Fravia
Encyclopedia
Francesco Vianello better known by his nickname Fravia, was a software reverse engineer
and “seeker” known for his web archive of reverse engineering techniques and papers.
.
Graduated in history at the University of Venice (1994), Fravia had a masters degree in history and philosophy (1999). He was passionate about studies in arts and humanities and was aiming to build a collective knowledge on the particular subject of learning and Web-searching as an art.
He was known to speak fluently in at least six languages: German, Italian, French, English, Finnish, Spanish.
Being an expert in languages, and having had a professional career in complex translation management, Fravia had great skill in writing and communications.
, aka ~S~ Sustrugiel aka Pellet) to protect from hostile seekers.
At least two distinct phases of his internet public work can be identified.
Fravia asked, as a safety precaution, to the community to remove from the web every copy of his old site (www.fravia.org), corresponding to this period, because "The idea was to convert young crackers [...] The experiment worked only in part, hence the decision a couple of years ago to freeze that site". Nevertheless, some mirrors still do exist and in fact will stay as an invaluable source of knowledge for researchers.
Probably one of the most important and significant papers of this period are related to reality-cracking, i.e. the capacity of the seeker to decode the hidden facts behind appearance. Many people were influenced by these readings, and after many years consider these teachings among the most important of Fravia's legacy.
Since October 2000, Fravia got in touch with Richard Stallman
at a LinuxDay event in Milan to which they were invited by a common friend. This meeting induced Fravia to start exploring and helping free software
and free culture
.
After that moment, he realized the importance of Free Software Movement
, and appreciated the purity of RMS' ideas about software and copyright ethics. Over the years Fravia converted to GNU
/Linux
, and was lately using Ubuntu
.
Some message boards, accessible from the link section of the searchlores website, with the posts produced over time by many of his e-friends or students, are clear sign of the relevance and strong influence that Fravia had on many people, actually contributing to consistent changes in their stance and vision towards life and knowledge.
In the second part of his works Fravia explained how the content is structured today on the world wide web
and the difficulties of finding relevant information through search engines because of the growing number of ads
that search engines promote today.
Reading the many contributions to the community messageboards accessible from his searchlores site, many will try to carry on his efforts.
Fravia has been described as an inspiration for many hackers
and reversers, a friend of the founder of the CCC
Wau Holland
, and a motivation for Jon Lech Johansen
to understand the inner workings of computer programs". Johansen commented in a blog post that Fravia’s site was a goldmine during his education as a reverse engineer.
In his later years, he moved from software reversing to open source
and searching the web
further. His website has been described as the meeting point of the people who wanted to search the web deeper still.
In September 2008, Fravia stopped updating his site, and holding conferences after being diagnosed and receiving treatment for a nasty Squamous Cell Carcinoma
(tumour) of the Tonsil, that unfortunately metastasized.
His site was frozen for half a year but was later updated again while Fravia was slowly recovering and focusing on GNU
/Linux
.
Fravia died suddenly on Sunday, 3 May 2009 at the age of 56.
Reverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
and “seeker” known for his web archive of reverse engineering techniques and papers.
Fravia as Francesco Vianello
In the 80s, He was a member of the "Esteban Canal" chess club in Venice, before moving to CES in BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
.
Graduated in history at the University of Venice (1994), Fravia had a masters degree in history and philosophy (1999). He was passionate about studies in arts and humanities and was aiming to build a collective knowledge on the particular subject of learning and Web-searching as an art.
He was known to speak fluently in at least six languages: German, Italian, French, English, Finnish, Spanish.
Being an expert in languages, and having had a professional career in complex translation management, Fravia had great skill in writing and communications.
Fravia as Fravia
He was focusing on privacy and created the myth of Fjalar Ravia (aka fravia+, aka msre, aka Spini, aka Red Avenger and possibly Old Red CrackerOld Red Cracker
Old Red Cracker is a pseudonym/handle for a reverser that wrote the now famous +ORC "how to crack" lessons. He was one of the pioneers of publishing cracking lessons on the Internet...
, aka ~S~ Sustrugiel aka Pellet) to protect from hostile seekers.
At least two distinct phases of his internet public work can be identified.
- The first, from 1995 (starting date of his internet presence) to 1999 was related to software reversing, software protection, decompiling, disassembling, and deep software code deconstruction.
- The second, starting in 2000, where the first stage left off, was focused on a (apparently) entire different field: Internet Knowledge search. In February 2001 Fravia made a conference at the École PolytechniqueÉcole PolytechniqueThe École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
about The art of information searching on today's Internet.
First Period: Reverse Engineering ("Reality Cracking")
In the first period Fravia's attitudes were extremely provoking and anti-corporate. He focused against software protections, content copyright, and software patents, actually pushing people to actively work to crack every kind of software protection, whenever possible. The steps for cracking software protection were in many cases published on the website, in the form of essays.Fravia asked, as a safety precaution, to the community to remove from the web every copy of his old site (www.fravia.org), corresponding to this period, because "The idea was to convert young crackers [...] The experiment worked only in part, hence the decision a couple of years ago to freeze that site". Nevertheless, some mirrors still do exist and in fact will stay as an invaluable source of knowledge for researchers.
Probably one of the most important and significant papers of this period are related to reality-cracking, i.e. the capacity of the seeker to decode the hidden facts behind appearance. Many people were influenced by these readings, and after many years consider these teachings among the most important of Fravia's legacy.
Second Period: Web Searching ("Search Lores")
The transition between the two phases occurred after realizing the growing importance of internet search engines, as tools to access information wherever they are. According to his vision, access to information should not be restricted, and he was battling for a true openness of web information contents. He fiercely criticized the huge amount of useless and false information available on the internet, mostly offered as commercial propaganda for building unnecessary needs in a population of stupid and brainless consumers.Since October 2000, Fravia got in touch with Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman , often shortened to rms,"'Richard Stallman' is just my mundane name; you can call me 'rms'"|last= Stallman|first= Richard|date= N.D.|work=Richard Stallman's homepage...
at a LinuxDay event in Milan to which they were invited by a common friend. This meeting induced Fravia to start exploring and helping free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and free culture
Free Culture movement
The free culture movement is a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify creative works in the form of free content by using the Internet and other forms of media....
.
After that moment, he realized the importance of Free Software Movement
Free software movement
The free software movement is a social and political movement with the goal of ensuring software users' four basic freedoms: the freedom to run their software, to study and change their software, and to redistribute copies with or without changes. The alternative terms "software libre", "open...
, and appreciated the purity of RMS' ideas about software and copyright ethics. Over the years Fravia converted to GNU
GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
/Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, and was lately using Ubuntu
Ubuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
.
Some message boards, accessible from the link section of the searchlores website, with the posts produced over time by many of his e-friends or students, are clear sign of the relevance and strong influence that Fravia had on many people, actually contributing to consistent changes in their stance and vision towards life and knowledge.
In the second part of his works Fravia explained how the content is structured today on the world wide web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
and the difficulties of finding relevant information through search engines because of the growing number of ads
that search engines promote today.
Legacy
It is not easy to identify clearly which were the most important contributions of his: either the reversing or the searching.Reading the many contributions to the community messageboards accessible from his searchlores site, many will try to carry on his efforts.
Fravia has been described as an inspiration for many hackers
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
and reversers, a friend of the founder of the CCC
Chaos Computer Club
The Chaos Computer Club is an organization of hackers. The CCC is based in Germany and other German-speaking countries.The CCC describes itself as "a galactic community of life forms, independent of age, sex, race or societal orientation, which strives across borders for freedom of...
Wau Holland
Wau Holland
Herwart Holland-Moritz, known as Wau Holland, cofounded the Chaos Computer Club in 1981, one of the world's oldest hacking clubs. The CCC became world famous when its members exposed security flaws in Germany's "Bildschirmtext" online television service by getting a bank to send them DM 134,000...
, and a motivation for Jon Lech Johansen
Jon Lech Johansen
Jon Lech Johansen , also known as DVD Jon, is a Norwegian programmer famous for his work on reverse engineering data formats....
to understand the inner workings of computer programs". Johansen commented in a blog post that Fravia’s site was a goldmine during his education as a reverse engineer.
In his later years, he moved from software reversing to open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
and searching the web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
further. His website has been described as the meeting point of the people who wanted to search the web deeper still.
In September 2008, Fravia stopped updating his site, and holding conferences after being diagnosed and receiving treatment for a nasty Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma , occasionally rendered as "squamous-cell carcinoma", is a histologically distinct form of cancer. It arises from the uncontrolled multiplication of malignant cells deriving from epithelium, or showing particular cytological or tissue architectural characteristics of...
(tumour) of the Tonsil, that unfortunately metastasized.
His site was frozen for half a year but was later updated again while Fravia was slowly recovering and focusing on GNU
GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
/Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
.
Fravia died suddenly on Sunday, 3 May 2009 at the age of 56.
Published works
- Francesco Vianello, Gli Unruochingi e la famiglia di Beggo conte di Parigi. (ricerche sull'alta aristocrazia carolingia) // Bollettino dell'Istituto storico italiano per il Medioevo 91 (1984).
- Francesco Vianello, Università di Padova, I mercanti di Chiavenna in età moderna visti dalla Terraferma veneta.
- Francesco Vianello,
External links
- Fravia's website
- Fravia's Real Identity
- Fravia's fake auto-biography
- Fravia's farewell (April 2009)
- Fravia at ccc congress 2005
- Fravia at ccc congress 2002
- Last known mirror of the original "reversing site"
- Video of a Fravia conference presentation at Recon 2005 in Montreal
- Video of a Fravia conference presentation at Recon 2006 in Montreal