5 ms·

Hah, I hadn't realized Karpeles was involved. That's a pretty wild CTO choice. After all that's happened, going open source is pretty much their only option.

craftinator 7y ago
I can see how they can open source their client side applications, and I guess they can open source their server code, but I can't wrap my head around how we can verify what exactly they are running on their servers. Like, can we ssh into them with root access and poke around running processes? I just don't get it. Anyone have a clue how else that kind of verification can happen?
- blibble 7y ago
  it's not possible and even if it was they could just configure their switches to mirror ports to send the traffic somewhere else for logging this entire thing is snake oil designed to fool people that don't know any better trust is earnt... and PIA hired Mark Karpeles, put him in charge of technology then later sold out to a malware firm if you insist on having a VPN: there's plenty of other firms that don't have these "attributes"
  - voisin 7y ago
    What alternatives do you suggest? I just cancelled my PIA subscription and am in the market.
    - majewsky 7y ago
      I've heard good things about Mullvad and IPredator, both from Sweden. Generally you want to be looking for VPN providers that don't spend half their revenue on marketing.
    - jcampbell1 7y ago
      I use Mullvad with the standard wireguard clients. Works much better than anything OpenVPN based. They are based in Sweden which seems like a reasonable jurisdiction.
    - cookiecaper 7y ago
      FoxyProxy offers a branded VPN service and the proceeds support its development: https://getfoxyproxy.org/order https://getfoxyproxy.org/order . I can't vouch for it personally and all I know is that it supports an open-source extension I've relied on for more than a decade, but at least it beats contributing to Karpeles' paycheck, right?
    - Multicomp 7y ago
      Mullvad or (depending on if it has launched yet) the Firefox branding-over-top-Mullvad for the same price.
- Freeboots 7y ago
  Yeah I think you're right

craftinator 7y ago

I can see how they can open source their client side applications, and I guess they can open source their server code, but I can't wrap my head around how we can verify what exactly they are running on their servers. Like, can we ssh into them with root access and poke around running processes? I just don't get it. Anyone have a clue how else that kind of verification can happen?

blibble 7y ago
it's not possible and even if it was they could just configure their switches to mirror ports to send the traffic somewhere else for logging this entire thing is snake oil designed to fool people that don't know any better trust is earnt... and PIA hired Mark Karpeles, put him in charge of technology then later sold out to a malware firm if you insist on having a VPN: there's plenty of other firms that don't have these "attributes"
- voisin 7y ago
  What alternatives do you suggest? I just cancelled my PIA subscription and am in the market.
  - majewsky 7y ago
    I've heard good things about Mullvad and IPredator, both from Sweden. Generally you want to be looking for VPN providers that don't spend half their revenue on marketing.
  - jcampbell1 7y ago
    I use Mullvad with the standard wireguard clients. Works much better than anything OpenVPN based. They are based in Sweden which seems like a reasonable jurisdiction.
  - cookiecaper 7y ago
    FoxyProxy offers a branded VPN service and the proceeds support its development: https://getfoxyproxy.org/order https://getfoxyproxy.org/order . I can't vouch for it personally and all I know is that it supports an open-source extension I've relied on for more than a decade, but at least it beats contributing to Karpeles' paycheck, right?
  - Multicomp 7y ago
    Mullvad or (depending on if it has launched yet) the Firefox branding-over-top-Mullvad for the same price.
Freeboots 7y ago
Yeah I think you're right