# XKCD webcomic **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039 "2009-11-02T12:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/41 "2010-09-24T10:47:42Z")
Hey I don’t get today’s XKCD… > **[debian-main](https://xkcd.com/797/)** > > dpkg: error processing package (--purge): subprocess pre-removal script returned error exit 163: OH\_GOD\_THEYRE\_INSIDE\_MY\_CLOTHES ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/42 "2010-09-24T11:22:44Z")
Me neither. Randall doesn’t really explain his strips. But he does have a forum, which is where I went to find out that Debian is a variety of Linux, & this is a joke on putting an automatic unpacking function in an open-source project–I think. [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=64484](http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=64484) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/43 "2010-09-24T16:47:13Z")
It’s common, when writing complicated code (like Debian-Main, the core of the Debian flavor of the Linux operating system) to build off of other existing code. If the end user doesn’t have that existing code, then the code you wrote won’t work, so a developer will put in a dependencies list that lays out all of the other code that’s needed. Installer programs, then, will generally look at the dependency list, and go get all of that needed code in the process of installing. So this guy wrote an innocent-seeming modification to the Debian-Main code, but put in a dependency listing for locusts, so the installer went and installed locust before installing his code. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/44 "2010-09-24T17:28:55Z")
Googling “debian locust” shows that “locust” is a “network security framework” ([Google Code Archive - Long-term storage for Google Code Project Hosting.](http://code.google.com/p/locust-security/)). The framework has been tested on debian. I would guess it is a pretty arcane joke to non-debian developers. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/45 "2010-09-24T18:03:17Z")
Here’s a place that provides lots of xkcd explanations: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/2010/09/24/debian-main/](http://www.explainxkcd.com/2010/09/24/debian-main/) ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/46 "2010-09-25T13:16:15Z")
Glad this thread was revived, because that was the first I saw of the Movie Storyline comic and fortunately there is indeed now a poster available for purchase, which I did (but as a surprise gift instead of for myself. He’s so gonna love this since we’ve spoken about the mind bending complexity of Primer often. ) ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/47 "2010-09-25T14:55:21Z")
Amusingly enough (to me), there is an XKCD addressing pop-culture references and in-jokes not being a new thing at all. > **[Inside Joke](https://xkcd.com/794/)** > > I've looked through a few annotated versions of classic books, and it's shocking how much of what's in there is basically pop-culture references totally lost on us now. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/48 "2010-09-25T22:19:12Z")
Wait, people _like_ XKCD? ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/49 "2010-09-25T22:26:37Z")
Nope. Hate it so much I visit the site every Monday, Wednesday and Friday just to sneer at their nerdy little jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039/50 "2010-09-25T23:11:07Z")
> [@Michael\_Ellis](#): > > Wait, people _like_ XKCD? Horrors. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-webcomic/516039.md?page=2)