Just a small comment, Ben
Personally, I don’t trust binaries or executables from an anonymous Internet source. I prefer to see the code.
x86asmban - Sokoban in an MBR
Re: x86asmban - Sokoban in an MBR
I actually 100% agree with you, however, in the case of this thread, and the mentioned fellow OS projects, wouldn't they all be ran via an emulator? If so, if there was any threat, it would be contained within the emulation, and simply stopping the emulator would make that threat disappear, would it not?
I'm just saying that when I read about a project that peaks my interest, to the point where I want to run it through Bochs to have a look, as soon as I see that I have to build the project first, I almost instantly lose interest.
As for the project mentioned here, ya, it's just nasm and a few command lines later I have a binary image ready to emulate. However, I mention this as a general idea, where most projects mentioned on this forum can have a considerably more detailed build process.
Another reason, and I have personally experienced this many times, is when I build someone else's project, then load it in an emulator, and it doesn't behave as intended, I contact the author and tell them, using their build instructions, it doesn't work. They have no idea what I'm talking about because it works on their end.
I have experienced it as just the opposite too. Someone points me to their code asking for help getting past a certain point. I build their project and it works as expected on my end, but not on their end.
Anyway, just my opinion. If there was a ready-for-emulation binary file included in a project, I would be more apt to try it out. When there is none, I usually move on.
Ben
Re: x86asmban - Sokoban in an MBR
True, as long as you assume that VMs provide total isolation. Unfortunately, vulnerabilities in VM software are not unknown. And I donut know how clever, or malicious, someone posting executables may be.