn't know or is too lazy to click article. "Little bit longer" in this case means 300-500 milliseconds