5 ms·

I hope the Chinese never get access to the Linux or BSD source code that runs my computers.

by dlsspy 16y ago

sixtofour 16y ago
The difference is that Windows code is closed. Microsoft has given access to that code to allegedly hostile individuals, but not to friendly individuals. Bad guys can reverse engineer and read code. Good guys can only reverse engineer. With *nix it's a level playing field, because both sides can reverse engineer and read code, and contribute code.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
  - smallblacksun 16y ago
    His point (I think) is that white-hat security experts don't have access to the Windows source.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
    - sixtofour 16y ago
      Pretty much my point. Everyone who could possibly help has open source access to *nix code. Not everyone who could possibly help has access to Windows code.
- dlsspy 16y ago
  I wanted to give you a non-anonymous +1 on this. Your point about the level playing field is a great one. My preference is obviously to just avoid the black boxes where I can, but it's not particularly surprising to think that the true color of the box is the inverse of the color of the hat.
- wladimir 16y ago
  Good comment about the level playing field. Open source doesn't essentially make the code more secure. But if Random Joe Hacker discovers an exploit, there is a big chance he'll brag about it, report it, or at least it eventually makes its way to the developers. On the other hand, if the source code is restricted to governments and security agencies, discovered exploitable bugs will be made part of some country' arsenal of "cyber weapons". They will neither get fixed nor reported. That's very scary. Open source doesn't fully solve this problem (agencies can still discover 'secret' bugs), but at least Joe Hacker has the same chance of finding them. This increases the chance they will actually be fixed significantly...
sitmack 16y ago
This is still a problem. Latent exploits still sit ripening on the vine of every codebase.

I hope the Chinese never get access to the Linux or BSD source code that runs my computers.

by dlsspy 16y ago

I hope the Chinese never get access to the Linux or BSD source code that runs my computers.

The difference is that Windows code is closed. Microsoft has given access to that code to allegedly hostile individuals, but not to friendly individuals. Bad guys can reverse engineer and read code. Good guys can only reverse engineer. With *nix it's a level playing field, because both sides can reverse engineer and read code, and contribute code.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
- smallblacksun 16y ago
  His point (I think) is that white-hat security experts don't have access to the Windows source.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - sixtofour 16y ago
    Pretty much my point. Everyone who could possibly help has open source access to *nix code. Not everyone who could possibly help has access to Windows code.
dlsspy 16y ago
I wanted to give you a non-anonymous +1 on this. Your point about the level playing field is a great one. My preference is obviously to just avoid the black boxes where I can, but it's not particularly surprising to think that the true color of the box is the inverse of the color of the hat.
wladimir 16y ago
Good comment about the level playing field. Open source doesn't essentially make the code more secure. But if Random Joe Hacker discovers an exploit, there is a big chance he'll brag about it, report it, or at least it eventually makes its way to the developers. On the other hand, if the source code is restricted to governments and security agencies, discovered exploitable bugs will be made part of some country' arsenal of "cyber weapons". They will neither get fixed nor reported. That's very scary. Open source doesn't fully solve this problem (agencies can still discover 'secret' bugs), but at least Joe Hacker has the same chance of finding them. This increases the chance they will actually be fixed significantly...

sitmack 16y ago

This is still a problem. Latent exploits still sit ripening on the vine of every codebase.