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Not a terribly coherent discourse by Tim B.Lee. On the one hand, he wants you to run apps downloaded off the internet in your browser. On the other hand, he w

Not a terribly coherent discourse by Tim B.Lee. On the one hand, he wants you to run apps downloaded off the internet in your browser. On the other hand, he wants the user to have root. There's not even a whelk's chance in a supernova that I will ever run a browser as root. I assume that Tim's OK with that as a security stance, but it then follows that browser apps can't have root, and if you're a non-tech-savvy user, if your apps don't have root, then you don't have root. Focusing a bit more on the whole root access thing, I think it would be well to remember that we tried the open root thing already, and it turned out to be a security disaster for normal users. I think it's a good thing that the mainstream computing platforms (Windows, MacOSX, iOS) are trying a new approach. I also think that it's a very good thing that there are more open solutions, such as Android (which, just to be clear, is also a mainstream choice) and Linux, that allow us to see what can be done with more open access. Then the closed platforms can see how to go about providing that functionality in a more secure manner for less tech-savvy users.

michaelfeathers 14y ago
It sounds like he's talking about something different than root - freedom to control access at the level the user cares about. To pun on Bertrand Russell: "It's roots all the way up!"
jiggy2011 14y ago
I don't think he's suggesting that you literally run your browser as the root user. The argument seems to be that if you don't have the ability to access whatever is the equivalent to the root account on your device at all then this means that whoever does has more control of your device than you do. This means that you have to trust the device or OS manufacturer. For example if you buy an iPhone there is no way to "untrust" Apple without throwing the device out or doing a jailbreak. With a more open system such as Debian you can decide to untrust the OS vendor by simply replacing the entries in /etc/apt.sources with something else. This kind of model is often used in corporate environments where computers are locked down by the IT dept, therefor the IT dept can make choices on behalf of the users as to what the security settings should be, what software is installed etc.

michaelfeathers 14y ago

It sounds like he's talking about something different than root - freedom to control access at the level the user cares about. To pun on Bertrand Russell: "It's roots all the way up!"

jiggy2011 14y ago

I don't think he's suggesting that you literally run your browser as the root user. The argument seems to be that if you don't have the ability to access whatever is the equivalent to the root account on your device at all then this means that whoever does has more control of your device than you do. This means that you have to trust the device or OS manufacturer. For example if you buy an iPhone there is no way to "untrust" Apple without throwing the device out or doing a jailbreak. With a more open system such as Debian you can decide to untrust the OS vendor by simply replacing the entries in /etc/apt.sources with something else. This kind of model is often used in corporate environments where computers are locked down by the IT dept, therefor the IT dept can make choices on behalf of the users as to what the security settings should be, what software is installed etc.