posted
Comment: I have recently heard two rumors concerning Microsoft Founder Bill Gates. The first is that, in the very beginnings of Microsoft, an unknown person gave Mr. Gates a sum of money (I've heard $10,000 and $50,000) with which to assist in the start-up of the company. The rumor is that Bill Gates had been asked about it, and neither confirmed or denied it, which, in my interpretation of the story, means that he does not know the person's whereabouts, and does not want either the person to come forward, or any potential surviving relatives to investigate the matter and find they own a significant portion of Microsoft. Besides the obvious questions that lead me to believe the rumor is hogwash (Doesn't Microsoft have to file public reports as a publicly-traded company listed all it's significant owners? Wouldn't Bill Gates, with all of his vast fortune, be able to pay for an investigation to learn of this unknown person's whereabouts, or find out if the person has died?), I was wondering if you fine folks had heard the rumor, and if it is new or not.
Second, I heard a rumor that, in the event Microsoft ever is ordered to be broken up due to antitrust reasons, Mr.Gates has embedded a code that will render Windows useless, and only Mr. Gates has access to the means of implementing the code.
Posts: 36029 | From: Admin | Registered: Feb 2000
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In terms of the first, the initial owners of the company were Gates and Paul Allen. They then recieved a payment of $3000 from MITS for the licencing of BASIC, plus royalties from sales. They didn't need an investment - they sold a product that they had written in their spare time, to a reseller.
In terms of the second, 1. Windows is not one great big behomoth, there are many versions of it - all seperate. 2. Gates didn't personally write the current version of Windows - I don't think he has actually personally written code since early 80's.
-------------------- Q. What's the difference between a Computer saleman and a Used Car Salesman? A. The Used Car Salesman knows when he is lying. Posts: 421 | From: Victoria, Australia | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Second, I heard a rumor that, in the event Microsoft ever is ordered to be broken up due to antitrust reasons, Mr.Gates has embedded a code that will render Windows useless, and only Mr. Gates has access to the means of implementing the code.
It would have been found by now. People are afraid of spyware and call home software, and are very alert for signs of it, as well as scouring the disassemblied code for any suspicious calls to network libraries.
Besides, why should he bother? Just move the business to some low tax paradise in onother country and slap a sticker "Not for sale in the US" on the boxes of every product. In fact, I'm surprised he didn't threaten to do this during the last rounds in court. I would have.
-------------------- /Troberg Posts: 4360 | From: Borlänge, Sweden | Registered: Nov 2005
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Reading that I now have an image in my head of Bill Gates, sitting at his desk stroking a fluffy white cat and lauging evilly as his finger hovers over a big red button.
Windows does contain code that periodically renders it useless. The over-ride feature is called re-install
-------------------- "Ladies and gentlemen, this is what is commonly known as money. It comes in all sizes, colours, and denominations - like people." Posts: 997 | From: Maidstone, UK | Registered: Jun 2006
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quote: It would have been found by now. People are afraid of spyware and call home software, and are very alert for signs of it, as well as scouring the disassemblied code for any suspicious calls to network libraries.
That's for sure-- Remember the "Mr. Enigma" Registry key that had people guessing?
quote:Windows does contain code that periodically renders it useless.
I'm not so sure of that. I'm still trying to get it to occasionally become useful.
Thats because the code is windows itself! HEY! [drum kit]
I got it, it got it,,,,
-------------------- W.W.F.S.M.D? But this image of Bush as some sort of Snidely Whiplash tying the fair maiden to the railroad tracks is beyond the pale. - Joe Bentley Posts: 2311 | From: Minnnesota | Registered: Mar 2004
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People view the code every day. Trust me, if this was in the code, someone would have seen it.
There was a time when there were funny comments and var names in the code to be sure. But that was usually because of a punchy developer and those were all removed several years back.
Posts: 69 | From: Renton, WA | Registered: Oct 2006
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That, and Microsoft takes a dim view (namely "immediate termination") re: developer easter eggs, which makes it unlikely you'll see them, I would guess.
In the event, the sheer unlikelihood that such code could be written and successfully hidden makes one suspect the red button that would trigger it is probably over in a dark hangar at Wright Patterson, where they keep the aliens.
-Baikal
-------------------- I'm just a typical American boy from a typical American town. Posts: 1463 | From: CU, Boulder Campus | Registered: Feb 2001
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This raises a few important questions. If BillG made a checkin like that, which developer would he get to code review it? Which testers would test it? Which sustaining engineering people would maintain it for decades afterwards? Would all these people be paid off for their silence? And if so, how can I get in on that?
-------------------- "Do not dance on the sand" Posts: 340 | From: Redmond, WA | Registered: Jul 2004
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you dissapoint me. What's all this stuff about reality creeping in here? We all know that BillG is the Debbil, and therefore has supernatural powers. Of course he does it all himself. He mindlinks into the MS servers from a different dimension so the people working on the code can't track it back, and puts a psycho-lock on it so that anyone who spots those added code lines intantly goes mad. Clear it up for you?
me
-------------------- Check out my handmade pens Check back often because the page changes often Posts: 831 | From: Brisbane, Australia | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by snopes: Comment: The first is that, in the very beginnings of Microsoft, an unknown person gave Mr. Gates a sum of money (I've heard $10,000 and $50,000) with which to assist in the start-up of the company. The rumor is that Bill Gates had been asked about it, and neither confirmed or denied it, which, in my interpretation of the story, means that he does not know the person's whereabouts, and does not want either the person to come forward, or any potential surviving relatives to investigate the matter and find they own a significant portion of Microsoft.
To add to the debunking Michael Cole already did, I guess that someone "giving Mr Gates a sum of money" was making a loan rather than buying shares in a not-yet existing company. So, all Mr Gates would need to do is repaying that loan (propably with interest), which couldn't be to difficult giving an original sum between $10,000 and $50,000.
Don Enrico
ETA: On posting this, I found myself staring at a message saying "Sit tight... We are taking you back to: Bill Gates"
-------------------- My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling, but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places. - Pooh Bear Posts: 2209 | From: Hamburg, Germany | Registered: Oct 2004
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The second one looks like a variant of a very old urban legend that can be traced back to the 80es and UNIX. You see, when UNIX was first written, the few Secretive and Very Smart Guys who wrote it empedded some Special Code which was never noticed and can trigger some Extreme Events. I'm pretty sure Fred Saberhagen (pardon my spelling) wrote a couple of novels revolving around the idea.
I guess that we all dream about some engineering marvels being much more complex than they are - legends about secrets of ancient Egyptians, Nazi astronauts and secret German/Chinese/Russian weapons are perpetual (at least, the UFO fad died out a bit).
Posts: 246 | From: Toronto, ON / Kyiv, Ukraine | Registered: Jul 2005
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pretty random but... i heard that if Mr Gates had all of his money in dollar bills, and put them under his mattress (as you would!) and he fell off... it would take him a good 40 minutes+ to hit the ground! It sounds like a bit of an exagguration(sp?), what you think?
-------------------- "...excuse me while I interrupt myself..." - Murray Walker Posts: 16 | From: United Kingdom | Registered: Feb 2006
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On UNIX, early versions did have some secret code implemented by the authors:
quote:Historically, back doors have often lurked in systems longer than anyone expected or planned, and a few have become widely known. Ken Thompson's 1983 Turing Award lecture to the ACM admitted the existence of a back door in early Unix versions that may have qualified as the most fiendishly clever security hack of all time. In this scheme, the C compiler contained code that would recognize when the login command was being recompiled and insert some code recognizing a password chosen by Thompson, giving him entry to the system whether or not an account had been created for him.
-------------------- Hello, I love you - won't you tell me your name? Hello! I'm good for nothing - will you love me just the same?
quote:Originally posted by Jonny T: On UNIX, early versions did have some secret code implemented by the authors:
quote:Historically, back doors have often lurked in systems longer than anyone expected or planned, and a few have become widely known. Ken Thompson's 1983 Turing Award lecture to the ACM admitted the existence of a back door in early Unix versions that may have qualified as the most fiendishly clever security hack of all time. In this scheme, the C compiler contained code that would recognize when the login command was being recompiled and insert some code recognizing a password chosen by Thompson, giving him entry to the system whether or not an account had been created for him.
Sure wouldn't take anyone with a debugger long to figure that one out.
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