"Attack
The Blob's only function is to check out pre-compiled software from
one of our subcontractor's SVN servers, create workspace ( read:
create a bunch of directories, move some files around, maybe set up
a few links, check availability of some tools ). In short: it sets
up environment for development. It is purely a console software,
has no graphical parts, for sure does not interact with any other
processes or daemons, does not use any advanced libraries and as
such, should easily work in Debian or any other reasonably recent
distribution.
"So let's install it anyway: run it under strace and see it open
/etc/issue:
dev_server# cat /etc/issue
Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 l
"Now open blob_install with a hex editor and notice that it
expects "Ubuntu 8.10 l" there. Temporarily change /etc/issue and
watch The Blob install flawlessly.
"Blob Strikes Back
At this point I thought I could just change /etc/issue back to its
Debian version and start using The Blob; unfortunately, it turned
out I underestimated its stubbornness: it actually checks the
distribution every single time it performs any action."
