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Comment by monocasa | Hacker News Reader

From what I've heard from microsofties over beers, it was really the second one. They didn't expect developers to write network code in ~2001 that didn't have memory safety vulnerabilities and wanted a barrier there between simple overflows and system security.

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The child in me from 20 years ago dreams of a software tool downloaded from a questionable website that jailbroke an xbox just by putting in the IP address.

I hear that; I wish I was cool enough back in the day to release a tool on xbins. I'll have to settle for retro computing.

I mean, minus the USB->controller wire "hardware mod", it has been perfected to "download a memory card gamesave", "have a non-GOTY edition of a game" and you were a few minutes away from being soft-modded, ready to hack your cached Halo maps to swap the needler texture in for the wall textures, and change character textures to brighter versions (gummibear hack, maybe?).

Makes me want to wipe the XBMC xbox in my parents basement and break out my Splinter Cell and memory card just to do it all again.

Thanks for the answer. Like 5 years ago I tried snooping around halo system link packets because I just assumed there was no encryption and was disappointed. Wasn't this multiplayer rushed out in a month? Why on earth is a LAN protocol secure in 2001?! lol

Makes total sense, especially recalling the zeitgeist of the era. IIRC, this was during the height of worms which propagated via vulnerabilities in code that handles network traffic.

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