The VX scene
A virus is a program capable of altering
other programs, including a copy of itself, through infection. The
term virus proposed by Fred Cohen at the seminar on safety held at
UCLA in 1983, although now inadequate to cover the numerous variants
of viruses that currently exist, is accepted as standard. The study
proposed a model for a program that could self-reproduce and spread
and which could be used to attack any computer system. Some computers
were infected by a series of programmes specially created for the
occasion, demonstrating the speed and effectiveness with which they
spread.
Early viruses
While Cohen was clear about the risk of introducing viruses into the
world of information technology, he could never have imagined the
sociological impact they would have in a matter of years. 987 saw
the spread of the first virus outside a laboratory, or "in the
wild" to use IT jargon. Viruses are the most complicated programmes,
partly because of their small size. The sheer quantity of knowledge
used in their compilation puts them out of the reach of most programmers.
It takes the top minds in the world’s programmers’ clubs
to cope with such a high degree of difficulty.
The top minds in the top clubs:
the scene
The scene is the term commonly used to refer to groups of programmers
considered together. Each scene comprises a large number of groups
- rarely individuals - that have a passionate interest in advanced
programming techniques. They have their own deontological code, failure
to respect which leads to their work not being recognised.
The Demo scene, probably the most interesting in terms of the quality
of the results, catalogues the production of the various groups in
watertight categories, where programme size and the architecture employed
cannot be chosen at random. Various scenes exist, the best known being
Demo, which creates programmes for the production of sounds and images,
Warez, which circulates software, and the VX scene, which produces
and circulates replicating programmes or viruses.
The scenes have no central organization, but are linked to Internet
portals, which make possible information exchange, the circulation
of their work, and their consequent identification by the other groups.
Unlike the illegal scenes (VX and Warez) Demo also has a life outside
the Web. The members of the various groups meet at periodical gatherings
organized by the main group of the host town or city, to exchange
information on latest technologies, organize seminars and take part
in various competitions for the selection of the best work projects
of those taking part.
The scene creates its own
legends
Anyone wishing to becoming a member of one of the top (or "élite")
groups must be able to demonstrate their skills and expertise, and
admission is by no means easy. Forming contacts with the VX groups
is clearly difficult, requiring a long period of training and independent
production. Aspirants do not ask to become members, but are invited
to join. Those who are admitted are in a position to acquire the common
core of cultural knowledge that has been built up over the years by
the various members. Features common to all the groups include an
excellent level of knowledge, a profound esteem of the elite groups,
a passionate desire to find the best techniques for solving a given
problem, and an aesthetic approach to programming that can be described
as the assumed link between the beauty of the code and the result
it produces.
Programming is not seen as a means
for producing art but an art form in its own right, valued using criteria
of beauty, elegance, proportion and effectiveness. The scene enables
these aesthetic tools to be shared with others, and creates a strong
sense of belonging to a minority group, avoiding all forms of proselytization.
Beginners are not admitted to the scenes; a good capacity for self-teaching,
a set of knowledge and a degree of total involvement are required.
Anyone failing to meet these requirements is excluded as someone unable
to perceive the movement and its values. The scene ignores the production
process, the results obtained cannot be marketed, no one expects to
derive any income from the work they put into it. Events are publicized
through precise, recognized élitist mechanisms. "Assembly",
the main gathering of the Demo scene is held annually in Helsinki,
convoking over 4,000 people through website messages of the member
groups. The scene creates its own legends, the "sceners",
and their own language, the "code"; they are difficult to
locate and comprehend from the outside, where the names of the most
famous groups and programmers are unknown.
The sense of belonging to a world apart
is further reinforced by the use of technologies superseded in the
official information technology world, such as extremely difficult-to-learn
programming jargon (Assembler). The choice is not that of adopting
the most sophisticated technology, but of working in a sophisticated
way on the technology, with a virtuosity that shuns simplification
and redundancy, creating the best solution, the best program, and
the most elegant code. The viruses are a manifestation of creative
brainwork, which projects the name of its creator in the scene and
in the outside world, a replicant mural capable of travelling in a
way that sends out a message about the accomplishments of its inventor.
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