In some gated article (message 3148?) [email removed] writes
....
> As for the Computer Virus associated with Star Viking, I have talked to
> Frank and it will not be a computer virus as we currently think of the the
> term. (Although I will confess that that was his first thought). Rather
> it will be a program that takes advantage of a rather universal current
> architecture flaw and attacks computers in such a way that main processor
> replacement is required. There is an assumption that computer production
> is controlled by other computers which are vulnerable to attack. I also
> felt it was important that the failure be masked initially as a straight
> production problem/flaw to allow the virus to spread. It is the
> combination of massive loss of main processors along with production
> shutdown caused by the loss of main processors (I love catch-22s) that
> causes the long night. Note that since the person initiating the virus is
> the Emperor it could be dispersed by him from several key manufacturing
> facilities as part of a technological innovation given free to
> manufactures or at least something along those lines.
Speaking as a computer scientist of sorts, I can summarize my
thoughts about the above-quoted "explanation" in but five words
- -- dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb! "It's not a computer virus, just
a sort of program which attacks a common architectural flaw in
a wide variety of CPUs to physically destroy them after a
while..." may be a distinction, but it's certainly a distinction
without a difference. And all the same arguments given
previously against the Dread Virus, plus some more, apply. Just
for kicks, let's summarize some of the more persuasive of
these...
(1) If the DV "isn't a virus", how the heck does it affect
the *existing CPUs* (assuming the Evil Emperor can seed 90% or
more of the existing production facilities, which seems
completely ludicrous to me anyway)??? Are we supposed to
believe that the typical failure rate for CPUs is 80-90%/year?
Face it, it was more plausible when it was a virus.
(2) If all the computers are destroyed, how the heck are the
Star Viking ships driving around? You want to jump a starship
under manual control? Good luck -- you'll sure need it!
(3) Given that the DV only destroys CPUs, how long do you
really think it would take to regenerate the technology? I'll
bet me and 5 other carefully selected folks could go from TL6
TTL to TL8 SPARC in less than 5 years, by careful reuse of
non-computerized parts of existing equipment. With no TL7 or
TL8 technology whatsoever, it would take about 500 people 10
years. Neither is particularly prohibitive. With any
reasonable extrapolation, the "Long Night" isn't, very.
(4) Do you really believe the "common architectural flaw"
argument above? If so, then answer these: Do you believe that
all TL7 bridges contain a common easily exploitable
architectural flaw? Is this more or less likely than that all
TL4 bridges did (HINT: think resonance)? Is this a fair
analogy? What other analogies of this sort might one draw
(IDEAS: automobiles, electrical devices, plumbing)? Do they
lead to similar conclusions (SUGGESTED ANSWER: yes)?
Finally, riddle me this: GDW is making noises about "listening
to customer input". I've seen at least 5 distinct messages
approving a suggestion that the Star Viking setting be
explained by simply putting it in another part of the galaxy
from Traveller -- an area with low max TL. This seems to me to
be reasonable and practical while still allowing the SV
universe adequate latitude for development. So WHY KEEP PUSHING
THIS VIRUS THING??? Take my word for it that the day this
utterly stupid concept appears on the shelves is the last day I
or anyone I know buys a GDW product.
One of your potential customers for a single-book
beginner-oriented revised Traveller, but *not* for SV, T2K,
T2K+, D&C, or other similar silliness...
Bart Massey
[email removed]