BSOD Simulator
May 4, 1999

Users of Red Hat 6.0 are discovering a new feature that
hasn't been widely advertised: a Blue Screen of Death
simulator.  By default, the bsodsim program activates when
the user hits the virtually unused SysRq key (this is
customizable), causing the system to switch to a character
cell console to display a ficticious Blue Screen.

Red Hat hails the bsodsim program as the "boss key" for the
Linux world.  "Many old DOS games had a boss key, which
caused the program to switch to a DOS shell or a benign
looking screenshot when the boss walked by," a Red Hat
engineer explained.  "This allowed unscrupulous workers to
play games without the knowledge of the PHB.  With
multitasking, this isn't necessary anymore."

He continued, "However, a new 'boss problem' has emerged.
Workers are smuggling Linux boxes into companies that
exclusively use Windows.  This is all good and well until
the PHB walks by and comments, 'That doesn't look like
Windows...'  With bsodsim, that problem is solved.  The
worker can hit the emergency SysRq key, and the system will
behave just like Windows..."

The bsodsim program doesn't stop at just showing a
simulated error message.  If the boss doesn't walk away,
the worker can continue the illusion by hitting
CTRL-ALT-DEL, which causes a simulated reboot.  After
showing the usual boot messages, bsodsim will run a
simulated SCANDISK program indefinitely.  The boss won't be
able to tell the difference.  If the boss continues to hang
around, the worker can say, "SCANDISK is really taking a
long time... maybe we should upgrade our computers.  And
don't you have something better to do than watch this
computer reboot for the tenth time today?"

Red Hat 6.0 also includes a 'Flying Windows' screensaver
for use with X Windows.  If the boss happens to walk by
your computer when you're away, he still won't be able to
tell that it's not running Windows.

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James S. Baughn
http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/