(serious post incoming; "code" applies to Sans' guide as well; use common sense)
you know nothing/shit about development.
As someone who certainly doesn't fit that description; I'd like to share my two cents. I'm a huge advocate for open development and I'm not particularly happy with the way SALT has been handling their exploits and systems, however the way WiiUBru's materials were ruthlessly redistributed is completely inappropriate. As you probably know, WiiUBru is a public, developer-oriented forum that only has a registration requirement. However, it's still
developer-oriented.
Over the past few weeks I've observed an interesting phenomenon where every last scrap of code; every last byte of a PoC; was "leaked" from one public forum onto another, touted as some shocking revelation stolen from the tightest, most secure grasp: a
registration wall!
The thing is, the code was already public. While in most cases this is reason enough to distribute (
not leak!) caution must still be taken, and consideration given to audiences and their current access level. Sure; any savvy person could find the code within a heartbeat; that's really the point of having it on an open forum. However, it was in no way ready for GBATemp prime-time and the huge number of people that browse it.
Despite that, it still got that spotlight shining on it prematurely; and code that has a
5.5%(recurring) chance of success (1 try out of 18) and writes data with
76% efficiency (as a baseline, .zip tends to get
110% efficiency on some random files of mine; however I'd expect numbers far in excess of that should it be used on a NAND dump) got presented to the average user; without any input from the developers and without any consideration for the ramifications of such a "leak" (which, don't forget, was
already public!)
This just doesn't really sit well with me; especially because of the implications of a "leak" - the secret sauce used by the super-secret developers is now for the everyman! Since the developers use it, it's gotta be stable; yeah? Since nobody's had any issues
yet, it's fine to tell everyone that it's
100% safe; yeah? Since it allows pi... (wait, it doesn't allow piracy? uh...) Since it totally deserves to be out there, we can ignore the developer's long-term plans and methods for getting a stable exploit out there! Let's just copy-paste it over to GBATemp!
Again, I have nothing against open development; heck, I practice it myself. However, just because it's public doesn't mean it should be under GBATemp's intense scrutiny. For example, I've been working on a NES emulator during my free time, its source code can be found on GitHub. Do you see it on GBATemp? Nope. That's because I ran the numbers and concluded that the emulator is currently
0.4% complete.
It's public and under open development, but it's not ready for primetime. That's the situation we're looking at with the work done around the IOSU that's currently in the public eye.
I'm not saying anything about the quality of the work itself - it's awesome and is exactly where it needs to be
at this stage of development. However, just like my emulator, it's not ready for the average person. All the developers involved have stated this, and yet people don't seem to
respect them enough to take the corresponding action.
Respect is not a word I use lightly, either.
(red-flag education time: when I start dropping words like "respect", I'm deadly serious and actions need to be reconsidered)
To sum up, the way some members of this forum dealt with WiiUBru's development model is staggeringly inappropriate and disrespectful. You'd think that a team that actually
releases things wouldn't have this problem, but there ya go. For that reason, I agree with what Sans has been saying on this occasion; and I can't let you get away with hurling insults around after woefully misinterpreting the situation and meaning behind this post.
Update: I still stand by what I said in this post, but I'm not 100% sure that it agrees with Sans' viewpoint anymore. The idea behind this post was that the code should be public but only from an appropriate distribution point (not GBATemp), and some things have been said that makes me feel that Sans does not share this sentiment. Now, it could be a misunderstanding, or I may be taking things out of hand/context, but just to be safe I've reworded a few things to not outright say "I share Sans's opinion" (even though I may, again, not 100% sure exactly what he thinks). Again, this is just to be safe and to future-proof this post, I mean nothing by it and I still stand by what I said.
