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topcat5 t1_ixzb2wk wrote

Your title is incorrect. He postulated on the possibility in 1949. It says so in the very article you linked.

It would have been impossible for a virus to operate on a computer then. Programs had to be hard wired into those early computers.

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pupsinpajamas t1_ixzsgrm wrote

Apparently not even OP can be bothered to read the article.

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BurrrritoBoy t1_ixzwqat wrote

I don’t blame them. I didn’t. I was waiting for decent commentary to distill the finer points of the article, meld those tidbits with both common and industry insider insights to produce a nugget of re-spewable intellect that could be foisted upon unwitting folks.

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drewcomputer t1_iy0d0na wrote

Did you guys read the article? It says

> Von Neumann's design for a self-reproducing computer program is considered the world's first computer virus, and he is considered to be the theoretical "father" of computer virology.

and it cites a CS textbook on viruses

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StarCyst t1_iy0f7q6 wrote

> theoretical

a blueprint is not a building.

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drewcomputer t1_iy0fw33 wrote

For a long time algorithms were developed and proven on paper before running on computers. That’s how Ada Lovelace made the first software, and how Alan Turing did most of his work. Von Neuman did that with viruses, and computer scientists say he made the first virus.

You can develop a sorting algorithm and mathematically prove that it works, and how fast entirely on pen and paper. That’s how a lot of computer science has always been done.

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StarCyst t1_iy0ho6j wrote

Yes, I've done it; I wrote a whole online messaging system while 15 miles from the nearest computer.

still only theoretical.

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drewcomputer t1_iy0iboq wrote

Theoretical CS isn’t like, speculating what’s possible in the sci fi future. It‘s making rigorous mathematical proofs about algorithms.

And this whole thread was about whether OP read the article lol. The article plainly says what OP said, and computer science textbooks agree. If you want to have a philosophical debate about if a program has to run on silicon in order to exist, go ahead, but know that the experts decided that one long ago and side with OP.

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Sigg3net t1_iy0o079 wrote

You're misidentifying theoretical and speculative. You can have theoretical proof of something. Cf. Einstein's vindication that light bends.

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StarCyst t1_iy0pmcc wrote

Irrelevant distinction, it wasn't 'developed' as in actually programmed into the computer by him.

the concept was developed, but not the actual virus.

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drewcomputer t1_iy0c644 wrote

Not sure you understand how computer science works. Von Neumann didn’t postulate the existence of self-replicating programs, he proved their existence by making one. The fact that it wasn’t running on the computers of the time doesn’t change that algorithmic result.

It also says in the article linked,

> Von Neumann's design for a self-reproducing computer program is considered the world's first computer virus, and he is considered to be the theoretical "father" of computer virology.

And the source is a CS textbook on viruses.

Sorry to be harsh but your attempt at correcting OP is a Dunning-Kruger thing IMO.

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[deleted] t1_iy0xswa wrote

[deleted]

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drewcomputer t1_iy13pi1 wrote

You can absolutey write a program or algorithm without running it on a computer. Turing published Turing machines long before they ran on silicon, and Ada Lovelace wrote software for a computer that wasn’t built in her lifetime. The first virus implemented in Assembly directly cited and built out Von Neumann’s work.

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hux t1_iy1gzp1 wrote

I would argue that unless you can sit at a terminal and wonder why your program does not work, then make a trivial and meaningless change which causes it to work but should not, then you haven’t really written software.

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A1_B t1_iy1q9wc wrote

> I understand exactly how viruses work. I was responsible for delivering anti-virus definitions to 100s of 1000s computers in a very large network. In fact, I'm an author of a patent for software delivery.

Wow, appeal to authority, very smart.

Too bad you're objectively wrong, and those credentials are kind of pathetic.

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nsvxheIeuc3h2uddh3h1 t1_iy098he wrote

Exactly. The Computer Program for the Apollo Moon Landing was hard-wired (ie: "woven").

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prjindigo t1_iy1pekh wrote

Actually they could run on replaceable mechanical orderments, we had physical programming materials before the start of WW2... WW2 was the 5bit War.

Enigma was an example of orderment programming.

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Blutarg t1_ixzx7gt wrote

Leading to the popular saying among programmers, "hello, Neumann!"

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cocacola999 t1_ixzigre wrote

I'm hoping I'm not the only one singing "welcome to the dungeon, we've got fun and games! " In my head

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nsvxheIeuc3h2uddh3h1 t1_iy08yv2 wrote

"Project Rainbow" Jon Von Neumann?

He made a ship disappear earlier too...

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SEND_PUNS_PLZ t1_iy151wc wrote

Later in 2020 the coronavirus proved that idiots are capable of replicating themselves

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