Path: utzoo!utdoe!ontmoh!attcan!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!rutgers!acsu.buffalo.edu!goetz From: goetz@ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Phil Goetz) Newsgroups: alt.hackers Subject: mystery UNIX file Message-ID: <52375@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> Date: 19 Dec 90 15:52:30 GMT References: <1990Dec04.175617.5465@iecc.cambridge.ma.us> <51996@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> Sender: nobody@rutgers.rutgers.edu Organization: State University of New York at Buffalo/Comp Sci Lines: 55 Approved: nobody@rutgers.rutgers.edu >>>What's the easiest way to get yesterday's date in a string? After some >>>poking around, give or take a time zone, this seems to do the trick: >>> >>> $ TZ=EST29EDT date > >>It helps if you tell us what computer and what >>operating system you're referring to. > > C'mon, any hacker worth his salt should know this one cold. :) Think > "massive licensing fees" and I think you'll get it. :) > >| coxs@mts.rpi.edu | "No matter how hot or cold a room is, it's | I have used System V UNIX hardly at all; it is narrowminded of you to assume that anyone worthy of the name "hacker" uses System V. (In fact, it is even within the realm of possibility that there are hackers who don't use UNIX! Of course, if you are referring to people who break into other computers, then they doubtless are familiar with BSD and System V UNIX.) Someone sent me a rather cryptic message which said IT IS UNIX. HERE IS UNIX. HOPE YOU HAVE FUN WITH IT. begin 0/unix.Z MCS;0J.-@M=*>W88=D54Z73 _P9MI- etc. There was no valid return address on the message, so I can't ask the user directly. But: The .Z suffix indicates that it is a compressed file. But 'uncompress' in UMACS 4.3 (BSD) does nothing to it. The file is over 360K. Could it actually be the compressed source to UNIX, or is UNIX source much bigger? Again, the sender gave no indication what format the file was in, presuming that I'm using the same operating system as he and that decompression would be obvious. It would be nice if the original sender or someone else responds soon, because the file is much too big for me to save in the mailbox for more than a day or so, and my system manager has a policy of deleting the accounts of people who leave things in /tmp overnight. I hate to delete it without ever discovering what it is. Phil Goetz goetz@cs.buffalo.EDU Just think: How would Bugs Bunny handle this?