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It is not impossible. There is no reason why closed source software can not be secure. Yes, you can not convince yourself in the same way you can with open sour
by danbruc 13y ago
It is not impossible. There is no reason why closed source software can not be secure. Yes, you can not convince yourself in the same way you can with open source software but again secure software and the ability to convince yourself that a software is secure are different things.
- rbanffy 13y ago> There is no reason why closed source software can not be secure True, but there is no way to prove it's secure. It's not about convincing myself or anyone else - it's about proof.
- danbruc 13y agoYou get no proof for open source software either unless you perform a formal verification. And even then your proof may be wrong. But maybe we can agree on the following. Closed source software can be secure but there is a broad spectrum of needs for convincing someone that a software is secure and this need may be better served with open source software in some circumstances. For some it is sufficient to trust a vendor. Some want to audit the source code (and this does not exclude closed source software). Some even need formal verification maybe even of the underlying hardware.
- kkangaroo 13y agoSo you mean the Linux kernel was proven secure? When? http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/14/critical_linux_bug/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/14/critical_linux_bug/ http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/linux-finally-fixes-six-year-old-critical-bug http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/linux-finally-fix... http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/06/20/2257229/13-year-old-password-security-bug-fixed http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/06/20/2257229/13-year-old-pa... You're trying to apply an impossible standard to closed source software that software that was that developed from the start to be open source and developed in the open cannot meet.