4 ms·
I strongly disagree that this isn't an OS problem. s/dependency/application/g in your comment. Dependencies are just applications that are controlled through c
by danShumway 7y ago
I strongly disagree that this isn't an OS problem.
s/dependency/application/g in your comment. Dependencies are just applications that are controlled through code rather than via a mouse/keyboard. They're not special.
I run a minimal Arch setup at home for my development machine, partially for security/reliability reasons -- less software means fewer chances for something to go wrong. But this is a band-aide fix. A minimal Arch setup that forgoes modern niceties like a graphical file browser is not a general-purpose solution to software security.
When someone comes to me and says that an app is stealing their iOS contacts behind their back, my response isn't, "well, its your own fault for installing apps in the first place. Apps are bad." My response is to say that iOS apps shouldn't have access to contacts without explicit permission.
The same is true of language dependencies. Both users and developers need the ability to run untrusted code. The emphasis on "try your hardest not to install anything" is (very temporarily) good advice, but it's ultimately counterproductive and harmful if it distracts us from solving the root issues.
- marcus_holmes 7y agoI actually agree with you. But until we can provide a form of static analysis that can tell you whether a dependency is malicious or not, we're stuck either manually auditing them, or not using them. There's very little to choose between a user coming to you saying "I ran a bad application" and "I ran a bad application and clicked on the allow button because I had no way of knowing it was a bad application and I have to allow all applications". Users are notorious for defeating access permissions. Implementing this same bad solution on developers isn't going to work.