Wednesday 18 December 2013

Back doors & GNULinux.

Hi all.

For those of you who read this post, it's good to have you here as someone with a level of interest in GNULinux. I think you will agree that we live in epic, extraordinary times. Our planet is changing. Our nation is changing. Our friends & family are changing. The economy is changing. Music is changing. Science is changing. Everything is changing.

I have used Manjaro for business & pleasure for almost a year now & that's from a standing start as a new GNULinux user, after a couple of weeks messing around with Mint 13 & Maya/Cinnamon/Xfce/KDE. Suffice to say that on glimpsing the incredible plethora of options in KDE, I immediately decided against it. The last thing I need is more options! But some of you do, so it's there. That's another great thing about GNULinux. Choice.

Anyway, on to the topic in hand. Back doors and GNULinux? Are they mutually exclusive? Could a back door ever be slipped in under the radar by a core member of the development team? How regularly is the code comprehensively checked for potential back doors & obvious weaknesses?

I feel much more comfortable security/privacy-wise using GNULinux than I did with XP. That much is certain. What isn't certain is how complacent we can be, safe in the knowledge that the very nature of the open source philosophy will mean that multiple independent, libertarian eyes will analyse the code & sniff out anything malignant.

That sounds a bit like the parents at a pool party, tucking into the wine, assuming that with so many adults around, nothing could happen to the kids in the pool. Experience tells us otherwise.

How do you see it?

Thanks,

Ruziel.

3 comments:

  1. Not really sure that manjaro meets the gnu requirements since gnu is so strict. It is pretty impossible to have anything wroth using that is still gnu.

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  2. Hi Ruziel, saw this blog after viewing your profile in the Manjaro forum. Nice! a pity that so few people (especially Manjaro forum members) are watching this blog and comment on your posts (ok, this is an assumption). At this moment I'm in a very busy period with the foundation I work for, but I will place my comments here in the future. I'm also very aware of the dangers of this digital age, and am very interested in (and following) the hacker community. Till next time (here or on the Manjaro forum)!

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  3. Hi Tinctorius, thank you for your generous comments - they are much appreciated. I share your great interest in - and concern about - the digital age and the hacker mythos. These are truly extraordinary times & I believe we have never had a better tool kit to re-make/re-mix the world into a more compassionate & equitable one. More power to you meantime & see you around the forum. Ruziel :-)

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