• Anon (unregistered)
    client conf gets fucked by config.xml

    SeXML?

  • Not Microsoft (unregistered)

    uPNP is a piece of crap.

  • (cs)

    this needs proper comment to determine optimal humour

    idiots cant figure out how to produce this in a reasonable amoutn of time

    for now just mention amoutn

  • Krupuk (unregistered)

    #turn power led to green after 10s i guess

    And he's always wondering why it takes 10 seconds until the unit is operational.

    Perhaps he could add soemthing like "boot_time=0" and it would be on immediately.

  • younamedme (unregistered) in reply to Krupuk

    wonder if there's a "bandwith" option as well?

    #set speed to 56kbits i guess...

  • (cs)
    # FOXME: clean up comments for release
    Oh, the delicious failure!
  • gosse (unregistered)

    trail an error?

  • CodeReview (unregistered)

    #do not honor captcha captcha: junkuo

  • (cs)

    Not too surprised to see this kind of thing. I ran into this gem early in my career...

    bool kenIsaJackass = true;

    Don't know who Ken was or why he was a jackass... but it seems that he was.

  • Whoevar (unregistered) in reply to dkf

    FOXME BABY

    FOXME HARD!

  • rm -rf WTF (unregistered)

    I dunno what's going on here with the routing, but TRWTF is that even though PATH clearly lists "/bin" they still call "rm" as "/bin/rm" even though every *nix system ever knows what you mean if you just say "rm".

  • rm -rf WTF (unregistered) in reply to rm -rf WTF

    Same goes for /sbin/whatever.

  • Kevin Fairchild (unregistered)

    Through trail an error, I finally managed to post a comment.

  • (cs) in reply to rm -rf WTF
    rm -rf WTF:
    I dunno what's going on here with the routing, but TRWTF is that even though PATH clearly lists "/bin" they still call "rm" as "/bin/rm" even though every *nix system ever knows what you mean if you just say "rm".
    Not sure if it's common in every linux environment, but if you rsh then run a script (i.e. rsh myhost /path/to/script), often times the path isn't fully set so any command that doesn't have the full path will fail. There could be a similar issue with this "init" script
  • tulcod (unregistered)

    TRWTF is the fact that I saw a .nl domain name at the top of the file, surfed there, got redirected to xs4all.nl, and realized, i have that very same router :(

  • Brompot (unregistered) in reply to d3matt
    d3matt:
    rm -rf WTF:
    I dunno what's going on here with the routing, but TRWTF is that even though PATH clearly lists "/bin" they still call "rm" as "/bin/rm" even though every *nix system ever knows what you mean if you just say "rm".
    Not sure if it's common in every linux environment, but if you rsh then run a script (i.e. rsh myhost /path/to/script), often times the path isn't fully set so any command that doesn't have the full path will fail. There could be a similar issue with this "init" script

    True, but after you explicitly set the PATH variable that should not be an issue. You set EITHER the PATH variable OR you use full paths.

  • Steenbergh (unregistered)

    XS4All?

    90% of the time, when you hear the name "XS4All", it's in the sentence: "Welcome to the XS4All support line. All our call agents are currently engaged. Please hold..."

  • (cs)

    #WHO WROTE THIS COMMENT

  • (cs)

    And TRWTF is... that it doesn't route IPv6, right? And that it drops ICMP Destination Unreachable messages, I guess.

    But I don't see the answer to the original question: why was the Internet access so slow?

  • Mark Janssen (unregistered) in reply to tulcod

    miquels and cistron.nl don't deserve this bad credit.

    Miquel write the original rcS script on debian, and whoever made this router completely gutted the script (since it doesn't even do what the header says it does) and replaced it with his own.

    They at least could have also ripped out the copyright, since everything from the "FOXME" and on isn't in the original script.

  • IByte (unregistered) in reply to Kevin Fairchild
    Kevin Fairchild:
    Through trail an error, I finally managed to post a comment.
    It would seem that spelling TDWTF articles is performed by trial and (mostly) error. ;-P

    CAPTCHA: vulputate. I'm not sure I want to know what that means...

  • Mark Janssen (unregistered) in reply to Mark Janssen
    Mark Janssen:
    They at least could have also ripped out the copyright, since everything from the "FOXME" and on isn't in the original script.

    The original version: http://pyramid.metrix.net/trac/browser/Pyramid/dist/etc/init.d/rcS?rev=91

  • Miquel van Smoorenburg <[email protected]> (unregistered)

    I most certainly did not write this script.

    Looked like they took a sample script that comes with sysvinit, deleted everything but the version number and my name, and then put their own code in.

    Nice ... :/

    Mike.

  • onitake (unregistered) in reply to Not Microsoft
    Not Microsoft:
    uPNP is a piece of crap.
    guess who invented it :)

    anyway... if you want zeroconf, use dns-sd or slp. if you want autopiercing of firewalls, JUST DON'T. configure your firewall correctly instead.

  • (cs) in reply to Brompot
    Brompot:
    d3matt:
    rm -rf WTF:
    I dunno what's going on here with the routing, but TRWTF is that even though PATH clearly lists "/bin" they still call "rm" as "/bin/rm" even though every *nix system ever knows what you mean if you just say "rm".
    Not sure if it's common in every linux environment, but if you rsh then run a script (i.e. rsh myhost /path/to/script), often times the path isn't fully set so any command that doesn't have the full path will fail. There could be a similar issue with this "init" script

    True, but after you explicitly set the PATH variable that should not be an issue. You set EITHER the PATH variable OR you use full paths.

    When dealing with basic system commands as root, typing, say, "/bin/rm" rather than "rm" is a good habit to get into -- it reduces the chance that somebody compromises your box by getting you to run a Trojan-horse rm from a different location in your PATH than you think. root should also have a minimal PATH and it should be arranged sensibly to further reduce the risk.

    If you really want paranoia, you can disable root entirely and set up sudo on a single otherwise-unprivileged account, so that you can force root-level rm (or whatever) to run from /bin/rm or not at all regardless of what the value of PATH is.

  • (cs)

    Welcome to the world of embedded devices with Linux!

    It is much easier to hack startup scripts than recompile busybox.

  • (cs)
    trail an error
    Do you guys ever proofread anything?

    From Mark - All spelling and grammer checking is crowdsourced - Thanks! Fixed.

  • Mark (unregistered)

    Trail an error = starting with one error, only to dig deeper and deeper until the root cause of the error is discovered. Not to be confused with "trial and error."

  • Rich (unregistered)
    # UPnP is a piece of crap and requires loopback ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1
    I'm sure they'll find that it's more than UPnP that needs this.

    captcha: these just aren't fun anymore, what happened to whiskey, tango, or foxtrot?

  • Alnitak (unregistered)

    Sorry, but what's the big deal?

    This is just the router startup script, and is pretty much what you'd expect for an embedded device, particularly one where the main stuff is in flash and you need to store temporary data in a ram disk.

    Nor is there anything here that would reduce or otherwise throttle the user's bandwidth.

  • workmad3 (unregistered) in reply to rm -rf WTF
    rm -rf WTF:
    Same goes for /sbin/whatever.

    sbin is sometimes only in the path for root and admin users, although the progs are usually usable by everyone.

    Doesn't stop the entire script being a mess though :)

  • IByte (unregistered) in reply to Code Dependent
    Code Dependent:
    trail an error
    Do you guys ever proofread anything?

    From Mark - All spelling and grammer checking is crowdsourced - Thanks! Fixed.

    Interesting enough, the trial and error process entered another iteration, and it now says "trail and error"... (a lost pathfinder?)

    CAPTCHA: facilisis - what you can catch when facilitating TDWTF spell checking

  • Alex (unregistered) in reply to Alnitak
    Alnitak:
    Sorry, but what's the big deal?

    This is just the router startup script, and is pretty much what you'd expect for an embedded device, particularly one where the main stuff is in flash and you need to store temporary data in a ram disk.

    Nor is there anything here that would reduce or otherwise throttle the user's bandwidth.

    Or the manufacturers could've taken a simple route an added their scripts to /etc/rcS.d/ as they were supposed too, thus avoiding this mess altogether; but noes, writing rc scripts is too freaking difficult.
  • (cs) in reply to IByte
    IByte:
    Interesting enough, the trial and error process entered another iteration, and it now says "trail and error"... (a lost pathfinder?)

    Crap - It's Monday for sure. That one's me trying to keep one eye on on a long-running Unix job that should've been done ages ago and another on the comments. Ok, now THAT typo's fixed.

  • (cs) in reply to Mark
    Mark:
    Trail an error = starting with one error, only to dig deeper and deeper until the root cause of the error is discovered. Not to be confused with "trial and error."
    No, to "trail an error" is to give people a teaser or sneak preview of an upcoming error, in order to generate a buzz of anticipation amongst the error's potential audience. Some errors are anticipated long in advance, with excited fans camping on the pavement outside computer stores waiting for the launch day celebrations of the faulty code.

    The thing you're describing, where one failure leads you to another and from there to another until you're reeling and staggering, blundering from one error to another like a human pinball, only concussed, with each one hitting you with the force of a stepped-on lawnrake right in the face: that's called "trail OF error".

  • (cs) in reply to Mark Bowytz
    Mark Bowytz:
    IByte:
    Interesting enough, the trial and error process entered another iteration, and it now says "trail and error"... (a lost pathfinder?)

    Crap - It's Monday for sure. That one's me trying to keep one eye on on a long-running Unix job that should've been done ages ago and another on the comments. Ok, now THAT typo's fixed.

    I've just been re-reading the Unix Hater's Guide.

    Perhaps this has coloured my perceptions, but I am amused by the notion of a background job that requires constant operator attention to wait for it to complete. And yet not surprised.

    Anyway, mustn't keep you, it's nearing the hour. You'll probably be busy enough going and making sure all your cron jobs run.

  • (cs) in reply to dkf
    dkf:
    # FOXME: clean up comments for release
    Oh, the delicious failure!
    You mean the total failure of your humour detector, I take it.
  • cf18 (unregistered)

    I think at this point the story should censor the email address to protect the innocent.

  • Zygo (unregistered) in reply to cf18
    cf18:
    I think at this point the story should censor the email address to protect the innocent.

    Someone probably told the coders at that company "never remove a copyright notice, we'll get into all kinds of trouble with the lawyers."

  • Chiper (unregistered) in reply to Miquel van Smoorenburg <[email protected]>
    Miquel van Smoorenburg <[email protected]>:
    I most certainly did not write this script.

    Looked like they took a sample script that comes with sysvinit, deleted everything but the version number and my name, and then put their own code in.

    Nice ... :/

    Mike.

    This deserves a blue, I think.

  • (cs) in reply to DaveK
    DaveK:
    dkf:
    # FOXME: clean up comments for release
    Oh, the delicious failure!
    You mean the total failure of your humour detector, I take it.
    It amused me. I take pleasure in small things. I'm sorry for you if you feel that humour has to involve a banana skin.

    (It's the comment that amused me most because it's the one that, if it had been heeded by even the most junior of interns, would have made this a non-WTF. Therefore it represents the very epitome of Fail.)

  • iMalc (unregistered) in reply to tulcod
    tulcod:
    TRWTF is the fact that I saw a .nl domain name at the top of the file, surfed there, got redirected to xs4all.nl, and realized, i have that very same router :(
    In the words of Police Chief Wiggam's son from the Simpsons: Haa Haa!
  • (cs) in reply to Alex
    Alex:
    Or the manufacturers could've taken a simple route an added their scripts to /etc/rcS.d/ as they were supposed too, thus avoiding this mess altogether; but noes, writing rc scripts is too freaking difficult.

    Is this where I can bitch about linux distros creating their own library-fueled rc abomination? Some of them add some nice features, but damn it's a kick in the teeth when you periodically pop-in to make a would-be quick change.

  • (cs) in reply to iMalc
    iMalc:
    tulcod:
    TRWTF is the fact that I saw a .nl domain name at the top of the file, surfed there, got redirected to xs4all.nl, and realized, i have that very same router :(
    In the words of Police Chief Wiggam's son from the Simpsons: Haa Haa!
    In the words of Nelson Muntz, "FAIL!".
  • (cs) in reply to dkf
    dkf:
    DaveK:
    dkf:
    # FOXME: clean up comments for release
    Oh, the delicious failure!
    You mean the total failure of your humour detector, I take it.
    It amused me. I take pleasure in small things. I'm sorry for you if you feel that humour has to involve a banana skin.

    (It's the comment that amused me most because it's the one that, if it had been heeded by even the most junior of interns, would have made this a non-WTF. Therefore it represents the very epitome of Fail.)

    I thought you were calling it "fail" because you thought it was an ironic typo, rather than a deliberate joke. I do apologise if that's not what you meant.
  • private static synchronized String longSignature() (unregistered) in reply to workmad3
    workmad3:
    rm -rf WTF:
    Same goes for /sbin/whatever.

    sbin is sometimes only in the path for root and admin users, although the progs are usually usable by everyone.

    Doesn't stop the entire script being a mess though :)

    Actually, Fedora 10 lists having /sbin added to user's acount as a major new feature.

  • private static synchronized String longSignature() (unregistered) in reply to private static synchronized String longSignature()
    private static synchronized String longSignature():

    That was meant merely as an aside, not a troll or flame or what-have-you

  • Tzafrir Cohen (unregistered) in reply to Mark Janssen

    Not all the original script.

    The tarp line, along with its comment survived as well.

    This script is the version included in Debian potato and woody (maybe also in older, but not the newer Sarge:

    http://archive.debian.org/sysvinit (under debian/etc/init.d/rcS )

    Note that the version of busybox at the time had a rather lousy shell interpreter. It didn't support functions. Maybe they also disabled other standard shell functions to save space.

    This script is behaves much differently than the original rcS script, but that's OK, as it runs a limited and well-controlled environment. And no services are ever supposed to be properly shut down. After all, the user has but one way to fix an error: reset. No need for a full-fledged init.d process. That will also take an extra second to run.

    The extra sleep-s are probably the simple way to wait that some kernel stuff is initialized (they are after insmod-s that load kernel modules). Those boxes often use lousy manufacturer-proviced kernel modules for drivers.

    As for "who wrote this junk", it refers to that cm_pc that doesn't daemonize properly and required ugly and half-working workarounds by the author. cm_* programs seem to be some "configuration manager" (the one responsible for that so un-unixish config.xml)

  • (cs) in reply to Kensey
    Kensey:
    When dealing with basic system commands as root, typing, say, "/bin/rm" rather than "rm" is a good habit to get into -- it reduces the chance that somebody compromises your box by getting you to run a Trojan-horse rm from a different location in your PATH than you think. root should also have a minimal PATH and it should be arranged sensibly to further reduce the risk.

    If you really want paranoia, you can disable root entirely and set up sudo on a single otherwise-unprivileged account, so that you can force root-level rm (or whatever) to run from /bin/rm or not at all regardless of what the value of PATH is.

    Unless of course, there's a trojan-horse rm that simply replaced /bin/rm.

  • (cs) in reply to iMalc
    iMalc:
    tulcod:
    TRWTF is the fact that I saw a .nl domain name at the top of the file, surfed there, got redirected to xs4all.nl, and realized, i have that very same router :(
    In the words of Police Chief Wiggam's son from the Simpsons: Haa Haa!
    Um, that isn't Ralph's catch phrase. It is Nelson Muntz'.

    /Knows way too much trivia re: Simpsons

Leave a comment on “#WHO WROTE THIS JUNK”

Log In or post as a guest

Replying to comment #:

Log Out

« Return to Article