Computer keyboard. Photo credit: DeclanTM on flickr
The background
There are some red faces at Microsoft after it emerged that a coder working for the company inserted “BIG BOOBS” into widely used code. The naughty code was sort of hidden in that it appeared in hexadecimal as”0xB16B00B5.” If you squint, it says, ‘BIG BOOBS.’ The Sun called the unnamed culprit a “geeky prankster.”
“BIG BOOBS” was inserted into Microsoft’s Hyper-V – a virtualization server – which is used every time a user loaded Linux within the virtual environment. For those not familiar with coding terminology, here’s the How-To Geek explanation of what the Linux Kernal is and what it does: “With over 13 million lines of code, the Linux kernel is one of the largest open source projects in the world … A kernel is the lowest level of easily replaceable software that interfaces with the hardware in your computer.”
Microsoft has moved to apologize. “We thank the community for reporting this issue and apologize for the offensive string. We have submitted a patch to fix this issue and the change will be published in a future release of the kernel,” said Microsoft representatives in an email to Network World.
Coding and immaturity
“We hate the term ‘brogrammer,’ and so should you,” insisted David Murphy at PCMag.com. “However, a recent gaffe by some Microsoft coder somewhere gives a bit more evidence to the idea that a wee bit of immaturity might be lurking in the company’s coding rank and file.” The Daily Mail concurred: “Times might change, but it seems computer programmers remain just as juvenile – and male – as ever.”
Coding and sexism
The coding joke has bothered some key players in the coding community. “At the most basic level it’s just straightforward childish humour, and the use of vaguely-English strings in magic hex constants is hardly uncommon,” acknowledged Linux developer Matthew Garrett in a blog post. “But it’s also specifically male childish humor. Puerile sniggering at breasts contributes to the continuing impression that software development is a boys club where girls aren’t welcome.” “So, full marks, Microsoft. You’ve managed to make the kernel more offensive to half the population and you’ve made it awkward for us to rectify it,” sniped Garrett.
Not such a big deal
Linux enthusiast and journalist Sam Varghese wrote a strong rebuttal to Garrett’s offense, which were widely reported. “Of course, this assumes that everyone in the world is reading kernel code while they have their eggs and bacon (or whatever it is people have for breakfast in different areas of the world) and being shocked at the use of such expressions in the code,” Varghese joked. “The words ‘f***,’ ‘shit,’ and ‘bastard’ have been increasingly present in the kernel code since the 2.4 release. That, however, has never bothered Garrett. But a juvenile use of hex? That’s reason to raise the Titanic,” he sighed.
Actually quite funny?
Pocket-Lint.com had advice for those “who missed seeing the string for themselves though, you could always get a calculator, type ‘59009’ and turn it upside down. It’s an old favorite of classrooms everywhere.”
