RE: [cobalt-users] bigbrother

[Bob G7 <Bob_G7@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> >>I was recently going through the perl packages used in the cobalt
> >>interface to find the text file that lists what IP address a site is
> >>linked to (still looking btw) when I found this function in
> >>/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.005/Cobalt/Vsite.pm
> >>
> >>Anyone know how many of these 'snitch' functions are actually in the
> >>Cobalt programs, and how often they are used :).  Always hate when my
> >>machine has more of a life than I do.
> >>
> >>sub inform_BigBrother
> >># If $Dns_notification is readable and defined with an email address,
> >># send snitch-mail of any activity that requires an informed 3rd party
> >>#
> >># Feature added by SimpleNet request 08/98 /wdh
> >>#
> >># Arguments: subject string, text body string
> >
> >Is this true bruce?, is sun letting simplenet ad spy programs?
> >I Second would like to know how many other snitch programs are running...
> >I am going to look on my boxes right now!.
>
> I will take you silence bruce as an admission of guilt.... shame
> on SUN....
> SHAME.

OK, normally I don't reply to messages like this one, but I just needed to
speak up. I looked at the program in question, it's the program that builds
the Vsites on the system. As for the so called "snitch" functions, I don't
think so.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not a programmer, but I have written and read
thousands of lines of code in my 21 years in the Data Processing business.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but it looks to me like the piece of code in question was
a requested fix to a possible bug or for better functionality of the
program. It does not look to me like it's sending any information to anyone.