Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uupsi!ficc!karl
From: karl@ficc.ferranti.com (Karl Lehenbauer)
Subject: Re: EFF Chapters
Message-ID: <9RGA6JD@xds12.ferranti.com>
Keywords: EFF college academia chapters
Reply-To: karl@ficc.ferranti.com (Karl Lehenbauer)
Organization: Ferranti International Controls Corporation
References: <1991Mar19.213148.14254@vpnet.chi.il.us> <669491914.4141@mindcraft.com> <7846@hsv3.UUCP> <1991Mar26.164325.2631@spool.cs.wisc.edu> <1991Apr1.061003.18924@isis.cs.du.edu>
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 91 19:15:04 GMT

In article <1991Apr1.061003.18924@isis.cs.du.edu> swoodcoc@isis.UUCP (Steven Markus Woodcock) writes:
>   With all due respect, Mr. Bates, your organization lost MY respect when
>it came down against the SDI concept, favoring the demonstrably amoral
>M.A.D. doctrine over M.A.S. (Mutually Assured Survival).
>
>                                                 --Steven M. Woodcock
>                                                   SDI Simulations Engineer
>                                                   Senior Software Engineer
>                                                   National Test Bed

With SDI, survival is neither "mutual" nor "assured".  You are either telling
the Big Lie, that such a shield would be impenetrable, or you are optimistic
or oblivious to a level approaching religious fanaticism.

While I won't go so far as to say "It can't work", it's not too difficult to
conclude "it won't work perfectly", i.e. lots of people and places will
still get vaporized, perhaps enough to bring down civilization.  Some of you 
SDI guys have pointed to the phone system as a huge, networked application 
that doesn't crash.  Well, it pretty much did crash, and furthermore it is 
continually being used, affording lots of opportunities for discovering and
fixing problems.  You'll never have a real SDI test of the magnitude of the
one where it'll have to actually work or dire consequences will result,
hardly "assured survival."
-- 
-- Have computer, will travel.	    Same old story, same old song;
Come to Texas for the		    it goes all right till it goes all wrong.
 chili that burns twice!! 	    -- Will Jennings